Paperwork and Purpose: Building a Legacy with My Name on It.

There’s a certain weight that comes with writing your last name on official paperwork—especially when you know that name carries both history and hope. When I submitted the trademark application for Black Dad Energy and filed the paperwork to make the business official through our LLC, I wasn’t just launching a business. I was making a statement: that what I’m building belongs to my family. That this brand, this movement, would carry our DNA in every detail.

For some people, trademarking and forming an LLC are just business steps. To me, they were deeply personal. They were about visibility, validation, and the vision of creating something that would outlive me. I didn’t come from generational wealth, but I have every intention of contributing to it—one intentional act at a time.

Filing With Feeling

There was something powerful about seeing my wife's name next to mine as co-owner. We’ve built a life together—from the early years of sacrifice to the present moments of purpose. Making her part-owner wasn’t just a gesture. It was an acknowledgement that this vision is ours. That everything Black Dad Energy stands for is lived out in our household every day—in how we co-parent, how we love, how we support each other's goals.

As I clicked "submit" on those applications, I wasn’t thinking about sales or followers. I was thinking about my children. I imagined them years from now, seeing their family name protected, their mother credited, and their father determined. That, to me, is legacy. That’s Black Dad Energy.

The Legacy in the Legal

No one really talks about how spiritual this kind of work can be. Legal paperwork might seem sterile or cold, but in the context of legacy, it’s sacred. It’s a way of protecting a vision. Of planting roots. Of telling the world: "This matters. This is ours."

I thought about how often we as Black entrepreneurs are pushed into survival mode, scrambling to get ideas off the ground while skipping steps to make them last. I didn’t want to skip this. I wanted to go through every step with intention. I wanted to build a foundation strong enough to hold the weight of everything I hope this brand will grow into.

Presence on Paper, Presence in Practice

And in the middle of all that, I was still being Dad.

I cheered loudly at my daughter’s volleyball games, the kind of loud that makes her smile and shake her head at the same time. I walked side by side with my son on college campuses, asking him questions about dorm life and future majors. I sat next to my wife on the couch after long days, laptops open, hearts aligned. None of these moments are separate from the brand. They are the brand.

Because Black Dad Energy isn’t just about running a business while being a dad. It’s about letting the business be shaped by the kind of dad I am. It's about making sure the energy behind the name is lived, not just branded.

Every Signature is a Seed

What I’m learning is that the smallest things—a signature, a shared business title, a filed application—can hold the most meaning. These steps don’t happen on a stage. There’s no applause. But they are steps that quietly alter the trajectory of a family. They are seeds.

I want my children to look back and say, "Our dad built something real." Not just because I filed the paperwork, but because I did it in a way that honored where we came from and where we’re going.

This is the Work

The emails, the deadlines, the applications—they all matter. Not because they make you a legitimate business, but because they reflect a legitimate love. A love for family. A love for vision. A love for being present enough to put it all in writing.

This brand isn’t a side hustle. It’s a family legacy stitched with every form submitted and every hour spent doing the quiet work behind the scenes. It’s an inheritance that doesn’t start with wealth, but with intentionality.

That’s Black Dad Energy.