This story is part of a series spotlighting the contributions of Black Portlanders to the regional economy. The Business Journal is profiling one Black-owned business a day through February. You can read the coverage here.
At the height of the pandemic, Rashad Frazier and his wife, Shequeita, met his brother Ron for a camping trip in Glacier National Park. The feeling of being unplugged, away from the stresses of Covid life and inspired by the scenery around them, was enough to give them the idea for Camp Yoshi: an outdoor experience specifically for people of color who are so often left out of the outdoor industry.
Since launching in 2020, Frazier said Camp Yoshi has blossomed thanks to corporate sponsors and the power of storytelling. As it enters its third year, Frazier said he is focused on fostering a larger culture of people who love the outdoors and showcasing all Oregon has to offer.
Closer Look
Company name: Camp Yoshi
Founded: 2020
What it does: outdoor experiences for BIPOC and allies to unplug
Address: www.campyoshi.com
What’s the outlook for your business in 2023?
Our outlook for 2023 is expanding/growing our corporate partnerships for leadership and inclusive-focused adventures to drive retention, help building culture and community across organizations. We had incredible success with several major brands in 2022 that leverage our experiences for team building retreats. This is a new experience offering that we want companies in PNW and beyond to leverage.
What’s the best thing the city of Portland and/or state of Oregon could do to support your business?
The best thing Portland and the state of Oregon can do is continue to partner and collaborate. We are new to many of these spaces and we don't know what we don't know sometimes. We're generationally playing catchup and it's been great to have the city of Portland and supporters at the state level reach out and say we see what you're doing and you're doing it the right way, how can we partner so as to invite more communities to visit and travel to the area.
Some Black-owned companies saw a bump in business after the social justice protests in 2020. Was that true for you? Has it been sustained?
Camp Yoshi was born in many ways as a response and a solution to some of the systemic issues spotlighted by George Floyd's murder. We definitely carried that spirit when deciding to create Camp Yoshi as a solution to a problem we saw in the outdoors space and who was being marketed to.
So we can't say that we saw a bump in business as Camp Yoshi was born following that summer and we've been growing since. We are happy to say that support for Black-owned companies is now more openly spoken about and accepted, but I think we'd like to see more long-term relationships from partners than short-term projects. The key to sustainability is long-term relationships and repeated partnership and time will tell if that continues in the wake of George Floyd and the awakening in the business community that began.
