Djenaba Ali, September 8th, 2022
Title
Djenaba Ali, September 8th, 2022
Description
In this interview, Djenaba Ali talks about the honor of being a part of the Hustle Project and her business Black Bottom Garden Center.
Publisher
Detroit Historical Society
Rights
Detroit Historical Society
Language
en-US
Narrator/Interviewee's Name
Djenaba Ali
Brief Biography
Djenaba Ali is a a proud Detroiter, and with her ambitious spirit she was able to start her business in May 2021.
Interviewer's Name
Billy Wall-Winkel
Interview Place
Detroit, MI
Date
9/08/2022
Interview Length
29:26
Transcriptionist
Taylor Claybrook
Transcription
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:00] Hello. My name is Billy Wall-Winkel. This interview is for the Detroit Historical Society's Hustle project. Today is September 8th, 2022. It's a Thursday. And I am sitting down with
Djenaba Ali [00:00:13] Djenaba Ali.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:14] Thank you so much. Oh, and by the way, we are in Detroit, Michigan, before I forget that part. Thank you again. Can you please spell your name for me?
Djenaba Ali [00:00:22] D-J-E-N-A-B-A Ali is A-L-I.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:28] Thank you so much. Just start off easy. Get us warmed up. How do you first hear about the Hustle project?
Djenaba Ali [00:00:37] I saw it online on Facebook.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:41] Do you remember what your first thoughts about it were? Djenaba Ali [00:00:44] Wow. This is different. This is special. This is what we need.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:51] And how did you find yourself getting involved? Did you self nominate you nominate someone else nominate you?
Djenaba Ali [00:00:57] I definitely self nominated, but I shared it so that possibly others could nominate me. So I don't know if others chimed in.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:01:08] How did it feel for you to become one of the honorees?
Djenaba Ali [00:01:19] I guess I classify myself as a as a like a Detroiter. You know, so it it it was definitely humbling and I guess you could say without sounding you're all, like, deserving, you know? But but is but it was. It was like, you know, um, a full circle moment for me and something that I'm like, okay, you know, when you, when you're given something as a recipient, you want the giver to know that. You know, that that you you you feel appreciative. You're you're you're excited. You're all the things that you know you want. And so is like for me, it's like, oh, no, I'm I'm definitely. All right, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I'll represent I'll shine I'll do all that, you know, because it's is is is wonderful. Is wonderful. It is motivating.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:02:32] That's great to hear.
Djenaba Ali [00:02:33] Mm hmm.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:02:37] So let's just go back to the let's go to the reason why you get nominated in the first place. Your business. What is the name of your business?
Djenaba Ali [00:02:44] Black Bottom Garden Center.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:02:46] So and this may sound ridiculous, but can you please spell that for me?
Djenaba Ali [00:02:50] Yes. Be right. Black Bottom Garden Center. Black is B-L-A-C-K, bottom B-O-T-T-O-M garden G-A-R-D-E-N and center C-E-N-T-E-R.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:03:07] Thank you. Thank you. I make everyone do it. I promise. When did you first get started?
Djenaba Ali [00:03:15] Well, I got started May officially like the business opened May 2021. Got started through a 16 week course co-op program through Detroit Community Wealth Fund, and it was an incubator business startup program where I met my other business partners. And that started November 2020. Yeah, and we graduated in April and boom, the business started in May.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:03:55] So did you have the idea for the business before you joined the 16 week program?
Djenaba Ali [00:03:59] No, I did not. I, uh. I knew so so I'm a mother of five. Six. Let me let me rephrase that. I'm a mother of six. My first son is in baby heaven. So that's that. But so I'm a mother of five here. And the last three of my children are triplets who are now about
to be seven. So I said all that to say. When I was pregnant with them and maybe when they were newborns. I just. I just said. By the time they're five. I want to start a business. I didn't. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what it would I would be doing or how I would look like. But that's all I had to go on, right? Because life is like crazy having triplets. So fast forward from 2015 to 2020, saw the newsletter that they were starting the class and I joined blindly like, hey, I just, I just want to be a part of something. And the co-op attracted me. That model, that business model, because, again, I'm a mother, so, you know, I can't do it all myself. I know I want a business. I don't know, you know, I don't have any partner. You know, like I say, I didn't have an idea. So when I joined the class. They did all the research, you know, they did all the groundwork and foot work of surveying the neighborhood in the residence to see what those residents wanted to see in the neighborhood. And some of the categories were like beauty supply lawn service, garden center was one bike repair, uh, some other. And actually I chose bike repair. I chose that because I'm like, hey, during the pandemic, I everybody, my neighbors, everyone was looking for bikes. And and so we were to like go to house. Like, where did you get your bikes for the kids? So just beyond that, I love bike riding and recreation and stuff, but that was my choice. So when it got narrowed down and nobody else voted for that category, I got my second choice was the garden center and the so my classmates and I met each other like that, who soon became business partners. And we started off it was about ten of us, then nine, then about six, and now we're down to four like the final four. And that's, you know, representative of foundation. So that's where we are today.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:06:55] How did you hear about the program in the first place?
