Tameka Peoples is the founder of Seed2Shirt, the first black-woman-owned apparel manufacturing and print-on-demand company in the United States. In addition, Seed2Shirt was the first to use an all-black-owned production, from cotton seed to cotton shirt for their Blank Apparel, T-shirt line. Her company has stayed true to its core goal of tying everything into black culture, from the African Diaspora people in Kenya, Africa, to a black woman-owned printing company called, She Prints It, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ms. Peoples has not only started a movement of massive change, but she is making history and bridging an international gap between African Nations and America at the same time.
Meet Tameka Peoples as she shares her entrepreneurial journey and how she changed the game in the T-shirt business.
Before Seed2Shirt, did you ever think you would become an entrepreneur?
Always a heavy question; I know I was meant to be an entrepreneur. You know, for me, I’ve always seen leadership, action, and risk-taking modeled as a young girl with my mom, a single mom, who had her own business. Also, throughout adulthood with my time in the military. All that, how I was raised, and throughout my career, I was honing those skills. I just never called it that, but I always knew I would lead, take risks, and serve a greater good; and so, these are all the elements for “entrepreneurship.” I guess you could say, yes, I didn’t just “think” it; I became it every day.
What inspired you to start Seed2Shirt?
Oh, the question. I was inspired to create the enterprise, a Seed2Shirt, because of the sheer fact that it didn’t exist. I went to do what most people do… promote my business and community work in a local print shop, and I wanted a “blank shirt” made by a black company because I was being intentional with my spending, and it didn’t exist. I mean, how could this be black people who drive the fashion industry and who walk around wearing shirts that flash their latest mood, which then becomes a brand? How could we not have a black maker of this product? I went even further, and asked, how can we connect the cotton that goes into the shirt so that it comes from black farmers? So, the journey/drive began and has become what Seed2Shirt is today.
What would you like our readers to know about your brand and the programs it offers?
We started this company to make sure we as a people remember and rebuild what was lost. Also, to restore our place within the apparel production value chain in a way that values land, people, and empowers brands. Seed2Shirt is an ethically sourced, eco-friendly “blank T-shirt” apparel manufacturer; and we also offer print-on-demand promotional service options for brands and corporations. We have created all-black agriculture to the apparel ecosystem from Africa to the US, which enriches the very communities that sustain that ecosystem. We are a business where a percentage of all sales go back into our Seed2Shirt Farmer Enrichment program, supporting the very cotton farmers we sourced from while building community.
A little more about this program. It’s a long-term relationship with organic cotton farmers in Burkina Faso, supporting their needs for tools, resources, and regenerative organic farming practices. We also do similar, underserved, and underrepresented farmer outreach work here in the US. The mission of this program is to give equitable access to markets and resources of African and African-American farmers and to enrich their livelihoods. Learn more about this program here, and our overall impact here.
So, you see, with one purchase of our products or services from Seed2Shirt, you are making a positive impact… globally. We make it easy for corporations and brands worldwide to diversify their spending, and to maximize their positive impact on land, people, and communities.
As an entrepreneur, what motivates you?
Solving problems, empowering people, and building up communities.
What kind of impact do you want to have on the community?
We want the community to be better because we are here. We also want the community of growers and makers to have equitable representation, access to industries we’ve been systemically cut out of, and for the community of people to be empowered because of the work we are doing.
What advice did you receive before becoming an entrepreneur? Now, knowing what you know, what advice will you give to those who are aspiring to become an entrepreneur?
The advice that I received as I was embarking on my journey into leadership and ultimately entrepreneurship was to be fearless, and most importantly, don’t be afraid to fail because failure is the lesson. If you are aspiring to be an entrepreneur, my advice would be to do five things:
1. Be fearless and know it will be scary, but please know you have all that it takes and what you don’t have, you will learn.
2. Be willing to be a student to seek mentorship in your interested field.
3. Be knowledgeable. Be willing to obtain the knowledge you don’t have to get the knowledge you will need to grow as a person, a leader, and as a business owner.
4. Be connected. It’s so important to network with your industry peers.
5. Start. So many have these ideas or a desire to be an “entrepreneur” but some rarely start. Once you start, you will begin to do these things, hopefully. But if you never start, you will never have the chance to go through change, growth, and the potential to change the world, which I believe we all have.
So, start, and let’s be out here changing the world for the better together. Trust me, it’s waiting on you and us to do just that.
Writer, Debbie Stokes is a contributing writer. Follow her on Instagram @iamdebbiestokes
Follow Us On Social Media!
