Networking is the key to unlocking success, yet many professionals lack the tools to build and maintain relationships. 

Shelly Lombard was one of those people during her time as a finance expert for more than 30 years on Wall Street. 

In 2022, she turned her area of weakness into a business that women professionals flock to for building networking skills. Schmooze started as a newsletter and expanded into a membership program that offers mini-masterclasses led by experts who talk about networking in June 2024.

“I was not an expert on networking, but I became a resource on networking,” Shelly told Her Agenda.  “I launched Schmooze because I want to change women’s approach to networking – to make it a lifestyle – and to give them the tools & techniques to do that.”

For Shelly, professional relationships led to new opportunities that she was not seeking. For women searching for a job, professional relationships can be the difference between landing your next role or not. 

In our conversation, Shelly Lombard gives us a peek inside moments in her career when she missed opportunities as a result of not networking, ones she’s gained because of it, and why it matters for the next generation of women professionals. 

Her Agenda: What early experiences in finance most shaped the way you think about professional relationships today?

Shelly Lombard:  When I got to Wall Street, there were only a handful of women investing in distressed companies. We would go to dinner, like, every other month and talk about what we were investing in. But in terms of men in the industry, or women outside of that group, I was too naive to realize I should have [networked]. I was too shy, I was too introverted [and] didn’t know how to do it. And so I think my career on Wall Street, while it was fine, I think it would have been even better had I been more intentional and strategic about networking.

Then, after I left Wall Street, I started serving on corporate boards, and I learned that 80% of corporate board roles [were] found through relationships. So I realized that [networking] was something that women really needed to do. I hadn’t done it, but I felt like I wanted to start something to encourage and coach other women to do it, because I think it makes so much of a difference in your career.

Her Agenda: What was happening in your life that made you decide to launch Schmooze and focus on networking?

Shelly Lombard: I started Shmooze not because I was an expert or even good at networking. I started Shmooze because I wasn’t.

I was never very intentional [or] strategic about networking. My parents were teachers. They [told me] go to college, get a great job, work really hard, and that was the extent of it. Nobody told me anything about networking internally, managing your boss or internal relationships, and they definitely didn’t tell me anything about external relationships.

My goal with Schmooze was not so much to create a community as it was to change the way people network. I bring in experts, or people who’ve been through it, who do fireside chats and panels to talk about those issues.

I’ve interviewed, at this point, probably 100 women about the role that networking has played in their career, [and] I’ve been able to put together what I call a playbook for networking. It was something I wish somebody had told me.

Her Agenda: How have you navigated the boys’ clubs of your career, or what advice do you give women to do that?

Shelly Lombard: Two pieces of advice. One, showing up when they’re having a bunch of drinks, you’re definitely gonna feel like an outsider. It’s a lot easier to do it one-on-one. The pressure of being the only woman in this environment, you don’t feel that when it’s one-on-one.

Two, the other thing that I didn’t realize is that curiosity is a relationship hack. There was a guy who gave me really great advice. He was the one who told me to get into distressed investing. I should have stayed in touch with him. Not because I thought he was gonna give me a job one day, but just because if he was insightful enough to give me that piece of advice, he probably could have given me more. And I didn’t. I was too shy, too introverted. And I didn’t have to be charming when I met him, I didn’t have to be knowledgeable, I just had to be curious about what he was doing, where he thought the market was going, etc, and he would have talked up a blue streak. 

Another example of that was when the bank I was working with merged with another bank, there was a meeting for everybody, vice presidents and above. And I think I was the only Black woman in the room and as a result, the top guy – who was my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss – knew my face, and he knew me.

When he would see me on the elevator, he’d [say] ‘Hi.’ He would walk around the trading floor at night to see who was still working. I might still be there, and he’d [say] ‘Hi, Shelly’ and go back to work.

I never knew how to interact with him, or turn that into a relationship.  He loved what he did, and if I had shown any curiosity about what the bank was doing, about what they were up to, about deals, etc, that would have helped forge a relationship with him. 

Her Agenda: How did you get on your first corporate board?

Shelly Lombard: My first board role came through a relationship, [but] I was not networking to get on a board. Somebody that I knew [for] 35 years, an investor, had a large equity stake in a company, and he said, ‘Would you be interested in being on this board?’ Even though I wasn’t networking, it was a relationship.

To women now, who may want to be on a board in 5 years, or 10 years, or even women who are looking for a board role now, go back to those old relationships. Don’t let those relationships die out.

If you’re looking for a board role now, it’s [about] going back to some of those people you knew years ago and rekindling those relationships.

Her Agenda: Why is it relevant for women and people of color to be on a board?

Shelly Lombard: It [is] important for women to be on boards [because] It gives you a 50,000-foot view of a company. So you really understand not just your little part that you’re doing, but the enterprise.

The other thing is it gives you a chance to influence policy like maternity leave [and] DEI. If we’re in positions of influence to be able to influence stuff and maybe control [which outside companies your firm works with], then that’s very helpful to the women coming up behind us.

Her Agenda: What is your advice to women navigating this difficult job market?

Shelly Lombard: Schmoozing a network is not a quick fix for job hunting. You have to do it, but what I want to see [people] doing now, before you get forced out, before you get laid off.

It’s not a quick fix, but you will find a job faster than if you’re just sending resumes into the vacuum. Nobody can dismantle your personal network. 

To the women who still have jobs and who are looking over their shoulders. Now is the time to network. Do not wait until the shoe drops; you have to be networking now. 

To the people who are not working, [networking] is not a quick fix, but you have to do it.

You can’t just sit at home and send resumes out. That does not work anymore.

Her Agenda: How did your networking and your growth in networking contribute to you starting your business or growing your business?

Shelly Lombard: It has been everything. I have been very strategic about trying to reach out to people.

I try to be strategic, but save room for serendipity. Sometimes you don’t know who somebody knows. If it’s not the right room for me [or] doesn’t align with what I’m doing right now, but the networking event is two blocks from where I am, I’ll go anyway, because [there’s] no telling who I’m gonna meet.

Her Agenda: What are some lessons you’ve learned as a business owner?

Shelly Lombard: Relationships change everything, and they’ve made it possible for me to have a business. People tell people about Schmooze, and because I’m visible, they invite me to speak on panels and speak on podcasts. 

Being strategic, but leaving room for serendipity, inviting serendipity [and] being systematic and following up, and being seen is the reason I’ve been able to grow my following on LinkedIn, and the reason that Schmooze [and] I actually make money.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Shelly Lombard was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Inspired by seeing the lack of smudge-proof lip liners in the makeup industry, CEO and Content Creator Marvella Akiojano set out to create her own cosmetics company featuring lip liners that require minimal touch-up. Falling in love with fashion and beauty at a young age, it was natural for Marvella to launch Marviano Cosmetics in December 2024. Originally from Nigeria, Marvella has expanded her reach to over 1 million followers across all platforms through her engaging videos on beauty and fashion, making her a popular voice in the industry. Since launching Marviano, the company has grown with Marvella adding more products, including glosses and lip balms. 

The CEO recently dropped her Valentine’s Day trio set and held a pop-up shop in Dallas last August, where she sold out in 30 minutes. Marvella hopes to continue to make Marviano a worldwide brand. The beauty expert talked with Her Agenda about her inspiration for the company, dream collab, and where she sees the brand headed in the near future.

Her Agenda: What led you to start your cosmetic line, and what success have you seen since it launched?

Marvella Akiojano: I started Marviano Cosmetics because I personally was facing certain issues with my makeup. I remember vividly that I got my lip filled on the top. I know people were talking about me on the internet, and when people talk about a certain part of your body online, you start to reflect. I’m looking at all my lip videos, and I see that towards the end of my video, my liner is gone. I’m still recording, but my liner is gone. That was the first time I noticed that.  When I go out, me and my girls first stop is the bathroom. What are they doing? Lip liner. I’m like, we just got here. When I noticed I’m not the only one facing this issue with my lip liner, instead of going to the market and seeing what was already there. I just felt like actually doing research to figure out what would make a lip liner long-lasting and how to create my own. That’s how I started Marviano Cosmetics. I would say it has been pretty successful so far, especially because it is pretty solution-based. We thank God. We’ve had thousands and thousands of orders over the past year since we launched, so that is very, very exciting.

Her Agenda: Other than your lip liner, what products have you added to your Cosmetics line?

Marvella Akiojano: Now we have lip glosses. We currently just sneak-launched some lipsticks in our Valentine’s lip kits and our other additional lip kits. We also have a lip balm called Yap Stick, which has SPF in it. Super excited about that. It also has foliates, so I love that product.

Her Agenda: What was the inspiration behind your recent Valentine’s Day drop, and what can we expect from you in the future?

Marvella Akiojano: Honestly, the Valentine’s drop was a marketing spinoff because the lip kits are pink and have the winter icicles on them, because it was supposed to be for Christmas. It was supposed to be a great stocking stuffer. With manufacturers that are not in the States, it takes so long. You just have to pray to God that it gets here in time. They ended up delivering the red version. So I was like, hmm. The best way I can do this is spin it as a Valentine’s Day drop. That’s how we ended up dropping that for Valentine’s. It was never a Valentine drop. I’m excited about our setting sprays. We’re going to drop that very, very soon. 

Her Agenda: What do you want women to feel when they wear your products?

Marvella Akiojano: I want women to be confident when they wear my products. I want women to know that they don’t have to turn into chemists and mixologists in order to find shades that work for them. You can go on the Marviano site and see, hey, this girl has my skin color. I know it’s going to work for me. Boom, espresso martini is dark enough. I want them to feel confident in the items that they’re putting on their face. I also want them to feel beautiful from within and out. I don’t want them to be worried all the time, about their lip combo not looking right after a while, or their lip not being protected when they’re out in the sun. I want them to put something on and know that, okay, after I’ve put it on, I don’t have to revisit it again. 

Her Agenda: What was the inspiration behind the name Marviano?

Marvella Akiojano: Marviano was actually supposed to be a bag brand. I designed a bag, and at the time, I had just graduated from college. I was about to graduate from college, and I didn’t have the funds to make that dream come true, so I put a pause on that. The name Marviano came from December 2023. I went to visit my parents, and I was telling them about the bag. I didn’t know what name I would use, even if I wanted to drop a brand, because the last time I had a brand, it was called Vella’s Closet. I was selling clothes in college. I was like, if I wanted to stick, it had to be good. There’s this African artist called Asake. He dropped a song called Amapiano. At the time, my dad was just singing the song. I was like I need a name. He’s like, hmm, Marviano. My last name is Akiojano, and obviously, Marvella. He put both of them together. He started singing it with the song Marviano, Amapiano. I’m like, hmm, that’s kind of hard. That’s how Marviano came up. 

Her Agenda: How does your background in marketing help you in terms of your brand?

Marvella Akiojano: It gives me the perspective of the buyer because that’s something that I learned a lot in my school, especially since I joined a professional selling program. A lot of that was B2B. I feel like if you can sell to a business, you can sell to an individual consumer. I think the little skills that I did learn about human relations and how the brain works in terms of buying and selling, I think that definitely plays a huge role. Compared to knowing, I need to know to put it on their face and let them know what it is that I feel like learning how human beings think in relation to purchasing things definitely helps. It also taught me how to spin things, as I explained about the Valentine’s Day drop. I learned not to take all the possible L’s before exhausting all the other options that you can carry out. 

Her Agenda: What was the moment you first fell in love with beauty?

Marvella Akiojano: Wow, that’s been a long time. I’ve been doing makeup and hair for a long time; my mom was a hairstylist when I was younger, so that already introduced me to beauty in general. I would also braid hair with them and learn how to do hair. My mom was also big on makeup. All I remember growing up was antenna eyebrows, blue eyeshadow, and red lipstick. I think watching her and I always just used to play in her makeup. That’s how I was introduced to beauty. My mom was a makeup babe. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t know what she was doing, but she knew what she was doing. Her letting me play with her makeup was how I was introduced to beauty. I would always do her makeup whenever we’re going to parties. I learned on her face, she was my canvas.

Her Agenda: What drives your passion for beauty and content creation?

Marvella Akiojano: I was bullied when I was younger. I knew I was always a pretty girl, but I feel like when I started to dibble and dabble in learning how to do my own hair and how to emphasize certain features on my face, and enhance what I already have, I think that’s when I fell in love with beauty. I thought oh great, I don’t have to totally shape shift my face. Growing up, there was this idea that you had to put on makeup to change what you look like. The more I realized I don’t have to change what I look like with makeup, I can just emphasize those features that I do have, that are super pretty on my face. It doesn’t have to be a costume. 

Her Agenda: You’ve been doing a lot of red carpet interviews this year. Is that something you want to continue to do?

Marvella Akiojano: I would absolutely love to be on more red carpets, especially because my stylist has been killing it. Give me the looks. I absolutely love serving looks. I want to do more red carpets for sure. More panels. I would like to talk to younger females as well and share my experience. I want to let them know that it’s possible to come from zero to a hundred. It’s very, very possible. I also want to be on more beauty panels, and maybe a masterclass one day, and a collab with a big brand by God’s grace. We’re going worldwide with it. Whoever wants a piece of Marvella can get it.

Her Agenda: How do you want to inspire young girls hoping to enter the beauty industry from an entrepreneurial standpoint?

Marvella Akiojano:  It’s a very intricate space because we’re dealing with multiple colors of people and multiple races of people. You also have to put everybody into consideration, which I would say at the beginning stage, it’s kind of difficult because you do have limited resources. I want them to know [no matter] how difficult it is; it is very much worth it. As a Black woman, for me personally, it’s very worth it because I’m not even the darkest shade in anything, but sometimes I struggle to find my shade in certain products for certain brands. They should know that it’s okay for it to be difficult at first, but it’s very, very fulfilling and rewarding when you can be the one to fill a gap in a market for your people too. You’re also fighting for people, regardless of who they are. Even if it’s somebody whose not of Black descent. Keep going and be transparent. It will take you far.

Her Agenda: What are the keys to a successful career? 

Marvella Akiojano: I would say discipline, transparency, and community. Very important. All three of those.

Her Agenda: Where do you see Marviano Cosmetics in the next five years?

Marvella Akiojano: In the next five years, I see Marviano in stores like Sephora, Ulta, and Boots in the UK. I’m hoping and praying that Marviano is worldwide and accessible to my customers in person. That would be amazing. If we can get it on Amazon, I think that would be stunning. I could also see Marviano starting a little makeup academy as well. That is something I’ve always wanted to do because not everybody has access to makeup products. Currently, I have makeup products on my floor because I’m doing a giveaway on my Snapchat. I know makeup is not cheap at all, so by God’s grace, in the next five to ten years, Marviano will have a full face of makeup. We can have a little academy where kids will pay maybe $30 or $40 a month and get a little package of makeup monthly. It would be just a little something for the girls who want to do makeup but cannot afford to splurge all that money.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Marvella Akiojano was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Aba Asante is back, and she’s ready to take her place as one of the industry’s newest leading content creators. After taking a three-year break at her peak, Aba returned, choosing to go full force into rebuilding her brand, moving to New York to focus on her career. At just 16, the first-generation Ghanaian American and Indiana native went viral on TikTok for a simple lip sync video that garnered over 200 million views. Now at 22, Aba has amassed 6.6 million followers across all of her platforms, engaging her Gen Z audience through POV stories and beauty and lifestyle content with a comedic edge. 

Since starting her journey, the content creator has worked with brands such as Sephora, Netflix, Dunkin’ Donuts, YouTube, Paramount, and more. Beyond content creation, Aba has been dedicated to donating to the JEQ Foundation (Joseph and Elizabeth Quansah Foundation), an organization focused on bringing individuals from Ghana to the U.S. for school. 

The influencer spoke with Her Agenda about her break from content creation and her return, how social media has always been her passion, and growing up with ADHD. 

Her Agenda: How did you begin your journey into content creation?

Aba Asante: My journey started when I was 16. At the height of COVID, I was like every other teenager, hopped onto TikTok, and I started making videos a little bit different than the videos I make now. They were just like cutesy dance videos, but I’ve always had a love for makeup, so I started leaning into the makeup and beauty content and building a community there. Then I had this one viral video that blew up, and that’s what skyrocketed my whole career. My journey has been full of ups and downs. I took a two or three-year break when I was in college a few years ago, and this is my first full year really doing it.

Her Agenda: Growing up, what were some of your passions, and where did you see yourself headed career-wise?

Aba Asante: Growing up, I had and still have really bad ADHD. I was interested in anything related to creativity. I loved to exert my body in sports. I played volleyball and track and field growing up. My passions were just spending time with other people and friends. I’m really extroverted, so anything that I could do with other people, that was what I loved doing. I also loved social media. That was my first true passion. I didn’t have a phone until I was 16. When I was 13 or 14, I would record on my dad’s MacBook, talking to myself. I guess my first passion was social media content creation without even realizing it. I eventually went to school per my parents’ request, and I studied business management and marketing. I always knew deep down that when I graduated, I could finally just fully dive into it and move to New York and do the whole thing.

Her Agenda: What has content creation taught you about yourself, and how has it helped you to tell different stories?

Aba Asante:I think the biggest thing with putting yourself out there to the whole world is that you just have to be open to criticism. I had to work on becoming more confident in myself and how I articulated myself. Growing up, I wasn’t the best with words. I would just say any thought that came to my mind, and this is something that I still do, which is why I think my audience loves that so much. It’s taught me to keep on being resilient and confident, and also to instill confidence in my followers. A lot of my followers look and are just like me, so I think that’s super important. I always had the same mindset when it came to creativity and being a little bit outside of the box. Now I just have a better way of explaining and showing it, with my words and my platform. I always try to do it in a fun way, and also acknowledge that my audience is primarily Gen Z. I’m learning to translate that into our Gen Z language.