Djenaba Ali [00:06:58] So, I am a co-founder of a nonprofit with some other friends called Black to the Land Coalition. So not only do we we are self-proclaimed outdoor leaders, but we are also board members. So one of my fellow board members being Anthony. He is. I believe, a co-founder of Detroit Community Wealth Fund. And they had started doing some footwork in the in the community. Doing pop up events, or if you had an existing event, they would show up and do a board game called Co-op Alley. So it was like a co-op board game and you know, everybody play it and it is like you have to decide how you distribute your money among members. So it was fine and this was pre-pandemic time,
the good old days. And, and so I was again, always been business minded and in the back of my brain. And so I joined the mailing list when, when they had those events.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:08:13] Gotcha gotcha, when you say like your group whittled down from 10 to 4, how did that happen.
Djenaba Ali [00:08:20] um kind of just organically like. Some had other obligations, some just didn't think, you know, because it was a classroom setting, it was class, and it was it was like, oh, we're this is a real business. Like, we're doing this thing. So just just other family obligations, other, other just type of commitments and the level of commitment you need to start this in the flexibility. So that was that was just kind of like, hey, guys, I won't be able to do this, you know? So that yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:08:55] For for a hot moment, I was like, is this a competition? Djenaba Ali [00:08:58] All right, maybe when you got voted off.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:09:01] Yeah, when it whittled down, I was like, wait, what? Djenaba Ali [00:09:03] Yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:09:03] Okay, just checking.
Djenaba Ali [00:09:05] So what.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:09:07] Where did the, Yeah, I haven't asked this. Where did the name for the business come from?
Djenaba Ali [00:09:10] Good questions. So, again starting a business in especially in these days and times this is is intentional. You know, it's not just, oh, this is what I want to do, you know. So all of the thoughts go into why you're doing it, how you're doing it, and the purpose. Even though it's a for profit, you still want to add in a bit of social entrepreneurship to it. So the name came from just us honoring the the area of black bottom and that legacy. We're actually located in the north end neighborhood of Detroit, but it borders and they share a similar history with the black bottom neighborhood. And a lot of people can come to Detroit Historical Museum to learn more about that whole black bottom story. But aside from a lot of people think the neighborhood is named after like maybe the people, black Detroiters and things like that, but it it originally the soil was rich in the river beds that used to run through that area, made that soil dark and rich. And so that's why they call it black bottom. So playing off of that. Of course, you know, it's a garden center and we deal with soil and compost. So that was where the the whole idea process of the name came from.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:10:50] Did you already know you were going to be located in the North End?
Djenaba Ali [00:10:53] Yes, we did know that. We did know that actually that newsletter in the call out to join that class. It has said something about, you know, I had the verbage in it that it would be in the north and area.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:11:09] Gotcha. Gotcha.
Djenaba Ali [00:11:09] Mm.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:11:10] So did you feel, I should say you and your cohorts, did you feel prepared to start running the business when you graduated from the class?
Djenaba Ali [00:11:18] Definitely. Definitely. Each week we would go through market and business research, financials, all of that good stuff. Yeah, that was part of it.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:11:32] And so what was it like making that transition from the classroom to to the real world?
Djenaba Ali [00:11:38] Very intense, because technically I think the idea was to like go through the program and then start your business. But we had a couple of motivated and experienced people in our group. So again, the class ran from like November through April. But by January we were like, We need to open this year. The season is upon us, or else we'll have to wait all over. We're garden center. So then the idea came about like, okay, when do we open? When do we open? So we opened Mother's Day and that's and that's been our little thing now, Mother's Day weekend. But yeah, we, we, we took it upon us to, like, do the work. In conjunction with doing a class where we're prepping our business to like launched as well. And so that's how we did it.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:12:44] And how did it feel, uh, walking your triplets through the space? Djenaba Ali [00:12:50] Ah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:12:51] It was amazing.
