When Aaron Westbrook moved in with his boyfriend, they aimed to design their home to merge their unique styles and backgrounds. Of course, this was easier said than done for a Black creative seeking to channel the taste of Black-owned brands.
Westbrook recalls to So.Gay the lack of visibility among the typical retail haunts. It was unusual to him that even when he purposefully decided to spend his dollars in favor of his community, their products were hard to find.
As the head of audio marketing for LG, the consumer electronics company, he understood that a product is only as good as its market reach. “I decided to take this on as a pet project to figure out how to aggregate all these brands I was trying to find,” he says.
Of course, the problem was bigger than Westbrook’s humble abode. “We travel so much, and when I look at the stores, I can’t find anything for Black skin,” he says. “Most of it is white-based and doesn’t sit well on my skin. If I sweat, I’m sweating white.”
Westbrook put his background in fashion, lifestyle, and digital marketing experience to the test by creating Hudson Publish and Ebony Voyage. “I’m always gonna champion Black voices, especially women,” says Westbrook, who already regularly empowered them in his work, including a viral podcast with Radio Hall of Famer Angie Martinez and curating powerful guest voices such as Alicia Keys.
The concept was twofold: Hudson Publish would focus on uplifting Black creators, while Ebony Voyage would serve as a marketplace for Black-owned products.
“I wanted to provide a platform for Black entrepreneurs and creators to have their work noticed and recognized more easily than they’ve experienced in the past,” says Westbrook. “I wanted to put them in a position where they’re collaborating with top brands.”
More than one in five Black adults in the United States say owning a business is essential to financial success, according to a September 2023 Pew Research Center survey.
The reign of Instagram, TikTok, and podcasts has broken the mold on what qualifies as a business, ushering in a new age of entrepreneurship in which individuals lead with their faces, skills, and ideas as part of the product.
Westbrook is committed to ensuring these creators don’t get lost in the algorithms or left behind by companies that tokenize marginalized creators to market inclusivity rather than truly being inclusive.
Although Westbrook believes culture has embraced diversity in myriad ways, it’s important to continue pushing the needle to ensure progress builds on itself.
“We’ve seen huge shifts in model casting calls, right? You see more diversity on the runways. It’s not the same demographic you used to see in the 90s and early 2000s,” says Westbrook. “But we need to ask, what else can be done?”
At the end of his 9-5 or 5-9, Westbrook ensures his career and ambitions always align with his truth. In that spirit, he hopes to see his own identity as a Black, gay man represented in the media in the same way. He emphasizes it’s all about authentic storytelling.
“Why does sex in gay culture have to go hand in hand all the time?” asks Westbrook. “I would love to see more gay relationships. I would love to see Black, gay love represented [with nuance].”
