Growing up in the ’90s, Lakisha Bullock was bullied for her appearance at her West Philly middle school. “I had big thick hair. My mom didn’t know what to do with it,” she says. At the time there weren’t a lot of Black hair products that weren’t relaxers and straighteners, she says. So, in high
MorePhoto by Julien Roubinet Bound by Matt Bevilacqua Behind a set of red double-doors on South Philly’s quiet Alter Street, Bridget Morris is hard at work. Her bookbinding company, Bella Forte, typically handles between three and 10 orders at a time, all of them handmade by Morris, her husband, Paul King, and two other employees.
MorePhoto by Christopher Leaman Get Growing by Matt Bevilacqua At the corner of Henry and West Hunting Park avenues in North Philadelphia, hidden behind an old warehouse building, sit several steaming piles of household waste. A faint earthy smell hangs in the air, but all the apple cores, coffee grounds and eggshells in sight will
MoreIllustration by James Heimer Backyard Biogas by Marilyn Anthony Thirteen-year-old Clayton Young, a home-schooled Berks County teen, is working to design a solution that would enable small-scale biodigesters to provide year-round cooking gas in Syrian refugee camps. But when he first brought the lofty idea to his mother, Jennifer, she was adamantly opposed. “We’re not
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Photo by Erick Sternberg Mood Indigo by Emily Teel Elizabeth McTear of Honest Alchemy spends her days dipping into pools of color: salmon red from madder root, mustard yellow from fustic wood, and rich cranberry from brazilwood. The deep blue from indigo—and a desire to get away from commercial toxic dyes—was what started her down
MoreNo Sweat by William Beisley Jess Edelstein, CEO and co-founder of PiperWai, has a rote but enthusiastic way of discussing her all-natural cream deodorant, which is understandable considering their recent bombardment of interviews. Edelstein, along with co-founder and CFO Sarah Ribner, had four interviews the day before their meetup with Grid, not to mention an
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Photo by Mark Likosky The Right Fit by William Beisley On a beech-lined street in South Philly’s Girard Estate sits the bungalow-style home and workspace of Kristy Carabello, 37, co-owner of Orgotton. It’s here that she and her sister, Stef Emery, 32, design the organic cotton cardigans, dresses, skirts and shirts that make up their
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Company is stocking vending machines with products that are locale, nutritional and well-priced.
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