NORTHAMPTON — When Aimee Salmon first moved to Northampton from the Democratic Republic of the Congo 10 years ago, she admits it was something of a culture shock.

“The weather was the first snow in my life,” she said. “I didn’t speak English at the time. I had to learn everything from scratch, word by word. It was like being a kid again.”

But Salmon soon enrolled in English language courses at the International Language Institute in Northampton, after which she began attending Greenfield Community College, obtaining an associate degree in health sciences. From there, she went on to Mount Holyoke College to study psychology with a minor in entrepreneurship, where she first got the idea for what would become her new business: Positively Africana.

“There was a class I took at Mount Holyoke that was an entrepreneurship capstone, and the first project was to start a business,” Salmon said. “I’m really grateful for the way it’s come together since then, seeing it come to life from the classroom to Thornes.”

Positively Africana’s store, located on the second floor of Thornes Marketplace, sells various wares produced by women from across Africa. They include beadwork made by women of the Maasai people of Kenya, clothing and handbags originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo and traditional mud cloth, or fabric dyed with fermented mud, made in Ghana. The products are made in Africa, then purchased by Salmon, who in turn sells them here in the United States.

“The idea of Positively Africana is really to create jobs and economic opportunities for African women,” Salmon said. “This is empowering for them, and it also really means a lot to them, to put food on the table or tuition and different things like that.”

Also conspicuously displayed throughout Salmon’s shop are small dolls of Black girls for sale, something she hopes will expose kids to diverse cultures early on.

“My goal has been to have them in every home, every classroom, every doctor’s office,” Salmon said. “In the toy industry, it’s been a long time to see dolls of color, so Positively Africana gives that access.”

Prior to opening the store in November, Salmon, who is also a certified personal trainer, had already become known in the Pioneer Valley for her fitness lessons, having led outdoor classes in Amherst during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the opening of her new business, she has no intentions of stopping her fitness instruction.

A floor above where Salmon sells the merchandise is a studio where she hosts several aerobics and fitness classes such as Zumba, Afrobeats, and high-intensity interval training, also known as HIIT. Salmon hosts classes there in the evening, after her shop downstairs has closed.

“It’s kind of nice to just go upstairs after sitting all day,” she said.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.