Djenaba Ali [00:12:52] Right. Right is surreal. Um, you know, again, I try to be in the moment and just really think about it like, wow, this. Everything is, like, they say, the power of it's song, the power of the spoken word. So, you know, in manifesting things in, it's like, I'm not a stranger to this. So so what it makes me do is say, okay, star man is star really speaking. Speaking. Speaking what you want, you know? Enact in on it, of course.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:13:30] So how did the first season go? So you knew you needed to get open. You need to do a quick how to go.
Djenaba Ali [00:13:36] It went really well. Um. We had so much community support, so much neighborhood support. What's special about each of the four of us? What's funny is we didn't know each other, but we know everybody else. We know each other's people like. So it's like. My my good, good, good, good friends are, you know, used to work with some of my business partners or they partner in community or do projects together. So it's like it's crazy. Like how can we know each other, you know? So but us being grounded in a community already and then I'm, I'm new to the farmer Detroit urban farmer scene. But the other, the other ones are more entrenched in it. I kind of did like just community justice work in hip hop, underground hip hop stuff. And, and so I have a totally different background, but nevertheless, all these intergenerational happenings came together and it brought customers. We got news coverage. Some customers were like, we drove all the way from Ypsilanti and Bay City just to, you know, support you. So it was great.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:15:02] That's awesome. Mhm. So how does it. So how does it work for you say a startup? So there's there's large upfront cost before garden center. You do a great deal of business and you close to how do how does your model work.
Djenaba Ali [00:15:21] Right. So so we we do currently currently. Right. We operate pop up style because we have a hoop house that we keep our inventory in and that's our workspace. But a hoop house is essentially an unheated greenhouse, if you can imagine the hoops, the metal hoops and then is plastic over it. And that's what we that's what we operate out of. So, that being said, we launched last year a campaign on patron city and we asked for donations to help us get our building fund started so we can have a brick and mortar in the process of that. We, um, we got attention from the NFL and Detroit Lions, and so they got involved. And that's how we'll be having our green house. Light bricks and glass and heat and and sprinkler systems and all that good stuff that is coming real soon. But to go back to your question, um, so because we operate currently pop up style, we operate about May through October till it starts getting cold in there from October through December, at least last season, we did appointment only and we're situated on the grounds of Oakland AB and Avenue Urban Farm. So they have a farmhouse. The the like residential house that's been converted to a community house. So we house our houseplants there and some of our other dry goods like T-shirts and other merch and stuff. And so we're able to have customers come here by appointment during cold or rain or some inclement weather. And then we took a hiatus from January through March to just prep for the season and then it's back to okay seed starting growing purchasing. We we purchase from other growers, local growers, it's all been Michigan and Michigan growers or Detroit and Metro Detroit growers. And we grow some things ourselves. And so going forward once the Green House is built we'll be year round.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:17:57] Excellent. Mm hmm. And. So. So there's the four four of you, right? Djenaba Ali [00:18:06] Yes.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:18:08] Any new startup is usually volatile, but it's also extremely time consuming. Do the four of you. Are you continuing to do other work or are you all behind this right now?
Djenaba Ali [00:18:20] Yes, we are. Do either work. I like. I do tax preparation. And I also run a ski program during the winter time for youth in Detroit. So. So doing that, the other person is a real estate professional. The other person, she actually launched her own business right after us. Um. Frozen food company using using produce from local farmers. And the last the last partner, she is actually the executive director over the Oakland Avenue Urban Farms. So it is great being in partnership with her because we're situated on her.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:19:10] Yeah.
Djenaba Ali [00:19:11] So that all works out.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:19:13] But so how is it for you balancing those two things?
Djenaba Ali [00:19:16] Yeah. So like I say, I, my staff is seasonal. I have tax clients. I can just schedule them when I need to, which is usually when the kids are at school or after and signing with the ski program. I just take my kids with me. So that is the slow season
for us. And then knowing that that's the beauty of starting a business, I'm so thankful I said that with me were babies because it is all just a lot of puzzle pieces just came together because I am able to bring I can leave them home. I can bring them with me. Like I have that option it's not like, oh, children don't belong here. You know, everything I do has been
strategic. And I guess now that I'm more immersed in the nonprofit world, like with the other work I do. We always talk about mission statements and visions and all this. And I was like, you know, I guess I have my own personal mission statement and whatever that whatever is said is verbatim. It means that, like, the vision is for me to be able to operate and be me and do me and allow me to function in as a as a full time mom. So that's. Yeah. So that's how I'm able to balance.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:20:46] So we were talking earlier about once you get to the brick and mortar greenhouse, you can expand. So what do you currently offer?
