To us, this is more than a store, it is a celebration. Its the giving and receiving of AMAZING. Julo means MORE THAN and that's what we promise. This is not just another retail shop, it is an opportunity to try something new, to discover, or rediscover your new favorite products from truly amazing black owned brands.
Our product partners are dynamic, passionate, but most importantly they are people like you and me. They had a vision to create something for the world to enjoy. They are small business owners, entrepreneurs, couples, families, dreamers, fighters, believers, they are JULO.
Our goal is to make these brands household names. The names you crave, the names you demand, the names you LOVE.
Our promise to you, our customers, is to always keep searching for the new, the awesome and the AMAZING Brands. We will always provide QUALITY, CONVENIENCE, and SELECTION.
So go ahead... DISCOVER, EXPERIENCE, ENJOY!
.png)
julọ /,joo law
phrase: MORE THAN
adeola
wright
OWNER
This shop started off as an idea back in 2016. But like many ideas, I pondered "what if" and moved on. In 2018, I made a list of 40 big ideas that I was passionate about and decided to make them a reality by my 40th birthday. In 2020, Julo.shop was launched.
I have been asked why I decided to launch this store and what my inspiration was. I have always told part of the story because the journey was very personal and there were so many things that led to this store. Here is my journey.
There were a number of circumstances and events that led me and inspired me over the past few years that resulted in the launch of JULO. The first set of events occurred after working for nearly a decade in Corporate America. I worked in the Marketing and Innovation departments for a large consumer packaged goods company and constantly seeing the contributions of brilliant Black women being diminished. I left in a silent protest and realized it had no effect. I was looking for a way to make an impact, change a broken system, and uplift the contributions of Black women in the workplace and decided that writing a book that would expose the bias and racism would be my contribution to effect change. After leaving, I worked in a small business whose mission was to help service based small businesses and non-profits thrive by supporting them with back office services. In my role, I passionately supported many businesses to create fair and equitable systems and leveraged my knowledge and experience to their benefit
In 2016, I attended a black business expo where a woman (who I now know was Maggie Anderson) spoke on stage of her year of buying black and the many challenges she faced. Hearing her plight and unique approach to change, I was inspired to do something bold. Her speech inspired a solution that I knew I could provide in an industry that I was skilled in but was disenfranchised to successfully participate in. I was inspired to not just call out a bad system and theories of change in product based businesses but to create one that was better. I wanted to create a store that sold the Black-owned brands that Maggie looked to stock her household with and prove that quality exists from our hands, hearts, and minds. The store would also give business owners a chance to thrive in an industry that constantly pushed them down or out.
I chose the name JULO which means “more than” as a stand against the incorrect mindset people have about Black businesses, Black-made, and Black people. I designed the logo, conducted research and after a while I set the idea aside and focused on other things. Two years later, I was inspired to reprioritize JULO. After reading Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, I decided to say "YES" to ideas that I was passionate about but hadn’t pursued to fruition. Plans that would bring positive change to me and my community. I wrote down the list of 40 things that I wanted to do by the time I turned 40 and launching JULO was on that list. In 2020, JULO launched amid the chaos that was happening in the world. It was time to provide more than what was out there. It was time for JULO.
Each day, I am humbled to be chosen to do this work; I am gracious to have a community of partners and supporters; and I am inspired to do MORE THAN what has already been done.
Sending Love and Light to anyone reading this!
Adeola Wright
AS SEEN ON:
