We had the good fortune of connecting with Murphy Paschall and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Murphy, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to get a message out to the African American community at large about the amount of money we spend in the United States economy annually. So, eventually I thought using fashion was the best way to get this message to the people.

What should our readers know about your business?
Black Paper StreetWear is a company I started 5 years ago in the dining room of my parents home. Strapped for cash but full of ideas, I always had a passion for helping people and a love for fashion. Just recognizing the unfair treatment of African Americans in this country, I felt a need to get involved to help in some kind of way. This line of thinking brought information across my path about the collective spending of Black people so, it was my thought that a race of people with this kind of spending power had the funding to change the conditions they live under. African Americans spend over 1.3 trillion dollars annually in the United States economy.

Being low on funds I did not have a way to buy t-shirts in bulk, have them screen printed with empowering messages and selling them to customers. Then in 2016, I discovered an article about building a clothing brand using the dropship method. Next, I created a website on Shopify.com and linked my website to my Printful.com account. Printful manufactures my designed t-shirts and ships them to my customers. Printful uses a process called ‘Print on Demand’ meaning they only print what my customers order … making my overhead minimum.

I am very excited about hiring AGM(Attention Grabbing Media) as a marketing consultant that is helping to scale my brand. Also, the fact that we are in our 5th year and still operating is a real accomplishment to me. Note: I trademarked my logo myself with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

One of the main lessons that I learned is that you can’t take it personal when your family doesn’t purchase from you. Usually, they have a hard time seeing you as this aspiring business entrepreneur because they are so used to seeing as that brother, sister, niece or nephew … etc.

Black Paper StreetWear is a brand that uses graphics/messages placed on clothing items that promote the spending power of African Americans.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We would definitely hang out in the Harbor East area where we would have several bars to choose from for food and drinks. The next day we would venture over to the Baltimore Comedy Club where they always have headlining comedians from across the country. Then its onto Washington DC and doing a little shopping in the Georgetown area.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shout out Omar Muhammad of EDAC(Entrepreneurial Development and Assistance Center) located on the campus of Morgan State University.

Website: https://blackpaperstore.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackpaperstore/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/murphy-paschall-sr-b2772327/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BLACKPAPERstwr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackpaperstreetwear

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@blackpaperstreetwear?

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