The founder of Oakland, California’s Viscera Studio is advocating for small businesses, artists, and creatives
The founder of Oakland, California’s Viscera Studio is advocating for small businesses, artists, and creatives
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Black business owners and workers too often face systemic biases: from underrepresentation in the boardroom to higher rates of unemployment. In Black-Owned and Proud, we profile innovative Black entrepreneurs building businesses and bringing much-needed change to the face of enterprise.
As a master’s candidate of urban planning at the University of California, Berkeley, Ari Takata-Vasquez longed for a more practical application of the discipline. She feared that much of what she was learning wouldn’t be implemented in the cities and neighborhoods that needed it most, like Oakland, California, only five miles away.
She had researched Oakland and saw that it had the biggest retail leakage in the country, meaning people in that area were buying goods and services outside the area. “Oakland loses $2 billion annually to San Francisco or Walnut Creek, neighboring cities that don’t have the same negative perception Oakland has,” she says. “That money could be circulated locally and used to create jobs.”
Takata-Vasquez wanted to propel that effort. After graduating in 2014, she launched Viscera, a brick-and-mortar retail shop in downtown Oakland, with the ethos that people should be connected to the items they buy and the people who make them. The items are all American-made, sourced from local artisans and creatives. Viscera launched with a line of 3D-printed jewelry and one-of-a-kind apothecary items, including Neutral clothing as well as natural perfumes, face oils, hair oils, and balms.
As her presence in the community grew over the next few years, fellow business owners became curious about Takata-Vasquez’s branding and storefront interior—all of which she designed. Through word-of-mouth referrals, she began taking on different projects as a side hustle. They ranged from space and website design to graphics, branding, and photography.
Source https://www.wework.com/ideas/community-stories/member-spotlight/the-design-house-working-to-change-who-wins-in-business