Djenaba Ali [00:20:52] So we do perennials, which are plants that flowers bloom every year in your yard. Outdoor. Outdoor plants. So you have your perennials, your annuals. We have houseplants, we have seeds, we have transplants. Which are we start the seeds and they're baby plants. And you just planted in your garden. We sell pots. We sell now body products. So because we grow like, you know, we have mint, we have roses, we have this and that. So we we've been doing sugar scrubs and we just launched a a very nicely scented hairspray that that is a good detangler. And, you know, it helps. It helps condition most hair types. So, you know, we are always like evolving and and offering different goods. Now, when we have the brick and mortar. Excuse me, it'll be a huge opportunity for us to. Because we're open every day. I mean, you might. You might see. Pre. Pre-made salads or sandwiches offerings. Of course, our merch like our t shirts and we don't sell too many masks anymore. But but those those type of things like the Black Bottom Garden Center merch people love it because they love our logo.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:22:32] That's great.
Djenaba Ali [00:22:33] Mm hmm. Hand tools. We do we do a little of all of that. Like the equipments. All the tools. Yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:22:42] Nice things. So the course you went through with the Detroit Community Wealth Fund is is it just that six programs or are there follow ups or how does it work?
Djenaba Ali [00:22:55] Yeah, so they are currently we have a really good business relationship with them, so we meet monthly with them. Our first year we were able to just. So when we launched what we did as member owners, we pay monthly dues. So to start our seed money and then when we launched that just carried us through the season and it was it was pretty good this season. We went back. To the wealth fund and they have resources, right? So one of the resources is to do a do alone that is conducive for our business as a start up. And in in those conditions work great for how, how we're structured. And so that's what our business plan and in we are talking through marketing we talk and through a lot of those things you have to go back to but especially the financial piece and especially operating, getting to know more about the co-op structure. So we we definitely have that support, that ongoing support throughout our first few years.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:24:24] That's awesome.
Djenaba Ali [00:24:26] Oh, yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:24:27] Has there been any, uh, anything about your story, about the business that you wanted to share with me that I didn't ask you about?
Djenaba Ali [00:24:39] Other than. I mentioned, you know, we have the greenhouse being built.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:24:48] Is it also on the grounds?
Djenaba Ali [00:24:50] It's it's around the corner. So so we're operating more on a residential street currently. So this is on Oakland Avenue. And what's what's great about the greenhouse as being currently built? We see we we see it we see it from the ground. So we are seeing the cement being poured. That's done. Now, those the steel beams are there. I'm actually driving by there today to see because he said this week the walls go up. I met the contractor on Monday. He was working on Labor Day. You now go figure. I was there to just take pictures and um very nice guy. Local guy. Yeah. So. So just seeing that if I'm inspired I'm sure the neighborhood is inspired and it's it's nothing new on that. On that strip, except when you get towards the end. It's a big manufacturing facility, a huge manufacturing facility. But this will, I feel with this new construction will revitalize that entire business corridor. And that was one of the main reasons why we thought our business model would be unique, whether no matter who we were, is just that Black Bottom Garden Center is a beacon for other potential business owners, for the neighbors, for the residents to say, Hey, I can shop local, I can come, I could just walk over, bike over, drive over a short distance and get what I need. So that in itself is why we're doing it. That's why we wanted it on Oakland Avenue to really just bring bring that spirit back to that neighborhood and of course, Detroit in itself.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:26:59] That's great.
Djenaba Ali [00:27:00] Thank you.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:27:07] Going over my head, make sure I didn't miss anything. Djenaba Ali [00:27:09] Mm hmm.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:27:11] What are the names of your three cohorts?
Djenaba Ali [00:27:15] So you have myself. You have Jerry Hebron, Imani Foster and Carol Trowel.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:27:25] Awesome. Thank you. Three final questions for you, and I'm pretty sure that's all I got. You did very well. When you think of the word hustle, what comes to mind?
Djenaba Ali [00:27:38] Figuring it out. Figuring it out. And. Time is of the essence. It is now. You can't wait. And you got to. Go get it now. Action!
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:28:01] And when you think of the word hustler, what comes to mind?
Djenaba Ali [00:28:05] A person that has the gift of gab. They. Have a great way of dealing with people, even people that don't like them. They have a way of giving you what you need. Or convincing you that you need it.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:28:30] And you're doing so many things. But you have a new side hustle going on right now. Now the garden centers again up and running.
Djenaba Ali [00:28:38] Um hmm. I actually garden center was my side hustle, which turned into my main hustle.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:28:46] As they tend to.
Djenaba Ali [00:28:47] Yeah, as they tend to. Now I'm just I'm just focused in on so I have a little 11th grader, so I'm really dialing into everything that's going on with him in terms of college prep. And then I have 3 first graders who are new readers. So that's that's a hustle in itself.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:29:10] As a reading coach.
Djenaba Ali [00:29:11] Yes, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, that's the hustle. Just dialing in as a parent.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:29:21] This was great. Thank you so much.
Djenaba Ali [00:29:23] Thank you.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:29:24] It was awesome.
Djenaba Ali [00:29:25] Awesome.
Djenaba Ali [00:00:13] Djenaba Ali.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:14] Thank you so much. Oh, and by the way, we are in Detroit, Michigan, before I forget that part. Thank you again. Can you please spell your name for me?
Djenaba Ali [00:00:22] D-J-E-N-A-B-A Ali is A-L-I.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:28] Thank you so much. Just start off easy. Get us warmed up. How do you first hear about the Hustle project?
Djenaba Ali [00:00:37] I saw it online on Facebook.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:41] Do you remember what your first thoughts about it were? Djenaba Ali [00:00:44] Wow. This is different. This is special. This is what we need.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:00:51] And how did you find yourself getting involved? Did you self nominate you nominate someone else nominate you?
Djenaba Ali [00:00:57] I definitely self nominated, but I shared it so that possibly others could nominate me. So I don't know if others chimed in.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:01:08] How did it feel for you to become one of the honorees?
Djenaba Ali [00:01:19] I guess I classify myself as a as a like a Detroiter. You know, so it it it was definitely humbling and I guess you could say without sounding you're all, like, deserving, you know? But but is but it was. It was like, you know, um, a full circle moment for me and something that I'm like, okay, you know, when you, when you're given something as a recipient, you want the giver to know that. You know, that that you you you feel appreciative. You're you're you're excited. You're all the things that you know you want. And so is like for me, it's like, oh, no, I'm I'm definitely. All right, thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I'll represent I'll shine I'll do all that, you know, because it's is is is wonderful. Is wonderful. It is motivating.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:02:32] That's great to hear.
Djenaba Ali [00:02:33] Mm hmm.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:02:37] So let's just go back to the let's go to the reason why you get nominated in the first place. Your business. What is the name of your business?
Djenaba Ali [00:02:44] Black Bottom Garden Center.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:02:46] So and this may sound ridiculous, but can you please spell that for me?
Djenaba Ali [00:02:50] Yes. Be right. Black Bottom Garden Center. Black is B-L-A-C-K, bottom B-O-T-T-O-M garden G-A-R-D-E-N and center C-E-N-T-E-R.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:03:07] Thank you. Thank you. I make everyone do it. I promise. When did you first get started?
Djenaba Ali [00:03:15] Well, I got started May officially like the business opened May 2021. Got started through a 16 week course co-op program through Detroit Community Wealth Fund, and it was an incubator business startup program where I met my other business partners. And that started November 2020. Yeah, and we graduated in April and boom, the business started in May.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:03:55] So did you have the idea for the business before you joined the 16 week program?
Djenaba Ali [00:03:59] No, I did not. I, uh. I knew so so I'm a mother of five. Six. Let me let me rephrase that. I'm a mother of six. My first son is in baby heaven. So that's that. But so I'm a mother of five here. And the last three of my children are triplets who are now about
to be seven. So I said all that to say. When I was pregnant with them and maybe when they were newborns. I just. I just said. By the time they're five. I want to start a business. I didn't. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know what it would I would be doing or how I would look like. But that's all I had to go on, right? Because life is like crazy having triplets. So fast forward from 2015 to 2020, saw the newsletter that they were starting the class and I joined blindly like, hey, I just, I just want to be a part of something. And the co-op attracted me. That model, that business model, because, again, I'm a mother, so, you know, I can't do it all myself. I know I want a business. I don't know, you know, I don't have any partner. You know, like I say, I didn't have an idea. So when I joined the class. They did all the research, you know, they did all the groundwork and foot work of surveying the neighborhood in the residence to see what those residents wanted to see in the neighborhood. And some of the categories were like beauty supply lawn service, garden center was one bike repair, uh, some other. And actually I chose bike repair. I chose that because I'm like, hey, during the pandemic, I everybody, my neighbors, everyone was looking for bikes. And and so we were to like go to house. Like, where did you get your bikes for the kids? So just beyond that, I love bike riding and recreation and stuff, but that was my choice. So when it got narrowed down and nobody else voted for that category, I got my second choice was the garden center and the so my classmates and I met each other like that, who soon became business partners. And we started off it was about ten of us, then nine, then about six, and now we're down to four like the final four. And that's, you know, representative of foundation. So that's where we are today.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:06:55] How did you hear about the program in the first place?
