By Megan Sayles
AFRO Staff Writer
msayles@afro.com
Ewuraesi Richetts opened Divergent Donuts last October to shake up the donut scene. The Havre De Grace, Md.-based shop is not only serving up traditional flavors, it’s offering bold creations, like lemon poppyseed, maple butter bacon, crème brulée and a savory pizza donut.
Rooted in family, the operation is driven by a deep commitment to serving their neighbors.
“Divergent Donuts is full of exciting flavors, exciting food and exciting people. We’d love to have your company and community,” said Richetts. “The beautiful thing about Divergent Donuts is not only is it Black-run, it’s family-run.”
A native of Ghana, Richetts was 9 years old when she started cooking. She remembered her father taking her to get her first pot, made by a local blacksmith there. The gift sparked a passion for food. This combined with a family history of entrepreneurship put Richetts on a path to opening Divergent Donuts.
The donut shop specializes in cake donuts, which are baked fresh every day. The lineup of flavors changes regularly, but Richetts seeks customer input through social media. Every month, customers can vote for a new donut they’d like Divergent Donuts to make through its “Community Cravings” Facebook poll.
“It’s called ‘Divergent Donuts’ because we do divergent things here,” said Richetts. “The whole concept is to bring the office to the donuts versus the donuts to the office.”
Richetts wants Divergent Donuts to be a place where professionals can host meetings, take calls and escape from the office. She also wants it to be a space for the community to convene.
The business has space for a variety of events, including bridal showers, pop-up shops, baby showers and birthday parties. Richetts has already forged partnerships, including one with professional development organization Downtime Networking. She also collaborates with Claudia’s Traveling Palette to host painting events and Naked Embrace to hold candlemaking events.
“We just want the space to be utilized in the best way possible— not only to help our employees but to create a space for everyone to enjoy something,” said Richetts.
All of Richetts’ family members play a role in supporting Divergent Donuts. Her sister, Ewurabena Shaw-Taylor, acts as her chief operating officer. Shaw-Taylor gave Richetts the final push she needed to open Divergent Donuts.
She said she felt like the venture was an opportunity to fulfill their father’s unrealized dream of owning a business.
“I felt like our dad’s dream was always to open a business for himself. There was one point where they didn’t have Uber or Lyft, and my dad tried to open his own cab company, but he just couldn’t do it,” said Shaw-Taylor. “We saw the struggle of him trying to live out his dreams.”
Having opened a makeup business as a single mother during the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaw-Taylor believed her sister was more than capable of launching one of her own.
“I told her she had my support, our family’s support and that she could financially do it. So why not live your dream and honor our father?” said Shaw-Taylor. “She’s always loved to bake, and this was something that she really wanted to do. I was going to make sure that she didn’t fail.”
Shaw-Taylor said Divergent Donuts is not only about baked goods. It’s about helping other entrepreneurs and community members thrive.
She noted that the business is hoping to expand to another location in the Washington, D.C. area in the future.
“I am extremely proud of my sister because she’s gone through a bunch of challenges to open the business. It’s hard, in general, for a Black woman to open a business,” said Shaw-Taylor. “But, she was able to conquer that and continue to help and spread love through her business.”
