Angel Gregorio Just Opened a Black Woman-Owned Strip Mall in Washington D.C.

In an exclusive interview with Because of Them We Can, CEO Angel Gregorio shares her "journey to excellence" by walking us through each year she's been in business. "When we started, my only goal was to never have to go into my bank account to pay the rent. That was year one; year three, I think I was like, 'a'ight, if I could pay myself a salary, I'd be happy. Year five, things changed."  

Today, she's not only paying herself a salary but also the salary of five other people, and Spice Suite has grown into a 7-figure business. What was once a small shop in the DMV area is now big enough to offer "more space, and more people, and more opportunity," Gregorio told Because of Them We Can. Her advice? Start now, perfect it later. 

Watch part one of the interview: 

Successful without a culinary background, Gregorio continues to break barriers with Spice Suite. She recently purchased a $1M property to open Black and Forth, a strip mall for Black women-owned businesses in Washington D.C. The soft launch was January 13th! 

According to Afrotech, Gregorio has big plans for the new strip mall.

“I want this to become the model,”

she shared during her ribbon-cutting ceremony. “I want to be able to consult for free and talk to other people on how to do this in your city, in your quadrant, so this becomes the standard of how we care for each other and how we show up for community.”

We love it!

This article was originally published in BOTWC