Building systems, stories, and spaces for Black and African creators, founders, and cultural operators to structure their ideas, amplify their work, and document their legacy.
"Your current season is not your final form."
Founded by Gloria Edukere
The Origin
In 2022, during a difficult season, Gloria Edukere watched a hibiscus stem — cut from its root and planted in new soil — look completely dead before it bloomed bigger than ever. Around the same time, she heard a sermon about cocoa beans and cocoons. About the long, invisible work between planting and harvest. About the seasons that shape what something becomes.
Two words collided: Cocoa. Cocoon. And Cocoa Series was born — not as a brand, but as a belief.
What We Are
Cocoa Series Creative Studio is a creative strategy studio existing for creatives, founders, and cultural operators in their cocoon stage — the season between who they were and who they're becoming. We provide the soil, support, and tribe needed to bloom.
The Architecture
Every arm of Cocoa Series was designed to serve a specific function in a creative's journey — from the earliest ideation stage to the lasting legacy work that outlives any single season.
The Work
Each division of Cocoa Series operates with its own identity, function, and purpose. Together, they form an integrated creative strategy ecosystem built for the long game.
The client-facing heart of Cocoa Series. TickBox handles brand and portfolio management for individual creatives and founders. Concierge delivers lifestyle and experience management for ambitious women. Coffee Table is the intimate strategy session for creative SMEs. Creator Cove is the physical production and co-working space where creatives build.
Magazine, Podcast, Press, Paperclip newsletter, and YouTube. The amplification engine of the ecosystem.
In Frame documents creative journeys through photobooks. Echoes of Her archives 1,000+ Black women across history.
Off-Grid Sessions, Unboxed partnerships, and TRAC — The Rooted in Africa Collective. Honest rooms for cultural operators.
Flagship Work
A civilisational archive documenting 1,000+ Black women across history — from ancient queens to contemporary founders. 800+ names and growing. The most ambitious project in Cocoa Series history.
The Azeez Salami Photobook. A visual archive of a year in full — paintings, exhibitions, travel, fashion, growth.
50 questions. 5 categories. One room that changes everything. For creatives, founders, and cultural operators.
A Pan-African ecosystem for cultural operators, researchers, and change agents. Root Retreats. Root Consulting. GLX Africa Insights.
Bi-annual publication documenting the culture, creativity, and commerce of Black and African creative life.
Community
Community is not a feature of Cocoa Series. It is the foundation. Every event, session, and gathering is designed to create honest space for creatives to speak their season aloud.
30–50 people. Floor seating. No panels — just honest conversation about creative survival, cultural memory, power, and burnout. A room where creatives speak freely.
One problem. One room. Specialists per theme. Hosted in partnership with creative hubs across the continent. Pricing, AI, talent management, trade, and more.
The Rooted in Africa Collective. Storytellers, researchers, strategists, and change agents — rooted in heritage, driven by vision. With Root Retreats for healing and restoration.
Small group strategy sessions for creative SMEs and founders. A space to think out loud, map your next move, and walk away with clarity.
A curated membership for creatives in active growth seasons. Monthly experiences, quarterly boardroom sessions, peer accountability, and personal brand support.
For creatives who need to slow down to speed up. Nature-based retreats focused on mindfulness, mental health, and intergenerational healing. Your fallow season, held with intention.
"Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter."
— Chinua Achebe · The foundation of Cocoa Series Archive
Work With Us
Whether you need brand strategy, lifestyle management, or someone to document your journey — there is an arm of Cocoa Series built exactly for where you are right now.
For creatives and founders who need full brand architecture — from strategy to visibility to documentation.
For ambitious women who know that the way you show up in life is the way you show up in your work.
For creatives ready to document their journey — a visual archive of a season, beautifully designed and preserved forever.
Ready to Begin
Whether you are in ideation, transition, or ready to document — Cocoa Series was built for exactly where you are.