By Black Women, For Black Women: La Tetra and the Art of Business
“It’s like Amazon for Black women.” That’s how Lae Tetra describes her business. La Tetra owns Aliwazas, a web service that serves as a multi-vendor selling platform for black women’s brands. Black women entrepreneurs can sign up for web space on her site, and sell their products for only a small commission fee. This puts the black dollar back into black people.
A typical day for La Tetra involves sitting among a gaggle of beads, stringing them together with love and care. Perhaps she’s bent over her desk crowded with invoices. Maybe she’s working on her website, or perusing some of the vendors that have decided to sell there. Regardless, it can’t be denied that La Tetra is a hard worker and passionate about what she does.
I had the pleasure of talking with La Tetra about her business, day-to-day life, and challenges she’s faced as a small business owner. To begin, we discussed where the idea for her business came from. According to La Tetra, it was a gradual process, not a ‘lightbulb’ moment. She says,
“In 2015, I was working a government job and doing hair. I always liked to work with my hands. As a hobby, I started making crystal waist beads and selling them. As I began to invest in materials, the orders just started flooding in.”
