WCW :: Michiel Perry

This week’s Woman Crush Wednesday goes out to Michiel Perry, founder and creator of Black Southern Belle! I met Michiel online shortly after she started Black Southern Belle (or BSB for short) in the Fall of 2015. She was newly married and had recently left her lobbyist job in DC to move home to South Carolina. While planning her wedding she began to realize that there were a lot of print and online publications for Southern brides, but nothing specifically for Black Southern Belles. And being a card carrying BSB, she decided she needed to do something to fill this gap in the marketplace. In short order, Michiel created an online platform focused on lifestyle and inspiration for African-American women in the South, the first of it’s kind.

Never one to shy away from making a new friend, Michiel reached out to me because she thought our brands were aligned.  And although I’m not from the South, I agreed with her entirely.  She was interested in creating some Black Southern Belle notecards and a little bit of whatnot to sell on her website.  So, I had the pleasure of working with Michiel to create some private label product for her brand.  During one of our brainstorming sessions, she told me that in addition to all she had in-store for BSB she was planning to host a conference in Charleston in November 2016 and asked if I’d be one of the speakers.  I said of course and went on my merry way.  Fast forward to August of 2016 when I start seeing information about the Black Southern Belle conference popping up all over the internet . . . You could of knocked me over with a feather!  I’ve learned that in this entrepreneurial world, lots of people say they’re going to do all sorts of things, few people follow through on them so quickly and thoroughly.  So, when the phone rang in September confirming my presence at the November 2016 First Annual Black Southern Belle Conference, you can bet I said, “I’ll be there.”