CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It’s never a slow moment for Nakisha Washington. 

When she isn’t working as a corporate consultant, you’ll find her at home running her own trucking company. 

“Never drove a truck,” said Washington. “ I go two lanes over when I see semi’s on the road, so it has never been a passion. No one in my family has ever driven trucks, but it was literally born out of the pandemic.” 

What You Need To Know

  • Black Gems was formed after Nakisha Washington created a seperate group during the pandemic to get Black women talking about money

  • Black Gems is made up of women who are based in Charlotte and Detroit

  • They are hoping to pool their money together to invest it into a small business

She saw the need for it on Instagram and in January 2021 she made the investment. She says the business dispatches about 30 trucks plus their own. This was something she never imagined she'd be doing, but admits it wasn't that difficult to get into. 

“You just have to be willing to do the work, willing to do the research, and have lots of capital,” said Washington. 

Capital is something she realized a lot of Black women didn’t talk about it, and that’s something she wanted to change. 

“So a group of women got in my DM’s,” said Washington. “ There were probably 20 or 30 who were like hey I’m willing to talk about money, and we formed a group called All Things Money.”

When the conversation drifted to angel funding, Washington and seven other women decided to form The Black Gems Investment Group. All the ladies in the group are angel investors based in Charlotte and Detroit.

An angel investor is someone that has the ability to provide capital for a new or small business. 

“We’re looking at newer businesses,” said Washington. “We’re learning their stories. We’re doing the due diligence to see how profitable their company could be and making that investment into the next generation and current generation of business owners.” 

Black Gems is not only looking to help a new business, but these ladies also want to show other Black women that they too can get into investing. 

“Being able to come together to say hey we have capital….not only do you hear about us starting businesses and being business owners but we are making money in these businesses,” said Washington. 

They’re still searching for the right business to invest in, but once they do Washington knows the support will be life-changing.

“I hope that Black Gems can be that inspiration for not only the business owners but for future investors,” she said. 

If you have a small business and you're interested in pitching to Black Gems you can reach out to the group through email at blackgemsinvestorgroup@gmail.com. You can also follow their Instagram page here.