Business

Black Business Spotlight: Body Love

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN-RECORDER — The most successful businesses tend to solve a problem. Sabrina Jones’ problem was eczema and dry, over-sensitive skin. Her solution: Body Love Products. Unable to wear products with fragrances, Jones created her own line of bath and body products incorporating aromatherapy, pure essential oils, and all-natural ingredients.

Published

7 years ago

June 20, 2019

Oakland Post

By Stephenetta (isis) Harmon

Through friends and family, word gets out

The most successful businesses tend to solve a problem. Sabrina Jones’ problem was eczema and dry, over-sensitive skin. Her solution: Body Love Products.

Sabrina Jones (Photo by: Desiree L. Wells)

Unable to wear products with fragrances, Jones created her own line of bath and body products incorporating aromatherapy, pure essential oils, and all-natural ingredients.

For 20 years, she has worked in child protection and training, which she said also informs her creations. “I work in a very stressful environment,” said Jones. “How can I combine two things that can help me and deal with not only the wellness of my skin, but also [serve] as a mood stabilizer?”

We chat here with this rising entrepreneur about her skin and wellness line and goals for growth and longevity.

MSR: What is Body Love?

Sabrina Jones: I provide unique aromatherapy, wellness, and stress relief solutions for your skin. I handcraft a variety of aromatherapy body butters, hair and facial treatments, products and accessories [for] those that suffer from dry skin, inflammation, blemishes.

MSR: What inspired you?

SJ: I just wanted to be able to have something that anyone could use — from an infant to someone in their 90s — anyone dealing with acne or inflammation, or just wanting a product that can help stabilize their mood, hence the aromatherapy piece.

When I became pregnant with my first child, that pushed me forward in really creating my product.

MSR: How did you figure out how to mix this stuff up?

SJ: I’ve always been a creative person. It’s really working around your scents, so I just get different scents together that I would like and play around with it. That’s the fun part. I work with shea butter, and I break that down, and then I just start mixing.

MSR: What’s your top-selling product?

JS: It’s my body butters. I have eight different fragrances, and my body butters are multi-use, so you’re able to use them on your hair, your face, your body. Within the body butters, Daydream is my number-one seller. It’s like a light, sweet scent [mixed] with sweet orange and lemon with melon and other ingredients for the skin, like tea tree oil and jojoba.

Second is my facial foam wash. It helps with blemishes, acne, razor bumps, pimples. And most of my customers are able to see a difference within a week. I have a lot of testimonials based off of that, and I am working to get a patent [on the formula].

MSR: How did you know this could be a business?

JS: Well, I would not be here and my company would not have grown over four years without word-of-mouth referrals, because this truly started out as a hobby for me. And then the word started to get out.

MSR: How does your business impact the community?

JS: With friends and family and referrals coming through, I started to see how it was positively impacting others and in the community. I started getting invited to different events in the community, like popups, events on wellness and health, as well as to talk about aromatherapy and how it can help as an alternative, or a supplement, to over-the-counter medicines. I love that educational piece to it.

I also donate some of my proceeds to organizations within child welfare that provide programming for youth.

MSR: What has been the most rewarding part of owning your business?

JS: The community response! Businesses grow with consumer support. I support my business capitally, but it’s because of the consumers why I’m doing it. With the demand and the increasing partnerships that I’m having with other businesses, it’s become a point of pride.

MSR: Tell us about the partnerships.

JS: I have some local business partnerships [where you can purchase my products]. One is Heimies Haberdashery in Saint Paul. They carry my aromatherapy balls. Privileged Barber Lounge in Saint Paul, as well. And then I have a new partnership with Andros Med Spa in Mendota Heights. We have a launch on July 16^th. Those are places locally that have also supported me in my growth. I’m also at Market at Macy’s at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta. I’m there until August.

MSR: What has been the biggest challenge?

JS: Stepping up my game as far as making our products more accessible and becoming more visible. Yes, I’m in Minnesota, locally known; I want to be nationally, if not internationally, known. So really [it’s about] figuring out that you have this masterpiece and how do you get others to be able to learn about it as well.

And then too, with any business it’s [about] capital, because I fund my own business and I’m a mom, I’m a wife, have my home life, and then I have my business. So, it’s how to keep things going without going under and not stretching yourself so thin that there’s no sustainability. I’m still trying to figure that out.

MSR: What does success look like for you?

JS: I think the short-term success is obviously sales — not in the form of profit, but in the form of somebody taking a step towards their own self-care and wellness. When they purchase one of my products, I see that as success because they’re taking control of that for themselves. It means to me that I didn’t do this in vain.

