NILE MAKES BUYING BLACK QUICK AND EASY

We all know the importance of supporting Black-owned businesses, but buying Black is often easier said than done. Nile, a new website that guides online shoppers to more than 1,000 Black-owned businesses and products, is here to make it a lot easier to keep dollars within our community.

In this exclusive interview, Nile cofounder Khadijah Robinson tells us about her team's vision that is quickly becoming a reality.

NOIRNOMICS: PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR EDUCATIONAL/PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND.

Khadijah Robinson: A Southern girl through and through, I was raised in Savannah, GA and Montgomery, AL. Raised by two proud Alabama State University alums, I grew up knowing to always invest in and support other Black folks and value the contributions of the Black community, including Black art, Black intellect, and Black business. After graduating from Spelman College, I received a MSc from the University College London and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. I have practiced law in Washington, D.C. for the last four years, primarily serving as an associate at Covington & Burling LLP, but I have supported the business endeavors of the Black community for my entire life. You can connect with me and find out more about me on LinkedIn.

WHAT IS NILE?

Nile is a guide to shopping Black-owned businesses online. Created and operated by Black women, Nile is more than a business directory or aggregator. Nile guides online shoppers - members of the fastest growing segment of commerce - to Black businesses selling products online. Not only is Nile focused on Black e-commerce, but Nile also promotes Black production. Nile features businesses that are (1) owned by black folk(s); (2) make products - as opposed to offering services or reselling products from other vendors; and (3) sells those products on the internet! Nile operates from www.theNileList.com. Nile is set to fully launch in late 2019, but in the meantime, we are adding more and more businesses and connecting with consumers who are interested in making their online shopping experience as Black as possible.

WHO IS THE TEAM BEHIND NILE?

I'm working with Kendra Woodruff, one of my close friends from high school and another dynamic young Black professional woman. Kendra is a Computer Scientist that dabbles in Systems Engineering. She holds a BS in Computer and Information Sciences from the University of Alabama in Birmingham and her MS in Engineering Systems with a graduate certificate in Systems Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School. She is based in Orlando, FL. Kendra is the technical mind behind Nile and I am the business leader!

WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO BUILD NILE?

While on a girls' trip to Miami, Kendra and I were commiserating about how our efforts to shop with Black-owned businesses online were thwarted by all the misinformation and difficulty in tracking down awesome businesses out there. We are both avid online shoppers (as are most millennials) and we wanted to buy Black while doing so, but it was just so hard. So we decided to solve our own problem and create Nile!

HOW DOES NILE WORK?

Prior to our full launch at the end of 2019, Nile is using its social media and mailing list (subscribe at www.theNileList.com) to spread the news about amazing Black-owned brands of products that are available online. Once we launch fully, Nil-vigators (or fun term for our users) will be able to come to Nile and search the site for all types of products. If, for example, a nil-vigator is looking for Black-owned companies selling shoes online, he or she can search for "shoes" and see all the businesses we have to offer! Nile will let you know what kind of shoes the business makes, give you pictures and reviews, and even allow you to filter by different metrics like whether or not a business is women-owned or veteran-owned! Nile will make it easy and convenient to buy everything from batteries to surf boards with a Black-owned business online.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE SURPRISES AND/OR CHALLENGES YOU’VE ENCOUNTERED WHILE BUILDING NILE?

The biggest hurdle has been verifying that businesses are truly Black-owned. There is so much Blackfishing out there! For those who haven't heard this term, Blackfishing is what companies that are not Black-owned do when they hire an entire Black staff and market with Black models to Black consumers in order to capture Black dollars, while purposefully obscuring the fact that they aren't Black-owned.

WHY IS NILE A GOOD ALTERNATIVE TO OTHER WEBSITES LISTING/SELLING BLACK-OWNED PRODUCTS? WHAT HOLE IN THE MARKET DOES IT FILL?

Existing directories and listings of Black-owned businesses fall short for several reasons, not least of which that they focus on local businesses rather than online businesses. There are so many great Black-owned restaurants, bars, bookstores, and other great local businesses out there –-- but customers cannot connect with those businesses without visiting their physical locations. Nile is for online shoppers who want the convenience and ease of buying online and want to access Black owned businesses from all over the country and world. Nile exists to connect businesses with online shoppers who can make purchases from the device in the palm of their hand at any time.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR NILE?

We're hard at work on building out the full site, which will launch at the end of 2019! In the meantime, Nile will be connecting with awesome Black entrepreneurs at various conferences and expos this year, including Afrotech in November! Hunting out the best Black-owned dot coms is our favorite pastime!

How can readers contact you and learn more?

Readers can join our mailing list (sign up at www.theNileList.com). Plus, they can connect with Nile on social media through Twitter and Instagram (@theNileList), Facebook (@theNileList), and LinkedIn (Nile). Finally, if readers have any questions, they can contact us directly at info@theNileList.com.