Redress the Ceiling: A Conversation with Nikayla Golatt-Barrett, Founder of Good Cycle
Photo Credit: Jessica Williams
In the bustling heart of Dallas, there's a unique space where sustainability, diversity, and empowerment converge. GoodCycle, a sustainable goods and fashion retail store, stands as a testament to the vision and passion of its founder, Nikayla Golatt-Barrett. In an exclusive interview, Nikayla shares her journey, the inspiration behind her business, and her commitment to making a meaningful impact on her community.
Q: Can you share with us the inspiration behind starting your sustainable goods and fashion retail store?
NGB: I always say my passion for sustainable and vintage fashion was born of necessity. I was 1 of 5 kids raised in a single income home, so things like clothes and shoes were rationed. I remember we each had a $100 budget for back-to-school clothes, and we had to make that stretch. Around 13 years old, I started to want to express myself through my clothing, so I would watch girls on YouTube thrifting and upcycling pieces they found to look like what was new in stores. They would find dope pieces for $1 or $2 and style them to look like the $50 tops at the mall; I was hooked!
I started to ask my dad if I could spend my $100 at the thrift store and ended up with a full wardrobe. At the same time, I was building my skill set in finding diamonds in the rough and embracing my personal style by trying new things and seeing what stuck.
Q: How do you define sustainability within the context of your business, and how does it influence your product selection and sourcing?
NGB: While I’m aware that sustainability has become a buzzword in today’s world, I define sustainability as the ability to center circularity over time without sacrificing integrity in the process. I believe a commitment to supporting small, Black Women-owned businesses is a commitment to sustainability. These businesses tend to commit to their communities in a meaningful way that large corporations often fail to do.
Small businesses, Black-owned businesses, and Women-owned businesses have close ties to the people they serve. They are often the pillars, mothers, nurturers, and educators of their communities, naturally creating circularity by pouring back tenfold, which in turn strengthens culture, provides opportunities, resources, and safe spaces for all members of the community to benefit from.
This, to me, is the most important form of sustainability and is one of the things I consider when choosing which brands to partner with and showcase within the store.
Location: South Dallas Cultural Arts Center
Q: Could you elaborate on the significance of your store being a black woman-owned establishment, especially within a city marked by segregated diversity?
NGB: Black women see the world in such a unique way. Our unique experience positions us at multiple intersections of oppression, which grants us the gift of sight. We learn from a young age to be aware of everyone else’s experience as a tool of survival, so our perspective is so expansive as a result. When one of us decides to open up a business, we often use our gift of sight to create inclusive, intentional, and useful spaces for our community and the world at large.
Q: "Redress the Ceiling" aims to highlight black women making history despite limitations. What historical or cultural influences have shaped your journey as a business owner?
NGB: COVID-19 for sure! I opened my first brick and mortar in 2020, and I walked away with so many nuggets of wisdom that I don’t think I would have learned had I started my journey pre-COVID. Immediately, I was thrown into a foreign market with customers feeling unsure of what was going on in the world, and post-lockdown people were hesitant to be around others.
With my business being so touch-heavy and community-centered, it presented a real challenge in figuring out how to keep people connected while remaining safe. But I feel so lucky to have had that as GoodCycle’s start because I believe I was able to create a really strong community of people who now trust the brand because of its relentless dedication to connection even in the most uncertain times.
Q: What role does community engagement play in your business model, and how do you connect with your local community?
NGB: Community engagement is everything. GoodCycle is nothing without the Good People that we do it for. My number 1 goal in everything that I do is to provide value. Closely tied to our commitment to sustainability, we want to create products, events, spaces, and opportunities that support the actual needs of our community. We host events that engage the community by encouraging the sharing of rich cultures, traditions, and perspectives!
Q: Lastly, how do you envision the future of your store, and what role do you hope it will play in continuing to promote diversity, sustainability, and empowerment within Dallas and beyond?
NGB: Dallas is a big city that has many things to offer, but I’ve always felt like it was missing a place that made me, as a young creative Black woman, feel seen and valid in my experience. When I created the concept for GoodCycle, I was searching for my own place to call home in a city that felt foreign to me.
I’d like for the legacy of GoodCycle to be one that creates space both literally and figuratively for people to feel that their experience is valid, a resource used to help people express themselves freely and the safety to be able to do so in a supportive and connected community.