Degrees & LLCs: Black Businesses Born at HBCUs

Getting a degree is one thing, but what you decide to do after that is what’s really important. Starting a business is no easy feat, but these HBCU alums make it look easy. Here are a few alumni who started their own legacy and are raising the bar for the ones to follow.

David Bullock: 907 Agency

Born in Alaska, David Bullock walked onto Howard University’s campus as a freshman and immediately began leaving his mark. He threw parties with his two friends and garnered a reputation as a party promoter whose events were always going viral on Twitter. His parties eventually got the attention of rapper Wale’s label at the time, and they flew him out to South by Southwest (SXSW), where he established a relationship with WRLDFMS Tony Williams. From there, Bullock worked on marketing projects for Diddy and Justin Combs while still being a sophomore student at HU. After realizing he could turn his experience into a career, Bullock founded 907 Agency, a full-service digital and experiential marketing company, in January of 2017. Since then, his agency has partnered with companies like Warner Music Group, Microsoft, Xbox, Revolt TV, and many others. With his hard work, meaningful connections, and authenticity, Bullock found himself on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list for Marketing and Advertising in 2021.

Desmond Attmore & Brian Wright: Six Degrees

Staying in the world of marketing, Desmond Attmore and Brian Wright met while attending Morehouse College. Both New York natives, Attmore and Wright initially came together to get a clothing brand idea into motion. However, the focus started to shift once they met producer Mike WiLL Made-It. Wright described it by saying, “He liked what we were doing with our clothing line, so we started running ideas past each other. That was the transition, but it wasn’t challenging because we were growing together. When I graduated from Morehouse, that’s when he had the opportunity to officially hire me as the marketing director for Eardrummer Records.”

From there, the duo gained more experience and eventually founded their marketing agency, Six Degrees, in November of 2018. Through their agency, Attmore and Wright have worked with numerous companies, brands, and artists ranging from A24 Films and Puma to Doja Cat and Young Thug. In 2022, the men came back to their alma mater to produce the 2022 Homecoming Concert with Pandora and Drake. With a foundation built off the HBCU experience, they make sure to pay it forward by providing jobs and internship opportunities for young Atlanta creatives.

Angel Rich: CreditRich

Angel Rich is the first Black American to partner with a major credit bureau, but how did she even get there? Rich is an alum of Hampton University and received her degree in marketing. After graduating, she made the switch from marketing to fintech, secured a job at Prudential, and the rest is history.

In 2012, she founded The Wealth Factory Inc., where she launched a Credit Stacker app, which was named the best financial literacy product in the country by the White House. With a passion for promoting financial literacy, she launched CreditRich in 2020—an app that teaches people how to pay their bills to improve their credit score. Aside from her personal endeavors, Rich is devoted to giving back to the Black tech community and is the founder of the organization Black Tech Matters.

Tahir Murray: Legacy History Pride

Tahir Murray is a 2021 graduate of Howard University’s School of Business. However, he was making strides in the fashion industry with his brand, Legacy History Pride, well before he received his degree. Legacy History Pride shows love to over 35 HBCUs through apparel by taking institutions’ mascots, mottos, and colorways and creating something fresh and new that students and alumni enjoy.

He credits his exposure to the fashion industry to his grandfather Ortner Murray, owner of Von’s Sneaker Store in Queens, NY, and his father. Throughout his matriculation at Howard, Murray knew that he wanted to shed light on HBCUs and share the stories and value of what our schools have to offer. Since his launch, Legacy History Pride has had collaborations with Nike, the Brooklyn Nets, the Atlanta Dream, and more recently Paramount, where he was able to put a fun spin on his designs by using Nickelodeon characters on his merchandise.

Randy Williams: Talley & Twine

As a student at Albany State University, Randy Williams could never find a watch that he truly liked. Fast forward to 2014—Williams started Talley & Twine to cater to the culture and bridge the gap between luxury and affordability. His former roommate at Albany State, Eric Heyward, joined later in 2019 as COO.

“We make watches dope through our culture—music, movies, fashion—but we were missing from the narrative,” Heyward said. Talley & Twine sets itself apart by remaining authentic, incorporating different designs, and only including the number seven on the face of the watch to remind customers to “finish what you start.” Williams even got the name for the company from a popular intersection in Portsmouth, Virginia, that used to be crime-filled and neglected. With a catalog that continues to evolve and expand, Talley & Twine has collaborated with the Tuskegee Airmen Institute to create a watch that pays homage to the Tuskegee Airmen, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the organization.