This Was Made By a Black Woman: Bryanda Law of Quirktastic

I stumbled upon today's feature when she was the writer of the blog Quirky Brown Love. Being a Quirky Brown person myself, I instantly related and fell in love with her writing. Soon, Quirky Brown love expanded and grew into a thriving community encouraging the diverse populations of quirky people. I, for one, am grateful.

Shout out to the nerds, the geeks, the bookworms and the sci-fi freaks who had to navigate the worlds of their various hobbies and fandoms while also being a person of color. Today's feature is dedicated to you. 

This time on This Was Made By a Black Woman: Bryanda Law, the founder of Quirktastic.

If you are unaware of what Quirktastic is, according to Bryanda, "Quirktastic is a media and tech company that helps facilitate community for people of color who participate in fandoms such as anime, e-sports, and comic books. Currently, users can read/write content, attend events and shop apparel at TheQuirkShop.com."

When asked how she became an entrepreneur, Bryanda says "I actually started as a scientist! I worked in cytogenetics before starting Quirktastic, but I have always had a love for writing. Therefore, I started a blog that turned into Quirktastic and as it grew, I realized that I could turn it into a career. Thankfully, Quirktastic has now grown to a team of about 50 contract workers across the brand."

Bryanda noticed the sheer lack of communities based around quirky people of color because she herself needed one.

QuirkShop.com

"As is the case with most great companies, Quirktastic started from a personal need. I was always the only Black person who likes anime and alternative rock but knew that there had to be a bigger community of people like me as I got older. When I found this community, I discovered that there was no centralized community for us, so I started Quirktastic as a blog that has later grown into a tech company after doing customer discovery."

When asked what her favorite product from the Quirk Shop is and why, Bryanda says"From The Quirk Shop, I love our newest shirt, Sailor Scouts and Twist Outs. I also love our Anime & Trap Music shirt. I want people to see this community, and people of color in general as the multidimensional beings we are, and I feel like pairing these two things helps to show that."

For Bryanda, being Black-owned/ Woman-Owned in a space that has been traditionally unwelcoming to both, while challenging, is necessary. "Being a black woman founder has had its challenges, especially now that I am venturing into the tech and venture capital funding world. With diversity and "Black woman founders" being buzzwords in places that typically excluded us, you have a lot of supporting companies trying to be inclusive without truly knowing how to. In that same breath, I've enjoyed most days of being an entrepreneur. While burnout is a thing, I have an awesome support group of other founders of color that help to keep me motivated."

You can check out the latest in Quirktastic, pick up your gear and The Quirk Shop, and show your love for Bryanda on her socials.