Nia Long Shares Her Grandmother’s Grit And Growth To Encourage Black Entrepreneurs

August 18, 2026
In recognition of Black Business Month, Intuit, who recently partnered with the actress, shares her message to small business owners.
Owning a small business comes with more than its fair share of challenges. And for Black entrepreneurs, that road can be even more difficult. But sometimes inspiration and encouragement come from surprising places—like actress Nia Long, who recently spoke about the importance of Black business.
Long is partnering with Intuit QuickBooks and Mailchimp to celebrate the latest winners of their Small Business Hero Program, an initiative that recognizes and empowers small business owners who are making a meaningful impact in their communities. As part of the partnership, she helped honor three entrepreneurs at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles in July, presenting each with a $20,000 grant to support the continued growth of their businesses.
The partnership was especially meaningful for Long, who grew up seeing the struggles and successes of Black entrepreneurs firsthand through her grandmother, a hairstylist who built her own salon after immigrating to the U.S.
“Coming from a family where my grandmother was a hairstylist who came to this country from Trinidad, but was born in Grenada—the first thing she did was start doing hair in our kitchen in Brooklyn. That eventually evolved into her opening a small salon,” Long shared. “She was a small business owner, and I remember she would come home and her feet would be achy, but she would still make us dinner and make sure we were taken care of.”
Here’s more of what she had to say about Black entrepreneurs, their needs, their challenges, and their importance to our communities:
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