Djenaba Ali [00:06:58] So, I am a co-founder of a nonprofit with some other friends called Black to the Land Coalition. So not only do we we are self-proclaimed outdoor leaders, but we are also board members. So one of my fellow board members being Anthony. He is. I believe, a co-founder of Detroit Community Wealth Fund. And they had started doing some footwork in the in the community. Doing pop up events, or if you had an existing event, they would show up and do a board game called Co-op Alley. So it was like a co-op board game and you know, everybody play it and it is like you have to decide how you distribute your money among members. So it was fine and this was pre-pandemic time,
the good old days. And, and so I was again, always been business minded and in the back of my brain. And so I joined the mailing list when, when they had those events.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:08:13] Gotcha gotcha, when you say like your group whittled down from 10 to 4, how did that happen.
Djenaba Ali [00:08:20] um kind of just organically like. Some had other obligations, some just didn't think, you know, because it was a classroom setting, it was class, and it was it was like, oh, we're this is a real business. Like, we're doing this thing. So just just other family obligations, other, other just type of commitments and the level of commitment you need to start this in the flexibility. So that was that was just kind of like, hey, guys, I won't be able to do this, you know? So that yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:08:55] For for a hot moment, I was like, is this a competition? Djenaba Ali [00:08:58] All right, maybe when you got voted off.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:09:01] Yeah, when it whittled down, I was like, wait, what? Djenaba Ali [00:09:03] Yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:09:03] Okay, just checking.
Djenaba Ali [00:09:05] So what.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:09:07] Where did the, Yeah, I haven't asked this. Where did the name for the business come from?
Djenaba Ali [00:09:10] Good questions. So, again starting a business in especially in these days and times this is is intentional. You know, it's not just, oh, this is what I want to do, you know. So all of the thoughts go into why you're doing it, how you're doing it, and the purpose. Even though it's a for profit, you still want to add in a bit of social entrepreneurship to it. So the name came from just us honoring the the area of black bottom and that legacy. We're actually located in the north end neighborhood of Detroit, but it borders and they share a similar history with the black bottom neighborhood. And a lot of people can come to Detroit Historical Museum to learn more about that whole black bottom story. But aside from a lot of people think the neighborhood is named after like maybe the people, black Detroiters and things like that, but it it originally the soil was rich in the river beds that used to run through that area, made that soil dark and rich. And so that's why they call it black bottom. So playing off of that. Of course, you know, it's a garden center and we deal with soil and compost. So that was where the the whole idea process of the name came from.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:10:50] Did you already know you were going to be located in the North End?
Djenaba Ali [00:10:53] Yes, we did know that. We did know that actually that newsletter in the call out to join that class. It has said something about, you know, I had the verbage in it that it would be in the north and area.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:11:09] Gotcha. Gotcha.
Djenaba Ali [00:11:09] Mm.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:11:10] So did you feel, I should say you and your cohorts, did you feel prepared to start running the business when you graduated from the class?
Djenaba Ali [00:11:18] Definitely. Definitely. Each week we would go through market and business research, financials, all of that good stuff. Yeah, that was part of it.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:11:32] And so what was it like making that transition from the classroom to to the real world?
Djenaba Ali [00:11:38] Very intense, because technically I think the idea was to like go through the program and then start your business. But we had a couple of motivated and experienced people in our group. So again, the class ran from like November through April. But by January we were like, We need to open this year. The season is upon us, or else we'll have to wait all over. We're garden center. So then the idea came about like, okay, when do we open? When do we open? So we opened Mother's Day and that's and that's been our little thing now, Mother's Day weekend. But yeah, we, we, we took it upon us to, like, do the work. In conjunction with doing a class where we're prepping our business to like launched as well. And so that's how we did it.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:12:44] And how did it feel, uh, walking your triplets through the space? Djenaba Ali [00:12:50] Ah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:12:51] It was amazing.
Djenaba Ali [00:12:52] Right. Right is surreal. Um, you know, again, I try to be in the moment and just really think about it like, wow, this. Everything is, like, they say, the power of it's song, the power of the spoken word. So, you know, in manifesting things in, it's like, I'm not a stranger to this. So so what it makes me do is say, okay, star man is star really speaking. Speaking. Speaking what you want, you know? Enact in on it, of course.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:13:30] So how did the first season go? So you knew you needed to get open. You need to do a quick how to go.
