Today we’d like to introduce you to Tarika Sullivan.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After winning the Atlanta Blogger of the Year Award for my blog covering black women’s experiences with natural hair nearly 10 years ago, and once I completed my dissertation: an examination of black women teachers’ experiences as professionals, I knew I would stay true to centering black women’s voices. In 2020, I opened Black Girl Magic Tours (BGMT) is Atlanta’s guided luxury mural crawl for brown girls. This cultural tour offers a glimpse into the city’s rich art scene while celebrating black women’s brilliance, beauty, and contributions to black culture and community. It was born out of my love for Atlanta – a city where many people who look like me, a black woman, operate in positions of power. BGMT first began as an experience I curated for friends of mine in my own car. Two years ago, I decided to build the concept out a bit more to stand as a celebration of black womanhood. I never would have imagined that an idea that once danced around in my head would be featured in Essence Magazine, Atlanta Magazine, South Fulton Magazine, or Travel Noire! What makes BGMT unique is its simplicity: bringing black women together to explore Atlanta’s vibrant art scene over Melanin cupcakes and BlackGirlinis.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Black Girl Magic Tours is a pretty novel idea. And that can be a gift and a curse. First the gift: People can be quite curious about new ideas and they were definitely curious about what exactly a ‘Black Girl Mural Crawl’ actually was. The challenge though, was that such a novel idea was kind of difficult to explain in that there was no other concept to compare it to. In the early season, I worked on a tagline that could definitively describe the experience both quickly and fully. That was certainly a feat!
Another challenge for me was learning the world of being an entrepreneur. As a woman whose education and work had long been in the field of education, starting a business was a new yet exciting venture. I had to school myself on just about everything from marketing to maintaining a website. Thankfully, I’ve had some pretty amazing people around me to bounce ideas off of to help me build BGMT to what it is.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Black Girl Magic Tours is Atlanta’s guided luxury mural crawl for brown girls. And…she’s my baby. On this Black Girl Mural Crawl, guests navigate the city exploring deeply meaningful murals that highlight and celebrate the beauty, brilliance, and sisterhood of black women.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My advice for those just starting out is to not wait until things are perfect. By that, I mean you can launch before the website is totally done. You can start selling before you have a full array of items in store. All that will come with time. Simply GET STARTED!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blackgirlmagictours.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/blackgirlmagictours
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/blackgirlmagictours
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/bgmtours
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@blackgirlmagictours
Image Credits
Ben Rollins
