INCREASED HEALTH RISKS LAUNCHING PAD FOR THIS BLACK-, WOMAN-OWNED, PLANT-BASED CHOCOLATE COMPANY

By Stacy Jackson

One Black entrepreneur landed a sweet deal with QVC for her plant-based chocolate brand.

According to The Journal Record, Tabatha Carr, ND, founder of Good Girl Chocolate, will sell her candy brand online and over the phone on July 26, 2023, for QVC’s Christmas in July.

Carr’s brand can also be found at 28 Whole Foods stores across Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas, The Journal Record reported. The brand owner said, according to the outlet, “When I got a phone call from Whole Foods, it was life-changing.”

That’s not all. Carr added, “We are also in two airports in Tulsa and Austin.”

Good Girl Chocolate tastes good and is good for you. The brand owner formulated the chocolate after she learned she was pre-diabetic and could have trouble conceiving thanks to hormonal imbalances, The Journal Record reported. Carr said, “That was my wake-up call because the doctor presented to me either surgery or more medication. And my mother, my grandmother, aunt[s], cousins, they all had a hysterectomy by age 40. So, I ended up changing my relationship with food,” Carr said.

A big part of success is showing up where there is opportunity. Carr pitched her brand idea to QVC at Texas Women’s Conference one year before officially launching Good Girl Chocolate. She did not have the workings of a business at the time. She said, “I didn’t have customers, I didn’t have packaging, I didn’t have a website,” said Carr, according to The Journal Record.

Carr went straight to work on her business and experienced a lot of wins as a result. But, the journey to success is often bittersweet. Like many Black entrepreneurs, Carr had trouble getting capital. The Journal Record noted her breakthrough came from a six-month accelerator program, ACT. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, grant program awarded Good Girl Chocolate $70,000. After, she reached out to QVC for a second time and landed a deal.

The chocolate brand received a grant from Beyoncé’s BeyGOOD Foundation in 2020 and was in gift bags for Oscar nominees. Good Girl Chocolate was also featured in gift bags at the Grammys, among other wins for the brand, The Journal Record noted.