Her Agenda: What has been your favorite brand collaboration so far?

Aba Asante: I love all my collabs. A big one for me was working with Sephora. That was major because I grew up going to Sephora. So just working with that brand, that was really full circle for me. Vaseline was another really, really good one because I also grew up using Vaseline. My mom splattered that on my face growing up. Working with them was super iconic. All of the brands that have reached out to me, and that I’ve collaborated with, have been brands that I align with when it comes to their goals as a brand, being inclusive. I always try to align myself with brands that I actually use or I would actually recommend.

Her Agenda: How do you hope your audience feels while watching your videos?

Aba Asante: I only hope that they feel comfortable and entertained. I feel like that’s the only two things that I can guarantee that whoever’s watching my videos will look like they’d be entertained. I feel like that’s the least I can do because I feel like not a lot of influencers now are super open with their personality. I’m okay with, and I actually encourage showing up not the best, showing up ugly, because that’s how everyone is. It’s so boring to be perfect. That’s what I hope they feel, just to feel comfortable and entertained.

Her Agenda: You took a break for a while, what was that time away like for you, and how did you feel when you finally returned to content creation?

Aba Asante: I was sad, and I also felt lost. I was double-majoring, and I was also playing collegiate volleyball, so I had no time. One thing about me, I don’t know if it’s because I’m a Libra, but I want to do everything 100% to my fullest capabilities. I knew that I couldn’t do that with social media. So I’m like, you know what? If it’s in the universe’s plan, I’ll come back to it after I graduate. Taking a break was definitely needed for my mental health. I feel like it helped me come back with a full-fledged plan on how I can become an influencer again. I think that taking the time to learn and then pairing that with my degree in marketing really helped me. 

Her Agenda: How do you use your background in marketing in business to better your content creation in your career?

Aba Asante: It’s a good mix of staying relatable and being myself, but just refining it a little bit. That’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned after signing with management: be yourself and curate that community, but also refine it to be brand-friendly. I try not to curse. I try not to use any crazy sounds because, obviously, this is a business for me as well. I try to protect my brand, but I feel like brands do notice that I’m being intentional with what I’m doing there. 

Her Agenda: Throughout your career, what is a testimonial you received from a fan that really resonated with you?

Aba Asante: That’s my favorite thing to get. Weekly, I get messages, especially from fellow Ghanaian girls who are first-generation that live here in the states. They tell me that they love to see how freely I live my life and how open I am. I get comments like that, comments from girls that don’t feel super confident in their skin complexion, or have some quote-unquote insecurities. Having people feel comfortable enough to take that extra step to message and not just watch, that means the most to me. Regardless of anything, that makes me super, super happy. Whenever I talk about where I grew up in Indiana, they’re like that’s so random, no one would ever expect that. There are definitely other girls who live in those predominantly white areas that feel like they’re alone, so seeing someone who can talk about it and make it out okay, I think that’s really inspiring.

Her Agenda: What advice do you have for girls who may be feeling alone?

Aba Asante: I would tell those who are still living in Indiana to always be confident in themselves. At the end of the day, you will always have yourself. Also, try your hardest to find a community. Sometimes it’s hard to feel scared or shy about it, but just try your best. You may not know it, but someone in that community feels alone, too, so keep pushing on.  I think also being delusional has gotten me this far. Even when I was, I guess, an ugly duckling, I always thought I was a princess. I always knew what I wanted, so just making sure you’re a little bit delusional.

Her Agenda: Since starting your journey as a content creator, how have you evolved? And what are some of your biggest accomplishments?

Aba Asante: I think being able to bring my page back up. I abandoned my followers for almost three years. I actually lost, I think, 200,000 followers. I was down to 6.4K. I was able to bring it back up to 6.6 million this year with hard work. I think my biggest accomplishment is being able to start afresh with a new lens and building my community back up again, and also taking risks. I moved to New York right after graduation, and I was broke. At the end of college, I picked up a retail job because I wanted to save as much [as possible] to move to New York. I made all the steps, all the scary steps, to fulfill my dream. I think that’s my biggest accomplishment, but hard work always. I literally clock in to this job 9 to 5. It’s more like nine to nine in the morning. It’s a lot, but I love it.

Her Agenda: Now I know that you donate to the JEQ Foundation, so tell me about the foundation and what you love about it.

Aba Asante: The foundation is based in Ghana. What they do is they sponsor less fortunate children in Ghana with education and eventually education in the United States as well, for college. My parents moved here. My mom moved here for medical school and went to NYU, and she talked about how she wished there was something like this that could’ve helped her out back in the day. I think that’s super important to me.

Her Agenda: How would you like to expand your brand in the future?

Aba Asante: My end goal is to become a business owner in any capacity. Obviously, I worked on more of the brand and business side. I worked at Crocs for a few months after graduating on the social media side. I feel like I have the best of both worlds because I am an influencer, and I also work on the back end of things. I see myself becoming a business owner and possibly starting my own management and talent agency. I have an idea that I’m working on, so that’s something that I would love to come to fruition in the next few years. I’m always keeping my foot on the pedal, never taking breaks. 

[Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Aba Asante was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Zewiditu Jewel is the co-founder of Cloudy Donut, a Black-owned brand she is building one store at a time, with a goal of opening a new location every single year. What makes her story even more remarkable: she has done all of this without stepping foot in the kitchen.

A fourth-generation Washingtonian who watched gentrification reshape her hometown, Zewiditu has built something that pushes back: a brand with four locations, partnerships with Oatly, LVMH, and Tiffany & Co., and a philosophy she coined herself called reverse gentrification, bringing Black-owned businesses into affluent communities where they have historically been absent.

A former teacher turned entrepreneur, Zewiditu brings the same commitment she once poured into young students into every community she now serves. Her vision extends far beyond donuts. 

There is a rare quality to Zewiditu’s presence. She is the kind of person who makes you feel grounded in conversation while simultaneously making you want to move. In our chat, she offers a peek into what it truly takes to be a visionary.

Her Agenda: Can you describe the brainstorming session that ignited Cloudy Donut Co. into existence?

Zewiditu Jewel: Cloudy Donut is essentially like this love story. Derek and I met in 2019 and a couple months after we met, he had just started Cloudy Donut. I was teaching. I’d been teaching for 14 years, and I was kind of at the end of the line in my journey.

We had a conversation in the year 2020. I distinctively remember I was literally on a lunch break in the library, and I was really frustrated with my job. Basically, we went over the numbers of how much money I was making as a teacher. And he said, ‘If I can match this, what do you think about coming on and starting the business with me?’

So [Cloudy Donut] was very, very new, and I was essentially in a place where I was ready for transition. I met Derek, I think maybe two or three weeks after my grandmother had passed. My grandma and I were very, very close, and I had said to myself, when my grandmother transitions. So will I. 

I had the privilege of helping my mother take care of my grandmother. So essentially, when she passed, I knew that I was in a particular place that was ready for change. I was one year sober from alcohol. I met Derek, we started building Cloudy Donuts and that really turned into a big thing for the both of us.

Her Agenda: At what point did you and your partner solidify the reverse gentrification aspect of the business model?

Zewiditu Jewel: I’m a fourth generation Washingtonian, and that’s important for the context, because I saw how hard gentrification hit my city. I literally grew up in Chocolate City, and I saw the city change. So we were unpacking some boxes, we were opening in Brooklyn Heights, our first location. So we’re unpacking these boxes, and a Black woman comes in, an older Black woman, and she’s like, asking us, essentially, who are we? And we’re kind of perplexed, like, what do you mean? And she was like, ‘Well, you know, I was wondering if you guys work for this company or, like, what’s happening here?’ [We told her] ‘no, we’re the owners of [this] shop.’ And she was floored. She couldn’t believe that there were Black people that were coming into the neighborhood and actually owned a business. And so from that conversation, I actually did my own research to see, are there other Black owned businesses in this neighborhood? And come to find out, there were not. So with the context that I have being from DC, I coined the term reverse gentrification. So it’s not the dictionary (definition of the word, which refers to the displacement of lower income residents) of  version which speaks to real estate. This is a term that I created based off of the work that we’ve done, which is bringing our Black owned businesses into affluent communities, affluent communities absent of color.

Her Agenda: What did it take, emotionally and mentally, to claim space in neighborhoods where Black-owned businesses are underrepresented?

Zewiditu Jewel: So when Derek and I first met, in the beginning phase of dating, we established that we were going to be transitional people. I assumed that was particular to our personal relationship, right? We want to create a healthy tone for relationships within our family based off of the family that we’re creating based off of the dynamics that we’ve seen. What I later found out, as we started to progress into the business is that we have become transitional people within the culture. It could feel heavy because it can feel like it’s a burden or a personal responsibility, but I say just being is enough. As long as I walk into this world as an honorable woman, I’m true to myself, I’m true to my family, then I understand that I’m doing the best that I can and being the best example that I can be. And I see it. There are some times where I feel a little bothered, you know, frustrated knowing that my white peers and counterparts have an easier time within the same industry that I’m in solely based off of their skin color, when I feel that my product is far more superior, I have to work 1,000 times harder to get people to see me. That can be a bit difficult. And I think that some people don’t want to keep hearing you say Black this, Black that. They want you to just be happy with the fact that you “made it.” But until we all make it, I didn’t make it.

Her Agenda: As a woman, what are some of the challenges you face, once people realize you are not the one making the donuts? 

Zewiditu Jewel: I am someone who is always honest and standing in my truth. So I would find people come into the shop and they’d be like, ‘Oh my God, you’re the baker. You made that.’ I’m like, actually, I’m not. Like, if I was the baker. We probably wouldn’t be standing in the shop today, right? But I also understand that for some people, gender roles are just a way for them to feel comfortable and understand and associate based off of examples and things that we’ve seen, you know? 

I was raised by very strong women, but these are also women that raised me to understand that the man is the head of the household. Now, the man that was the head of the household in my family dynamic was my grandfather, and rightfully so.

When we talk about gender roles, it’s not enough that a man has a penis and he is a man, right? What value does he bring to his family? Is he an earner? Does he create opportunities for his family? It goes beyond just you’re a man and I’m a woman, and so in our household I was taught how to be the type of woman that I was raised to be, and reminded of what that looks like, based off of the standards that Derek had before I came into this relationship. He cooks, he cleans, all these things are standards that he has for himself. And so he showed me, this is how he shows up in the relationship. And then in turn, this is the expectation for me. And on my end, I create a level of softness, and also a warmer tone in the house. [It’s him] myself and our dog (who was very much a boy dog). So [I’m] creating a space for light heartedness [and] fun, but also creating that nurturing environment. We do well, playing within our roles as male and female, but also understanding there are going to be times where I’ve got to step up and I’ve got to make money for the house. I run those shops. I’m responsible for the sales and making sure that we keep the money coming into the house. So it’s not just one person pulling more weight than the other. It’s really understanding the value of each. 

Her Agenda: How do you see reverse gentrification creating new experiences not just for Black customers, but for neighbors encountering a Black-owned, vegan business for the first time?

Zewiditu Jewel: We did a lot of positive and progressive things for the neighborhood since we’ve been there, and specifically when we first opened. We were the first business to have a ribbon cutting ceremony. We had a private opening for the neighborhood first, and then we opened. This was really to set the tone for how we would conduct ourselves as a business. Before we even opened, we were constantly giving out free products, as we were cooking in the kitchen, trying out the food and testing equipment and things like that. 

We gave out so many free donuts and products. I was going to the neighborhood association. I went to the churches. I went to the schools. I sat with the council person of that particular area. I was very intentional with introducing not only myself, but the business and creating the expectations of what we were looking to bring. We’re not just slapping our business in the neighborhood and saying, “we’re open.” We serve as an amenity. So what that looks like to this day, when kids are coming into the store, because we’re only open on the weekend, the kids running into the shop on Saturday saying, ‘donut, donut, donut.’ I can’t tell you how many kids I have experienced have their first donut. Seeing that experience is something that ‘s very special to me. I grew up in a neighborhood, I remember going to my neighborhood deli since I was a kid. And having that sense of connectivity to a space, and then being able to connect with the business owner, I know so many of the neighbors and the residents, and it’s a part of their weekend routine, they can’t wait for Saturday or Sunday to come into the shop. That is a level of community that I feel is lost. It’s really important for me to uphold that standard, because it’s where I come from, it’s what I value.

I say it all the time. Locals keep local businesses open. The majority of my customers are white people, specifically white moms and their kids, and they know who we are. They don’t all follow us on social media but some of them do so. They see the messaging. They see the tone and the same conversations that we’re having online, we’re having in the store. We have to be comfortable with ourselves everywhere we go. I can’t now open in a predominantly white neighborhood and feel like I have to shrink myself. I still have to show up as I am. And there will be some people that will embrace that, and there’ll be others that don’t, and that’s okay. My goal is to create a phenomenal product, which we’ve done, to provide excellent hospitality, which we do, and to stand on all 10 every day, every day. 

Her Agenda: How was the initial seed money for the business acquired? What did raising the money teach you about yourself and others?

Zewiditu Jewel: Oh, we worked and grind every day. Every year from 2019 to 2024 we’ve opened a new Cloudy Donut. That’s four Cloudy Donuts that we’ve opened. And the ones in Baltimore, Derek owns those buildings. We just came back from Baltimore, Sunday, we did a pop up. We’ve been doing pop ups every month or so. But the reality is that you can’t replicate yourself no matter how hard you try. So if you don’t have people that are going to uphold the same standards and integrity, the business is going to suffer. 

We don’t have any investors. I don’t come from a family of money, and neither does he. Every time we opened a new location, we had to work extremely hard. When we acquired our place in Brooklyn Heights, (obviously we rent in New York) we had to double down and triple down on the work that we were doing in Baltimore, just so we could have the money to pay for that. There isn’t a surplus of money that has afforded us the opportunity to now open and expand. It’s really just like, ‘Okay, we want to do this. All right. Let’s get on.’ If we got to get to it what can we create for ourselves where we can get this money so we can fuel this dream? But there is everything we’ve done, everything that you see online, we’ve acquired these things just by putting in the work.

Her Agenda: Being fully self-funded, what does this next milestone, opening another city location, represent for you personally as a woman building without institutional backing?

Zewiditu Jewel: The goal for us was, once we saw what we had with our first store, Cloudy Donut and the product, we thought, why not expand? We always wanted to expand to New York, because I lived here. I always wanted to move back. Derek was like New York is a great opportunity for us to go to a larger city, but not to be too far from Baltimore, because we still have businesses there to maintain.

So, building a life that you want to live, not just settling with the life that you’re living in. And in order for us to elevate, we had to expand.

Her Agenda: When customers walk into Cloudy Donut Co., what do you hope they feel or understand beyond enjoying a donut?

Zewiditu Jewel: Every customer is different. I want people to feel the possibility. All I do in my shop is talk to the customers. I am always looking to reach women. Particularly, Black women, but over all, women. I want women to see a level of possibility for themselves beyond just what we assume we deserve. Going after everything you truly deserve.

Understanding that you can strive for more and greater. As well as, understanding that what you’re striding for, it requires a certain type of [hard] work. I live in Tribeca, along with some of the wealthy and elite. I have learned that everyone that has it, works hard for it. I say all the time that vulnerability is my superpower. I know that what I am doing in my life is creating what I thought was impossible and now sharing it with other people so that they can see that it is possible.

Her Agenda: What are a few unique aspects of Cloudy Donut Co. and how do you see them directly benefiting inspiring women creatives?

Zewiditu Jewel: Self-care is a luxury. I don’t spend a lot of time alone. It is important to me that I spend time with the right people. Having positive friends around. It is really important to take an inventory of the things that we surround ourselves with. 

Her Agenda: How does your pivot from teaching now to an entrepreneur impact your mental health and your work-life-balance?

Zewiditu Jewel: My work-life-balance is definitely better now. Teachers are superheroes. We are trying to change a system that was never meant for us to change. It was really hard for me, as I got into the later years of teaching, I kept hitting a wall. I realize that I kept trying to make a difference in these students’ lives. I found myself in a space where I was extremely burnt out. Now, in the restaurant I find myself teaching and knocking down doors. But, if we are going to knock down doors, we might as well use the doors as a bridge. Now, I feel charged, I am teaching again, now, just in a different aspect. 

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Zewiditu Jewel  was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Rebecca Warfield is your backstage pass to success.

She grew up in a log cabin in Montana knowing she’d work in entertainment. It wasn’t a dream. It was a given. So she studied film and TV at Montana State, broke into award shows with Dick Clark Productions, and worked her way up from talent coordinator to talent producer. Then the writer’s strike happened. Shows got canceled. Someone told her she should be in artist management. She listened.

Nearly two decades later, she’s built a career managing some of music’s biggest names. Her real education came from Larry Rudolph, the man who discovered Britney Spears. She worked on his team during the Circus era, learning what artist management actually looks like when you do it right, how to operate with integrity, and how to make the call that’s best for your client every single time. He taught her strategy, and she’s been applying those lessons ever since.

She went on to manage Steven Tyler for five years while co-managing Aerosmith, launching his solo career and his first ever solo album. She created his charitable organization Janie’s Fund, which raised over seven million dollars in its first three years for vulnerable girls. She’s currently the manager and business partner of Julian Lennon, guiding him through a record deal with BMG for his first commercial album in twenty years while amplifying his work as a photographer, filmmaker, author, and entrepreneur.

