Support Your Local Black Girl: Raven Barrett, Cocoiv

Raven Barrett, in her own words , “I’m a whole mama, the creatHER, and foundHER  of Cocoiv.” Cocoiv is a brand that is dedicated to paying homage to Every Black Mom one tee at a time. Their products are curated around Black mom sayings, parenting, culture, sisterhood, and everyday life from. Focusing on a Black woman’s perspective with comfort and conversations in mind. Though every Black Mom is different, Cocoiv understands we can all relate to the beauty that is Black motherhood.

What inspired you to start Cocoiv?

The inspiration behind starting my brand was becoming a mother. I wanted to create a brand that paid respect to the women who empowered me throughout my pregnancy journey and something that reflected my new stage in life: Black motherhood. 

I choose t-shirts specifically to convey the message of Black motherhood because clothing tells a story with or without words.

If you had one piece of advice to those just starting out a business, what would it be?

Keep going. There will be days when this entrepreneurship life is everything you imagined and then there will be days when you wonder why you even started. Just always remember your why, where you want to be, and appreciate the in between stage.

Why do you feel your brand is important for Black women?

Cocoiv is important for Black women because we need to understand where we came from to know where we are going, and we all came from Black women. Even if your biracial and your mother is of another ethnicity, somewhere in your lineage a Black women sacrificed her soul, the essence of her culture, and her own children at times to be a wet nurse for some else’s. It’s this very reason why Black women will forever be the roots of this brand. 

The essence of our products are curated around conversations for Black moms, however, that doesn’t negate the fact that we are Black women first. Whether that conversation is just a laugh, sharing a memory, empowering one another, or gaining some wisdom, I want Black women to know that this brand is our village and our sisterhood.

Also for all your readers, in correlation with our “ Stay Outta Grown Folk Business” tee we have a Grown Folk Business topic that we ask our audience every Tuesday around 9pm in our stories. Trust, you’ll learn something or ki ki all day reading the responses. 

We also have a new IGTV series called Story Time that we do once a month. It’s our story time as grown women and that’s all I’ll really say about that. Long story short just check out our Instagram profile every Tuesday.

So there you have it Nubian Shorties ! Let’s Support Our Local Black Girl and make sure you go check out Cocoiv