( ENSPIRE Man Code 101 ) Entrepreneur David Price Aims to Save Black Lives and Encourage Others to Create Solutions for Issues They See Around Them
ENSPIRE Contributor: Naomi Stamps
If you’ve been following ENSPIRE’s newsletter (or certain TV talk shows), David Price might sound familiar to you. This young entrepreneur is the founder of The Safety Pouch, a vehicle document and ID holder created for Black drivers. It allows easy access to commonly asked-for items if Black drivers are stopped by the police. The pouch’s bright orange color makes it easy to detect, decreasing issues with law enforcement. There are many stories of Black lives being taken because of law enforcement assuming they were reaching for a weapon. When David couldn’t find a similar pouch to aid him, he knew he had to create his own.
He acted on the idea during a business class assignment, which required students to create a product that encouraged social change. Besides creating The Safety Pouch, this entrepreneur has trained law enforcement on how to handle drivers who have his innovative product. The Safety Pouch has been featured on talk shows, such as The Tamron Hall Show and The Real, and caught the attention of celebrities. These celebrities include Master P, Erykah Badu, and Tina Knowles-Lawson.
David is a Gen-Z businessman who’s encouraging others to make a difference. He utilized social media to promote his product ad raise awareness. Since launching in 2020, The Safety Pouch has generated over six figures when it partnered it Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator Program. This entrepreneur is encouraging others to be creative in how they promote their products/services.
ENSPIRE spoke with entrepreneur David Price about The Safety Pouch, social entrepreneurship, and future plans.
When you finally got the chance to create The Safety Pouch, how long did it take to create it?
I first came up with the idea for The Safety Pouch when I was 16 years old. Before giving me the keys to my car, my parents sat me down at the kitchen table to have “The Talk,” a conversation familiar to most Black teenagers. During the conversation, I thought to myself that there must be something available to help facilitate this interaction and alleviate this fear parents feel when sending their children out on the road.
I did some research to find products to help this issue but I was unable to find products that would be safe for both law enforcement and drivers to interact with. That’s when I first came up with the concept of The Safety Pouch. However, I didn’t revisit the idea until my freshman year of college when I was accidentally enrolled in a business seminar course. After presenting the idea to my class in 2019, my professor helped me begin developing the plans to bring the pouch to the market. We officially launched The Safety Pouch in June of 2020.
Can you tell us how you scaled your business after one year on the market?
When I first launched The Safety Pouch, I relied heavily on social media and organic outreach to gain awareness. Within the first week of our launch, The Safety Pouch went viral over Instagram gathering over 2 million views and over 500,000 likes through organic posts. Within one month of the business, we started garnering celebrity engagement.
We’ve had Tina Knowles Lawson, Bella and Gigi Hadid, Royce da 5’9, TI, and Erykah Badu share and comment on The Safety Pouch. Celebrity endorsements, features on talk shows, and articles helped share our story and generate additional awareness. I’ve also been fortunate to be a part of programs like Amazon’s Black Accelerator Program.
Since being sold on Amazon, which has really helped me scale and expand my business. Through this program, I’m learning that with great mentorship and access to resources, I’m able to successfully continue to grow my business. This has allowed me the opportunity to reach so many new customers and build on my mission to make traffic stops safe and efficient for as many people as possible.
What are three things to keep in mind if you want to pursue social entrepreneurship?
For those pursuing social entrepreneurship, I would say always stay true to yourself and to why you started the business. There are many times when you’ll encounter others or moments that deviate from your vision, but making sure you’re staying true to yourself will ensure that your mission will prevail no matter the circumstance.
I would also implore social entrepreneurs to embrace failure as it is a part of the process. However, failure is not the end⸺it’s the beginning of a new approach. Failure breeds the pivot and the pivot breeds creativity and innovation. Lastly, nothing is impossible. There is space for every idea under the sun, so don’t count yourself out before you get the chance to explore all the possibilities.
Besides your Safety Pouch, are there any social entrepreneurship companies you want to highlight?
Two companies I would love to highlight are Epic Everyday and Easy Peasie. Epic Everyday is an apparel brand that focuses on empowering underrepresented children to love their skin color, embrace their hair, and own their unique, inherent style! Easy Peasie is on a mission to help combat the food deserts that affect black communities to ensure kids are getting the necessary vegetable nutrients they need.
Easy Peasie is a veggie palate-primer and bridge to whole vegetables. Kids need many tries of new foods before liking them. With EasyPeasie, families have a new, easy way to get those repeated tries of veggies in. Families use EasyPeasie Veggie Blends to add veggie flavor and extra veggie nutrition to kids’ favorite food and smoothies.
How can others effectively promote their products/services on social media?
One of the most effective ways to promote your product on social media is to communicate the need for your product and why it is useful to the consumer. Tell the consumer why they need your product and how it can improve their lives. It is important when promoting your product that you also ensure that the messaging and storytelling components around your product are consistent and easily recognizable for those who are already followers of your brand and those who are being introduced.
What are some takeaways and mistakes you learned from?
One of the biggest mistakes I made was just focusing on promoting the product and not the messaging and brand for The Safety Pouch. Since honing in on key messaging, I’ve been able to amplify the reason for The Safety Pouch. In doing so, I’ve had the opportunity to resonate with more consumers because they acknowledge and understand what The Safety Pouch is working to achieve. When I was just promoting the product, people often misconstrued and associated The Safety Pouch with other groups.
What other projects are you working on?
We are currently working on expanding the product line to ensure safety across all avenues, while also expanding The Safety Pouch into retail stores to make the product more accessible.
It’s unfortunate that Black people are constantly targeted at traffic stops and worry about their safety. David’s invention helps to make these encounters more workable for Black drivers and law enforcement. It’s inspiring how this entrepreneur didn’t wait for someone to create a solution. FrancisrWire reports that 62% of Gen Zers have showed they have started—or intend to start—their own business. David is encouraging his generation to be game-changers and believes in leading by example.
For more information, visit The Safety Pouch website.
Another article you might enjoy: Entrepreneur William Matthews Encourages Corporate Change
