"For Merlyn Oliver and Lauren Riley, Brooklyn isn't a trend, it's home. The co-founders of The Brooklyn Mavens, a digital platform dedicated to spotlighting the borough's culture, small businesses and everyday storytellers, aren't newcomers documenting a scene from the outside. They're natives reclaiming a narrative they watched shift in real time. "Being a maven is being an expert," Riley said. "When we started the brand, we really wanted to highlight Brooklyn from the perspective of some Brooklyn natives.""
""I'm Jamaican-born, Brooklyn-raised," she said. "A part of who I am is being an immigrant and being Jamaican - that's why I live in Flatbush. My whole upbringing was around Caribbean people." She recalls the sensory soundtrack of a Brooklyn summer: reggae drifting from passing cars, the bass of Biggie echoing down the block, and the ease of walking "two blocks up and getting some jerk chicken." "You honestly couldn't get that experience anywhere else," Oliver said."
Merlyn Oliver and Lauren Riley co-founded The Brooklyn Mavens, a digital platform that spotlights Brooklyn culture, small businesses, and everyday storytellers. Both founders are Brooklyn natives who present the borough from an insider perspective. Riley grew up in Brooklyn, later lived outside the borough, and realized how deeply Brooklyn shaped her daily habits and identity. Oliver is Jamaican-born and Brooklyn-raised, rooted in Flatbush and Caribbean community life. Oliver describes reggae, Biggie's music, and easy access to jerk chicken as defining Brooklyn sensory experiences. The two met in high school, attended college together, and are longtime friends and roommates who balance each other in business.
Read at Brooklyn Paper
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