LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was such a success the first time around a Louisville ad agency is looking to partner with another Black-owned business and provide free marketing services once more. 

What You Need To Know

  • Doe-Anderson expands its: “All Hands: Black Owned Business Enrichment Program”

  • JoCari Beattie is the first partner business and Doe-Anderson seeks its next collaboration

  • Beattie is the creator of the "besk" a backpack that turns into a desk

  • Beattie has now sold his "besk" to customers in 24 different countries

Inside a cozy manufacturing space, inventor JoCari Beattie goes down memory lane looking over the early prototypes of a product he dreamt up as a teenager.

“You have to unlock that. It opens up and then you have yourself a couple legs,” Beattie says while demonstrating how the “besk” works. The besk is a backpack that turns into a desk.

Ten years ago, Beattie was a freshman in college and spent a lot of time studying on the beach and in gymnasiums. “At the time, I also ran track. So I would go to like conference championships and we’d be there for multiple days and you look around and there are hundreds of, if not thousands, of students trying to figure out how to do homework in bleachers,” he said.

Beattie essentially wanted a portable desk, but also one with independently adjustable legs so he could get a flat surface on uneven ground. He also wanted to be able to carry it on his back, since he was often on a bike. Beattie thought it was certainly a practical contraption, but was shocked when he couldn’t find anything like that on sale or online. “It 100% surprised me and I was like, alright, what would this thing even look like,” Beattie said.

When an engineering mind gets going, it doesn’t stop. So, Beattie became a perpetual motion machine, turning his concept into reality and into a product he could build a business on. The “besk” was born. And then a year ago, things really started to cook.

“We want to do something that is impactful, something that’s meaningful. We got to a point where it was like, you know, could really put our money where our mouth is and invest in the community we’re in,” Kaelin Massey said. Massey is the public relations account manager for the Louisville-based advertising agency Doe-Anderson.

In 2023 Doe-Anderson launched the All Hands: Black Owned Business Enrichment Program, led by Kaelin Massey and Beattie’s upstart Jobé Products was its inaugural partnership. “We thought that his product was something that was very unique and something that could withstand the test of time,” Massey said.

Doe-Anderson identified and created a marketing plan to help Jobé stand out, attract more customers and elevate the business, and do it all for free. “We started shipping the ‘besk’ out, I believe last year, which is pretty cool because it’s been shipped to 24 different countries. So that’s really cool for us,” Beattie said. So pleased with their partnership with Beattie, Doe-Anderson is looking to replicate that and is currently searching for another Black-owned business to collaborate with. “It’s a great experience just to be around professionals that know exactly what they are doing.”

Beattie says applying for the All Hands program was one of the best business decisions he’s ever made.

Related Stories