In 2012, she founded the Chicane Group, an artist management and consulting firm where she served as CEO. She was also the Global Head of Strategic Partnerships at Looped, helping build the tech company into a preferred virtual venue platform. She operates at the intersection of music and technology, always looking ahead to where the industry is going rather than where it’s been.

What makes Rebecca different is how she moves. She makes decisions fast, stays calm when everyone else is spiraling, reads the room, and trusts her gut. It’s a skill set that comes from experience, from knowing you’re making the right call in the moment when everyone’s depending on you to do exactly that.

She’s navigated bias by putting herself in the right rooms with the right teams, by staying confident in her strengths, and by refusing to let it drag her down. In our chat, Rebecca offers a peek into the strategies and insights that have made her a force in the industry.

Her Agenda: So how did you end up going into this field or getting this job?

Rebecca Warfield: So I grew up in a little log cabin in the middle of the woods in Montana, and even as a little girl, I always knew that I was going to be working in entertainment in some way. I [always knew] that. So I think it was really about finding the path to how to make that happen and how to move to Los Angeles. I just always knew that that’s what I was going to do. So I went to college at Montana State University. I studied film and TV there, and that kind of opened a door for me to start working on award shows when I was still in college. I started with Dick Clark Productions on the Academy of Country Music Awards, and I broke in that way. I didn’t know anyone at all. That story is kind of an interesting story of how that came together, but I wound up working on many, many award shows as a freelance talent coordinator and then talent producer, and then during the writer’s strike one year, all the shows were getting canceled, and someone said to me, ‘You should really be in artist management.’ And so I wound up pursuing that, and making the shift into management, which I’ve been doing for about 13 years now. So it’s kind of just been one thing leading to the next. 

Her Agenda: Who or what is your biggest influence in your journey as a manager?

Rebecca Warfield: I think my biggest influence has been the person who really taught me how management was to be carried out, or what the relationship with your clients should look like, and how to operate with integrity on a day to day basis, and do the best thing for your clients, and the strategy around that. The first person that I worked for when I was in management, when I made that shift, was Larry Rudolph, who is very well known for discovering Britney Spears. I wound up working on that team back in the Circus era, which was 2009 to 2012. He really mentored me and taught me artist management on the highest level. So I think that would be probably the most influential person. 

Her Agenda: How does working with female and male clients differ?

Rebecca Warfield: It’s so different. It is so, so different. I have always found myself working more so with male clients, and male artists, I think that there is a real complimenting relationship there with sort of the feminine and masculine energy, and creativity, and carrying out the business around executing marketing campaigns and creative projects, and I think with the male-female balance, you can really lean on each other’s natural strengths and abilities to achieve different levels of success. With female clients, there’s just a lot of different things that they have to think about where, even just coming down to glam, and timing, and scheduling, and motherhood, and there’s all of these other things that come into play with female clients versus male clients. So it is very, very different, I would say. 

Her Agenda: What’s a skill you need in your job people wouldn’t expect is necessary?

Rebecca Warfield: I think everyone expects that managers should have some level of psychological skill set in well-being and being able to use a higher level of intuition and making decisions very quickly. That would be my best answer is making decisions very quickly, very confidently, and that comes from experience, that comes from knowing that you are making the right decision in that given moment for your client, and everyone is depending on you to make the right decision.

Her Agenda: How do you deal with bias against women?

Rebecca Warfield: You deal with it on a daily basis, you deal with it every time you start with a client, you deal with it with different relationships on the team. I think, first off, the best way to deal with it is putting yourself into the right rooms and the right teams to work with. Be confident in your own strengths and your own abilities and don’t let that drag you down. 

Her Agenda: How do you handle things under crisis?

Rebecca Warfield: Don’t react. Be very non reactive, and always be calm. Think about things before you respond. And if you have to respond really quickly, make sure that you have insights from the whole team before you make the decision. 

Her Agenda: What’s one aspect of the music industry that you really want to change, and one that you hope never does?

Rebecca Warfield: One aspect of the music industry that I would like to see change would be [that] I would love a simpler process in licensing music and artists’ music being discovered to license for films, TV, movies…it would be great to be able to do that in a simpler manner, than it’s done today. I think it’s a very cumbersome process, and it takes a lot of back and forth with different team members to license music. So I’d love to see that simplified. One thing I hope doesn’t change, obviously, we’re dealing with such a revolution right now, with AI and AI music production and AI artists. There’s no stopping that, but I hope that the connection with humans and that ability to connect and be relatable, I hope that doesn’t lose value. I hope the human creation will keep its value. 

Her Agenda: Can you give advice to girls looking into this industry?

Rebecca Warfield: Yes, I would say really spend some time getting to know yourself and what your true, unique skill sets and natural gifts are, and lean into those and don’t look around at what everyone else is doing. Pave your own way, pave your own path, and diversify your strengths into different areas that you really are passionate about and that will lead to your success in your career. 

Her Agenda: What are your future goals? 

Rebecca Warfield: My future goals would be to continue doing what I’m doing, always finding projects and clients that inspire me and that motivate me. I am excited to expand my team and expand the level of knowledge of my team and just diversify there as well.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Rebecca Warfield was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Before she entered the world of beauty and lifestyle content creation, YouTube Influencer Crystal Nicole set her sights on a career as a civil engineer. Day in and day out, Crystal dealt with construction, formulas, and maintenance, but in her spare time, she was developing a hobby that would soon change her life. Driven by the need to educate, Crystal took the leap of faith and dove into creating content full-time, leading to the birth of her online persona “CurlyCrys.” She shared her natural hair journey, hoping to help others going through the same process. As her fanbase grew, so did her need to branch out into different areas, going from “CurlyCrys” to Crystal Nicole. With nearly 10 years in the industry, the New Orleans-born Influencer has amassed over 1 million followers across all of her platforms and has partnered with several skincare and beauty brands, including Charlotte Tilbury, Shea Moisture, Olay, and Aveeno. Crystal has continued to use her platform to share her personal experiences, forming a deep connection with her audience. 

Combining her engineering expertise with her flair for content creation, Crystal has created educational yet engaging videos that laid the groundwork for a successful career as an Influencer. The Skincare and beauty guru talked with Her Agenda on her journey, transitioning careers, and what drives her to put her all into this industry.

Her Agenda: Tell me about your transition from civil engineering to content creation and how you made that choice

Crystal Nicole: When I started creating content in college, it was just for fun and educational purposes, and to be able to teach people about their natural hair while I was also learning myself, because there wasn’t much information on socials about it. It was around the time when the natural hair movement was just beginning, in the sense of regaining its popularity. Relaxers and perms were the norm at that point. I had a relaxer for 10 plus years at that time, and I decided to just go natural. I was discouraged by a lot of people, but I decided I shouldn’t allow anyone to discourage me from learning about myself naturally, and about what comes out of my scalp. I decided to take the leap and cut off all of my relaxed hair. First, I transitioned. Then I decided to cut it all off. When I was in college, everyone would ask me, oh, what products are you using? I decided to [document my] natural hair journey. Instead of me trying to give them step-by-step answers every single time, I said, let me just make a video about it. That’s how [the] YouTube started. 

It was never an idea of pursuing a career in content creation. It was just for fun and to educate people. Once I started making videos, people started to like them, and I got more and more attention. Then, five months later, I got my first partnership, which was $50. In college, that was a lot. Once I graduated from college, I moved to Austin, which is where I had my first engineering job. That’s when I took it more seriously in the sense of making more consistent videos, and I started to get more and more offers. It never dawned on me that this could become a career; I always viewed it as a side passion. I could be wasting my time, but I enjoy it. 

Once I moved to Austin, I started being more consistent on YouTube. That’s when I saw my numbers and revenue go up from YouTube alone. I was making maybe $300, $500 a month. I was like, okay, if YouTube can pay my car note, I’ll continue doing it. That’s how I measured that. It got to the point where I calculated my numbers, and from partnerships and YouTube, I was making three times the amount that I was at my engineering job. I was doing engineering from nine to five and then content from six to midnight to 2 AM. I got to the point where I saw my revenue from my content creation was multiplying.  I measured that for about six to eight months. It got to the point where I decided to just quit. During the pandemic, I didn’t even do a two-week notice. I quit the same day. That was the biggest leap I’ve ever taken.

Her Agenda: What are some of the challenges that you faced early on when you started to switch to content creation?

Crystal Nicole: The main thing is that everything now relies on you. When you’re working in engineering or any nine-to-five with a corporation, and you’re working for that corporation, you just have to show up, and they’re telling you what your assignments are; their structure is already set. When you’re working by yourself, you become all of that. You become the one who has to create the structure. You become the one who has to maintain that deadline. You become the one who has to review all of this work that you’re doing. You are literally every single role. Your success is based on your discipline. That’s when I was like, oh, shoot. It may have been fun in the beginning, but this is now a job. I have to treat this like a corporation. Whenever someone becomes a freelancer or entrepreneur, there’s so much more time. When you don’t have that structure that you used to have in that nine-to-five, you have too much freedom, and that’s what limits you, because now you have so much time to do something that you procrastinate. You really have to be disciplined, and that was the biggest wake-up call for me.

Her Agenda: Since starting your journey in content creation, how have you seen yourself evolve and grow with the content that you put out?

Crystal Nicole: When I first started, I was only creating natural hair content. My name used to be Curly Crys. When I started, everyone had Curl or Kinky or something like that in their name because that was the identifier that all your content was about natural hair. That was all my content was from 2017 to 2021. The first four years, I only did hair content, and I didn’t venture out into any other areas. I decided I wanted to become more than just my hair because how many twist-out tutorials can I make? How many braid-out tutorials can I make? I’m literally creating repetitive content at this point, and since my job is content creation, I have to find a way to sustain this over time. At the same time, I was simultaneously going through a skin care transformation, where I had so much hyperpigmentation. I was like, you know what? Let me document this. Let me just see if they’re going to like it. I documented my skincare journey. It ended up going viral on all platforms. 

Many people tuned into my transformation because of how authentic I was. Then I decided to apply for Sephora Squad. In Sephora Squad, the audience I wanted, as far as brands go, was skincare. I wanted skincare partnerships. I had only really had hair partnerships. I wanted more beauty. By getting on Sephora Squad, once I made it, they gave me a foot in to branch out into a different niche. Now I’m being put in front of the brands that I want to attract. Now that I’m on their radar, I need to make sure I do a good job, an exceptional job. I have to make sure my content is better than everyone else’s. My needs changed from natural hair to Crystal Nicole, who I am as a person. That’s when the biggest transition happened for me, and it opened up so many doors

Her Agenda: What is the driving force behind your passion for working in this industry and sharing your life?

Crystal Nicole: My passion is helping people. That’s been my driving force from the beginning. The reason why I created my YouTube channel in college, it wasn’t for money. It wasn’t for notoriety or anything. It was to help people who were confused about their natural hair. Still to this day, that is my driving force. When I do my skincare videos, it’s to help people who are struggling with their skin. When I do my natural hair videos, it’s to help people who are struggling with their natural hair texture. Even with makeup, such as content reviews, product reviews, it’s all to help people and give people that insight with someone who looks like them, so that they can have a reliable source. My passion has always been to help people, even when it comes to sharing my personal life and the struggles that I went through with my relationships and everything, as well as to empower other women and to help them on their journey. We need people who look like us to be inspired by, to feel like we can also do that same thing. It’s always been about helping people.

Her Agenda: What feedback have you received on your content that makes you really happy and gives you confidence in what you’re doing?

Crystal Nicole: To this day, I still have people come up to me and say, ‘Oh, my God, I wouldn’t have known what to do with my hair without you.’ You helped me with my twist-outs. You helped me with my braid outs. You helped me love my natural hair. I also have people say the same thing about their skin. The biggest reward that I’ve gotten from sharing my story authentically is when I was getting my hair braided in Austin, and a lady walked in, and she immediately dropped everything and started crying. She was like, oh, my God, are you Crystal Nicole? I said yes. She just starts weeping. She’s like, you helped me leave my abusive relationship. I was like, what? She said I left my man because of your strength and courage to share your story, and you made me realize I was worth more. I started crying with her at that moment because you never know who your content is reaching, and you never know who you’re helping. When God puts something on your heart to share, you have to be obedient to that. What I went through, it was extremely hard for me, but I knew it had a reason, not only to make myself better, but also be an inspiration to others and to be able to help others. It’s been a full circle, without a doubt, and just a journey that I’m so grateful for. Even though it was hard and tumultuous, I’m so happy that I was able to experience everything I have in my life because I see how it’s benefiting other people.

Her Agenda: What would you say is a milestone in your career that still kind of feels unreal to you that happened?

Crystal Nicole: I would say going to Korea with TIRTIR. That was insane. To be able to break into an international market, all from setting up your phone and recording a video, and then sending you across the world for a short period of time, just to meet you, just to have your presence there, it’s a feeling that I will never forget. It’s a connection and a relationship that I’ll always cherish forever. It was an amazing experience to be able to be in Korea. I still haven’t fathomed it all the way. I went there just to meet the brand, just to see where they work, just to have that connection with them and that community. They wanted me there. They knew who I was when I traveled 18 hours across the world.

Her Agenda: In terms of your career, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever

received? Crystal Nicole: To not sacrifice my comfort to please others. That’s extremely important and something I actually do live by. When it comes to work, I don’t overextend myself without there being accountability on the party that I’m overextending for. I never overdo something to please someone else. I get all my work done, and I’m a great client to work with. I accomplish all the duties that I have to do, but I never overextend myself at the sacrifice of my own personal and mental health. I don’t put anyone or anything above that. I fully live by that. In this industry, if you don’t have that balance, you will be worked to the ground. The people who work you to the ground will just use you and discard you. This is all a business. When your life becomes a business, you have to have that balancing factor put in place. It’s not up to anyone else to do it because they’re going to continue to take advantage because it’s a business. If you’re not wise enough to know when you need to stop overextending yourself, or you need to stop trying to please others, then you will run yourself to the ground, and you will be continually pouring out of an empty cup and wondering why you’re not getting anything in return.

[Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Crystal Nicole was originally published on HerAgenda.com

According to Fortune, America is about to experience the Greatest Wealth Transfer in history, with Gen X and Millennials projected to inherit $124 trillion in assets. Lisa McCurdy is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Wealth Counselor, a boutique estate and asset protection law firm serving high-net-worth families with complex, multigenerational wealth. 

With such a wealth of knowledge in transferring wealth from generation to generation, she sees the upcoming Great Wealth Transfer as more than just a wealth transfer. “We’re transferring more than just things, money, and assets. We are transferring values and principles that will provide guidance to the next generation.” 

Women are set to inherit a majority of the wealth from their parents and their spouses. While talking with Lisa about this historical event, she emphasized the importance of making sure family estate plans are clearly established to prevent any devastating losses in wealth. She shared, “You know, we’ve seen historically where significant wealth is needing to be rebuilt in the second and third generation because of family turmoil, things unspoken, things unresolved.” 

In this interview, Lisa shares her journey to becoming “The Wealth Counselor” and dives deeper into how our values, guiding principles, and wisdom shape how we build and preserve our wealth for the generations to come. 

Her Agenda: A wealth counselor may be a term many folks have not heard before. We’d love to hear how you got started in your field.

Lisa McCurdy: It was very serendipitous because in law school, I didn’t plan to practice law traditionally. I thought I would use my degree for diplomacy or international relations, but I got the message that an elderly uncle was starting to exhibit signs of dementia. I’d chosen a field where I could really build a career, not just a job. I love research, critical thinking, advocacy, and writing, but my elderly uncle’s circumstances threw me for a loop. He wasn’t taking good care of himself. In order for a family member to step in to legally assist a loved one and speak with their financial institutions to make decisions about their care, they must establish an intervention case. I found out this all could be avoided by some important, but relatively painless, Trust and Estates documents. That eight-year period of service showed me a lot. I learned a lot of practical information. And I knew my very intelligent uncle, who had degrees and built a nice estate, would not have taken this path had he been better educated about a few tools. It changed the entire focus of my career.

Her Agenda: Is that something that you still see today in your work as well? Educated, but lacking crucial wealth-building and estate planning tools? 

Lisa McCurdy: Absolutely, and it’s because our industry has led with death, dying, disability, so fear. That’s actually not a great motivator. At The Wealth Counselor, we are changing that focus. We are changing the conversation to empowerment, values, principles, wisdom, and impact. And when you shift a bit of the focus, you’re still making a lot of the same decisions, but your motivation is different. People feel better about showing up, taking action, and establishing a plan that is intentional and designed around their unique circumstances. 

Her Agenda: As we think about our wealth, legacy, and families, what patterns or actions have you seen that actually keep us on track to protect and grow what we’ve built?

Lisa McCurdy: Well, you know, historically, women didn’t get to make those decisions. We were in the background, while our parents or spouses made those decisions for us. Unfortunately, some of those practices remain intact. I’m here to ensure women know they have the permission to take control of their wealth and that the power is in our hands. There is a significant shift in the control of wealth, from men to women. Women are inheriting through their husbands and through their inheritance. This is a wonderful opportunity for women to plan with intention – impact our communities, impact our families, and drive the conversation around causes that can shape the next several decades. 

Her Agenda: I love that you mentioned that there is a major shift when it comes to wealth because the Great Wealth Transfer is a topic that has been in the media. How can women prepare for the Great Wealth Transfer, and what crucial steps can we take?

Lisa McCurdy: One is realizing that they have their own estate and their own ideas, and that they should be empowered to make decisions for themselves. We are preparing more prenuptial agreements for women. Today, some women are the wealthier of the spouses. Putting plans in place, establishing trusts, and establishing prenuptial agreements to separate the wealth of the businesses you’ve established prior to your marriage, so those assets remain protected and separate from marital assets. Of course, enjoy your marriage and build an estate with your spouse, but protect what you’ve already built too.

