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After fighting for a diverse and inclusive culture in the athletic apparel and footwear industry, Portia Blunt, a former Reebok executive, decided to bet on herself and tell the untold stories of Black American culture without boundaries by creating her clothing line, Bee Blunt.
Blunt’s line was heavily influenced by the women who inspired her.
“When I thought about the journey of all of the amazing women in my life, through my experiences in life, and then when we look at our shared collective history, all of those stories have really impacted me profoundly over the years. When I put all of those things together, it’s a recipe for, I would say greatness … and that’s essentially how … it was born. When we put the magic of storytelling, the legacy of history, and then what I love and do, which is fashion, altogether, we have a beautiful baby called Bee Blunt,” she said.
Blunt uses those influences to help Bee Blunt stand out from other clothing lines.
“Bee Blunt is really rooted in … our aesthetic, is classic American style, but really what the difference is when you think about that particular genre — it’s really one dimensional and it’s usually told through a very specific lens. With Bee Blunt, it broadens that aperture a bit and we look at lived experiences and the experience of Americana through Black culture and the lens of Black culture. We bring all of that to life through storytelling, and storytelling then translated through design, and we really specialize in using sweaters as a canvas to ignite conversation, tell a story,” said Blunt.
“Oftentimes hidden figures of sorts that people may not have known about, that we can bring those stories to life and amplify not only the story but also make that connection in terms of when you wear something of ours, it’s a Bee Blunt sweater. Whether it’s an Inkwell sweater or a House of Lowe sweater that we designed to pay homage to Ann Lowe, those products ignite conversation, and it makes a connection. So that’s really exciting for us because the storytelling element is a lost art and it’s really a center to what we do,” she said.
Blunt said Bee Blunt would not have been possible without the support of her “village.”
“My husband [and] my family were all really huge supporters in nurturing my dream and giving me a lot of motivation to keep going and make it happen. I also have an amazing village around me of friends and coworkers that really understood the mission and what I was trying to accomplish,” she said, adding, “Immediately, when I share about what we do as a brand, people are really excited about it and want to learn more and what (they) can do to help. And so, that I would say is really how all of that support comes into play across the board from our extended village.”
Blunt faced a lot of obstacles while making her dream come true, including a battle within herself.
“When I think about obstacles, I don’t think so much about a store not being open or a supplier shutting down anything like that. I probably was my biggest obstacle in terms of self-doubt and being on the edge of fear in terms of not thinking as big as I probably could to make it happen, and just letting an idea sit as just a dream and really pushing myself to realize it. That goes back to … the support around me. [They] really encouraged me and gave me a lot of confidence, so that it would really quiet that noise that was in my head that ‘you can’t do it because XYZ,’ ‘you can’t do it because of money,’ ‘you can’t do it because of time.’ ‘You can’t do it because you’re so busy.’ Once I cleared my head … to just actually do it, a lot really transpired pretty quickly. I started to see the dream come to life,” she said.
Black American storytelling culture is something that Blunt holds dear, especially during these times.
“Our brand is really, really rooted in bringing to life these stories that are at this point in time, where the moment that we live in is critical. It’s critical to preserve history. It’s critical to amplify these stories. And our brand is a natural equalizer where it doesn’t necessarily feel like you’re hitting someone over the head. It really is a conversation piece, and once you engage in the conversation, you realize you have so much more in connection with people. At the end of the day, [that] is our brand contribution — to keep things moving forward in terms of minimizing, losing history, losing potential heritage, which is so important to us,” she said.
Blunt has some advice for entrepreneurs of color who may want to open a business of their own.
“I would say [to] honestly ground yourself in your passion and your purpose, because it’s never going to steer you wrong. I can wholeheartedly say I’ve done that and I would really focus on that. Once you really get grounded in your passion, that fuels your purpose. It will then make it a lot easier for you,” she said.
“My dad always said to me [to] focus on your GPA. It’s not so much your grade point average, but it’s always about setting a goal, creating a plan, and acting on it. … I set a goal: I wanted to start Bee Blunt as a business. I put together a plan and instead of the action, I really just say activate — where you just do it, you just get out there and take small steps. Those small steps start to matriculate into big steps and every one of those steps counts towards that dream,” said Blunt.
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