In this month's May episode, I sat down with the brilliant and genuinely cool Tiffany M. Griffin, CEO, Co-Founder, and Co-Owner of Bright Black, a North Carolina-based social enterprise based in Durham that pioneered the art of using scent to share positive stories about the beauty and brilliance of Blackness. Since launching in 2019, Bright Black has gained national and international notoriety, attracting the attention of Beyonce, Zendaya, Jordan Peele, Nike, and others.   Uniquely, Bright Black synthesizes cooperative economics theory with revenue-sharing practices to amplify their social and economic impact through strategic partnerships. These collaborations have included partners such as the NBA and WNBA, Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote, and the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, and have resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in donations to social organizations working to improve the lives of Black people around the world. Before founding Bright Black, Tiffany was a Strategic Advisor in the Center for Resilience at the US Agency for International Aid (USAID), where she helped to spearhead the Agency’s first resilience policy and corresponding programming and evaluation frameworks. Before her work at USAID, Tiffany was a health and safety nets policy staffer for Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico. Tiffany has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor where she focused on decision-making as a conduit of racial discrimination. She also has dual BAs in Psychology and Communications from Boston College.   In our conversation, Tiffany shares insights on her journey in starting and sustaining a Black business, her reflections on motherhood, and the importance of community trust. We delve into the complexities of self-reliance, mutual aid, and her vision for more models of community care and support, in addition to the challenges and nuances of balancing personal and professional life in maintaining a mission-driven business.    If you would like to share your stories or become a guest on the To Be Held podcast, please send me an email at [email protected].