Her Agenda: You speak a lot about our values. Is this a part of a mindset that we should be adopting when it comes to building and preserving our wealth?

Lisa McCurdy: We tend to lead with our values and principles, but we don’t always know how to transfer that wisdom. Whether it’s through our estate plans, legacy plans, or our giving, we should frame our plan around our unique interests and our values and principles that we find most important. And you’ll hear the word ‘permission’ from me, because though we don’t think about it that way, many women are extremely giving, and sometimes we have to step back and realize that we’re in charge in every aspect of our lives – both our living legacies and our lasting legacies. 

Her Agenda: Speaking of legacies, can you share more about your cohort LegacyMakers® and who makes up the community?

Lisa McCurdy: Often, it’s an executive woman who is respected by not only her nuclear family, but also multiple arms of the family tree, and she has taken on the task of helping the family to prepare plans to get their affairs in order. She is often in need of, or could benefit significantly from a group of others dealing with the same level of issues. There’s nobody supporting her, and she can benefit from some tools, a community of others surrounding her, and the expertise I can help offer to her to navigate. 

Her Agenda: Lastly, what else should we know about estate planning and preserving our legacies?

Lisa McCurdy: Regardless of the size of your wealth, you should absolutely establish a plan in writing. Be intentional. Transfer your values and principles into that wisdom. It will be valuable to future generations. And don’t consider your plan as final. You will redraft, amend, and tweak your plan to align with the various stages of your life. 

[Editor’s note: This article has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Lisa McCurdy was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Known as the internet’s ‘it girl,’ content creator and entrepreneur Allyiah Gainer has become the crown jewel of the YouTube scene. Referred to as Allyiah’s Face on her channel, Allyiah has garnered a loyal fan base of 2 million+ followers across all of her platforms and over 900K subscribers. Since starting her brand in 2015, the former FAMU student has become a staple in the digital beauty and fashion community, inviting viewers into her world and her life through her weekly vlogs. At the beginning of her YouTube journey, Allyiah began to amass her following by filming content such as fashion hauls and GRWMs. Now, years later, the influencer has expanded her reach into luxury and fashion spaces, working with brands such as Jimmy Choo, Tatcha Beauty, Amazon, and Marshalls. Most recently, Allyiah turned her love for fragrance into a collaboration with perfume brand Dossier to create two of her very own fragrances, ‘Better Days’ and ‘Of the Hour.’ The duo sold out within 24 hours, with Allyiah herself describing them as the perfect daytime and nighttime scent. In this interview, Allyiah shares her journey with YouTube, the challenges she’s faced, and what it was like partnering with Dossier.

Her Agenda: Tell us how you got started with vlogging and documenting your life, and what was that like in the beginning?

Allyiah Gainer: I did a chit chat, get ready with me. And everyone was like, oh, you need to talk more. We like that. That was very entertaining. We love your personality. From there, I kept doing that. Then Vlogmas came around in my second year on YouTube in December. And I was like, okay, cool, I’m gonna do Vlogmas. I vlogged, I did one episode, and people were like, we need more of this. I did Vlogmas that entire month. The feedback that I got was so great. I realized I really liked it. I used to vent. It just used to be kind of like a personal diary, if you will. I would get on my camera and say whatever. This was way back before anybody cared a lot about what I had to say. People were a lot kinder and treated it like they were talking with their homegirl. From there, I just kept doing it, and more and more people loved it. That’s really how it started. It was people telling me to do it, so I did it. They loved it, so I kept doing it. Now here we are.

Her Agenda: What was the moment that you realized being a content creator could be a sustainable career for you? 

Allyiah Gainer: It was when I quit my job to do it full-time. However, that would be a lie, because I wasn’t really making that much money from it at all. I think I was maybe making $1,200 a month, which is not a lot to live on. I’m a very rebellious person. I was working at MAC, and they wouldn’t give me the time off that I wanted, so I quit. And I was like, okay, well then I quit. You would think that I would say that my social media career was lucrative, which it was not. Three and a half years in, I realized that this would be lucrative for me when I got a 12-month contract with a hair company back when I used to wear wigs. I used to do hair influencing heavily on YouTube. That would always be a part of my vlog. I would usually start the vlog off with a new wig. I got a year-long contract that was gonna pay me basically around five to seven grand a month just to talk about wigs. I thought, oh, I’ve made it, and I can make money doing this for real. In that moment, that’s when I moved to Atlanta. I was like, yeah, like we’re going big time.

Her Agenda: What challenges have you faced as a content creator, and how did you overcome them?

Allyiah Gainer: One of the really big challenges that I faced was from being online for so long; your digital footprint is very real. You look back at young you and you’re like, I cannot believe I wore that, or that I said that. Having it on video or photo for years, when you go back and look, you’re like, yo, what the h*ll? I think it’s important learning boundaries on what to post because young me didn’t have any. Anything and everything would get posted. I didn’t care because I didn’t realize the amount of people who had access to it. While I have created such a beautiful community online, it isn’t gated; anyone can join. Anyone can take, perceive, and do with whatever I post online as they wish or will. So, being a lot more conscious of just making sure that whatever I’m posting, I am comfortable with it being representative of me to any and everybody that comes across it. I think every content creator will tell you about the hate comments and criticism. I’ve been in this for so long, I truly have built what they call tough skin. I genuinely feel like people don’t think they’re talking to Allyiah. When I think about it like that, it alleviates any anxiety or negative feelings that come with criticism.

Her Agenda: What would you say has been the most rewarding part of your journey so far? 

Allyiah Gainer: I would say something for me that’s extremely rewarding from my journey is that some of the people who were watching me in 2015, before I even ever posted a vlog, are still watching me to this day. I can recognize them, and they still comment. I’ve been doing YouTube for over 10 years, and I don’t have a million followers. I don’t have a million followers on any platform. I truly believe that my platform is an example of slow and steady wins the race. While my growth number-wise is “slower,” the level of connection that I’ve built with my audience is so immense. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I feel like being a place where people can come to just simply relax, enjoy, or just have a moment of disconnection from whatever they’re going through is valuable. I’ve had people express to me how I’ve been able to get them through dark places just by posting my silly videos and just feeling like they have someone there with them. 

Her Agenda: Most of your life is mostly on camera, but what are some ways that you de-stress when you need a break from vlogging? 

Allyiah Gainer: I sleep. I love a good old nap, a good old sleep. For me, it’s about finding boundaries of what works for me online and what doesn’t, so that I don’t experience that kind of burnout. I really do save a lot of things in my life for offline, such as romantic relationships and family. I feel like it helps to keep work and personal life separate because in content creation or influencing, especially [for] lifestyle creators, the overlap is heavy. At this point, we’ve gotten to where the authentic life that you live has now become your content. Sometimes you have to put in strong boundaries to separate the two so that you can have a moment to decompress and relax.

Her Agenda: Within the next five years, what are you hoping to accomplish with your career? 

Allyiah Gainer: I feel as long as I have a platform that people are interested in tuning into, and it’s still fun for me, I would absolutely love to continue creating content until it’sn’t fun anymore. As far as my brand, we have some things in the works. That’s all I can say for now.

Her Agenda: You’ve been a Dossier girl for many years. What was it like in that moment to find out you’re getting a Dossier collab?

Allyiah Gainer: It was actually really shocking for me because I’m not an expert; I just love good-smelling perfumes. When I brought fragrance into my channel, it was just me kind of exploring. I was never technical with terminology. I’ve never researched deep into the back ends of perfumes. When they came to me, I was like ‘oh no, I think you guys need a professional.’ They were like ‘no no no no we want you.’ My manager was like ‘girl, stop thinking like that. They want your nose, and they want your vibe, your feel, to create something that they can’t do on their own.’ It felt surreal. I do experience a little bit of imposter syndrome sometimes. I used to think that was a bad thing, but I watched a Mel Robbins podcast the other day. I’m tuned into her podcast, and she said, imposter syndrome is a good feeling because it’s showing that you’re trying something new. I was like, you know what? She’s right. Screw it. I feel good about this. It felt crazy. I was excited, but nervous, because this was my first product adventure; however, it was really fun in the end. That was a complete 360 moment, considering that Dossier used to sponsor me when I first started. I feel like Dossier is a lot of Black girl vloggers’ first sponsorships. They were a brand that invested in our community. It was really, really nice to be able to create something with them. 

Her Agenda: What was the inspiration behind your Dossier fragrances? How did you go about picking the scents? 

Allyiah Gainer: When they first approached, the idea was that we were just going to do one perfume. I was like, love that, but I would really like to do two. I asked [if] I could do two perfumes because I’m a multifaceted person. My interests in life vary. Like my taste in perfume, style, and food, everything is just so multifaceted that I felt I could not conjure myself up in one bottle. Even two was hard. I wanted to channel my bubbly personality, that aspect of myself, in my daytime scent. Obviously, you can wear it at any time of the day or any part of the year, but it is marketed as a daytime scent. It’s a bit lighter, flirtier, and very inviting. It’s such a breath of fresh air in my opinion. That was for that first fragrance.

For the second one, I really wanted to channel the sexy, almost baddie-esque moment. I feel like if you see me by day, you’re like, oh, she’s such a sweetie cutie patootie. Then at night, I mean, a girl’s going out, you’re like, oh, I didn’t know you had that in you. That’s what I wanted my perfumes to be. I wanted them to be complete opposites, but they work so well together.

Her Agenda: What advice would you give to us as young women who want to get into starting a YouTube channel? 

Allyiah Gainer: They’re not going to like this, but my big piece of advice is that you need to figure out what your why is. What I mean by that is with the emergence of social media, in all of these new forms, we are seeing that people are getting rich from this. There are different motivators as to why you want to be a content creator.

When I started, we didn’t know people were rich. I don’t even think people were rich yet in 2015, off of social media. Quote me if I’m wrong, but we didn’t know that. So our whys back then were truly out of just having a hobby or a talent or maybe a lack of community to share your interests with. That’s what mine was. For the girls who are starting now, you have to be honest with your why, because I feel like sometimes people aren’t honest about their why. If your why is because you just like to create, then you won’t really find any difficulty in anything. If it’s going to become lucrative, especially on YouTube, it’s going to be slow. It took a minute for me. You have to play the long game, girls.

If you’re doing this because you’re like, you know what? I’m seeing that people are making money. I want a cut of the pie. Then I think that there are a lot of strategic ways that you can do your content and your platform so that you’re able to monetize very quickly and effectively. If you’re someone who wants to garner a true community and share whatever it is you want to share, whether it’s your personality, makeup, hair, whatever, do it and have fun with it. It takes time, but it’s worth it. Whatever comes of it, you have to be grateful for it. 

Her Agenda: Who is Allyiah in a nutshell?

Allyiah Gainer: What I would say is, one thing about me, I’m always going to be okay, and I’m always going to do what I want to do. That’s just what I do.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Allyiah Gainer was originally published on HerAgenda.com

As we all prepare for the new year, there’s probably a laundry list of things you’re thinking about. New routines, habits, goals, and more prompt us to consider tangible ways to effect change. But trying to figure out where to start and what to prioritize can be tough. 

With so many people giving out advice all the preparation can feel daunting, and you might just give up before you start. This year we’ve spoken with a ton of founders, executives, CEOs, all of whom have been in your shoes, maybe not feeling the most confident about their next step. 

We’ve compiled a list of some of the best advice to help you with your fresh start. So here’s a list of seven things you should be thinking about going into 2026. 

Don’t wait, start today

Going into a new year is all about feeling good about what can come. Dana Hork, Founder and CEO of Beers With Friends told Her Agenda that we all have something special that only we can offer, so start today! 

“Go for it. Don’t wait for permission. The world is waiting for you to articulate your vision. It’s like the subway rule—if you see something, say something. If you see a better way of doing things, lean into that. Start small if you need to, iterate as you go, but trust your instincts.” 

Find your tribe

Having a good support system makes all the difference in all facets of life. By having a solid sounding board, it can keep you celebrated through the good times and carried through the bad. 

When Her Agenda chatted with Sally Kim, President and Publisher; Little, Brown and Company, she gave this advice to fellow writers trying to break through the industry. It’s solid advice we can all use. 

“Find the people who can support you and lift you up and also give you the tough love you need to make your work better,” she shared.

Be prepared to put in the work

Being an ambitious woman comes with a lot of hard work and sacrifice. Many women are starting their own businesses with the new year, which requires even more work. Julie Cartwright, President of Pvolve, was asked by Her Agenda about going into entrepreneurship, and she said that tenacity is key. 

“You need to be able to network, you need to be able to get out into your community…So don’t be afraid of the hard work. Don’t do it if you don’t want to work hard, to be honest. It’s incredibly rewarding, but it certainly takes you really putting yourself out there.” 

Stay true to who you are and what you want

Sometimes it can be easy to push aside your individuality to conform to what other people think is best. But your individuality makes you special, so hold onto that. Her Agenda spoke with Nina Magon, Luxury Interior Designer and CEO, about the advice she has for up-and-coming designers that can apply to everyone wanting to be true to themselves in 2026. 

“You just have to do whatever style you love, and people will catch on eventually. Don’t change your style for someone else. You have to love what you do, because if you don’t, you’re in big trouble.”

Be kind to yourself

Sometimes it can be so easy to be nice to everyone but ourselves. We let negative self-talk, self-doubt, and a lack of confidence take over, and sometimes it stops us from greatness. Binta Niambi Brown, Sports and Entertainment Lawyer and Founder, chatted with Her Agenda about navigating life after loss and what it looks like to give herself compassion. 

“There are going to be moments in our lives where we have to give ourselves grace, and we have to give ourselves time to grieve, and to rebuild, and to reheal, but in healing, and grieving, we have to also have a sense of hope, and a sense of what’s possible.” 

Make time for you

Many women find themselves taking care of others: kids, partners, aging relatives, etc. When you add work on top of that, sometimes making sure that we’re taken care of isn’t a priority. Karonda Cook, Head of Global Marketing at KISS Colors & Care, gave us this gem about hair care when she spoke with Her Agenda about how to make sure you put yourself at the top of the to-do list. 

“If you have to take that time, make it a moment of self-care and give yourself a deep treatment mask to replenish your hair, give that hair an extra dose of love, an extra boost of moisture.” 

Have an open mind

You never know where this new year will take you, so be open to whatever comes your way. You never know where an unexpected opportunity may take you. Mina Haque, Attorney and CEO of Tony Roma’s, spoke with Her Agenda about this key piece of advice she’s held on to through her career. 

“Keep an open mind, especially when you’re trying to consider a career path. Don’t think of a job as your goal. Think of skill sets. Don’t pay attention to the dream job. It’s the skill set that’s [prepared] your mind [for] the career that you will have.”

This article 7 New Year Strategies From Top Women Leaders was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Gail Becker is the creator of Caulipower, a unique brand changing the frozen food aisle with its creative cauliflower-based products, making gluten-free options for people who normally wouldn’t have them. Her journey into the food industry began in 2016 when she sought to create a delicious cauliflower-crust pizza for her sons, who have Celiac disease. Unable to find satisfying options, Gail took matters into her own hands, transforming her kitchen innovation into a rapidly expanding product line that has made Caulipower a household name, boasting over $100 million in annual sales.

Gail’s career foundation was built on Capitol Hill, continued as a broadcast journalist in the late 80s. She sharpened her skills at Warner Bros. as a communications strategist during the early era for even DVDs. These varied experiences laid the groundwork for a quick rise in the food industry.

Her contributions have not gone unnoticed; Gail was honored in the 2021 “50 Over 50” list and ranked #97 in America’s Self-Made Women the same year. In this interview, Gail shares her thoughts and opinions about leadership and what Caulipower will look like in the future as one of the leaders in healthy convenient foods.

Her Agenda: How does your background in the communications world influence your approach to leading a start-up?

Gail Becker: It’s such an interesting question because when I came from the agency world, I had a lot of opportunities to have a front row seat to how companies are created and managed and led, and sometimes we would give advice or counsel, and then sometimes it was taken, and sometimes it wasn’t. So really, particularly from a marketing perspective, seeing what has worked for companies and what hasn’t, has really been an advantage in creating Caulipower.

Her Agenda:  What role has your family played in this company?

Gail Becker: My family has played a huge role because my sons were actually the inspiration for starting Caulipower in the first place. Both my sons have celiac disease, and when they were diagnosed at such a young age, there was no gluten-free food in the store. So it really gave me a good perch for watching the industry evolve, and what I began to notice was how much junk the industry was putting in gluten-free food. And so, I thought someone would do something about it, and then I sort of waited, and no one really ever did. And so that’s when I finally started. [I said]  you know what? I’m going to jump in and do it myself. Interestingly, you know, most people who buy Caulipower are not gluten-free. You know, that’s the reason I started the company, but most people just want a lighter, better-for-you pizza. And that was really the ethos of the brand…creating something that everybody could enjoy and share. 

Her Agenda:  How do you stay on top of trends in the food world?

Gail Becker: We’re very lucky because our consumers share their needs and desires with us. We obviously have a tremendous amount of data, so we see what’s working, what’s not, where the holes in the market are, and what consumers are gravitating toward. Still, we’re very on top of social media trends as well, and what’s working and what is really here for the long haul. Trends are important, but we really want to create a food that’s going to be what consumers need for the long term. 

Her Agenda: Can you share some of the challenges you faced when starting Caulipower and how you overcame them?

