Beyond the Yard- Feature Story

By Kelvin Childs 

Angel Gregorio (’08 COAS; ’11 HUGS) says Women’s History Month is about “celebrating women and all that we do and highlighting the achievement and success and all we do in making things better.” 

For Gregorio, being an entrepreneur was just the beginning. A Washington, D.C., native, Gregorio launched her initial business, The Spice Suite, on a whim when she encountered an empty storefront in the Takoma neighborhood in 2015 and queried the property owner about the rent. With no training in culinary traditions but a lot of interest and energy – Gregorio was an assistant school principal at a local charter school – she grew The Spice Suite into a nationally known brick-and-mortar and online business that provides a curated selection of seasonings. Over the years, Gregorio has traveled to 36 countries to build her knowledge about spices and seasonings, although she routinely advises people to be adventurous and just try different combinations. 

The original home of The Spice Suite also served as what Gregorio calls a “dream incubator,” hosting more than 2,300 pop-up shops from other Black women small business owners, free of charge, offering “everything you could imagine, from jewelry, shea butter … candles, florists” and more, she said.  

In January, Gregorio introduced the next phase of the enterprise, Black and Forth, in the Langdon Park neighborhood in Northeast D.C. The strip mall, a former tow-truck company she purchased in 2021, houses The Spice Shop’s new home and provides a bigger space for more pop-up stores. In addition, four shipping containers have been added to the site and converted into hair and nail salons. 

Gregorio’s start at Howard University undergirded her entrepreneurial ambitions. “Howard was the only HBCU I might have applied to, if I’m not mistaken,” she said. “Howard was the only choice. I wanted to be around Black excellence and Howard was the natural place.” 

“I grew up in D.C., which was known as Chocolate City,” she said. “It wasn’t a conscious decision. Being around Black people is what I knew. Howard allowed me the space to do that.”