Meet Spoon Consultancy Cooperative: Black Women Owned Creative Consultancy

We had the good fortune of connecting with Spoon Consultancy Cooperative and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Spoon Consultancy, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Our story begins with community–the foundation of our journey. Starting in 2017, Life of a Single Spoon cultivates a safe digital space for black women in search of a place to share life experiences, new opportunities, and work through the challenges of the transition to adulthood. In 2019, we heard their desire for work spaces that valued who they were at all levels, that didn’t require them to compartmentalize to succeed, and invested in them at the same rate at which they were expected to contribute. Since we also knew what that struggle felt like, we decided to be the solution. We took an in-depth look at how we could serve our community in ways that weren’t just temporary, or worse, used them as token faces for racial equity in the workplace. (I’m sure we’ve all been there).

From this desire came The Spoons Consultancy. Spoons helps our Black women, femme and gender non-conforming consultants find projects, set their own rates, and develop expansive professional networks. Most importantly, we operate as a worker-owned cooperative. This means that all si of our co-owners equally split the firm’s profits and share in all decision-making. It was critical for us to live into our values by disrupting traditional capitalistic business models that we know ultimately disadvantage our community.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The Spoons Consultancy Co-op is a Black women-owned and staffed creative consulting firm committed to working differently, long-term equity, and people-first work environments. We specialize in well researched business development, authentic branding, and high-impact design and social media campaigns. We excel at creative project management, and assist our clients from ideation through implementation. We offer clients access to a full suite of consultants, who are uniquely supported through our professional development and collaborative resources, allowing them to provide exceptional service.

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.
Well, we know bestie is a complex and multifaceted queen so her first day intown is going to be a leisurely day. For lunch, she’ll have a 10 piece extra wet, extra crispy order of hot and lemon pepper wings from LTs off Cascade (iykyk). We’ll walk that off at the Cascade Nature Preserve down the street. The next day, we’ll start with tea from Just Add Honey and do a lunch picnic in Freedom park with wraps from Tassili’s Raw Reality Cafe. (Can you tell we love to eat?). At this point Bestie is rested, hydrated and ready for a night in the city that was the blueprint for good house parties. Gentrification kicked a lot of the homies out and Covid killed some of our favorite spots (RIP Sound Table & Music Room), but we know we can always slide through JoyStick for good vibes then head to MJQ–or, even better, wherever DJ Hourglass is playing–for the late night turn up. Thankfully, our good sis is here until Sunday, so that night, we’ll take her to Cascade Skating Rink on some #RealSWATSGirlSh*t.

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?
We’d like to dedicate our shoutout to black women in every stage of success, every phase in life, and every expression of self that they find joy in. Black women are the reason we are here today and the reason we continue to press on even when the work seems overwhelming. To the black women close to us–our friends, family, play aunties, fake cousins, neighborhood sisters and so on–your love and support are seen and felt. We appreciate you! Our culture is woven into who we are and the foundation we’re creating for the future. You’re the real modern day heroes and if no one has said it today, we say it a thousand times over–thank you!

Website: spoonsconsultancy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespoonsconsultancy/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/life-of-a-single-spoon/

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