MSR: And long-term success?

JS: Legacy. Eventually, I want to be able to solely work for myself and create a sustainable business that my son can take over, or I shall I say my grandkids can take over.

MSR readers can use coupon code Love Yourself receive $5 off $25 purchase.

For more info, including local locations, visit bodyloveproducts.com.

This article originally appeared in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

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Activism

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.

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Activism

Oakland Museum Presents Landmark Retrospective Celebrating Beloved Bay Area Artist Mildred Howard

“Poetics of Memory” coincides with a year of major recognition for Howard. In 2026, she received the California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Award, honoring artists whose work has shaped California’s cultural and civic life, as well as the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Artist Impact Award. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her transformative contributions to American cultural life.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Mildred Howard. Photo by Christine Cueto for the Oakland Museum of California, 2025.

Special to The Post

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) opened “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” the first major museum survey of Bay Area artist Mildred Howard, on June 12.

The exhibition spans five decades of Howard’s influential work, bringing together immersive installations, found-object sculptures, archival materials, and new commissions that explore memory, identity, and power in American life.

Howard was born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised in the East Bay, where she went on to study Afro-Haitian dance, make and sell clothing, and experiment with collage and sculpture.

Her multimedia art practice emerged from these experiences, later becoming associated with West Coast conceptual art, San Francisco funk, and a vibrant community of artists like Oliver Jackson, Betye Saar, and Raymond Saunders. Since the 1970s, she has used found materials and family stories to explore memory—both individual and collective.

At OMCA, visitors enter “Poetics of Memory” through a series of intimate galleries featuring Howard’s early mixed-media pieces and sculptures, along with a large video projection of a number of her public artworks.

Together, they emphasize Howard’s interest in everyday objects as powerful carriers of individual and shared stories. Highlights include collages that remix images of the artist herself; found-object sculptures like The History of the United States with a few Parts Missing (2007) that address omissions in dominant narratives; and public works like “Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges” (2001) that transform urban space into a meditation on access and labor.

This culminates in a richly detailed “studio” environment, where works in progress, archival exhibition flyers, historic photographs of Howard and her community, postcards from fellow artists, and other materials offer insight into her creative process and daily life.

The exhibition then opens into a high-ceilinged, dramatically lit space that brings together Howard’s signature immersive installations. On one end, “Crossings” (1997/2026) – a field of hundreds of ceramic eggs leading to an ornate mirror – suggests cycles of birth, motherhood, and transition, while drawing on the emotional echoes of the Middle Passage. On the other end, “Blackbird in a Red Sky” (a.k.a. “Fall of the Blood House”) (2002) – a red glass shack bordered by a pond – also uses reflection and transparency to draw viewers into the work and prompt consideration of themes of identity and home.

Howard’s newest video installation, “Moving Stills” (2026), repurposes never-before-seen family footage she took as a teenager on a train trip to the American South. Projected onto cascading layers of translucent fabric that stretch across an entire gallery wall, the piece immerses viewers in a layered meditation on memory, migration, and time.

The “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 11 at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland, CA 94612. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays to 9 p.m.

This story is sourced from the Oakland Museum of California press office.

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Alameda County

Ferry Fares to Increase July 1 as Ridership Hits Record Highs

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Courtesy photo.

By Mike Aldax, The Richmond Standard

Starting July 1, the standard adult fare for the San Francisco Bay Ferry route between Richmond and San Francisco will increase to $5.20, up from the current $4.90.

Discounted fares for eligible passengers, including youth, seniors, people with disabilities, and Clipper START users, will rise to $2.60 from the current $2.40. Children under 5 will continue to ride for free.

The Oakland and Alameda routes will increase from $4.90 to $5.10, the South San Francisco route will go up from $7.40 to $7.60, and the Vallejo route will increase from $9.90 to $10.

The adjustments are part of a systemwide fare update approved by the agency’s Board of Directors, which is moving away from a flat 3% annual increase to route-specific pricing for the 2027 and 2028 fiscal years.

This fare update arrives as San Francisco Bay Ferry celebrates a historic May, transporting 301,270 passengers. The record-breaking figure represents an 8% increase over May 2025 and marks the third consecutive month of record-setting ridership.

Furthermore, it is the sixth month in a row that passenger numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic levels. Weekend travel has been a primary driver of this growth, with average weekend ridership seeing a 56% increase compared to pre-pandemic trends.

The agency states that the fare adjustments are necessary to ensure the long-term fiscal sustainability of public ferry services. By shifting to route-specific adjustments, the agency aims to offset rising operating costs while maintaining the high levels of service frequency and reliability.