Yahoo! Finance: Woman Wants Builds Community Company
Guy Lucas, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
August 19, 2022·3 min read
Aug. 19—HIGH POINT — As Whitney Middlebrooks was growing up, all signs seemed to point to a future in entertainment.
She was a singer and dancer and participated in numerous talent shows and other performances, including on a Triad-based gospel music television show; she played in the Andrews High School band; and she was a member of a step team.
"When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a singer," she said. "Life, you know — that didn't happen."
As she got older and especially in college, she said, she felt herself pulled more by her artistic and social tendencies toward marketing-related fields. For more than two years now Middlebrooks, 36, has been building her own integrated marketing business, Black Luxe & Co.
She considers herself a second-generation entrepreneur — following her father, Phillip Middlebrooks, a consulting contractor in the insurance and risk management field — and aspires to be a role model for young Black girls growing up in High Point so they see her and think, "I can do that."
"You don't have to go to the biggest city to do certain things, and you can be impactful in your community," she said.
As the name of her company implies, she has a particular interest in helping elevate Black culture and Black-owned businesses. She traces the roots of that interest to a childhood in a close-knit family that nurtured her own cultural awareness.
"I've always been very entrenched in my culture, Black culture," Middlebrooks said. "I didn't watch cartoons (as a child), I watched a lot of heavy documentaries."
She considers an uncle, the Rev. Willie Middlebrooks, to be a guiding influence, citing one particular saying of his: "Always remember who you are and whose you are." She said it means to remain faithful to the values you hold and what you stand for, and also to the family and community you represent and to God.
Her desire to lift up and build community among Black-owned businesses led her two years ago to organize the Black Luxe Business Expo at the High Point Theatre. She said she thought for a long time that such an event was needed, and one day she decided to organize one.
"Instead of me looking for someone to create this thing I'm looking for, I just did it," she said.
Middlebrooks' desire to lift up the overall High Point community has led her to expand the event the past two years, and this year's expo, set for noon-6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, at the High Point Theatre, is planned to be at least as much a community festival as a business expo, she said.
There will be vendors from businesses as far away as Maryland and Georgia, but there also will be live music, a keynote speaker, a poetry reading, food trucks, a photo booth, a children's play area and a firetruck, among the additions. Admission is free.
The intention behind the more festival-oriented atmosphere is to draw a larger part of the High Point community, create a fun experience and help build local connections and pride, she said.
"I definitely want High Point to be great," she said.