Today on the show, we have a woman who is a millennial CEO shaping Black digital media.
Her name is Morgan DeBaun and she is the Founder of Blavity, one of the fastest growing digital media startups and a top destination for black youth culture. In March 2017, she launched a new lifestyle brand called 21Ninety, a website focused on beauty, health and wellness for women of color. She is one of only 12 Black women to raise over 1 million dollars in venture funding and has been featured on Essence, New York Magazine, Teen Vogue, Nylon, and was a finalist for 2016 TechCrunch Founder of the year.
I first encountered Morgan at the Blavity EmpowerHer conference back in 2016. I was already impressed enough with Blavity to buy a ticket, but what Morgan created in that room, really sealed the deal for me. I needed to start Side Hustle Pro. As a matter of fact, when the emcee asked, I forget what the question was, but she basically asked who wanted to share a new initiative or something, I raised my hand, got on stage and announced to this room full of black women creators and entrepreneurs that I was starting Side Hustle Pro. And there was NO turning back after that. So it's a pleasure to welcome Morgan to the guest chair today.