The Everyday Celebrity Series
Every city has its celebrities.
Not just the ones on billboards or TV screens, but the people building something real in their communities every single day. The barbers who know every customer by name. The café owners who remember your order before you say it. The entrepreneurs who not only turn passion into profit, but the ones who also build something meaningful that impacts the people around them.
The Everyday Celebrity Series, also known as EDC Spotlight, was created for those people to have their story told. Business owners, content creators, and community leaders who are making big strides in their respective industry but simply need a little help doing the hard part—marketing.
As a local content creator providing marketing services in San Diego, I understand first hand how a consistent media push is a non-negotiable to compete in any industry. Great businesses need visibility. However, most small businesses struggle finding time to create it. The constant need for storytelling through photography, video production, web blogs, and social media content has become the inevitable bridge between a neighborhood favorite and a national contender.
As we all know, that bridge isn’t a yellow brick road. For most entrepreneurs, it’s a bridge missing steps.
Although this road can be very overwhelming, it isn’t one that has to be walked alone. My #1 goal for this series is to reassure these diamonds in the rough that their stories alone are powerful enough to transcend any algorithm. Camera effects, trendy audios, and viral moments are simply tools; the real impact comes from the story itself. When customers can see the face behind a brand, hear the journey behind the business, and feel the passion behind the work, that connection is what turns attention into support.
Although some follow the hype, others prefer to build it. That’s why I’m proud to introduce you all to the third feature of the Everyday Celebrity series: D’jatarya (Diggi) Powell, co-founder of San Diego’s Black Biz Flea Market.
MEET DIGGI
D’jatarya is a 26-year-old filmmaker, actress, and entrepreneur from San Diego, California who has committed the last 4 years of her life to bridging the gap for local entrepreneurs like herself.
Through Black Biz Flea Market, Diggi has built a community commerce hub that celebrates black entrepreneurship while creating opportunities for local businesses to promote and sell their products and services.
In cities like Los Angeles, Oakland, Atlanta, and New York, there have always been well-known spaces where entrepreneurs naturally gather, collaborate, and support one another. However, for many Black entrepreneurs in San Diego, that type of consistent gathering hasn't always been this close to home.
“ Black Biz Flea Market is here to give business owners, Black business owners, a platform where they can really be celebrated, where they can really feel supported- where they can feel love, where their businesses can be seen...I'm just so passionate about bringing a space for Black people to feel a real sense of community. In LA they have Leimert Park. I think the WorldBeat Center has been that in a lot of ways, but things always grow when the youth are involved."
Black Biz Flea Market isn't about reinventing something that has never existed. Community institutions like the WorldBeat Center and The Voice & Viewpoint have spent decades creating spaces that preserve culture and connect people throughout San Diego.
What D’jatarya is building feels like the next chapter.
A new platform that introduces younger entrepreneurs to the foundation that already exists while creating new opportunities for them to contribute their own ideas, businesses, and creativity.
That was ultimately why I chose to feature her.
The Everyday Celebrity series isn't about highlighting the loudest voices.
It's about recognizing the people willing to carry the torch forward.
BUILDING BBFM
Black Biz Flea Market was founded in October 2022 by Diggi and her “good sis” Jaida Day. The first market was held in La Jolla on UCSD campus in collaboration with the Black Student Union. While the turnout proved there was interest, it also sparked a bigger conversation: How do you create a space that more of the community can consistently access?
Reflecting on that first event, Diggi explained how location quickly became one of the biggest considerations.
"We had our first event at UC San Diego in La Jolla, and since then we continued it at the WorldBeat Center, which is really what I considered the mecca of all things culture growing up here in San Diego. It was really important that we aligned with a space that aligned with us."
She continued,
"I think it's important to bring people out of where they're used to being, but I also wanted the event to feel central. Somewhere people could take the bus if they needed to. Somewhere that, even after the market was over, people would still want to hang out."
That answer revealed something much bigger than a venue change.
She wasn't simply searching for a place to host an event—she was intentionally removing barriers that might prevent people from participating. The location had to be accessible, culturally significant, and inviting enough for people to stay long after they finished shopping.
