December 12, 2024
NATCHITOCHES – What began with a Black Santa printed on gift wrapping paper is now a fast-growing business getting national attention with products that include apparel, tote bags, blankets, wall art and more.
The mission of Mah Melanin, founded by Northwestern State University alumna and entrepreneur Ardean Miller-Marbley, is to celebrate diversity and people of color. Mah Melanin is the first Black-owned business to partner with Sam’s Club on sams.com and was featured on The Today Show’s 2024 holiday gift guide. A collaboration with Hallmark and Lowe’s is underway. Miller-Marbley started the company in 2020 after a lifetime of longing to see faces of color on gift wrap, greeting cards and other items, especially during the holidays.
Growing up in New Sarpy near New Orleans, Miller-Marbley knew from a young age that she wanted to launch a business. She earned her undergraduate degree in business in 2014 as an on-line student while working full-time. After graduation she earned a master’s degree in engineering management from Louisiana Tech while researching pathways to launching her company.
“The first thing that I came up with that I wanted to give to the world which was a Santa. I decided to create an African American Santa that was realistically right and what the Santa would look like if he was to walk into a household for black and brown communities,” she said.
Miller-Marbley worked with a graphic designer to bring the image to life and Ken the Black Santa Claus was born.
“We were able to bring in some of the culture and the characteristic of the culture by having his gold chain, the matching S shoes and his gold rimmed glasses. We decided we would introduce him to the world in a way that would set it off.”
Her website went live in August 2020 and by December she was selling products through Lowes.com.
“There’s a social media post that I’ve seen, and it goes something like, ‘Keep talking about your business first because someday someone will hear it,’ and that’s exactly what I did on social media,” she said. “I literally spoke about the business every day. I posted every day. I sent messages to individuals that I knew. I utilized social media in a way that most businesses were not utilizing it at that time, and it just literally blew up overnight. It’s been going strong ever since. We’ve been recognized by celebrities. We’ve been highlighted on NBA.com. We’ve had partnerships with Legalzoom. I’ve actually spoken to Legalzoom employees on the importance of and the impact that their job has on entrepreneurs.”
She is currently finalizing designs that will be available through Sam’s Club in more stores and more states in 2025, working with a licensing agent and preparing to expand into different segments of apparel and other products. She also takes time to mentor others through speaking engagements and working one-on-one with individuals to discuss business strategies. Seeing Black images on products and supporting Black-owned businesses resonates with people, she said.
Miller-Marbley, who was a Dean’s List student at NSU, said her experience taking on-line classes at NSU was just as valuable as if she had been on campus. Dr. Begona Perez-Mira was a particularly important mentor.
“I get emotional when I speak about her. She was the one that was always patient, making sure I understood everything. Even after I completed her course, I’d call her for advice. She made sure I was where I need to be mentally. The program as a whole definitely helped me get where I am now.”
She recalled working on a class project in which the assignment was to develop and pitch a new business model. Miller-Marbley’s team developed a plan for a service that would deliver food, medicine and other purchased goods from a store to a consumer’s home.
“That experience helped to really expand my mind and think of how big we could go,” she said. “It helped shape the trajectory of the Mah Melanin process.”
She also learned as much as she could about how to proceed with a start-up.
“I was researching and looking at opportunities that were out there and moving towards the process at my own pace. A lot of businesses and entrepreneurs want to hurry up and go fast, but I took time to actually do the research and understand my market and the type of characters I wanted to create. I needed to understand the language of the business, locate my manufacturer and move into production. It takes time.
Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: “Consistency is everything so remain consistent. I definitely will say, believe in you and your goal and your dream and passion and work on it every day.”
Information about Mah Melanin is available at https://mahmelanin.com/. Information on Northwestern State’s School of Business is available at https://www.nsula.edu/business/.
