San Diego entrepreneurs elevate Black-owned businesses at the Soul Swapmeet

The Soul Swapmeet is running the 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month at Westfield Mission Valley from 11 a.m to 4 p.m.

BY NATALLIE ROCHASMALL BUSINESS REPORTER FEB. 25, 2022 1:16 PM PT

Shala Waines is one of the first faces you see when you walk up to the Soul Swapmeet. But, she says no one is there to see her. She’s not selling handmade goods like the rest of the vendors at the Saturday flea market.

Instead, for a $3 price of admission, she’s shining a spotlight on local entrepreneurs through an event that she created during the pandemic.

For the Spring Valley resident and founder of Creative Vibes, an arts and entertainment business that hosts the swap meet, she’s determined to cultivate a space for Black entrepreneurs to grow their ventures and create generational wealth. Her marquee event, the Soul Swapmeet, is filling a gap she identified in the San Diego community for Black-ownedbusinesses to grow, gather and sell.

“I don’t have to be on city council. I can still get some things rolling out here for us,” said the 37-year-old entrepreneur. “And it’s for our youth really, because they are our future.”

As a mother of two teenagers, she wants to create a blueprint that shows the next generation that you can be an entrepreneur and “you can hire people that look like you to work with you.” Her goal is to keep growing the Soul Swapmeet through sponsorships and partners that can help her elevate as many entrepreneurs as possible.

Of course, she’s here to make her events business successful. But, her marker for success is the entrepreneurs she works with and “moving them in and moving them out” so that they grow beyond the Soul Swapmeet.

“We’re basically trying to have a continuous flow of new entrepreneurs coming in, getting the exposure they need, elevating to the next level and then no longer needing the Soul Swapmeet as a means of income,” Waines said.

What started with about 25 vendorshas grown into an incubator for small businesses, many of which are run by Black entrepreneurs. Today, this traveling event brings together up to about 100 small businesses as well as food and beverage vendors.

Right now, the Soul Swapmeet, runs every other Saturday at Westfield Mission Valley, just off the I-8 freeway in the lot near the AMC theater.

While the driving force behind the Soul Swapmeet is to elevate Black entrepreneurs, Waines said everyone is welcome. If you look closely, this sentiment is also embedded in the event’s name.

Waines landed on the name “Soul Swapmeet” because she said people often associate “soul” with the African-American community. She knew “swapmeet” had to be in the name because people would recognize the flea market-style event, just like Kobey’s Swap Meet that’s held in the parking lot of the Pechanga Sports Arena.

But for her, there’s another meaning to the name.

“I was like soul, soul, soul … soul doesn’t mean ‘Black’ — everybody has soul because it’s something that comes (from) inside of you,” Waines said. “Everyone out there, they have passion and they put that into what they’re doing.”

Waines found her passion for helping people after years of working various jobs that paid the bills. The San Diego native has worked since she was 16. After the sudden death of her mother, she moved out on her own at the age of 18.

Here’s where to find the Soul Swapmeet
The next Soul Swapmeet will be Saturday at the Westfield Mission Valley shopping mall at 1640 Camino del Rio N.

The outdoor event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features retail, food and beverage vendors, a live DJ and a hookah bar. Admission is $3.

Check out the Soul Swapmeet website and Instagram (@soulswapmeet) for more updates on future events.

Waines knew that someday when she started her own business, she did not want people to feel disposable like she did in so many of the corporate jobs that she worked when she was in her 20s. Even later in her career as a licensed health insurance agent, there were times that she felt like she wasn’t seen as an asset to the business.

Instead, she’s created a welcoming environment at the Soul Swapmeet where a live DJ is playing music and vendors are swaying to the beat of R&B. One vendor, Shoshanna Cordes, danced and smiled as she stood behind a rainbow of handmade, jewelry at her booth.

Waines also wants people to control their own destiny and be able to make money that stays in their pockets.

She started the first Soul Swapmeet in December 2020 with $50. Her first venue charged her a minimal rental fee to help her get started, and now she does the same for others.

Waines recognizes that financial barriers can stop people from starting a business and that’s why she keepsvendor fees as low as possible at $75 to $125.

This effort helped Paula Tarrant who said she started her business, Sweet Cravings by Paula, with $100, her food license, a pop-up tent and her cooking equipment. The Louisiana-born chef has been with the Soul Swapmeet from the beginning and she said it’s been integral to growing her business.

While at the Soul Swapmeet, Tarrant has expanded her menu from just serving desserts to now offering an array of Cajun dishes like gumbo, Southern fried catfish and collard greens to name a few.

By the end of the day, she often sells out of certain dishes. The money she’s made is going toward her goal of getting a storefront or a food truck.

Richard Illustrated, who handles marketing for the Soul Swapmeet, said the swap meet is not just about selling things. He sees it as a community that brings people together.

For him, it’s about encouraging business owners “to keep pushing, keep going.”

“Me and Shala, don’t do this, just … (to) make some money or whatever. We do it because we’re saying you know what, we want to be successful and grow. But can’t we do it together? Because if we’re helping them be successful — we end up being successful. You know what, instead of just saying it’s about us, it’s only about us — no, it’s about all of us. How many businesses do that?” he said. “We don’t win unless they win.”

Illustrated is a native San Diegan and entrepreneur himself, so he sees the event as a space for people starting their own business to feel like they’re on the same level as the person next to them and to put a little extra money in their pocket each month while doing something they love.

La Tonya Powell, whose business NOJJ Apparel sells clothing and accessories with uplifting messages, said that this consistent event not only elevates Black-owned businesses, but it brings them to a convenient one-stop-shop for customers in different neighborhoods across the county.

Kay Black runs One1Africa, an online shop that sells handmade clothing, bracelets and backpacks from Ghana. She’s been coming to the Soul Swapmeet since it started and says it’s a great way for small businesses to get their name in front of shoppers.

“This also gives us a network of how to spend money within our communities, get resources and anything else within our communities,” she said.

The creativity of local entrepreneurs was on full display through umbrellas with vibrant, geometric patterns from Africa to handmade bars of soap to custom Croc Jibbitz shoe charms. Whether you come to dance, eat or hang out at the hookah bar in the corner of the Soul Swapmeet, there’s a variety of activities at the outdoor marketplace.

Waines said the Soul Swapmeet has grown by word of mouth and social media. Many of the vendors and visitors at the most recent Soul Swapmeet said they heard about it through a Facebook page called Black San Diego, which empowers local Black entrepreneurs and professionals.

Desire Witherspoon, a first-time visitor, said she sees how this event gives a platform for Black-owned businesses and helps Black entrepreneurs overcome challenges that might keep them from thriving.

“I think it’s because you don’t know that they exist, they don’t have as much marketing, they don’t have much exposure, so you don’t know that they exist,” she said. The swap meet lets shoppers see and experience “different Black-owned businesses that you haven’t seen because you haven’t been exposed.”