Small shop, bold voice, bigger mission.

The  powers in charge are busy defunding universities, cutting into research, and pretending education is optional. If that is the play, then it is on us to write a new one.

I do not have Wall Street money, a billionaire yacht, or a cable news network. What I do have is a small but mighty online business — Simply Edyn & Co. — where I sell everything from apparel to non-apparel (or whatever else I dream up) with a side of wit and purpose. The idea is simple: every product in my store can become fuel for students at HBCUs and other underrepresented groups who deserve futures, not cancellations.

The plan is not complicated. It begins small, grows with intention, and, if we build momentum together, will expand into something lasting.

Phase 1: The Spark

The first step is about starting small and staying loud. Every order, whether it is a tee, a tote, or something else, sends 15 percent of profits back into the world. Ten percent will go toward food insecurity and women’s health research. The remaining five percent will go toward scholarships for students at HBCUs. That includes support for women and girls pursuing STEM fields because innovation needs more than one kind of mind. It also includes support for those who return to school later in life because brilliance does not come with an expiration date. There is no bureaucracy here, no maze of paperwork, just orders and receipts that anyone can track with me in real time.

Phase 2: The Fire

The next step is building partnerships. As this grows, Simply Edyn & Co. will work with established scholarship funds and specific HBCUs to create branded, direct-impact scholarships. Think of The WELP! Scholarship — real checks with real student names attached. This stage is about reaching further than young undergrads. It means supporting women breaking into STEM. It means backing adults who make the brave choice to return to the classroom. It means expanding beyond the shop and into a network of supporters who believe that education is survival.

Phase 3: The Foundation

The long-term vision is permanence. At the right moment, this project evolves into its own foundation, a fund that does not wait for government scraps but invests directly in the next generation of thinkers, doers, and dreamers. This is where research, education, and resilience meet. It is also where you will be able to say you were part of it from the start.

Let’s Be Real

Here is the honest part. I hardly have any traffic to my shop right now. Most days it feels like I am shouting into the void. But I believe that can change as I keep showing up, keep sharing, and keep building community with more of you.

And here is the part that matters most. I am open. If you have advice, resources, or connections that could help make this initiative stronger and more impactful, I want to hear them. I am not pretending to have all the answers. What I am serious about is using my platform, however small today, to help fund the future.

This is not charity. It is strategy. If America is determined to make learning harder, then we are going to make learning unavoidable. The products in my shop are not just items you buy. They are receipts that you believed in better. They are protest signs you can wear to the grocery store. They are a reminder that true luxury is not exclusion but contribution.

The platform is small. So were most movements before they became undeniable. I cannot promise yachts or miracles. What I can promise is that when you support Simply Edyn & Co., someone else gets a shot at tuition, research keeps moving, and our collective future gains one more defense line.

When the government says “defund,” my answer is simple. WELP! We will fund it ourselves. 

With care,

Tasha Monroe

Founder, Simply Edyn & Co.

Writer & Editor, The Commons Dispatch