Throughout the holiday season, we're highlighting the small businesses in our community, particularly those owned by Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color. The third in our series of featured business owners is CaTyra Polland, the owner of not one, but TWO local businesses: Love For Words and Mochachocolate (pronounced MO-cha Cho-co-LAH-TAY inspired by her published poem)!
We asked her a few questions about herself and about both of her businesses that we wanted to share with you!
What was your motivation behind starting your businesses?
Love For Words: To empower other authors to share their knowledge and stories.
Mochachocolate: To empower and uplift dark-skinned women and girls across the globe.
How long have you been in business?
Love For Words: Almost 4 years
Mochachocolate: 7 months
What’s your favorite part of running your businesses?
Making final decisions
1-2 Fun Facts About Yourself
I lived in Savannah, GA for 3 years, studied in Puerto Rico, and I've published 4 books.
If you're currently working on a book or if you've worked up the courage to start, 1) Congrats! and 2) CaTyra is your go-to boss! You can visit her website to learn more about the genres that she edits and the types of development editing that she provides.
On top of being the fabulous boss of 2 businesses, a published author, and writer, CaTyra also has a podcast where she interviews authors, writers, literary agents, editors, and other literary professionals. If this is you, talk to her about being a guest on Editor Knows Best! You can follow the podcast on Instagram.
CaTyra is also very dedicated to empowering dark-skinned girls and women, especially in a society that doesn't see dark-skinned women as equally beautiful. Follow Mochachocolate on Instagram for inspiration. You can also support her mission by purchasing mugs and t-shirts on her website.
