The Famly Bizness Owners Build a Family Fashion Business Across Generations

Three Black women business owners in Southern California are growing The Famly Bizness, a Carson, California, family enterprise that spans affordable fashion, retail, entertainment and entrepreneurship, according to an announcement timed to National Women’s Small Business Month.

Bonita Sutton, Celecia Tymeka Johnson and Lashelle Sanders run The Famly Bizness, which offers headwear, clothing, purses, sports-themed apparel, accessories, collectibles and keepsakes. The women are also developing a larger vision that includes full-figure fashion, opportunities for independent designers and small businesses, and entrepreneurship education for young people.

“When one of us wins, the famly wins,” Sanders said.

How The Famly Bizness Grew From Millinery

The business began with Sutton’s background in millinery. She was the youngest student in a Saturday millinery class at West Los Angeles College and later continued her training through adult night school.

Sutton learned traditional techniques for shaping felt and straw, working with wooden hat blocks, steam and stretchers, and building hats with buckram, wire and connectors. She founded Hats by Bonita in 2008 while also building a career in information systems at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.

Today she wants to pass those skills forward and add full-figure clothing to the family’s fashion plans. “I believe in passing the torch,” Sutton said.

Sanders focuses on making style accessible to everyday consumers, with hats, clothing, purses and accessories that let customers feel good without spending a fortune. The family also envisions a marketplace where independent designers, small businesses and young entrepreneurs can gain visibility and reach customers.

Music and Entertainment Backgrounds

Johnson is a classically trained lyric soprano who studied music performance at El Camino College and California State University, Dominguez Hills. In 2013 she toured Europe with hip hop, traveling through Germany, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Norway and Austria.

She has released music, performed poetry and spoken word, and has a manuscript in progress. For The Famly Bizness, Johnson uses equipment including Glowforge and press machines to make products, while also mentoring children.

Sanders brings a background in acting, hosting and stand-up comedy. She says she knew Tupac Shakur as a close friend, grew up around hip hop circles that included Dr. Dre, and that her singing can be heard on a Dr. Dre song. Those experiences give The Famly Bizness an unusual mix of fashion, entrepreneurship, music and entertainment, and give Sanders a way to discuss an important period in hip hop from a personal perspective.

Why Women-Owned Businesses Are Growing

The number of women-owned employer businesses in the United States increased nearly 20 percent between 2017 and 2023, according to U.S. Census Bureau data cited in the announcement. That growth mirrors other signs that women entrepreneurs are reaching parity in new business formation.

For Sutton, Johnson and Sanders, Women’s Small Business Month is also a chance to discuss what women build beyond revenue: skills, businesses, relationships and knowledge that can pass to another generation.

A Community Mission for Young Entrepreneurs

The Famly Bizness also has a community mission rooted in the family’s own experience. Cloesha Sutton spent roughly a decade at the Boys & Girls Club Main Street Clubhouse, where instructors, mentors and Cal State Dominguez students helped with homework, introduced children to sports and encouraged them to picture their futures.

That experience helped inspire the family to develop workshops that expose young people to creativity, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. The family describes its approach as passing skills, access and confidence from one person to another through fashion, making and mentorship, an idea echoed by women entrepreneurs turning mentor advice into business plans.

Programs that pair capital with guidance are growing elsewhere too, including a partnership offering women entrepreneurs capital and mentorship. During National Women’s Small Business Month, the three owners of The Famly Bizness are available for interviews on women-owned businesses, affordable fashion, family entrepreneurship, millinery and mentorship.