The Chattery is hosting Bloom Creative Summit, a one-day conference designed for Black women & nonbinary creatives to connect, cultivate community and learn from one another.
Bloom will take place on Saturday, May 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and focuses on two tracks, business and wellness.
The event will give attendees the tools and resources they need to bloom in business and flourish in wellness. The Summit will feature a keynote conversation plus panels with local and regional experts.
Keynote speakers include Naj Austin and Niambi Cacchioli. Naj Austin is a leader in the hospitality industry, currently at the helm of Strategy & Experience at GVO Hospitality, the parent company of Issa Rae's Hilltop Coffee + Kitchen. She also founded and launched two companies, Ethel’s Club and Somewhere Good.
Niambi Cacchioli is an academic turned beauty activist. She founded Pholk Beauty a popular skincare brand that blends knowledge of the African Diaspora’s healing and herbalist traditions.
The keynote conversation will be moderated by Toccara Johnson-Petersen, CEO of Girls Inc. of Chattanooga.
“For years, we’ve wanted to create a conference that celebrates community and learning,” says Shawanda Mason, co-founder. “Since this year is our 10th anniversary, we decided that 2024 would be the year we launch. We chose to focus on Black women and Black nonbinary people because we know that generating and providing community offers a sense of belonging and provides much-needed social connections we don’t always receive during our entrepreneurial journeys.”
Panelists and workshop leaders are experts hailing from Chattanooga and beyond (including Atlanta, Nashville, and Louisville). Some workshop topics include:
- Creative Strategies to Sustain Your Business
- Mental Health for Founders
- Money Talks: How to Get It & Keep It
- Meditations & Mantras for Entrepreneurship
In addition to panels, fireside chats will take place simultaneously in our Brainstorming Lounge offering a third space for attendees to learn. Bloom’s full schedule can be found on the Bloom website.
Bloom will take place across three venues on the Southside: Cabanas Nightclub & Event Venue, The Chattery, and Exile Off Main (Brainstorming Lounge). The day will conclude with a happy hour featuring Louisville-based DJ Ayomi.
General admission tickets are $99 ($107 all-inclusive of fees) and $75 for student tickets ($81.88 all-inclusive of fees). Both ticket options can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Bloom is powered by LaunchTN, the Benwood Foundation, Urban League of Greater Chattanooga, Pathway Lending, Upstate Mississippi, and Chattanooga Tourism Co.
For more information and announcements about Bloom, follow the conference on Instagram.