 It's a privilege to be a black business in a city that I've grown to love. Being the first generation here from the West Indies, it's important for us to be a part of the historical impact that comes with DC. I'm Sharika Winter. I'm Shalyn Thomas and we're the founders of TW Tote. I was headed to work in a full suit and tie and I caught my reflection in the mirror and realized I had a silly paper bag full of lunch in my hand. And that's when the TW Tote was born. One of the issues we had as a business is just understanding what happens next. We knew there was a market out there but unfortunately nobody really knew us. Attending Grow with Google Workshops helped us learn smarter ways to optimize our business as well as be found online. They drop a lot of nuggets on us from trends to insights. It really helps us to better understand our customers in a competitive space. The mission of our program is to level the playing field for black and Latinx small business owners within local communities. We want to help them grow their business and reach more customers online. Integrating that product into the culture is why people love the brand. It's really a community where people are supporting each other openly and honestly. You know that's really important to us because we develop other people around us and push them to be great. And in return your company ends up being great. I mean as a minority woman it's scary because we're laying the concrete and it's not dry yet. But knowing that this could be the beginning of something for other people it makes us keep going. We're not going to stop.