Djenaba Ali [00:13:36] It went really well. Um. We had so much community support, so much neighborhood support. What's special about each of the four of us? What's funny is we didn't know each other, but we know everybody else. We know each other's people like. So it's like. My my good, good, good, good friends are, you know, used to work with some of my business partners or they partner in community or do projects together. So it's like it's crazy. Like how can we know each other, you know? So but us being grounded in a community already and then I'm, I'm new to the farmer Detroit urban farmer scene. But the other, the other ones are more entrenched in it. I kind of did like just community justice work in hip hop, underground hip hop stuff. And, and so I have a totally different background, but nevertheless, all these intergenerational happenings came together and it brought customers. We got news coverage. Some customers were like, we drove all the way from Ypsilanti and Bay City just to, you know, support you. So it was great.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:15:02] That's awesome. Mhm. So how does it. So how does it work for you say a startup? So there's there's large upfront cost before garden center. You do a great deal of business and you close to how do how does your model work.
Djenaba Ali [00:15:21] Right. So so we we do currently currently. Right. We operate pop up style because we have a hoop house that we keep our inventory in and that's our workspace. But a hoop house is essentially an unheated greenhouse, if you can imagine the hoops, the metal hoops and then is plastic over it. And that's what we that's what we operate out of. So, that being said, we launched last year a campaign on patron city and we asked for donations to help us get our building fund started so we can have a brick and mortar in the process of that. We, um, we got attention from the NFL and Detroit Lions, and so they got involved. And that's how we'll be having our green house. Light bricks and glass and heat and and sprinkler systems and all that good stuff that is coming real soon. But to go back to your question, um, so because we operate currently pop up style, we operate about May through October till it starts getting cold in there from October through December, at least last season, we did appointment only and we're situated on the grounds of Oakland AB and Avenue Urban Farm. So they have a farmhouse. The the like residential house that's been converted to a community house. So we house our houseplants there and some of our other dry goods like T-shirts and other merch and stuff. And so we're able to have customers come here by appointment during cold or rain or some inclement weather. And then we took a hiatus from January through March to just prep for the season and then it's back to okay seed starting growing purchasing. We we purchase from other growers, local growers, it's all been Michigan and Michigan growers or Detroit and Metro Detroit growers. And we grow some things ourselves. And so going forward once the Green House is built we'll be year round.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:17:57] Excellent. Mm hmm. And. So. So there's the four four of you, right? Djenaba Ali [00:18:06] Yes.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:18:08] Any new startup is usually volatile, but it's also extremely time consuming. Do the four of you. Are you continuing to do other work or are you all behind this right now?
Djenaba Ali [00:18:20] Yes, we are. Do either work. I like. I do tax preparation. And I also run a ski program during the winter time for youth in Detroit. So. So doing that, the other person is a real estate professional. The other person, she actually launched her own business right after us. Um. Frozen food company using using produce from local farmers. And the last the last partner, she is actually the executive director over the Oakland Avenue Urban Farms. So it is great being in partnership with her because we're situated on her.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:19:10] Yeah.
Djenaba Ali [00:19:11] So that all works out.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:19:13] But so how is it for you balancing those two things?
Djenaba Ali [00:19:16] Yeah. So like I say, I, my staff is seasonal. I have tax clients. I can just schedule them when I need to, which is usually when the kids are at school or after and signing with the ski program. I just take my kids with me. So that is the slow season
for us. And then knowing that that's the beauty of starting a business, I'm so thankful I said that with me were babies because it is all just a lot of puzzle pieces just came together because I am able to bring I can leave them home. I can bring them with me. Like I have that option it's not like, oh, children don't belong here. You know, everything I do has been
strategic. And I guess now that I'm more immersed in the nonprofit world, like with the other work I do. We always talk about mission statements and visions and all this. And I was like, you know, I guess I have my own personal mission statement and whatever that whatever is said is verbatim. It means that, like, the vision is for me to be able to operate and be me and do me and allow me to function in as a as a full time mom. So that's. Yeah. So that's how I'm able to balance.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:20:46] So we were talking earlier about once you get to the brick and mortar greenhouse, you can expand. So what do you currently offer?
Djenaba Ali [00:20:52] So we do perennials, which are plants that flowers bloom every year in your yard. Outdoor. Outdoor plants. So you have your perennials, your annuals. We have houseplants, we have seeds, we have transplants. Which are we start the seeds and they're baby plants. And you just planted in your garden. We sell pots. We sell now body products. So because we grow like, you know, we have mint, we have roses, we have this and that. So we we've been doing sugar scrubs and we just launched a a very nicely scented hairspray that that is a good detangler. And, you know, it helps. It helps condition most hair types. So, you know, we are always like evolving and and offering different goods. Now, when we have the brick and mortar. Excuse me, it'll be a huge opportunity for us to. Because we're open every day. I mean, you might. You might see. Pre. Pre-made salads or sandwiches offerings. Of course, our merch like our t shirts and we don't sell too many masks anymore. But but those those type of things like the Black Bottom Garden Center merch people love it because they love our logo.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:22:32] That's great.
