What up, Inner Circle?
The journey continues!
Some of you have been here since the beginning, when I first started talking about Itz Personal. Others joined the Inner Circle more recently, as I was going through the Finnovation Fellowship.
Either way, you’ve been part of this journey, and I wanted to give you a little update on where things are.
The path continues to be dynamic, but the mission is the same: build and support businesses that help us live out our social values.
When I started Itz Personal, I was focused primarily on cannabis and the question of what it could look like to build a cannabis business differently - one that creates economic opportunity, supports racial equity, and helps repair some of the harm created by cannabis criminalization.
The more I researched, experimented, talked to people, and built, the more I realized the question was bigger than cannabis.
I kept coming back to the same idea: we’re trying to create a different future while still operating with a lot of the systems, habits, and assumptions of the past.
That’s where my thinking around values, culture, spending, leadership, and organizational design started to come together.
My vision for Itz Personal has grown.
Itz Personal isn’t a cannabis business.
Itz Personal is a catalyst for helping to build a new social infrastructure.
I’m interested in building the kinds of businesses, organizations, and communities that reflect the values we say we believe in - instead of continuing to submit to an old playbook built around extraction, exclusion, and oppression.
Itz Personal is both a company I’m building and a body of work I’m developing. Right now, that work sits at the intersection of strategy, leadership, organizational culture, social equity, cannabis, and values-aligned action.
Cannabis is still an important part of that story. But it’s just one of the many places where I’m exploring the bigger question: What does it actually look like to build differently?
And this past month has given me a pretty amazing opportunity to explore that question in real time.
I’m working at Really Dope as a budtender, and it’s been…really dope!. I’m learning so much about the cannabis industry and consumers from the inside, and I’m incredibly grateful to Sofia for giving me that opportunity.
One of my favorite things has been watching customers react when I tell them they’re supporting a woman-owned business that genuinely cares about the community.
It matters to them.
You can see the difference when people understand that their purchase is doing more than getting them a product they enjoy. They’re supporting a business whose values align with their own. I imagine they enjoy their products a little more knowing that their purchase is connected to something they care about.
That experience has been reinforcing my thinking: people want their spending to reflect what they value. They just need more opportunities to do it — and more businesses willing to make that connection visible.
Really Dope is at Selby and Dale, right in the Historic Rondo neighborhood — a Black neighborhood that was deeply impacted by racist urban renewal policies and drug laws.
I spend a lot of time dreaming about what it could mean to build something intentional in that space.
I’m also continuing to learn and grow through Sidekick for Good. I’m incredibly grateful for Holly’s guidance and for having someone I can learn from as I figure out how to move ideas from concept to actual execution. I’ve been learning a ton about events, fundraising, donor relationships, and social impact.
It all connects back to the work I’ve been developing through Itz Personal: creating more transparency, education, and intentionality around the relationship between what we value, what we buy, and what our money makes possible.
And I’m putting more of the Itz Personal work into practice through workshops. The first one is built, and I have a pilot coming up this month!
There are only a few spots, so if you want to participate, come join us. RSVP here!
It’s been a really amazing month. A lot is still developing, and I’m figuring some of it out as I go. But all these different pieces are starting to feel less like separate things and more like different ways of doing the same work.
Building the kind of world we want to see by practicing it into existence.
Thanks for being here. Thanks for following along as I share my thoughts and the messy, in-progress version of the journey with you.
Enjoy the rest of the newsletter!
In community,
Tyjuan
Founder, Itz Personal
We’re already selective about where we spend our money. We consider price, quality, convenience, and preference. But what about social impact? What if we started asking not only “What do I want to buy?” but “What do I want my money to help strengthen?” Click this link to read my exploration of the power of our spending - and what might happen if we started treating it as a tool for social change.
How do we know what a business actually values?
A growing number of tools try to make impact easier to see.
A few worth knowing:
B Lab / Certified B Corporations
Looks at a company’s impact on workers, community, environment, customers, and governance. Certified B Corps publicly disclose their overall and category scores; certification requires a verified minimum score of 80.
JUST Capital
Ranks large U.S. corporations based on issues Americans identify as important to responsible business including workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders/governance. Its rankings are informed by polling nearly 200,000 Americans since 2015.
Good On You
Evaluates fashion and beauty brands across people, planet, and animals, using publicly available information, certifications, third-party assessments, and company disclosures. Its methodology can examine up to 1,000 data points across 100 key issues.
Ethical Consumer
Scores companies across ethical areas including environmental impact, workers’ rights, and animal welfare, helping consumers compare companies based on ethical considerations.
One important catch: There is no universal “social impact score.”
Different tools measure different things. A company can perform well environmentally while having concerns around labor practices. Another might have strong community investments but limited transparency elsewhere.
And even independent rating systems have limitations: Consumer Reports notes that ethical-business data can be incomplete, inconsistent, and difficult to verify, particularly because many assessments rely on publicly disclosed information.
Bonus Tip: Ask the employees!
When you are out shopping and wondering what a business actually values, simply ask the employees.
Values in Action: Black Economic Power
If Black economic power is one of your social values, here are a few places to check out:
A Black-owned, woman-owned juice bar in South Minneapolis. Grab a cold-pressed juice or smoothie bowl while putting more of your spending power behind a local Black-owned business.
A Black-owned, 100% plant-based restaurant at Midtown Global Market serving vegan soul food—and an example of how culture, entrepreneurship, food, and community can intersect.
A locally owned Black- and woman-owned coffee shop inside the Minneapolis Central Library. Next time you're downtown, consider getting your coffee here instead of defaulting to the chain you've always gone to.
A Black-owned independent bookstore in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood, with a collection centered on Black, Indigenous, and other authors of color.
A Black-owned restaurant serving African and American-inspired food in downtown St. Paul.
A longtime Black-owned coffee shop and community gathering place on Selby Avenue in the historic Rondo area.
A Black-owned Minnesota coffee company offering traditional coffee as well as hemp-derived THC/CBD-infused coffee. If you're looking to connect your cannabis spending with Black economic power, this is one local option to explore.
And supporting Black economic power doesn't always mean making a purchase. You can also support the organizations helping Black entrepreneurs build, grow, and sustain businesses.
A Minneapolis-based organization providing resources and services designed to help Black businesses and entrepreneurs build capacity and thrive.
Based in St. Paul, the Minnesota Black Chamber supports Black-owned businesses through education, advocacy, and economic development.
These are just a few places to start. The point isn't to create a perfect shopping list - it's to start noticing where your money can support the kind of economic ecosystem you want to see.
Do these things to continue supporting Itz Personal:
Subscribe to the Itz Personal newsletter
Check out the website: www.itzpersonalmn.com
Follow us on social media (like and share!)
Send a message! Let’s build this community together! If you have any questions, reflections, or requests, I want to hear from you.
Together, we are paving a path toward repair, empowerment, and real equity. Thank you for being here, being intentional, and investing in high quality and higher impact.
