Welcome to the debut of “The Hustle” where we profile African-American women who are turning their passion into a little something on the side, and turning that little something into a big business. Know someone who should be in “The Hustle”? Email tgarcia@madamenoire.com.

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“No Glove, No Love.”

When boxing fan and Carla Ja put this familiar slogan on t-shirts to sell at the Mayweather vs. Cotto match last May, it became the unofficial launch of her business. “Within a couple of hours,” she says, “I sold out of the shirts.”

The sales drove more than usual traffic to her website, and led to even more sales—but soon after, Ja admits, interest faded. “All of the momentum and everything just, you know, kind of went away.”

For Ja (pronounced “Jay”) who juggles raising five children with a full-time position as a manager in the medical field, the t-shirts were not about making a few extra dollars on the side.  Instead, it was the beginning of the realization of an idea she had had more than 16 years ago.

At the time, Ja’s eldest daughter was three and she had been feeling more responsibility for the world her children would inherit. “I wanted to do something to be a positive contribution to society, and a big part of it is, you know, safe sex and abstinence,” Ja explains. “But I didn’t want to be preachy,” she clarifies.

Biding her time as her family and career grew, and weathering a divorce in the process, Ja finally had the shirts made. But their debut taught her a cardinal rule of business: It’s not about whatever product, service, or even message you’re selling. It’s about building a brand that authentically connects with a community of supporters that can help you make your concept a movement.

Ja had found the seeds of that support in the boxing fans that had patronized her shirts. Now she had to build her brand. As she explained to MadameNoire, it has not been a predictable or straightforward course.

Madame Noire: How did you go about beginning to create your brand?

Carla Ja: I started doing entertainment reporting for Humormill.com and interviewing a lot of the comedians that were doing improv here in Houston, Texas; interviewing the guys from Shaq’s All-Star Comedy Tour. A lot of those interviews really started circulating on the Internet, and shortly thereafter some gentlemen approached me and said “You know what? We see that you’re into boxing. We see all of your pictures. We see that you’re at every boxing event. We see that you’re also doing the entertainment reporting. How would you like to do boxing interviews for us?”

From there, Jeff Mayweather’s Pro Boxing Insider asked me, would I be a contributor for their website. Then Boxing Socialist asked me if I would be a contributor.

MN: How did the interviews evolve into managing boxers?

CJ: A lot of the up-and-coming prospects started asking me, “Miss Carla, can you get us sponsorships?” “Miss Carla, can you hook us up with someone that can help us out with, you know, endorsements and the patches for our trunks?” I said, “You know what? I should just go on and launch my own company.” So that was already something that was in the back of my mind.

From that I interviewed Juan “the Baby Bull” Diaz and [he] said “You know what? I’d like for you to be an athlete representative for my company.”

God opens doors and kind of puts the perfect people in front of you.  It just kind of evolved from me launching the t-shirt company and wanting to have a larger platform; to now having a sports and entertainment company [Carla Ja Sports & Entertainment] with a number of potential athletes who are slated to sign here in the next couple of weeks, to the ones that I’m currently managing.

Source: The YBF

I actually don’t know how long Tami’ Roman’s been selling t-shirts on her website, but it’s clear she’s capitalizing on Evelyn’s original turn a “Basketball Wives” saying into a t-shirt hustle with a new design she just debuted.

Last week we saw Tami call Kesha out her name three times in a row, and what do you know, now you can buy a t-shirt to commemorate that moment. Yes, this woman has actually put B****, B****, AND MORE B**** on tanks, tees, and sweatshirts. She wasn’t lying when she said “Nowadays everything’s a f***in’ t-shirt”—which she actually put on a t-shirt by the way.

In addition to other GTFOH, STFU, and You Are Testing My Anger Management tees, Tami does show her softer side with one shirt that says Tami Cares. But that’s about the only nicety you’re going to get from #Team Tami.

You can check out the t-shirts on Tami’s website, but don’t buy anything (JK). I wonder how much she and Evelyn are making off of these shirts?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: The Jasmine Brand

How soon Evelyn has forgotten the drama that unfolded over the last t-shirt idea she had. Remember non-motha-f***in’ factor and how Tami promptly rolled up on Evelyn at her store? Well, the “Basketball Wife” is taking her chances with another tee, this time based off of a comment she made about cast newcomer Kenya Bell.

On a previous episode of “Basketball Wives,” Evelyn commented that she didn’t know what was up with Kenya’s weave and said, “it’s leanin,’ complete with her signature shady confused face, and now she’s put the phrase on a t-shirt. She explained the concept to ABC News Radio:

So now I have another T-shirt, “It’s Leanin’” and the letters are leaning on the shirt and I’m referring to Kenya’s hair from last episode. (Laughs) I made a comment and I was like, “Well, I don’t really know — something about her hair.” And then I said something, “It’s leanin’,” and my entire timeline since that show, people tweeting me pictures of bad weaves, you know, “Look at me! I’m leanin’” I mean so it became this thing so yes, that’s my next T-shirt. I’m sorry Kenya.

Sounds real heartfelt. Unlike Tami, Kenya is a little spacy so I’m sure she won’t try to check Evelyn on this, but you never know. She was quick to let Kesha know when she was getting out of line.

What do you think of Evelyn’s new tee?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Leather and lace are two of the most intimidating fabrics. Don’t bother to look it up…it’s a fact. Seriously, what is scarier than resembling a character from the Matrix or channeling your inner gothic teenager this late in the game? We’re shuddering just thinking about it.

What if we told you, these are not your only options when it comes to wearing leather and lace? Stop laughing! Allow us to ease your fears with outfit ideas that combine the chic powers of leather and the demure allure of lace. Trust us, when these two fabrics are paired together, all bets are off!

So, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for pops of color, mixed prints, and texture, texture, texture! Okay, proceed…

*Note: Faux leather is used in some many instances for those wondering or worried.

It’s not enough that Nene Leakes had to annoy us for the past two episodes of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” babbling on and on about how rich she is. She’s now decided to put it on a t-shirt. Taking a cue from Dave Chappelle’s “I’m Rich B***h” parodies, Nene has created a monogrammed T-shirt that reads “I’m Very Rich B***h” in Swarovski crystals— for a whopping $150.

The phrase could be heard all throughout her altercation with Sheree Whitfield on the season premier on November 6 as the two swapped low blows now that their money seems to have swapped places. I guess it’s a cute, opportunistic and capitalistic venture, but all I’m going to ask is: what happened the last time a reality TV star tried to make a t-shirt based off on an altercation she had on-screen? Hint: I don’t see anyone walking around with non m******r f*****g factor t-shirts anywhere.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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