The BOOM App

01 - The Challenge / Origin

A Gap on Both Sides

Black business owners were invisible to customers outside their immediate community. They needed a marketplace where their work could be seen and valued. But there was a flip side: consumers, especially after summer 2020, actively wanted to buy from Black-owned businesses as an act of economic support, but had no unified place to find them.

The gap was on both sides. I built The BOOM App to connect them.

02 - My Role & The Team

Founder-Led, Cross-Functional

As Founder & CEO, I owned the full vision: product strategy, brand identity, visual direction, go-to-market, and team leadership. Every decision moved us toward one goal: a marketplace that centered Black business owners and the customers who wanted to support them.

Co-Founder

James Hampton

Development Lead

Adviser

03 - The Work

Simplicity on Both Sides

This section walks through how The BOOM App came to life: the app experience itself, the brand and logo system built to carry it, the website that brought merchants in the door, and the launch video that introduced it all to the world.

The BOOM App was built on one principle: simplicity on both sides. For buyers, the marketplace was organized by category: accountants, designers, photographers, services. Customers could find what they needed and connect directly to the owner.

The visual identity reflected this clarity: bold, flexible, recognizable across app, web, and email. The logo system became the visual anchor for the entire ecosystem.

For merchants, onboarding was frictionless: load your information, set your offerings, go live. The website communicated the mission in plain language and drove sign-ups.

The launch video told the story: a platform built by and for Black businesses, in a moment when economic support mattered.

04 - Outcomes

What We Built

6

Person team

By August 2024, The BOOM App had become a working marketplace connecting Black business owners with customers who wanted to support them.

Reaching 3,000+ paying merchants without outside funding proved the model could scale on real demand, not subsidized growth. Launching in 60 days showed what a lean, six-person team could execute under pressure. And running the platform for four years proved this wasn't just a pandemic-era reaction. It was a sustainable business.

05 - The Decision to Wind Down

A Founder's Choice

By 2024, The BOOM App had proven the model: a two-sided marketplace could connect Black business owners with conscious consumers at scale, with zero outside capital. The mission was real. But as founder, I had to make a choice about where my energy and focus could have the most impact. Other ventures, including Qunique Consulting and enterprise design work, were demanding full leadership. Rather than run The BOOM App at half-speed, I made the decision to wind down in August 2024 and reallocate my team and resources toward work where I could lead with full
conviction.