Djenaba Ali [00:22:33] Mm hmm. Hand tools. We do we do a little of all of that. Like the equipments. All the tools. Yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:22:42] Nice things. So the course you went through with the Detroit Community Wealth Fund is is it just that six programs or are there follow ups or how does it work?
Djenaba Ali [00:22:55] Yeah, so they are currently we have a really good business relationship with them, so we meet monthly with them. Our first year we were able to just. So when we launched what we did as member owners, we pay monthly dues. So to start our seed money and then when we launched that just carried us through the season and it was it was pretty good this season. We went back. To the wealth fund and they have resources, right? So one of the resources is to do a do alone that is conducive for our business as a start up. And in in those conditions work great for how, how we're structured. And so that's what our business plan and in we are talking through marketing we talk and through a lot of those things you have to go back to but especially the financial piece and especially operating, getting to know more about the co-op structure. So we we definitely have that support, that ongoing support throughout our first few years.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:24:24] That's awesome.
Djenaba Ali [00:24:26] Oh, yeah.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:24:27] Has there been any, uh, anything about your story, about the business that you wanted to share with me that I didn't ask you about?
Djenaba Ali [00:24:39] Other than. I mentioned, you know, we have the greenhouse being built.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:24:48] Is it also on the grounds?
Djenaba Ali [00:24:50] It's it's around the corner. So so we're operating more on a residential street currently. So this is on Oakland Avenue. And what's what's great about the greenhouse as being currently built? We see we we see it we see it from the ground. So we are seeing the cement being poured. That's done. Now, those the steel beams are there. I'm actually driving by there today to see because he said this week the walls go up. I met the contractor on Monday. He was working on Labor Day. You now go figure. I was there to just take pictures and um very nice guy. Local guy. Yeah. So. So just seeing that if I'm inspired I'm sure the neighborhood is inspired and it's it's nothing new on that. On that strip, except when you get towards the end. It's a big manufacturing facility, a huge manufacturing facility. But this will, I feel with this new construction will revitalize that entire business corridor. And that was one of the main reasons why we thought our business model would be unique, whether no matter who we were, is just that Black Bottom Garden Center is a beacon for other potential business owners, for the neighbors, for the residents to say, Hey, I can shop local, I can come, I could just walk over, bike over, drive over a short distance and get what I need. So that in itself is why we're doing it. That's why we wanted it on Oakland Avenue to really just bring bring that spirit back to that neighborhood and of course, Detroit in itself.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:26:59] That's great.
Djenaba Ali [00:27:00] Thank you.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:27:07] Going over my head, make sure I didn't miss anything. Djenaba Ali [00:27:09] Mm hmm.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:27:11] What are the names of your three cohorts?
Djenaba Ali [00:27:15] So you have myself. You have Jerry Hebron, Imani Foster and Carol Trowel.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:27:25] Awesome. Thank you. Three final questions for you, and I'm pretty sure that's all I got. You did very well. When you think of the word hustle, what comes to mind?
Djenaba Ali [00:27:38] Figuring it out. Figuring it out. And. Time is of the essence. It is now. You can't wait. And you got to. Go get it now. Action!
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:28:01] And when you think of the word hustler, what comes to mind?
Djenaba Ali [00:28:05] A person that has the gift of gab. They. Have a great way of dealing with people, even people that don't like them. They have a way of giving you what you need. Or convincing you that you need it.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:28:30] And you're doing so many things. But you have a new side hustle going on right now. Now the garden centers again up and running.
Djenaba Ali [00:28:38] Um hmm. I actually garden center was my side hustle, which turned into my main hustle.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:28:46] As they tend to.
Djenaba Ali [00:28:47] Yeah, as they tend to. Now I'm just I'm just focused in on so I have a little 11th grader, so I'm really dialing into everything that's going on with him in terms of college prep. And then I have 3 first graders who are new readers. So that's that's a hustle in itself.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:29:10] As a reading coach.
Djenaba Ali [00:29:11] Yes, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, that's the hustle. Just dialing in as a parent.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:29:21] This was great. Thank you so much.
Djenaba Ali [00:29:23] Thank you.
Billy Wall-Winkel [00:29:24] It was awesome.
Djenaba Ali [00:29:25] Awesome.
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Citation
“Djenaba Ali, September 8th, 2022,” Detroit Historical Society Oral History Archive, accessed January 22, 2025, http://oralhistory.detroithistorical.org/items/show/816.