BEYOND ROOTS: A Thriving private business promotion Afro-Cuban culture

Beyond Roots was born as an Airbnb experience during Obama’s normalization of relations with Cuba. It is now Cuba’s first Afro-style store and a thriving business that includes a café, a hair salon and a cultural center promoting Afro-Cuban culture.

“Thanks to Obama’s policy, a woman who never thought she would be an entrepreneur has had a business for eight years,” said Adriana Heredia, the CEO of Beyond Roots.

But since Trump reversed Obama’s policy, the business has struggled. Despite the challenges, Adriana continues to adapt and find a way to keep Beyond Roots going.

Learn more about Beyond Roots: https://beyondrootscuba.net/

This story is part of the series “Obama’s opening with Cuba: Ten years later.”

TRANSCRIPT

“If you have the chance to come to this island, which is so close, I can assure you that Cuba is an experience that’s 100% worth living,” says Adriana Heredia, CEO of Beyond Roots. 

Beyond Roots is a thriving private business devoted to promoting Afro-Cuban culture. It all began with a simple Airbnb experience. 

“Tourism was the game-changer. I realized there was a rise of tourism during Obama. I loved seeing so many African Americans here. I had the idea to generate a space where they could visit our community and have a real five-senses immersion,” Adriana explains. “Afro-Cuban culture has been passed down through generations orally, so for me the best way to transmit that legacy was to open up the doors of our house to our clients to give them the chance to stand in front of an altar, to connect, to dance, to savor our flavors and even to release energy in front of a drum. It was challenging because we didn’t have the infrastructure. Our house was extremely humble. We didn’t have enough dishes or glasses, but we did it anyways.”

“Clients started to pour in,” she continues. “We went viral. We were recognized by Airbnb in 2017 as the top experience in Latin America. I went from having one experience to opening up five different experiences. And that’s when I had the idea to open the first Afro-style store in Cuba.”

“I always knew I couldn’t do it alone. So my first idea was to create a team and a community that can participate. It was organic. It felt like a family. It was beautiful because the community connected with Beyond Roots from Day One and said: We need this space,” Adriana remembers. 

Obama’s opening with Cuba generated opportunities for many Cuban entrepreneurs. More than one million U.S. citizens traveled to Cuba in 2017.

“If you look at the numbers, you can see the incredible growth of Cuba’s private sector during the Obama years. You can see the economic prosperity the country had, the change of mentality, the desire to be entrepreneurial. Thanks to Obama’s change of policy, a woman who never thought she would be an entrepreneur has had a business for eight years. A business that is 

not only growing, but also employs 52 people, and a project that impacts the lives of thousands. The fact that Obama, a Black man, came to Cuba, gave many Black people in the U.S. the chance to understand that there’s a cultural legacy here for them. That’s the most important 

part for me. Giving them the chance to come to Cuba and connect with lost pieces of their past. That’s what makes us enjoy what we do,” Adriana explains. 

Donald Trump reversed Obama’s Cuba policy. Trump made it harder for U.S. travelers to visit Cuba.

“We saw our chances to keep growing cut short,” she says. “With Trump’s policies, combined with Covid, my main source of income was completely affected. I had to admit that my business model was no longer affordable in Cuba. My store had to close because it wasn’t profitable without tourism.”

“Trump plus Covid meant chaos. Cuba went through a process of economic recession and there was a whole media campaign in the U.S. against Cuba. And Biden didn’t do anything to encourage relations. So, that killed the tourism influx we were having until then,” Adriana says. “That made us turn to a Cuban clientele. In 2019, we started to pivot. Having an Afro-style store makes you dependent on fluctuations in the availability of products. That led us to open a salon, which depends only on our hands, our capabilities and our skills. How can I be even more independent? Well, let’s open a cafe to complement the other spaces.”

Trump is expected to further intensify sanctions during his second term.

“The outlook is not looking good,” Adriana says. “If U.S. policies against Cuba become harsher, it’s time to pivot again. Sometimes I feel that we are swimming against the current. When I sat with my board to figure out next year, we said: We have Trump, an energy crisis in the country, a supply crisis… Those were my main variables to figure out how Beyond Roots can survive next year. If it’s up to me, no matter Trump, no matter energy crisis, no matter anything, Beyond Roots will continue to exist as a brand.”