In 2006, Kimberly Clayton Thigpen began making shea-butter soaps to help a family member with eczema. After 3 years, she opened an online business and, in another 3, open a brick-and-mortar location right in the heart of downtown Rocky Mount. "At the time, people believed downtown was not a place worth revitalizing," she says. "I saw it as full a character and couldn't imagine my business anywhere else".

New York Times best-selling author a Rocky Mount business owner Etaf Rum, who with her husband Brandon Clarke, opened Books & Beans in 2019 has deep roots and very personal connections to the city. "It was important for me to give a voice to women, minorities, and people of color through a diverse selection of books," Rum stated. 

Fewer than 1 percent of all hotels America are owned by black woman- but Rocky Mount's newest inn is owned by 3. Owned by Kristin Kitchen, Melanie Graham, and Metris Batts-Coley are proud owners of Avent on Falls, which opened this past fall. "We want to celebrate the city's rich African-American history by working together to make things better and tell our stories", Kitchen says.