Lilliannia

In 2018, my husband and I opened Oakland's first Black-owned Crystal Botanica in downtown Oakland. With the help of a Kiva loan in our first year, we were able to begin our journey. In 2019, the business was doing so well that I was able to quit my day job and extend our hours to five days per week. By the beginning of 2020, the business had grown to a level to support our family. My husband quit his day job in January 2020, only to be greeted by a worldwide pandemic that shut down our in-person shopping experience. At the time, we had no online presence outside of Social Media. To survive, we quickly shifted our strategy, developed a website, and were able to expand our business from locally to internationally.

Since our last Kiva loan, we have primarily been self-funded, which has limited our expansion, but our faithful fans and shoppers have wanted and needed more from us. The need for healing in the city of Oakland and the world at large is at an all-time high and our products and services are primed to meet this need.

Our vision of what is possible is vast, but to make it there, we need your help. This loan will allow us to acquire needed equipment, improve infrastructure, market and grow the brand while expanding into revenue-generating initiatives, including wholesaling products, hotel contracts, and large-scale events.