#blckmarket

Owner: Carla Lyles

Year started:  2016

Home base: Alief, Houston, TX

We met the owner of this business from vending out in these streets.  We set-up next to her at the BLCK Market back in 2018 and ever since then we’ve been good friends.  We completed both the Houston Area Urban League Small Business University and SURE program at U of H together.  Her spirit, drive, positivity, and determination is contagious and that’s why we love her and her creations. Read below to meet Carla Lyles the owner of Carla Sue Greeting Cards & Gifts, and see what all she has to offer!

Owner: Carla Lyles

Year started:  2016

Home base: Alief, Houston, TX

We love your cards because they are so raw, so real, and some have explicit words!  We have also heard that intelligent people curse a lot. What's your favorite curse word to use? 

I'm not sure I have a favorite one. I definitely use bitch a lot. Mostly as a term of endearment.

What is your "why"? 

I have many whys. I suppose the greatest reason why is to show my son and other beautiful melanated people that the days of merely surviving on this earth are over, we can in fact thrive doing the things we love most. I'm working on being a shining example of that.

What has been your most satisfying moment in business? 

Definitely my write up in Entrepreneur Magazine in December. It came at a time when i was feeling very low and ready to throw in the towel. Its was exactly what I needed to keep going.

He came and went.

Mostly, he would disappear for months on end, supposedly never to be seen again; but he always came back. Usually in ungodly hours; more often than not, to refill his Vicodin and Seroxat prescriptions; occasionally to treat a fresh wound, no information volunteered as to how he might have gotten it. Then again, it was the exact reason why he favored backdoor doctors; they did not ask any unnecessary questions. The other would have to be incredibly daft not to at least guess, in any case.