A graphic designer from England’s West Midlands kickstarted her own graphic design business at the age of 13.
Lo Designz founder Lo Williams was inspired by wanting to make Black girls feel “beautiful and represented.” She opened her graphic design company after seeing the lack of representation in stores.
“It’s about building an empire for my family and for young black girls, that’s all I want to do, make an impact,” she said in an interview with the BBC.
Lo Designz has even garnered the attention of major fashion companies, including Gap, reported to BBC.
Her design, ‘Black Is My Happy Colour,’ was sold by Gap’s in UK stores, according to Fashion United UK.
The designs feature t-shirts, coffee mugs and more that showcase black women’s beauty. The designs are a symbol of love as each one depicts Black women with different skin tones and hairstyles.
“I couldn’t go out and buy a black Barbie that looked like me so I had the inspiration to create that [image] for young black girls, to show that they are beautiful, they are out here and they are being represented,” she added. “Representation is very important, if you don’t see yourself you don’t know yourself.”
She continued, “The impact is what fuels my passion. I love creativity and seeing young girls and children get excited about what they can create.”
With the help of her mother, Williams opened her firm in 2015, and at the age of 16, she opened a networking company. She also worked as a creative arts coach for children from four to 16 years old. Despite being a business owner and building a network, Williams still found herself hitting roadblocks.
“Because I started at such a young age, people didn’t take me seriously, and even now, people still assume that it’s my mum’s business,” she said. “Also, my skin tone. I’m fully Jamaican Black-British but many people have things to say about me being light-skinned, like they are trying to diminish my Blackness.”
In her interview with BBC, Williams said wants young girls interested in business to know that they should lean on people who believe in them just as her mother did.
