For Black Futures Month, we're catching up with George Brown College graduates to celebrate their success and to find out how they're continuing to chart an inspiring path forward.
As Dymika Harte continues to excel as an entrepreneur, she's doing everything she can to ensure others benefit from her success.
The George Brown graduate is the founder and creative director of UNSGND, a female-powered creative agency with an expanding client base. She created a female-centred business after noticing male-dominated board rooms during her college work placements.
"I want to empower the women on my team and show them they can have leadership roles like creative director and art director," she said.
Harte started UNSGND in 2014 after participating in and winning a business development incubator and pitch competition run by George Brown. She then studied graphic design at George Brown while continuing to work on her business and graduated in 2018. She won the college's 2018 Student Entrepreneurship Award and was nominated for a Premier's Award celebrating outstanding Ontario college grads in 2021.
Helping young entrepreneurs
While adjusting her business model to changes brought on by the pandemic, Harte launched the Youth Business Fund in the summer of 2020. Pitch competitions and networking events helped her launch UNSGND, and many in-person opportunities disappeared in the early days of the pandemic. So to "pay it forward," she launched her own fund, dedicating a percentage of all UNSGND profits to help young people get their businesses off the ground. She's also received donations to the fund.
"We were able to provide $6,000 split between three different businesses," she said. "Half of the money they received went to purchasing equipment, and the other half went to providing branding services."
Promoting Black-owned businesses
Around the time Harte started the Youth Business Fund, she also launched the Black Business Directory to give Black entrepreneurs more visibility and networking opportunities.
"Many of our clients are Black, so I figured this was a perfect way they could connect," she said. "Now they know there's a space where they can meet like-minded individuals, network, exchange information and purchase each other's services."
Advice for new entrepreneurs
When asked what advice she has for people hoping to launch their businesses, Harte suggests connecting with people, such as mentors and colleagues, who can help "fill in the gaps" and provide advice on new ideas.
Harte is constantly setting aside time for skill development — she's currently learning to code as she works on another business venture, an app called Clutch that connects students with driving instructors — but is also aware that she can't do it all.
"Having other people to work with, even if it's not necessarily in a formal business partnership, is always better than doing it on your own," she said. "I'm always using my mentors as sounding boards."