Gail Becker: The biggest challenge was that I didn’t know the industry. I didn’t know what all the acronyms meant. I didn’t know how the industry worked. I didn’t know the things to do or the things not to do. But I knew how I wanted to be different, and that was really helpful. So I would say that sometimes not knowing gave me a little bit of an advantage, because when people were working in the industry for so long, they sort of stopped poking in interesting directions and stopped being provocative because they thought it was something you couldn’t do. I was told a hundred times, ‘You can’t make a pizza out of cauliflower.’ 

Her Agenda: What strategic goals did you aim to achieve through the acquisition with Urban Farmer?

Gail Becker: Well, basically, we are merging with our manufacturers. This is a really exciting time, because it means we have our own manufacturing. So we can be quicker, we can be more nimble, we can do more limited runs, so special opportunities or seasonal products, things that we never could do before. It is a really exciting time for us to ensure the quality of our products and give consumers what they’re looking for in real time.

Her Agenda: What role does sustainability play in Caulipower’s business model?

Gail Becker: It actually plays an important role. All of our packaging is created in a really sustainable manner. A couple of years ago, we took out the cardboard circles. We’re trying to use less paper products. There are challenges in the frozen [food] world, but we are doing everything that we can and continuously improving our sustainability. 

Her Agenda:  Can you discuss a personal or professional achievement that you’re especially proud of as a woman?

Gail Becker: Caulipower is bigger than I certainly could have ever hoped, and that’s wonderful, and that makes me very proud. But I would say the thing I’m most proud of is that I took that bet in the very beginning. When I left my comfortable, corporate job, my successful corporate career, and I chucked it all to take a bet on a company in an industry that I knew nothing about, that’s the thing I’m most proud of. I bet on myself, and I hope that this inspires other women to do something similar.

Her Agenda: What personal experiences have shaped your views on gender equality and leadership?

Gail Becker: The thing that brought it most to life, honestly, was trying to raise money. Raising money, as a startup, as an entrepreneur, is hard; doing so as a woman is 100 times harder. That’s not me saying it, that’s the facts saying it, you know, only 2% of venture capital dollars go to women, go to female founders, go to female-led companies. So, experiencing that firsthand, seeing how much trouble we had, raising money when companies that were far less successful and led by men were raising money much easier and faster. That was a very hard and insightful lesson for me.

Her Agenda: What legacy do you hope to leave through your work with Caulipower?

Gail Becker: I hope that Caulipower reminds people that taking a bet on a female founder or female led company, created by a woman for a lot of female consumers, I hope it shows that we’re a pretty good bet, and I hope it makes it easier for future female entrepreneurs to raise money and be successful and make a real impact in the world.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Gail Becker was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Tricia Lee is a Real Estate Broker at Serhant Real Estate and one of the stars of the Netflix reality show, Owning Manhattan. Coined as the “honorary mayor of Brooklyn,” Tricia made a name for herself in the borough when she owned and operated her chain of nail and beauty bars, Polish Bar Brooklyn, for over 10 years in Fort Greene/Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights. Through her business, she built a vast network of folks in Brooklyn and used her network to propel her real estate career. She hit record-breaking sales in her first year of real estate, has made over $300M in sales, and has many accolades in her career, including Compass Real Estate’s 2016 Rookie of the Year and Top 5 Black Brokers in Brooklyn in 2024. Ryan Serhant recruited Tricia to work at his brokerage in 2021, where she runs Team Tricia Lee alongside her partner, Jeffrey St. Arromand. 

Her Agenda spoke with Tricia to discuss the positive life changes she’s experienced since Owning Manhattan aired, how she continues to lead with beauty as she runs her real estate business, and how her confidence and drive help her fulfill her desire for the best.  

[Editor’s note: This interview was originally published in July 2024. We are republishing it in honor of Season 2 of Owning Manhattan.]

Her Agenda: You’re one of the star cast members of Owning Manhattan [and] the show is out for the world to see on Netflix. How has life changed for you since the airing of the show?

Tricia Lee: It’s changed in a lot of ways. There’s a massive influx of [pleasant] communication coming in. I was running eight minutes late for this interview because I couldn’t get out of my class because my class members were like, ‘Oh, I want to see more of you.’ It’s definitely a lot of really positive feedback, and that’s beautiful. I did this for great business opportunities and great exposure for my brand. I feel like I’ve achieved that [and] it’s been great. [But] then it’s really beautiful because in a lot of ways nothing has changed and nothing is really different because I get to live in this really anonymous neighborhood and in this crazy world of New York where everybody’s doing something amazing, something hard, or something interesting. I wanted to do something effective to help propel my career and to help put another real image of Black women out for the world to see. I feel like I was able to do that, but I still have my life, I still have the things that I love, and the privacy that I enjoy as well. I think it’s been a really cool [and] unique experience. And then, of course, certain experiences I’ve had with the production company and the network have just been magical.

Her Agenda: You are one of the few Black real estate agents on the show, selling luxury properties in New York. And before that, you owned [two] luxury nail salon[s] in Brooklyn, Polish Bar. Why do you think it’s important for folks of color, especially Black folks, to see [themselves] flourishing in these luxurious spaces?  

Tricia Lee: It’s imperative that we as a community believe that we deserve the best. A former agent of mine said that her mom always said, ‘Nothing but the best for Cynthia.’ And I was like, ‘Can I have that?’ And she’s like, ‘Yeah, you can, you can say it. Nothing but the best for T. Lee.’ I feel that with every fiber of my body because it’s how I move through my world. Some of my friends have said to me if luxury were a person in real life, it’d be [me]. I really believe in treating yourself well, doing your best, and demanding the best.

It’s just the way I am. I think because of my beauty background, or maybe my dance background as a child, I’m a very visual person. I mean, if I’m eating and we’re eating together, my plate’s not going to look like your plate. It’s going to be laid out beautifully. I’m going to wipe the stains off the side of the plate as if I’m in a restaurant because that’s how I treat myself. I treat the people that I love or the people that are in my life the same way. So, [with] my audience, I feel like I owe them that much too. I don’t feel that it should be unique or a minority point for us to be highlighted, live well, [and] for us to have amazing experiences. I want to show that to the world and show it to my community, but I want to do it in a very responsible way. I don’t want to go on a television show in front of the world with a bunch of borrowed clothes, free makeup, and free wigs and say that that’s me every day. Y’all are going to get this bad skin sometimes. My hair’s going to be sticking up sometimes. As glamorous as I can be, I also want to show what’s very real. 

When I first moved to New York, I was 22 years old. I think about that version of myself and what influence someone like me would have on that mind. I take it really seriously because I don’t want to show a younger version of Tricia Lee or younger women that these unrealistic expectations are what’s truthful. So there’s a part of me with the show that was very intentional with things that I shared and things that I did because I don’t want to create crazy pressure for young Black women. They need to be more focused on their health, their happiness, a clear mind, good rest, living a good life, [and] being a good person. [You can focus on] looking good and presenting yourself in the world as strong and powerful, but not glossed in and shiny and fake. That’s not to shade anybody. I just feel like if I have a say, I’m going to be responsible for what I say, that’s all. 

Her Agenda: Episode one, your nails, you had French tips. [Your] right hand was blue, [and your] left hand was pink. 

Tricia Lee: Actually, the right hand is green, and the left hand is pink because I’m an AKA. I feel like my nails are an expression of who I am. A lot of times, my left hand will be orange [and] my right hand will be pink because the two colors I love the most on my fingers are pink and coral. I do a little nod to the AKAs by wearing my nails pink and green a lot because I do that in life, so why not do that on the show? There are times when I have beautiful red nails on, and that’s intentional because all of my really good friends are Deltas, and I’m shouting them out too. I used to get a lot of flack for coming from a beauty background into brokerage[.] People would be like, ‘Well, how do you expect to be successful? [This] world’s just so completely different.’ So, it’s important to me to reflect beauty in this new business and to go against the rail with that because I’m absolutely a beauty girl killing the game in real estate. I don’t want people to doubt that if you have a background in one thing, you can’t be really good at something else. It’s important that I lead with my beauty background, and I do that through the expression of my fashion [and] my makeup, specifically my nails.

Her Agenda: You mentioned on the “Breakfast Club” that you didn’t see a dollar for the first six months of working [in real estate]. What kept you from not giving up and not falling back into [just] running your Polish Bar locations?

Tricia Lee: The landscape was really changing in the neighborhoods that I served. I [had] businesses in amazing neighborhoods where the real estate was performing extremely well. We had property owners in properties that were worth two and three times [more than] they had paid for it just a decade earlier. That impacted my business because the cultural neighborhood makeup changed. Those neighborhoods previously had been very artistic. They were where the editors, the writers, the beauty, [and] the fashion people [lived, and] a lot of my clients were fashion brand owners. As price points [changed] and the real estate started to perform really well, it directly impacted my business because those beauty-focused people [were] being priced out of the neighborhood. We were getting more tech [people] and founders.  

Separately, I felt I had enough people around me who were in real estate that were giving me guidance. I’ve got a best friend who’s a very successful woman. [She’s] a Black woman developer. We’re best friends [and] best friends talk about work and dating life. I always kind of knew a lot about her work, the good and the bad parts, the challenges, and some of her strategy. I kind of was in front of the real estate thing for a while and I knew it wasn’t an overnight thing. Even me not making a dollar for six months is a tremendous time slot. I know people that didn’t make a dollar for two years. My six months is because I know everybody in Brooklyn, I was running two businesses, and I’m a really great marketer. I had phone numbers [and emails] to all of the flyest women in Brooklyn. I started ahead of the game. 

Her Agenda: On the show, Ryan [Serhant] coins you as the “Mayor of Brooklyn.” We see you dominate Brooklyn real estate, but you have a goal of moving into Manhattan real estate. In episode five, you advocate for yourself to Ryan. He gives you the Brooklyn Point development, and then you get your first listing in Manhattan. Watching it, [we’re] like, oh my gosh, she did it. She accomplished the goal right in front of us!

Tricia Lee: That’s my annual review you guys are seeing. When you’re in real estate, [it’s] not that everyone gets an annual review, but I insist on [one] because I want to review you just like I want you to review me. I’m partnered with Serhant, which means that I pay for services, and they provide services for me to propel my business. It’s a give-and-take relationship, but I cut the check. Brokers pay their brokerages out of their commissions, it’s not the other way around. Also, it’s important to say [that] Ryan doesn’t owe me or any other agent anything. We are there to learn and be mentored by this brand, this man, and what he’s done.

With Brooklyn Point, I was like, I need this experience, which is truthful. It’s very hard to delve into [a] new development if you’re in a resale business because [with] new developments, typically, you go into these buildings, and you only focus on those buildings. I don’t want that, I want everything. I had been selling at Brooklyn Point already [and] I was a huge fan of the building. [Ryan] knew I was a fan [and] he gave me an opportunity to pitch the developer[.]  So, I go and pitch [Ari Goldstein], the most notorious developer in New York and probably Miami as well. Because I do well with that, then Ryan gives me the opportunity to work on a deal on a property with him in Manhattan. But those scenes are four months apart. I had to perform in order to get that second conversation going. That’s a lot of pressure while you’re running a business, filming a show, and you better sell your ass off too. There is no conversation about doing more unless you do really well with the things that you’re currently working on. You’re only as good as your last sale in this business.

Her Agenda: You have a lot of confidence, drive, perseverance, grit, [and] tenacity. Where do you think that stems from? 

Tricia Lee: I moved to New York over 20 years ago with not a dollar to my name [and] I had a lot of dreams. I’ve always seen really great things for my life. I’ve always thought ‘The best for Tricia Lee.’ That’s just my brand of living. I think I’m a very powerful person [and] I do think that that is DNA. There’s a lot of backstory with who my birth mother was, and she passed away when I was very young. I was raised by my step mom, which is who I always talk about. But, in the last couple of years, I learned a lot about my birth mother, and a lot of pieces of my life made sense to me. [She] was a badass who lived in Brooklyn. [She] ran businesses, had the same reputation that I have, and did a lot of the similar things that I did. I’ve learned in the last couple of years I’ve always been who I am. I always was supposed to be who I am, and if anything, I’ve been fighting to become somebody that I already was. I think the confidence and the power comes from [the fact that] I’ve built this life in New York with very little help and very little support. Not to say I haven’t had support because you do well and people want to see you do better, so [they] help you. But those people have been unrelated people. I’ve done so much with so little that I can’t exist in this world without the confidence that I have. 

As Black women, when we show up anywhere in any space, we have to armor ourselves with a certain level of competence, confidence, and power. I have a very strong feeling that if I’m walking into the room, I’m going to walk into the room very powerfully because I think everything about our world tells me that I should not do that. I think that in order to function in this world and to win, you have to do it. You don’t have a choice. My confidence is rooted in my competence and my confidence is rooted in my capabilities, my receipts, and the things I’ve done. I stand in front of people as a woman who’s built a business from scratch with a huge client base, and it literally [has been] a household name in my community for a decade. That gives me the right to have the confidence that I have. I don’t care if I’m in real estate and I’ve been here for two days, I’m still gonna walk in here confidently because I know who I am, and I know what I’ve done. 

Her Agenda: [Let’s] shift gears a little bit. You [now] work with your partner, Jeffrey St. Arromand, [and you two met] when you were both transitioning into real estate. How do you balance tending to your relationship and tending to business, too? 

Tricia Lee: It’s been very difficult because you have two people who have bad habits. There are certain boundaries, there are certain ground rules, and I think we do the best we can to respect those things, but it’s hard. I don’t think we have it figured out, I think we are figuring it out. As truthful and as authentic as I am with the work [and] with [my] image, I would want to be that way with the relationship as well. I’m not couple goals by any means. We will be in the middle of Morocco, and [we’re] like, ‘Until 10 am, you’re allowed to check emails, you’re allowed to check in with your clients, and then from that point on, the rest of the day is vacation.’ A lot of people may be like, no, actually, we’re on vacation, and that’s unacceptable. You know? But, we understand each other’s weight that we carry. We understand each other’s responsibility, and we give a little bit of grace to that. I think we both want a really good life, want a really healthy, happy relationship, I work with couples all the time, all different dynamics of couples, and I’m no better. We both have therapists. We both work on dealing with our own personal issues and how that shows up in the relationship. We have good, strong communication [and] I’m proud of that. We talk a lot about our relationship. For people who live together, shoot together, and work together, I don’t know how we talk so much. I don’t know how he [doesn’t] get sick and tired of listening to me. With all things relationship, I would never give that lie to people that everything’s perfect. We get on each other’s nerves. That’s what happens. But, we like each other, and we’re friends, and that’s great. 

Her Agenda: What are other things that you really want to accomplish as you go along in your career in Brooklyn and New York City?

Tricia Lee: I would love to share more of my day in the life of what it is that I do with my work [and] with my life. I’m hoping that we’ll get a season two [of the show], and I’ll be able to share more of my days and my work, more of Brooklyn [and] more of Manhattan. I love Manhattan. I’m in Manhattan three or four days a week. I’m hoping to grow my business more in Manhattan. I got two new listings coming up [there], so I’m excited about that. Outside of that work, a lot of my interests lie in beauty, so I think that the next thing you’ll probably see from me will be some level of a beauty collaboration or a beauty product. I still very much am a beauty girl. 

I [also] do a women’s financial wellness series called Money Matters with Tricia Lee [and] I’ve worked with Her Agenda on that multiple times. I’ll be putting together a women’s financial wellness event for the fall. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share it on the show, but even if I’m not, it’s a really well-attended event. I bring in all of my amazing financial experts. I’ve had [The] Budgetnista, I’ve had Her Agenda there. I’ve had Dawanna Williams, America’s biggest Black woman developer, incorporated into my events. That’s probably the next bullet point you all will see is Money Matters with Tricia Lee, where we’ll be talking [about] financial wellness, home ownership, and retirement planning. Women need to put their finances first because your finances are your freedom, and I’m all about freedom. I got a big ol’ red tattoo on my shoulder that says freedom. Money ain’t everything, but it’s freedom, and I want all of us to have it. Everybody that looks like me, I want y’all to have your freedom.

Her Agenda: For young women reading this, what advice would you have for [those] that may have that entrepreneurial spirit within them but are not quite sure how to access it yet?

Tricia Lee: Start reading about anything entrepreneurial-related. Whether it is the facets of putting a business together on a legal and a financial level, [or] learning about corporations, LLCs, accounting, bookkeeping, [and] the law around what it is that you do. It’s good because you’re going to expound upon your education, but you’re also going to get into the habit of that discipline of reading. You’re not going to run any business without constantly educating yourself on things because every industry is constantly changing. If you think you want to open a business, [get] close to that business and try to assess if it’s something that you would want to do every day. If people say, ‘Oh, I want to open a Pilates studio,’ do you want to be inside a Pilates studio every single day? Because that’s what that will look like for a while, at least until you get it off the ground. When I opened my nail bar, I was inside a nail bar every single day for 10 hours. So I would look at those things as well. Is the environment where you would be working, setting up, or creating, is that something that you would enjoy? I love beauty, so I can stand in front of a beauty business from morning until night, and it doesn’t impact me in any way. I don’t think I go a week without being inside of a Sephora to be honest with you. So, try to find yourself in an environment that you love because you’re going to spend a lot of time there trying to work out the kinks with that business. I think the third point I would [give] to any entrepreneur is to create a financial plan and how you’re going to go about your goals because nothing goes as planned. That could be from a real estate level, running a brick and mortar, to the cost of running your business, [or] the cost of employment. We saw a few years ago where [the] minimum wage went up by [a] very drastic number. That would have affected a lot of small businesses that went from paying people $8 an hour to $15 an hour. You’re not doubling your prices, but you have to double your wages. So, start to learn about those things because a lot of things can change. 

My financial plan was [that] I sold an apartment that I owned, and [I used] those funds to finance the change in my life. I ran out of money eventually, but at least I had money to do it. By the time I started running out of money, I started making money. It worked out because God will always provide a way, but I didn’t expect Him to provide a way. I had my own plan. So I would say studying the research as far as the industry itself. Research the environment that you would be required to [work] in all the time.  And then [have] a financial plan. I opened Polish Bar with a set financial plan of how I was going to take care of myself, take care of my bills my expenses, and allow myself to work in a business that could possibly make no money for six months to a year, and I was still comfortable.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Tricia Lee was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Christie Marchese is the founder and CEO of Kinema, a technology platform redefining how films are distributed and experienced. With Kinema, Christie empowers independent filmmakers to connect their stories directly with audiences, turning film screenings into community spaces. Born and raised in Valencia in Southern California’s Santa Clarita Valley, Christie studied international relations at San Diego State University before moving to New York in 2011. She went on to launch Picture Motion, a leading social impact agency that built campaigns and community screenings to amplify films’ social influence, and later co-founded Kinema to scale that same community-first approach through technology.

Fast Company named Christie one of its Most Creative People in 2021, and Fortune recognized her as a Rising Female Founder in 2023, celebrating her innovative approach to film distribution and her commitment to empowering creators. Beyond her entrepreneurial success, Christie champions women and believes deeply in the power of authentic relationships and storytelling. In this Her Agenda interview, Christie shares insights on the evolution of film distribution and the mantra that keeps her grounded as she builds the future of independent cinema.

Her Agenda: Looking back, what first sparked your belief that storytelling and film could drive social change?

Christie Marchese: I have always loved movies. I’ve always loved entertainment. I still see movies as therapy. It’s a way to [help] understand yourself better through someone else’s story. It’s a way to understand other people’s stories. It’s the great connector. 

As human beings, we’re built on stories. We’re built on gathering around a campfire and telling stories and connecting, and having shared narratives and understanding people through their narratives. Genuinely, the first time I saw a movie where I was like ‘oh [wow] I knew nothing about this’ it was in college. I saw Hotel Rwanda. In one of my courses, we studied the Rwandan genocide. I had gone in to study film but ended up studying international relations, and we were learning about the Rwandan genocide mostly through textbooks and written history. I rented the movie from a local video store in San Diego, watched it, and was like, ‘[wow], now I understand it.’ I could finally feel and grasp what we’d been studying. There are scenes with Don Cheadle that are still seared in my mind. That was the first time I looked at film as [a way of] understanding something that happened in history and realizing the power it can have in just two hours.

Her Agenda: You co-founded Picture Motion in 2012 and Kinema in 2020. What lessons did you carry from one to the other?

Christie Marchese: Picture Motion was built to help filmmakers translate a movie’s message into real-world change through impact campaigns and community screenings. Over time, we noticed that even with streaming taking over, audiences still craved shared, in-person viewing experiences. That led to Kinema: a platform that lets anyone, anywhere, host screenings of meaningful films. It automates everything, licensing, payments, scheduling, and connects hosts directly with films. The biggest lesson I carried over was to hire smart people and get out of their way. But shifting from a mission-driven agency to a tech company required a new mindset. Picture Motion ran on human effort, while Kinema needed capital, engineers, and scalability. We had to raise money, sell future potential, and bring in specialized skill sets engineers, finance experts, and a different type of salesperson. The two companies are very different. Picture Motion relied on a playbook for impact campaigns, training other producers, and running hands-on projects. Kinema is a tech platform that requires iteration, systems, and specialized management. Still, both were born from the same belief: storytelling is essential to culture.

Her Agenda: What exact moment made you realize, ‘This needs to exist, I have to build Kinema?’ Was it a lightbulb moment or a series of events that led to it?

Christie Marchese: I wish it were a lightbulb moment. I really wish I was one of those founders who was like, ‘I’m a genius, I found something different and unique.’ Even when starting Picture Motion, I wish we could have had that. It was more of a logical series of steps. When I left and moved to New York, I started consulting for independent filmmakers, and we (Wendy Cohen and I) saw the need was immediate. There were filmmakers releasing independently or with distribution who wanted to do an impact campaign, and the studio wasn’t giving the resources. So we took everything we learned at Participant [Media] and applied it here. We just kept iterating. For Kinema, when we started, it was a different time. We launched in 2020, thinking we were solving one problem: how do we have an automated process, how do we make it available to other filmmakers, and these films aren’t getting a theatrical release, and they should have a communal experience. Then we had a pandemic, and everything went online, and all these great films lost all in-person screenings. Then we had a strike, and films weren’t getting released. Then budgets dropped, and then post-pandemic, the streamers condensed. And then this last year, the presidency, fear around supporting potentially political content, and a big divestment from DEI programs. What we’ve done at Kinema is respond to each of these. At the end of the day, we really believe in the power of story. There are global stories everywhere that should be shared locally. That’s what we’ve been trying to do.

Her Agenda: Community seems central to Kinema’s storytelling model. Can you share a story that shows how powerful that community element can be?

Christie Marchese: What we are seeing on Kinema is that about half, and sometimes more than half, of the screenings are still in person, which is incredible. People are still coming together to watch a movie and have a shared story. There is also a loss of community and a loneliness epidemic, and by being so individualized, we are desperate to connect and see people in person. Almost everybody feels the film is going to be available for streaming at some point, so why are they coming out? They are coming out for the community part of it. The film is the thing at the center, but they actually want the community and the connection.

Her Agenda: You co-authored The Distribution Playbook with Emily Best of Seed&Spark. If filmmakers could take away just one golden rule from it, what would it be?

Christie Marchese: So what we did with The Distribution Playbook is we poured all those resources in there and then distilled it down to six steps. Like, okay, you don’t have time to read the whole thing, just read these six steps of how to build your distribution plan. The first thing we put in there, because it’s the number one, is to be very specific about your goal. I don’t know if this is a golden rule, but it’s a good place to start: really knowing in your heart what your actual goal is. We give filmmakers four goals to pick from: do you want to make impact, do you want to drive revenue, do you want to build your career, or do you want to connect and find audiences? All those are completely equal. They are all valid, there’s no hierarchy. What matters is what your number one goal is. Once you pick one goal and only one, that’s gotta be your north star because everything else falls into place afterwards. 

Her Agenda: You wear many hats—founder, CEO, board member etc. How has this influenced your leadership and approach to balance?

Christie Marchese: I think it is about building a full life. There was a period of time where we were told life’s about balance, like divide your life, [as if] these are two separate things. And to me, it’s just creating a full life. And so what are the things that help me do my job well, and how does my job help me do my life well? Now, I’m forty-one, so I’ve made mistakes, I’ve lived a little bit, I feel like I have perspective to be able to say why I feel this way. So all those boards they serve two roles: one, I genuinely believe in those organizations; I wouldn’t give my time if I didn’t believe in the work of those organizations. Second, they’re very much a part of my work world because tthey help expose me to filmmakers as they have films in development, they help expose me to what grant makers are thinking, what is important to fund at that time, and how they evaluate different films. And it’s great to have a range of perspectives on that. And then I have something that I’m very specific about: I [have to] work out at seven in the morning. I don’t do it every day, but if I’m [going to] work out, [it’s] at seven a.m., and I’m a nicer, happier person if I get some exercise. And on Friday mornings, we do this boxing club, and this is something that I fully credit my husband for because he’s been boxing forever, and I’m not. I was never a boxer. I don’t fight, like it’s not my personality, but a few years ago he kind of convinced me to start going with him. Now I think we’ve had it for about three years. And I actually credit that a lot to [the strength of my] mental health.

Her Agenda: What’s your biggest lesson about success and failure?

Christie Marchese: If you’re not failing, you’re not trying. It’s like the silly saying that everyone says, but it’s actually true. You have to be willing to fail. You really have to be willing to fail, and it’s really hard. It’s really, really hard. I am constantly afraid of failure, constantly mitigating risk because I want to. It’s so difficult to take big swings. Failures are everywhere. I’ve had lots of small failures. We’ve had campaigns that didn’t work, things with employees I didn’t realize were happening, there are so many small failures along the way, it would take forever to document. The big failures, I’m trying to think, like, the big failures are when (this is like therapy) but [the moments] I haven’t really trusted myself to take the big swing, and I’ve had a missed opportunity. My failures have been not jumping in, not taking the big risk, not betting on myself, and not putting myself in the scary place. I should be doing that more. 

Her Agenda: Where do you see the future of film distribution heading and how is Kinema shaping that vision?

Christie Marchese: So I think there are a couple trends. Data shows that there’s never been less trust in institutions. One shift is the growth of a new independent film industry from the creator community. Hollywood still feels like validation, everyone wants to be on the big screen but we should watch these creator studios like Creator Camp. They constantly give updates, show vulnerability, show how hard it is to raise money, and launch campaigns to involve audiences. Now, distribution: people still want Hollywood deals, but creators are going direct to their audiences. They know their audience, they help inform the product, and why give up revenue when they do all the work? We are that platform, offering in-person and digital experiences in a premium environment. Creators control pricing, get audience data, own their rights, and build direct relationships. So we sit between Hollywood, which is centralized, and the creator community, which is decentralized.

Her Agenda: Beyond Kinema’s success, what impact do you hope to leave on the film industry and its communities?

Christie Marchese: I guess my existential fear is from a creative standpoint, we’re not going to get like the Greta Gerwig’s or the Ryan Coogler’s who make these powerful stories that cost a lot of money. You need a strong ecosystem for filmmakers to learn their craft, find their audience, and know their voice. I’d be happy if we could help contribute to a system that supports the next generation of great storytellers. On a more micro level, I want to counterbalance the big institutions. The big streaming platforms decide what gets distribution, often influenced by politics. I want to create another space for great storytellers to find their audiences, especially for politically driven or socially conscious stories.

Her Agenda: Finally, what’s your personal mantra?

Christie Marchese: I have two. The first: You have everything you need. It’s a reminder that even when things feel chaotic, the tools, instincts, and relationships to figure it out are already within you. (Marika Frumes gave me that one!) The second: Something is better than nothing. Whether it’s working out, writing, or leading a company, just start. Do something small. Progress beats perfection every time. Trust yourself, and take the next step.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Christie Marchese was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Justine Palefsky grew up in a San Francisco studio apartment where the garage always housed someone different—friends, extended family, anyone who needed a place to stay in an expensive city. Her parents taught her that opening her home was a gift and that generosity came full circle.

Decades later, after studying cognitive neuroscience at Brown, solving puzzles at Bain & Company, and building high-trust customer experiences at Opendoor, Justine found herself organizing informal home swaps through email threads and Google Sheets. She wanted to spend weeks in Barcelona without paying San Francisco rent plus hotel costs, and her friends wanted the same thing.

Then came the cabin. Justine locked herself away for a week with her future co-founder, Tasneem Amina, whiteboarding business ideas and discussing their relationships with their mothers. That unconventional co-founder courtship led to Kindred, a home-swapping platform where 84% of dissatisfied hotel-goers can find something different: a movement built on reciprocity, not transactions. The business is built on members who host because it “feels good to give somebody a gift.”

Justine now sits down with Her Agenda to discuss her role in Kindred, how it came to life with her co-founder, Tasneem, and what’s in store as they both continue to listen to their customers’ needs and navigate the ever-evolving business world of travel and technology. 

Her Agenda: Before founding Kindred, can you share a bit about your personal background and experiences that shaped your approach to travel and community?

Justine Palefsky: My career journey, taking a step back, partially starts with my life journey pre-career. I was raised in San Francisco.

I had two really progressive, big-hearted parents. We had a studio apartment in the garage, and there was always someone different living there. My parents raised me with a value system centered on the idea that it’s a huge gift to be able to offer our extended community a stay in a city as wonderful—but as expensive—as San Francisco.

In return, we had friends all over the country who hosted us in their guest rooms or on their couches when we traveled. This value system of opening your home, giving to your community, and trusting that the good energy you put out will come back around became an important part of my foundation.

I went to Brown [Universtiy] for college and studied cognitive neuroscience, which sometimes surprises people. I’ve always been both left-brained and right-brained. I’m an artist—I love to draw and paint—but I also love science and analysis.

Through my professional journey, I realized I didn’t have to choose. I could solve problems more effectively by combining an artist’s creativity with a scientist’s analytical approach. That made me more multidimensional.

After graduating, I joined Bain & Company, the consulting firm. I learned a ton there—it felt like solving puzzles for a living, which was fun—but I wanted to build something I believed in and was proud to add to the world. Living in San Francisco, surrounded by innovation and entrepreneurship, I caught the bug and joined the early stages of a property technology company called Opendoor.

That’s where I met Tas, my co-founder. We didn’t work on the same team, but knew each other socially. At Opendoor, I helped build several high-trust, online-offline customer experiences, including a home trade-in product. Looking back, it’s funny—I’ve been working with swaps and trade-ins for a long time.

I stayed at Opendoor for about four years, then left to join a friend from Bain, Nikki, who was starting a construction technology company. Two intense, male-dominated industries, construction and tech, were colliding, and here was Nikki, six or seven months pregnant, saying, ‘Come with me, Justine. We’re going to transform this industry, and I need you by my side.’ I couldn’t say no.

I joined Homebound as part of the early team, helped launch the company, and supported it through Series B stages. That experience was pivotal for me—it helped me see that co-founding something myself was possible. Seeing Nikki, whose communication style and strengths were similar to mine, excel as a CEO helped me close that confidence gap. I’d always wanted to start a company, but I didn’t feel ready. Working with Nikki and seeing company growth at both Opendoor and Homebound made me realize I could do it. The only thing stopping me was taking the leap.

Her Agenda: So what made you take the leap? 

Justine Palefsky: In early 2021, during the pandemic, I started thinking about the kinds of products I wanted to bring to the world and the problems I wanted to solve.

One challenge I’d been wrestling with for a few years was wanting to travel more. I love living in San Francisco. My family is here, but I also wanted to spend a few weeks in Barcelona or live in New York City for a month. It was just too expensive to pay rent in San Francisco while also booking more than a few days in a hotel or vacation rental.

I framed the problem: how can we make it possible to live a more travel-rich lifestyle, feeling like we have homes all over the world—in a way that’s affordable, accessible, and deeply human? That’s what we love about travel in the first place: embedding into a place and feeling like a local instead of a visitor.

I took that problem statement to the CEO of Opendoor, Eric Wu, and the CEO of Homebound, Nikki, and said, ‘I think I want to start a company. I don’t know exactly what it will look like, but I want to solve this problem.’

Eric said, ‘You’ve got to do it, and you’ve got to get with Tas. If you two worked together, you’d be unstoppable.’ I reconnected with Tas, and we had an amazing few months of co-founder dating. We locked ourselves in a cabin in the woods for a week, whiteboarded business ideas, talked about our families, our values, and even things like whether either of us had a criminal record. We got to know each other deeply and intentionally.

Coming out of that, we decided to be business partners and build something together. We left our full-time jobs and started working on what became Kindred in April 2021.

Her Agenda: How has Kindred evolved since its founding, and how are you building a new travel category focused on affordability and accessibility?

Justine Palefsky: We felt the world needed a third model in travel—a new option beyond hotels and vacation rentals, [which are] the primary choices today.

Hotels and vacation rentals simply aren’t affordable for most people. Rates are still extremely high, and flight costs have increased dramatically. It’s all very expensive, but people still want to travel. They continue to book hotels or vacation rentals, yet we found that many were disappointed with the experience.

At Kindred, we conducted studies that confirmed this. 84% of U.S. travelers who book hotels or short-term rentals reported dissatisfaction or pain points. Common complaints included places being too small, too expensive, having too many check-out tasks, or not being well-equipped. There’s this huge industry of people who want to travel but are unhappy with their options.

We wanted to create a new model for travel, one that’s more affordable, more human, and more empowering to locals rather than extractive.

The response to Kindred has been incredible. We’ve seen a real movement forming around home swapping as a third category in travel, gaining momentum because it makes aspirational travel accessible. It allows people to fit more adventures and memories into their precious time. It’s a way to travel rooted in generosity, reciprocity, and human connection rather than pure transaction, and so many people are craving that.

What I love about Kindred is that it goes beyond the transaction. Platforms like Airbnb have become transactional—they feel like just another kind of hotel. This doesn’t feel that way at all.

Members create rich household profiles in the app, sharing their interests and even introduction videos. Most connect over video chat before confirming a stay—they want to get to know each other as people. I’ve heard so many amazing stories of friendships that have formed through Kindred.

There’s something powerful about not exchanging cash. Money changes the dynamic—it turns a social contract into a financial one. When someone pays, the relationship shifts from peers to service provider and customer, and entitlement creeps in: “I’m paying $600 a night, I don’t have to take my shoes off,” or “I’ll play music as loud as I want.”

One of the beautiful things about the Kindred experience is that without a cash exchange between host and guest, it stays a pure, peer-to-peer relationship. It’s more affordable, yes, but it also protects the relationship and keeps the focus on community and connection instead of transaction or entitlement. 

Her Agenda: What has been the most surprising insight or lesson you’ve learned about travelers needs since launching Kindred?

Justine Palefsky: One of the most exciting things to see is how many more people travel when they can stretch their dollar further. It really shows that the travel industry is being artificially suppressed by high costs. When those costs are relieved, people live their lives differently.

If you can take ten trips for the price of one, what would you do? Where would you go? We see people taking trips they never would have taken, or turning what would have been a two-day business trip into a three-week stay.

People are trying out living in new cities they’ve always been curious about—and sometimes they end up moving there full-time. We recently talked with a couple who did a long home swap in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, fell in love with it, and decided to move there. There’s an immense desire to live across different cities, but we don’t fully see it reflected in the current travel market because it’s still so prohibitively expensive.

Another interesting lesson we’ve learned is that travel is the easy part—it’s easy to get someone excited about going on a great trip. Hosting is the harder part. We’ve learned a lot about what it takes to create the comfort and trust required to let someone into your real home.

Over 90% of Kindred homes are people’s primary residences—it’s where their belongings are, where they normally live. Hosting for the first time is a big leap of faith. We realized that beyond having comprehensive member protection programs—liability coverage and all the standard things, you also need to build a real human connection. Members need to feel known, and they need to know the person they’re hosting. That connection is what creates comfort for first-time hosts.

Authentic connection isn’t just valuable because it makes the experience more meaningful—it’s essential from a business perspective. It’s what brings inventory to market and helps people feel safe opening their homes.

Another surprising insight is that many members host more than they travel. You might expect people to host only when they have a specific trip planned, but a lot of members tell us they simply enjoy giving the gift of travel. Once they host for the first time, they realize how good it feels not to let their home sit empty, and to make someone else’s experience possible.

We call it the ‘generosity high.’ There’s something powerful about coming home to a handwritten note from your guest saying, ‘Thank you for making this experience possible for me and my family. We had a wonderful time in your home—hope we can host you someday.’

That feels good. Many people host because it aligns with their values—living generously, rather than from a purely transactional mindset of ‘I need to host in order to earn a trip.’

Her Agenda: How has a business like yours been able to scale? Can you share any tips? 

Justine Palefsky: It’s hard. There’s always a ladder to scaling, and it can feel like everything is breaking at once. You have to prioritize and not get too worried about the breaking because it’s part of the process. The first step for us was finding an idea that really resonated. The second was finding a team that could give us the headspace to figure out how to scale. We hired an initial team and leaned on existing technology.

There’s so much you can do now with no-code tools—and even more with AI. We stitched things together using no-code because we didn’t have an engineering team at first. We had a Zapier bot connected to an Airtable backend, used Instagram to show listings, and automated emails to make it look like a more complete product. We essentially faked it until we made it and then, step by step, replaced those scrappy systems with scalable tools.

Hiring was really hard. That’s something most entrepreneurs experience, especially early on, when you don’t yet have credibility. You’re a young company competing with many others, saying, ‘We’re going to be the next big thing—trust me.’ And it’s even harder for women.

It can be more difficult to get people to bet on your potential and to join you early. One thing Tas and I learned through our careers in tech and other male-dominated industries is that women are often evaluated on results rather than potential. That makes it harder to get started.

The silver lining is that it teaches you early to show up with results. When you’re underestimated, you have to figure out how to drive impact in spite of it, so you have something undeniable to point to. We knew we needed to reach metrics that couldn’t be ignored to attract the team or investment we needed.

It’s harder, but it makes you tougher. And ultimately, it makes you a better entrepreneur and leader. It’s definitely tough being a woman in these industries, but I think the challenges make you sharper, more resilient, and more intentional about how you lead.

Her Agenda: How do you hope Kindred’s success will inspire the next generation of female founders in travel and tech?

Justine Palefsky: I really believe we have so many problems to solve in this world, and it’s a sad state if we’re only tapping into half of the world’s entrepreneurial brilliance. We need women to want to start companies and to feel empowered to do so, to tackle the challenges ahead of us as a human race.

For me, as I mentioned earlier, it was incredibly impactful to see a female CEO excelling in a male-dominated industry, wearing a long pink skirt, walking through a construction site, and absolutely crushing it. Seeing her gave me the confidence to take that leap myself.

I think one of the most important things we can do for others is to continue to exist and persist visibly and to build companies that mean something. That visibility matters. When women who are earlier in their entrepreneurial journey see someone a few steps ahead of them, they can think, ‘Maybe this is possible for me too.’

I truly believe that everyone has different superpowers, but there are certain strengths that are more commonly represented among women and female founders. Those superpowers can make us better leaders and help us solve problems that might be harder to address with a different perspective.

A great example is Kindred. The concept of home swapping has existed for a long time, but it struggled because it didn’t feel safe. And who is more attuned to questions of physical and emotional safety than women? The empathy that comes from understanding what it takes to make an experience approachable, easy, and safe gave us a unique advantage in designing this solution.

There are countless examples like that—instances where women bring a perspective or strength that’s absolutely essential to solving complex problems in the world. My hope is that women who are considering starting a company can recognize the value of those strengths.

What you may have been told is a liability [things like] your empathy, intuition, or communication style might actually be your edge. Those qualities are not weaknesses. They can be a tremendous advantage if we learn to see them that way.

[Editor’s note: This feature has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Justine Palefsky was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Binta Niambi Brown knew what she wanted to be from a young age, which fostered the clarity of understanding that guided her in carving her own unexpected non-linear path. From becoming a partner at a top global law firm to managing Grammy-winning artists and advising some of the top people in the entertainment industry, she’s built a nontraditional career combining multiple industries.

An Entertainment Partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, she brings more than two decades of experience spanning corporate law, music, sports, and media. Before entering the entertainment world, she began her career at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and later became a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, where she advised global media companies. Over the course of her career, Binta has advised on more than $100 billion in transactions. Early in her career, she was often the only woman, and often the only Black person, at the table. Instead of shrinking, she built her confidence through focus and consistency, and she’s not shy about sharing what goes into that. 

After years of structuring billion-dollar deals, Binta founded omalilly projects, a management, development, and production company representing music artists, authors, and creative.  She also served as Head of Operations and Strategy at Keep Cool/RCA Records and helped lead Chance the Rapper’s recorded music and publishing business. 

She is also active in creating space to generate equity in the industry beyond her immediate roles. She is a founding co-chair of the Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC), and serves on the Barnard College of Columbia University Board of Trustees, America Media Board of Trustees, Finance Council at Parish of St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Catherine of Siena in New York, as well as on Law360’s Sports & Betting Editorial Board. Binta is also on the faculty at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Her past board memberships include serving on the American Theatre Wing, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Merit School of Music. She is also a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Despite the variety of industries in her career, discipline is the throughline of her journey. In our conversation, Binta reflects on preparation as the key to progress and shares advice on navigating spaces where you may be ‘the only one.’

Her Agenda: You’ve had a career that spans corporate law, talent management, and entertainment leadership fields, where women, and especially women of color, are still underrepresented. How have you learned to navigate spaces where you might be the only one at the table, and what do you wish more women knew about showing up with influence in those rooms?

Binta Niambi Brown: The thing that I want all women to know is to be really clear on why we’re doing what we’re doing, and to be really clear on what our intentions are, because the clearer we are on our intentions and the clearer we are on our purpose, the more likely that is to buoy us when the going gets rough, and the more likely it is to be our guide in general. 

Nothing in life is guaranteed, and regardless of what platform we’re pursuing, regardless of what kind of career we’re pursuing, there’s always going to be challenges, and there’s a lot of really great and instructive guidance that can come both from the world of sport as well as the world of entertainment, especially when you’re talking about artists and athletes who are operating at absolutely elite levels. There’s nothing to say that they’re going to necessarily win the race. There’s nothing to say that they’re going to become a best-selling author, or that they’re going to become a top artist, but for people who are disciplined and who are focused and who are intentional about their work, and for people who don’t quit, and for people who don’t get obsessed with what everybody else is doing, what everybody else is saying, the chances go up exponentially. 

And the other aspect of that is preparation. The more we prepare ourselves, the more organized and disciplined we are in our approach, the more we keep focusing on improvement every day and learning from ourselves, the more we can engage in practices of humility as opposed to pride or egotism. Sometimes people don’t think that they’re being egotistical, [but they] absolutely are. Like, I find that a lot of us who think of ourselves and can think of ourselves as coming from backgrounds where the world is against us, so to speak, because of our perceptions of history or actual history, I find that there can be a lot of egotism in that response, and we have to be very careful about the danger of egotism. 

So, it’s preparation, it’s discipline, it’s self-belief, it’s self-confidence, and then, in my own case, it has a lot to do with my faith, and what my faith gives me day in, day out, as I prepare and think about everything that I’m trying to accomplish, because this is all a challenge for everybody.

As I’m thinking about this, and I’m talking to you, there’s something else that I think gets in a lot of our way, which is that [when] we look at something, and we think that it’s hard, or that the cards are stacked against us, and we focus on how hard something is, it will only ever be hard. But if we start to focus instead on why we’re doing what we’re doing, and the idea of serving others, and picking ourselves up, and walking in purpose, then we are more likely to be successful, and to find success. It means getting up every day, and going at it anew, and refusing to give up, refusing to be defined by our failures, or our mistakes, refusing to be defined by whether the people say or think about us, but instead having the humility to study, to learn, to keep going after each failure, to use each failure as a guide point, to use each failure as an opportunity, and to not become obsessed with why we can’t, but to instead be obsessed with why we will, and why we can.

Her Agenda: For young women aspiring to become leaders in law, music, or media, what mindset or strategies have been most pivotal to your success?

Binta Niambi Brown: I’d like to think this is borrowing from some popular science today, or popular psychology, but I have a bit of a growth mindset, and I look at the world, and I look at opportunities, and my mindset is more why not, than I can’t. Maybe I’m sometimes guilty of being too optimistic, and so that’s where the discipline has to come in, and the planning, and the strategy really need to come in, and come together. That’s certainly a danger for me, is that I tend to be relentlessly optimistic, and I think that everything is possible. I feel like if I do the work, and I do everything that is within my power to affect the outcome that I desire, I’m confident that if it’s meant for me, then it will be. That’s how I’ve tried to guide, and to lead my life from the time I was a teenager through now. 

I’ve certainly had moments in my life where I’ve been less certain, or less secure, [like] when my father passed away seven years ago. My confidence broke completely because so much of my confidence was rooted, I didn’t realize, in his faith, in his belief in me, and it took me a while to remember all of his sage advice, and also to continue to listen to my mother’s advice, who fortunately is still with us, and to be able to move past that. But when my father was very ill and then when he passed, and I was in that period of mourning, it was extremely difficult for me so, there are going to be moments in our lives where we have to give ourselves grace, and we have to give ourselves time to grieve, and to rebuild, and to reheal, but in healing, and grieving, we have to also have a sense of hope, and a sense of what’s possible. 

I referenced that only because nobody’s life is perfect, and even people who give the appearance of being tremendously successful go through moments that are excruciating for them, and some people are very public about them, which I don’t necessarily endorse for a variety of different reasons, especially in the current environment, and some people they try to bury them. The middle ground is knowing when to ask others for help, and having the confidence that others will help you, and the humility to ask for help in the first place. 

Her Agenda: You’ve worked at the intersection of entertainment, tech, and law, even writing your college thesis on the early impact of the internet. What excites you most about where music and media innovation are heading, and where do you see the biggest opportunities for creators to build and protect their work?

Binta Niambi Brown: The internet is still very exciting to me. Artificial intelligence is extremely interesting to me, but the reason why it’s interesting to me is different than the internet was interesting to me 30 years ago. The reason why artificial intelligence is interesting to me is because there are a variety of legal and ethical and moral implications that I think we are compelled to think about and it’s the wild wild west. We have this extraordinary opportunity, not only to embrace a truly transformative technology, but we have an extraordinary opportunity to create the rules and to create the legal infrastructure and environment rooted in some sense of values and morality and ethics that will guide us for the foreseeable future. And that was one of the things that compelled me to return more truly to law practice from my entrepreneurial adventures, that I saw the world changing and I thought this is an incredible opportunity to have a voice in how things are structured and also to make sure that it’s structured in a way that is inclusive of a particular set of values that are grounded in the historic time old values. Since the beginning of time, whether you’re looking at what the Greeks or what the Eastern philosophy or the major religions, I believe that to some degree share something in common in terms of what they say about how we should treat one another and about human dignity. So I find that to be an incredibly inspiring opportunity.

I’m also really excited by what’s happening in college sports. There are a lot of people who are afraid and wary of the changes in college sports, but again, this is an opportunity for us to create the rules and the infrastructure and the standards that are going to guide us for the foreseeable future. While at the same time, putting in systems into place that are going to protect people, that are going to enable them to continue to generate substantial wealth that can be helpful for them and their families. At the same time, celebrating the importance of the college part of being a college athlete or the student part of being a student athlete.

Her Agenda: Throughout your journey, you’ve negotiated and closed billions of dollars in transactions. What’s one decision-making principle you rely on in high-stakes situations that other women in leadership could adopt in their own careers?

Binta Niambi Brown: My one decision-making principle? I don’t know if I can distill that too easily. Whatever my one decision-making principle is, it’s a whether I’m aware of it or not, it’s a culmination of all of the data and experiences I’ve had at this point now over the course of my 30 years that enable me to make decisions quickly and confidently and to see, and to be able to see things ahead of me. I suppose one principle I try to adhere to is patience.

I try to be patient. I try to be thoughtful and to be considerate. I think the way my mind works [is] that I usually [am] pretty swiftly able to break down something that seems complex into constituent parts. The best way I can liken it is that if I’m driving, and if God forbid, suddenly an emergency is happening on the road in front of me, maybe cars are crashing or somebody is moving into my lane, like there are a bunch of very quick decisions that I make. I’ve been in this case a bunch of times where it’s sort of like I slow down time in order to guide the car and the people in the car to safety. But that’s a consequence of having a lot of experience with driving. And deal-making is the same way, where you have certain instincts, but you also have a will and an intellect that you’re adhering to. The more experience you have, the easier it is for you to break down things very quickly. I’m not calling myself humble because it’s the thing that I have struggled with most in my life and in my career is being rooted in a form of humility. But I am able to admit when I’m making a mistake or if I’m going too fast and pull back.

Sometimes I am guilty of impatience. I’m guilty of speaking over somebody or not hearing them correctly, or my mind is focused on something else. But when I’m locked in, I’m focused, my decision-making, my ability to guide my clients is really a function of a culmination of so many different experiences. The other strength that I have is that I have such a wide array of experiences and, or not even experiences, but a wide area of interest. I pursue my interests. I’m an incredibly curious person. I read constantly. I read every day. I try to read as many books as I possibly can. I read articles. I read about other people’s careers. I read scripture.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Binta Niambi Brown was originally published on HerAgenda.com

In today’s fast-paced, hyper-digital dating world, luxury matchmaker Jennifer Donnelly offers something far more rare and far more real. With a reputation for curating meaningful, lasting connections for some of the world’s most accomplished individuals, Jennifer has become one of the most trusted and high-profile matchmakers in the industry. Her clients are CEOs, celebrities, entrepreneurs, investors, and visionaries – people who are used to making high-stakes decisions but have discovered that when it comes to love, dedicated time, human instinct, and professional insight provide results that algorithms simply can’t.  Her ability to help people discover and change their views on love, relationships, and themselves is what makes her unique. She is not only discreet and accessible, but she also has a deep, intuitive ability to see the deeper emotional needs hidden behind a polished resume or impressive lifestyle. Jennifer approaches matchmaking as both an art and a calling, treating each match with intention, care, and a personalized strategy that reflects her client’s values, story, and vision for the future.

In this exclusive interview, Jennifer shares her insights and provides a look into a world where her unique career path, the return of traditional matchmaking, and her talent for helping even the most doubtful hearts with the chance of lasting love come together smoothly.

Her Agenda: What led you to become a professional matchmaker?

Jennifer Donnelly: Matchmaking was a desire placed in my heart from a very early age. What started as fun little setups to help classmates realize they liked each other later became something so much bigger. I began to see that the connections I helped spark could grow into lifelong love stories, and those love stories create families. To know that I get to facilitate connections that last and span generations is the greatest gift. This isn’t just a career to me; it’s a calling, and I wake up grateful every single day to do this work.

Her Agenda: What do you enjoy most about this job?

Jennifer Donnelly: Everything. Truly. Every day feels exciting because I know the work I do can change someone’s life. I love the search, the challenge, and the determination it takes to find “the one” for my clients. But even more than the hunt, it’s witnessing the transformation… watching someone’s belief in love return as they light up at the realization that their dream for a ‘happily ever after’ really can come true. I treasure the wedding invitations, the baby announcements, and the holiday cards. Each one is proof that with strong intuition, determination, perseverance, and a little bit of matchmaking magic, forever love is still very possible.

Her Agenda: How do you tailor your matchmaking approach to meet the needs of individual clients?

Jennifer Donnelly: No two clients are the same, which means no two approaches are either. I start by listening closely to their values, their life stories, and the deeper needs they sometimes have trouble articulating. From there, I create a process entirely unique to them. This isn’t about formulas or quick fixes. It’s about carefully crafting a journey that feels natural but intentional, leading to a match that truly fits.

Her Agenda: What are the most common challenges people face when looking for love, and how do you help them overcome these?

Jennifer Donnelly: So often, people pursue what they think they want, but what they truly need for lasting happiness can look very different. Many clients hold tightly to certain “must-haves,” and part of my work is helping them see beyond that list. I guide them to understand the difference between temporary attraction and the deeper qualities that sustain a lifelong partnership. Sometimes it takes time, and sometimes it’s immediate, but walking that journey with them is the most rewarding part. The best confirmation comes later: the weddings, the families, the milestones that prove love built on the right foundation truly lasts.

Her Agenda: Can you share a success story that stands out in your career as a matchmaker?

