Luke Henne | sports editor
Oct. 21, 2021
As part of its second-ever Black Cultural Awareness Week, Duquesne University’s Black Student Union hosted the Black Business Expo on Wednesday.
The event, which was held in the PNC Atrium of the Duquesne Union, welcomed Black businesses from the Pittsburgh region to promote their companies to the campus community.
Wade Anthony is the founder of Anthony’s Lckr. His store, which is located at 4314 Butler St. in the Central Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, offers a variety of products like snapback hats and retro t-shirts.
However, Anthony also specializes in the sale and restoration of sneakers. It’s something he’s done for a fair amount of time.
“When I was playing ball here in 2008, I started slinging shoes,” Anthony said. “I just kept moving, opened up the store in 2015.”
Anthony also described himself as “a product of the culture.”
“Everything that’s my life, I just turned it into a store,” Anthony said. “Being with my friends and going off of music and stuff like that, a lot of these inspirations just made sense. I put it all together, put the sneaker community with the fashion community. It’s been fun lately.”
Anthony believes the most rewarding part of the job is seeing someone who “has an idea of what they want to do.”
“[From there], I can push them off the ledge to do it,” Anthony said. “Leading by example is so important.”
Anthony also offered a key piece of advice for those looking to take a path similar to his.
“If you want to see success, I can tell you that the process [en route to achieving that success] is more rewarding than the top,” Anthony said. “Everything matters. You have to go to small events. You have to go to big events.”
For Logan Williamson, the founder of Olvidadobeats, it’s all about understanding what potential clients in the music industry want from him.
“Olvidadobeats is everything music-related. It’s my DJ company,” Williamson said. “ I engineer, produce and mix and master as well. What I try to do is offer the highest sound quality possible for all my clients, no matter what needs they have.”
Williamson has had a passion for this industry for a long time. He wasted no time in turning that passion into a practice, a practice that he could capitalize off of.
“I’ve been DJing for quite a while, since the seventh grade,” Williamson said. “The music production aspect picked up in high school around my sophomore year. That’s when I really started to turn it into a legitimate business where I could monetize my talents and what I’m doing.”
Williamson said that the main goal for his company is to “offer people a good time when it comes to DJing” and “a great sound when it comes to [his] music production and engineering.”
Williamson praised the university for holding such an event, an event in which individuals like himself could begin make a name for themselves.
“Events like this are significant in pretty much any and every way because the number one thing about having a business is getting your stuff out there and knowing how to network,” Williamson said. “Being able to have events like this, especially for the Black students on campus, where we have very limited representation, is awesome. It’s awesome that Duquesne is giving us a chance to get our businesses out there.”
Annie Ribeau, a senior at Duquesne, appreciated the event, saying that she’ll always give a shot to businesses like these, ones that are “economically affordable.”
Anthony was grateful solely for the opportunity to be able to present.
“It’s rewarding in itself just to be here,” Anthony said.
