entrepreneurs ended season 14 of the BBC One series last night with impressive offers and deals from both and .
Their company, , produces decorations and ornaments that feature Black people, bringing diversity to the forefront of Christmas – something Peter and Deborah were keen to be a part of.
However, while they were praised for their initiative that could ‘change the world’ by the Dragons, Natalie and Alison revealed to Metro.co.uk how surprised they were at the lack of diversity across the rest of the series.
Their vision of ‘setting the world to rights’ began in 2018, when Natalie’s youngest daughter asked ‘Can Christmas angels be Black?’
The mother-of-two reflected on this comment as they hung white ornaments on their Christmas tree, and used a Black Barbie doll as the topper, before undergoing a hunt to find more diverse decorations.
At the realisation they couldn’t find many, if any, including Alison spotting ‘a white figurine painted black’ in a gift-shop, the pair knew that they had something different to bring to the market.
Alison, who works as a pharmaceutical recruitment consultant, and Natalie, a marketing manager andhost, created March Muses – a product range featuring Black angels and Black Santa baubles, all individually handmade, with close attention being made to skin tone, hair design, body shape and size.
‘We’re not your traditional entrepreneurs, we are single mothers with children and bills to pay, so we can’t be as free as some other entrepreneurs can be… that’s not our journey nor our story, we’re hustling and working full time,’ Natalie shared.
In fact, they raised the idea of not being ‘traditional entrepreneurs’ in the Den, where they discussed the lack of diversity in the boardroom.
Of their two hours being grilled by the Dragons, only a 12-minute-clip made the cut, which didn’t include the creators discussing the lack of diversity in business.
Despite a focus on sustainable products this season, Natalie could only recall a handful of Black businesses featured on the series, and suggested that perhaps the researchers scouting businesses may only be of ‘one look’ and will therefore only see ‘what’s in their bubble.’
Out of 14 episodes featuring only a few Black businesses, Natalie said: ‘We know that there are so many more, the Black pound is so strong.’
Having said that, Natalie and Alison know that their business is far more than just a Black business.
With a consumer base including a range of ethnicities, cultures and races, and even Sara Davies promising to now be using one of the March Muses angels on her own tree with her sons, the far-reaching impact is not limited to just underrepresented groups.
Natalie added: ‘We don’t have to be known as a Black business, John Lewis doesn’t call itself a white business, they’re just a business.’
Now, with the help of ‘the OGs of the Den’ as Alison called them, March Muses is another step closer to the wave of social change that is being driven, that they hope to see more representation of in the next series.
‘It’s clear you can’t have Christmas the same way anymore.’
Dragons’ Den is available to watch on BBCiPlayer.
