Ashley La Bomme-Benson, a very grateful African American entrepreneur from Los Angeles, California, saw her cookie business turn around after influencer Rachel Accurso, better known as Ms. Rachel, gave her a boost on Threads, where she has more than 2.8 million followers. The owner of The Bomme Sweets went from having almost no regular cookie orders to receiving more than 100 orders within two weeks. The sudden surge of sales brought in enough money in one day to cover the bakery's $3,650 monthly rent.
The nine-year-old business had been struggling as customers cut back on spending. Ashley said the economy had made it harder to sell specialty baked goods, which she considers a luxury rather than a necessity. While she had completed about $7,000 in custom orders this year, she had not received a regular cookie order through Shopify in more than a year.
That changed after she responded to an August 11 Threads post from Ms. Rachel. The children's educator had asked Black entrepreneurs to share their businesses in the comments. More than 4,000 people had already responded, so La Bomme-Benson did not expect her comment to get noticed. According to INC, she introduced her business and posted photos of her cookies before thanking Ms. Rachel the next morning for helping her Threads views rise from fewer than 10 to about 60.
About an hour later, Ms. Rachel reposted her message and followed her account. La Bomme-Benson initially missed the notification. Then Shopify alerted her to a new cookie order. About 10 minutes later, 10 more orders came in. Within another hour, the number had grown fivefold. The attention continued to build. Two weeks after the repost, The Bomme Sweets had received 102 cookie orders and generated more than 330,000 views on Threads. A dozen cookies cost $30, while a variety dozen cost $45. She had completed 55 orders and was still working through the remaining ones. The first 24 hours of orders brought in enough money to cover the next month's rent. La Bomme-Benson, who has five children, said the unexpected support also gave her renewed confidence in the business.
Other Black-owned businesses experienced a similar boost after being highlighted by Ms. Rachel. Lamine Loco, founder of the Black-owned marketplace Miiriya, watched his Threads following grow from 84,000 to 95,000 in two days. Businesses on the platform recorded more than 450 sales within five days. Since August 11, Miiriya's more than 900 active Black-owned businesses have generated about 780 sales worth $16,200. Loco launched the marketplace in 2020 to create a space where people could support Black-owned businesses. After its first version shut down in 2023 because of operational problems, he relaunched it in 2024. Its Threads community has since grown to more than 100,000 followers.
The experience has also influenced how both entrepreneurs use social media. La Bomme-Benson already has more than 155,000 TikTok followers and 68,000 Facebook followers, where she shares videos of her baking process. She now feels more comfortable appearing on camera rather than relying mainly on voiceovers. She also hopes to open a brick-and-mortar bakery and is considering a cookie-of-the-month subscription box. Loco, meanwhile, wants Miiriya to become less dependent on social media while growing its Instagram presence and working toward 500,000 followers. Both said the sudden attention showed them the value of being more genuine and focused on connecting with their communities.