BLK OCEANS

A local publication seeks to put the focus firmly on Black-owned businesses.

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BLK OCEANS is a publication that highlights black-owned businesses to help them gain national and international exposure. We sat down with the founder, Leah Freeman-Haskin, to gain a better understanding of the work they do. 

Memphis: Tell me about how you came up with the idea for BLK OCEANS. What was the creation process like?

Leah Freeman-Haskin: I actually started BLK OCEANS two years ago. I was just an Instagram account at the time. I was showcasing Black-owned businesses primarily through Instagram posts. This summer I decided to return to the project and transform it into the website and Instagram combo that it is today. The website allows me to personally dive into my writing and design skills and also allows me to showcase Black founders and creatives in much more depth than I was able to do with just the Instagram page. There has been a trend of promoting Black-owned businesses after the pandemic hit because that industry was hit very hard. As a Black creator myself I also know how difficult it can be to find support and get your name out there, so I’m just trying to do my part to support the community. My hope is that people will discover new Black-owned businesses and become long-time, loyal customers.

Memphis: When we previously spoke over email you had mentioned the global scope of BLK OCEANS. Can you speak more on that? What has your growth been like over the past two years?

Leah Freeman-Haskin: We work with Black-owned businesses globally. I try to work with anyone that reaches out to me from anywhere in the world. Really the only requirement is that it falls within one of four categories, being fashion, lifestyle, beauty, and kids. They also have to have an e-commerce website as well. I’m a team of one so I’m just trying to manage expectations and workloads. Eventually, I would love to expand it to the services industry. I’ve had a lot of hairdressers, restaurant owners, lawyers, and other small businesses reach out but I don’t have the capacity to add them right now. I have been proactively reaching out to brands in the local community, but I also try and speak with brands both nationally and internationally. I also encourage people to reach out directly to me and introduce their brands to me.

Memphis: You speak to a lot of creatives when curating work for BLK OCEANS. What are the conversations like when you are reaching out to Black creators and business owners? What were some of the design choices that you had when creating BLK OCEANS?

Leah Freeman-Haskin: When I reach out to people, I usually give them a couple of questions that I think would be most interesting to the audience. These are all creative people and it’s important for me to talk to them about their creative process. I also want to know how they started their company, what the process was like, and where their inspiration came from. I think it’s important to try and inspire people in the community and put the thought of starting their own businesses on the table so I focus a lot of my interviews on the beginnings of their businesses as well. Another thing I look for is images that are visually inspiring or visually bold images that highlight the brand and the product but also have editorial merits to them as well. 

In terms of the design of the website, I have always been a fan of Vogue, L, and some of the other major retailers so I based the initial website look off of those but I ended up going with my own design because I wanted the website to stand out and look different. I wanted to have in-depth interviews with strong visuals that most would usually associate with big brand names. It was important for it to be visually impactful. Obviously, the color scheme of black was important and the name of BLK OCEANS comes from the Maya Angelou poem “Still I Rise.” There is a section in the poem that says:

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

The idea is that as Black people we often feel like we are up against insurmountable odds in this country, so I hope BLK OCEANS inspires Black creatives and founders to keep rising, to know that there is a community there to uplift and support them, and to know that their voice and creative vision matters and is valued. I tried to reflect this message in all of the visual choices with BLK OCEANS.

Memphis: For the amount of work that goes into BLK OCEANS it surprised me when you said you run the entire business solo. Can you tell me a bit about your background?

Leah Freeman-Haskin: It’s just me — ha ha! I have a full-time job, a child, and a husband so it’s a lot, but I love what I’m doing. I’ve lived all over the world but I moved back to Memphis a few years ago with my husband. My background is in business and marketing but it has been a lot. The support that I have gotten from the Black community has been so positive and that really what keeps me going. People are grateful that I want to showcase them and talk to them about their stories. I really get excited about what I do because of community support.

Memphis: What are your plans for the future?

I really want to expand the categories. I have had so many people reach out and share the services that they offer and I have had to say no at this time because I am trying to focus on the start-up and building an audience. Right now the focus is eventually moving to cover the service industry and the food industry. 

To see some of the brands that Freeman-Haskin has covered visit her website or Instagram page.