Because the goal was never just commerce, It was creating a hub for connection.
That vision ultimately found a home at the WorldBeat Center, where Black Biz Flea Market hosted its next three events—one in 2023 and two in 2025. More than a venue, it became a place where local entrepreneurs, artists, families, and community members could gather, connect, and celebrate Black entrepreneurship in a space that felt intentional.
The vision continued to evolve in 2026 when Black Biz Flea Market moved to Lisbon Vista Village in San Diego's Encanto neighborhood for its Juneteenth Kickoff—a collaborative celebration with local networking organization SoCal Barter. What began on a university campus in La Jolla had grown into a gathering rooted in one of San Diego's historic Black communities—a reflection of Diggi's original vision to create a space that felt accessible, intentional, and truly at home.
Like many community-driven initiatives, however, the journey wasn't without its challenges.
After the 2023 market, Black Biz Flea Market took a hiatus in 2024 while both Diggi and Jaida navigated the realities of balancing full-time work while building personal business ventures.
For some, that might have marked the end of the vision. For Diggi, it simply meant taking the time to build a stronger foundation before bringing it back. And that's ultimately why I chose to feature her.
Ideas are common but Execution is rare.
Why I Chose Diggi for Everyday Celebrity
There will always be people with great concepts for improving San Diego. What separates the people who leave a lasting impact isn't the idea itself—it's the willingness to keep showing up when the work becomes difficult. D’jatarya isn't the first person to imagine a space like this, and she won't be the last. But she's one of the people daring enough to try.
When life pulled her team in different directions, she was faced with a decision: let the vision fade or become the person responsible for carrying it forward.
"I had my third documentary in February of last year (2024) called The Monologue, and we produced it through the San Diego Media Arts internship. At the same time, my co-founder Jaida's corporate career and businesses were growing. We had to ask ourselves, 'Do we currently have the capacity for this right now?'... But I knew that I still wanted to keep it going."
That decision meant more than simply hosting another event.
It meant learning how to organize vendors, coordinate marketing campaigns, source graphic design, manage budgets, secure venues, and oversee every moving piece required to bring Black Biz Flea Market back to life.
The results speak for themselves. What began in 2022 with 11 vendors and 436 attendees has grown into a community event featuring more than 50 vendors. Following the 2024 hiatus, Black Biz Flea Market returned in April 2025 with more than 1,000 RSVPs—a testament to what can happen when someone believes in a vision long enough to see other people believe in it too.
Leadership isn't always measured by how quickly something grows.
Sometimes it's measured by the willingness to carry the weight of a vision until other people can help carry it with you.
And to me, that's what makes Diggi an Everyday Celebrity.
The Bigger Picture
The return of Black Biz Flea Market in 2025 proved something important.
Momentum follows consistency.
Shortly after the market returned, Black Biz Flea Market was featured by The Voice & Viewpoint, one of San Diego's longest-running Black-owned newspapers. For more than six decades, the publication has documented and celebrated the people shaping the city's Black community.
That recognition opened another door.
After reading the feature, representatives from the La Jolla Playhouse reached out to collaborate around its Tony Award-winning production, Jaja's African Hair Braiding. Together, they partnered on a ticket giveaway, introducing two organizations with a shared mission: creating spaces where culture, community, and representation can thrive.
To me, that's the perfect example of what Diggi has been building all along.
One platform creates another opportunity.
One organization shines a light on another.
One collaboration becomes the beginning of the next.
That's how communities grow.
Not by competing for attention, but by choosing to support one another.
If Black Biz Flea Market continues on this path, it won't simply become another annual event on San Diego's calendar. It will become another institution that helps entrepreneurs, artists, and community leaders discover one another, build relationships, and create opportunities that extend far beyond a single afternoon.
And that's the kind of impact that deserves to be celebrated.
Know a San Diego business owner who deserves to be featured? Nominate them for the Everyday Celebrity series or reach out to learn how EDC can help tell your story.
