Meet Meryanne Loum-Martin is a Parisian lawyer turned entrepreneur and founder of Jnane Tamsna, a boutique hotel located in Marrakech, Morocco.
Beyond the fact that she has the only black woman-owned hotel in the area, she and her husband purchased land in 2000 and in less than one year, they built the hotel from the ground up. “At that time, I was a black woman in a country with a low percentage of black people,” says Loum-Martin. “I didn’t speak the language and the field of construction was very much a world of men who are known to ignore women. And you know what? We designed everything ourselves. My husband was responsible for the gardens and I was responsible for the architecture, interiors, and floor plans.”
Eighteen years later, her confidence, courage, and fierce determination have paid off—from five-star reviews and features in coffee table books and magazines like Elle, Vogue, and Town & Country, to venue host of stylish events such as “The IMARA Retreats: the Colored Girl” (a black female empowerment retreat that hosted powerhouses like Bozoma Saint John). Loum-Martin, who is half West Indian and half Senegalese, has no plans of slowing down.
Read the full feature on Black Enterprise.