Jennifer Donnelly: I’ve had a lot of success stories, but one client I’ll never forget was the CEO of a global billion-dollar company. Brilliant, accomplished, attractive, cultured, but also very stubborn. He challenged nearly every choice I made because he was so used to being in control and hearing only what he wanted to hear. Eventually, he decided to trust me,  and when he did, he completely transformed; he became open, flexible, and genuinely happy. His CFO, who had known him for almost 20 years, called me personally to say, “I’ve never seen him like this.” And today, he is still happily married. That experience reminded me why I trust my intuition. When I lean into it, even the toughest cases can turn into lifelong love stories.

Her Agenda: What role does modern technology play in your matchmaking process?

Jennifer Donnelly: Interestingly enough, very little. Occasionally, I may use technology to assist with scouting, but the heart of what I do is personal and requires human interaction. Love isn’t found through data points or algorithms; it’s discovered through discernment, intuition, and a process that honors people as the individuals they are.

Her Agenda: How do you handle clients who may have unrealistic expectations in their search for a partner?

Jennifer Donnelly: I often say there are two matches with every client I take on, and the first is between the client and me. Before we even begin the process, I make sure we are a match… or that we can be. That first match is paramount, and without it, I can’t proceed – and that’s okay! My responsibility isn’t to say what someone wants to hear; it’s to guide them toward what will truly work for the long term. That requires transparency from them and honesty from me. If a client’s expectations don’t line up with reality, I don’t force it. Sometimes the best decision is not to move forward. At the end of the day, my role is to give my clients the outcome they need, not just the one they think they want.

Her Agenda: What advice would you give to women who are hesitant to try matchmaking services?

Jennifer Donnelly: If men can find their forever with the help of a matchmaker, so can women. We all deserve the same support and the same opportunity to find love. Choosing matchmaking isn’t about weakness or desperation – it’s about empowerment. It’s about saying, ‘I am worthy of love, and I’m willing to invest in finding it.’

Her Agenda: What trends have you noticed in the dating world that are influencing how people connect?

Jennifer Donnelly: Dating apps once felt new and exciting, but now many people are exhausted by how transactional and impersonal they can feel. More and more, I’m seeing people crave real-world connections again – introductions, shared experiences, community… Apps may adapt, but nothing replaces genuine human interaction. That’s why the art of matchmaking isn’t outdated; it’s timeless. Right now, it’s more relevant than ever.

Her Agenda: How do you envision the future of matchmaking and relationship coaching evolving in the coming years?

Jennifer Donnelly: The future of matchmaking is in deeper personalization – something no algorithm can replicate. The most successful matchmaking will always come from trust, discernment, and the ability to see people in a way technology never can. As for me, my role is to keep doing what I’ve always done: listen, guide, and honor the gift I’ve been entrusted with. Trends will change, technology will shift, but real connection, and the faith that fuels it, will always stand the test of time.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Jennifer Donnelly was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Under Julie Cartwright’s leadership, Pvolve, the functional fitness company, has carved out a distinctive niche in the crowded wellness landscape by putting women first.

Pvolve’s method uses patented equipment and resistance-based training designed around how women’s bodies change—accounting for menstrual cycles, pregnancy, menopause, and ageing—backed by research rather than fitness trends.

What sets Julie apart as a leader is her commitment to authentic partnerships and proven business models. Most notably, she’s fostered a genuine relationship with Jennifer Aniston, who joined Pvolve as a part-owner after being a dedicated user of the method for over a year. This authenticity-first approach extends to Pvolve’s hybrid business model, which combines a growing footprint of brick-and-mortar franchise locations with a robust digital subscription platform.

Julie sees franchising as a way to solve a problem she knows too well, which is women wanting to build businesses but hitting walls around capital and networks. Through Pvolve’s franchise model, she’s trying to level that playing field. Instead of pretending those barriers don’t exist, she’s offering women a proven business model and a genuine support system. 

She’s direct about what it demands, too. To Julie, success means showing up in your community, doing the hard work, and being prepared to super-serve your members. It’s not a shortcut to entrepreneurship, but for women who want to own something and are willing to put themselves out there. As a result, she believes it’s one of the clearest paths forward.

Her Agenda: What does it truly mean to be a mission-led company, and how do you hold on to that mission when the market gets tough?

Julie Cartwright: Our mission is our guidepost. By having a really strong mission around women, and taking a woman’s first lens does not mean that we are not for men as well, we just think about women first.

I think that’s really helped us in a lot of our decision-making, because our research is all done around women. We have a fitness method that really works with the changing bodies of women throughout their entire lifetime, so that’s everything from childbearing to menopause, to your menstrual cycle, so I think that that has been a secret weapon of ours. It’s hard because everyone’s got an opinion. We’ve heard oftentimes how could you alienate men. We’re not. That’s not what we’re doing. We’re just super serving women, and really standing behind that.

Her Agenda: What barriers do women still face in business ownership, and how can the industry better support them?

Julie Cartwright: The biggest [barrier] women face in ownership is access to capital. Sometimes it’s the network that you have; the mentorship opportunities that you have are not quite as great as what men have.

I will tell you that there’s a lot of opportunity, not just with the other owners and really developing those relationships organically, but also just with the franchisor, in terms of being able to help them through things, because we’ve got a proven business model. However, capital and networks are usually the things that we run into as women being most difficult, and I think the way that the industry can help is just continuing to be aware of that, setting up funding for women-run businesses and investing in women, and also setting up additional mentorship programs for women. I think that would be phenomenal.

Her Agenda: What is the strategy behind authentic celebrity partnerships, and what does Jennifer Aniston’s role at Pvolve look like?

Julie Cartwright: Authenticity is at the very top. Jennifer asked us to join the company. 

She had been working out with Pvolve sort of secretly as a secret streamer for about a year, and so I think that’s where it starts. You have to make sure that the people who are going to join your company as spokespeople, as ambassadors, as affiliates, that they actually genuinely love the product and consume it or use it, and that’s exactly what was happening. She was obsessed with the method, and she really just asked to join the company, so that is just so unreal. 

She is a part-owner of the company, but she gets involved in a lot of different ways. She states her opinion, she uses her platform, which is her celebrity status, in order to be disruptive with the message and market the fact that everybody needs to be doing this as part of their fitness routine. So she uses her voice. 

She’s certainly an advisor, too. She gives her opinion about everything, from our equipment, to the way that we’re showing up, to how we’re marketing, to who we’re serving, all of the above.

Her Agenda: Why is functional fitness becoming a dominant force in wellness, and how does it differ from traditional fitness trends? 

Julie Cartwright: I think the way that it differs from traditional fitness trends is really that the movements are mimicking your everyday movements, so you’re actually working in all three planes of motion. We do a lot around opening your hips, doing a lot of mobility and stability, because that’s what your body faces from an everyday perspective.

It’s also really good for your overall body, because it focuses not only on strength, which is critically important, but it also involves mobility and stability, and those two are not always thought about as critically important to your health span. 

If you can’t move your body, if you can’t help yourself to not fall, those things are going to dramatically impact your health span.We’ve got resistance-based training with our patented pieces of equipment that’s incorporated, and then we work with our doctors on putting together specialized programming based on individual need states, so everything from chronic lower back pain to someone facing menopause and healthy ageing. These moments in your life need specialized care, and so we’ve got a couple of additional points of differentiation, but that’s what functional fitness is. 

I think people are really tuning into their health span and longevity, and they’re realizing that what they’re currently doing, maybe perhaps HIIT or marathon running, needs something else to preserve the joints, preserve the movement, so they can continue to do those things, because we’re not saying don’t do them. We’re just saying you need to incorporate functional movement alongside your training to be able to do them longer in your life.

Her Agenda: What advice would you give a woman considering franchising as her entry point into entrepreneurship?

Julie Cartwright: I would say do your research. I think that there’s a lot of choice out there. 

Make sure that the team behind that particular concept is very supportive, that you can trust them, and that they have a proven model. I also think you have to be prepared to put the hard work in, especially with a brick-and-mortar franchise like ours. You need to be able to network, you need to be able to get out into your community, and you need to be able to be there to super serve your members. So don’t be afraid of the hard work. Don’t do it if you don’t want to work hard, to be honest. 

It’s incredibly rewarding, but it certainly takes you really putting yourself out there. 

Her Agenda: What leadership lessons have you carried from scaling major wellness brands into your current role?

Julie Cartwright: Hire smarter than you are, to make sure that you are seeking diverse perspectives from your team, that you are collaborating, that you’re listening before you’re just looking to respond. 

You’ve really got to listen to people, to stay focused, to not get ahead of yourself in diversifying the business just because you had a good year. Stay true to what you’re really good at, and surround yourself by really good people who share your core values. 

Her Agenda: In such a crowded wellness landscape, how do you differentiate without compromising values in a company?

Julie Cartwright: First of all, we’re really putting functional movement, functional fitness, and resistance-based training on the map. We’ve got patented pieces of equipment that you don’t see anywhere else in fitness. 

And we’ve put that rigour into clinical studies, which is also a really massive differentiator, in that we’ve invested heavily in clinical research that in clinical trials prove out our outcomes. We’re also truly a hybrid. So we’ve got a growing footprint of brick-and-mortar retail locations, but we also have a really robust digital subscription. 

[Editor’s note: This feature has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Julie Cartwright was originally published on HerAgenda.com

When was the last time you took a deep breath? A true deep breath where you fill your lungs to full capacity. How about resting? Not the rest where you’re laying down and scrolling, but the kind where you sit in stillness and simply breathe. Omi Bell has a new purpose in making sure all ambitious women take more advantage of the healing power of breathing. 

You may recognize Omi Bell from her initiative Black Girl Ventures, whose mission is to create access to capital, capacity, and community for under-resourced entrepreneurs. As mentioned on their website, “BGV funded over 450 women of color, held over 50 BGV Pitch Programs across 15 cities, and served over 10,000 founders. Our pitch alumni are collectively generating over $10M in revenue and supporting over 3,000 jobs.” 

After tremendous success, Omi found herself severely burnt out. She decided to take a 3-month sabbatical to relax and travel. During her time in Morocco, she found herself breaking down with eyes filled with tears in her hotel room. She knew something had to change. 

This moment was a breakthrough that birthed Boardrooms & Breathwork, her bold initiative to spark a wellness revolution in corporations, entrepreneurs, and the lives of working women everywhere. Today, Omi Bell is certified in Yoga Nidra, a special breathwork that reclaims rest, and has trained hundreds since 2024 through her new keynote Boardrooms & Breathwork. 

Her Agenda had a moment to catch up with Omi to learn more about Boardrooms & Breathwork, resting, and achieving success without sacrificing your wellness. 

Her Agenda: Who is Omi Bell? When you wake up today in this new space, physically and mentally how would you describe yourself?

Omi Bell: Yeah, it’s a great question. I am a boss fairy (haha) – part CEO, part mystic. 

Her Agenda: What inspired you to start Black Girl Ventures, and how has your sense of community shaped your journey as an entrepreneur? 

Omi Bell: I’m all about community. It’s a big thing for me. I started Black Girl Ventures because of my love for the community. I grew up in a large family in the South, so yeah, I’m communal. I actually had another company, printing T-shirts. It was doing well. Then I realized it was very lonely.       

Her Agenda: You had a t-shirt business and then you started BGV. It sounds like you’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit within you. How did that pivot into creating BGV? 

Omi Bell: I’ve done a lot of things. I’ve lived a lot of lives, and I’ve never been happy with any job. For seven years, I was a K-12 educator. I also worked in workforce development and at the Patent and Trademark office. My degree is in Computer Science. At one point, I was a nanny —  when I say I run the gamut of what it means to pivot!? Absolutely. That has been me. 

I had my first child at 17, my second child at 21, and my third child at 33. I had to think about everyone and what I wanted to accomplish, too. That mindset, plus being a computer scientist, an artist, and communal births BGV. At that time, Black and Brown women were starting businesses at six times the national average, yet receiving less than 1% of venture capital. And my thought was, what could I do? I’m just crazy enough to say I can do something about that. The artist side of me thought about hosting a poetry slam, and the business side of me thought about Shark Tank-style pitching. I put these ideas together for a brunch at a house in Southeast DC, and there, Black Girl Ventures was born.         

Her Agenda: What did it take to grow BGV into what it is today?

Omi Bell: So we’re currently nine years in. Next year, BGV will be 10 years old. We funded over 550 founders directly, but we supported and impacted over 20,000 people across about 64 countries. I traveled internationally, teaching women about confidence, how to pitch, and for women in tech, I taught them about how to develop their pitches to think deeper about the technology they’re building. And then that leads me into this new work. I was doing all that hardcore, heads-down work. Then in 2022, I found myself hitting a wall. I decided to take a break. 

Her Agenda: Tell us more about this break that turned into a breakthrough in the way you work.

Omi Bell: I didn’t value rest as much. Everything I had done was built on moving efficiently and getting it done. ‘Getting it done’ was my execution style. I decided I was going to go on a two-week break – I ended up vacationing for one week. But then I found myself hitting a wall. I knew what we do at BGV was way too important for me to just shut down and to allow my body to shut down. I decided I need to take a break. So I went to my board, and they told me that I need to take a three-month sabbatical.  

Her Agenda: Now, you’re prioritizing health and wellness. Can you share more about that new venture you have?       

Omi Bell: After my sabbatical, I felt so rested. I’ve been practicing breath work for a while, but on and off. During the sabbatical, I really got dedicated to it. I also started mentioning my sabbatical in conversations with other leaders, and they were so shocked. They’re like, ‘Oh my God, you took a sabbatical!? How did you do that? What did you do? How did you do it? Where did you go?’ And I’m like, oh my God, people need rest. So I started doing a bunch of research on how I can help people get rest, especially super busy people, and help them to rest quickly.                                                                                                                                                                                           

I found Yoga Nidra and started practicing it. It’s a yogic sleep, and studies show 20 to 30 minutes of Yoga Nidra is the equivalent of two to four hours of sleep. I got certified in Yoga Nidra and then breathwork. After getting certified, I launched the Sabbatical Lounge and Boardrooms & Breathwork, which is targeted at professionals.

Her Agenda: What is the Sabbatical Lounge?

Omi Bell: The Sabbatical Lounge is a group experience. We did one in DC and had a tea sommelier come in for a tea testing. We also had foot washing, which is an ancient ancestral practice to welcome people into a space. Then people found their mats, and we did breathwork, Yoga Nidra, and a sound bath.

Her Agenda: What’s been a significant moment in this new chapter that stands out as confirmation for you? 

Omi Bell: Recently, I had the opportunity to reimagine a keynote. Typically, at a keynote experience, a speaker talks to you for 45 minutes. Well, with California’s Child Care Providers Union, we had the opportunity to reimagine what a keynote can be. We had three events overall, a total of over 300 participants. We did breathwork and a sound bath as a keynote experience. These are childcare providers. The people who care for America’s children on a daily basis, who never get to rest. I’m looking out at them in the audience, realizing a lot of them have never experienced breathwork or been to a sound bath before. And to see them get relaxed and doing the breathing work, we do some laughter, laughter is clearing. And to see them just engaging in this experience was amazing. It was so transformational for them. 

Her Agenda: I was reading your article. You had a really good stat. It read that burnout costs the global economy $322 billion annually through lost productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. So now that burnout is affecting the economy, are you seeing in any way or form, how companies, or even the government, is trying to embrace rest more?

Omi Bell: We’re at the beginning of the wellness revolution. Some companies caught on early; now other companies are starting to adapt. These stats about burnout also are new. Now that folks see how it is affecting the economy, I think we’re at the beginning of people starting to increase wellness benefits. I’m hoping more people will engage in true wellness practices like breathwork and managing our days better. 

Her Agenda: Can you tell us more about Boardrooms & Breathwork?

Omi Bell: Boardrooms & Breathwork is an opportunity to marry both sides of me. My corporate/CEO experience, and knowing exactly what it means to need rest. So College Track is an organization I just recently worked with. I did a half-day retreat with them for Boardrooms & Breathwork. The team had already worked all week on their KPIs and goal setting for their upcoming season. I came in to host a half-day retreat. We worked on communication skills, and then did a sound bath, Yoga Nidra, and breathwork. Also under Boardrooms & Breathwork, I’m urging other conferences to incorporate a moment to breathe. So I’ve been talking to multiple other organizations, like NASDAQ and Black Men in Tech, to incorporate a moment to breathe at their conferences.

Her Agenda: Why do you think you were led to breathwork? 

Omi Bell: Because as a woman who is super busy, I realized the one thing you always have with you is your breath. Sure, you can run or go to the gym, but these activities don’t settle the body to bring about mental clarity. I’m more committed to bio-hacking and having people realize that no matter where you are, you’ll always have your breath as a tool to help you relax. This helped me as a busy CEO, and I want to show others how to use it. 

Her Agenda: What’s the main lesson you want people to take away from your journey?

Omi Bell: I want people to reframe their belief in what creates success. At one point, I thought working harder was it. I thought productivity only looked like active working, thinking all the time. I realized the best thing I could do was get a good night’s sleep.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Omi Bell was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown has been empowering women to stray from societal norms and live boldly for over 22 years. Also known as Dr. Mel, she obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Chicago, and since then has formed Renewed Focus Psychology Services, an NYC-based private practice group helping women and adolescents. With the help of PsyPact, a telepsychology compact, Dr. Mel has offered her services to women in person and through telehealth in more than 40 states. 

Her mission is firmly rooted in physical and mental wellness and self-empowerment as she uses her two signature programs, Limitless & Fearless and The Private Pay Way, to help women live boldly and unapologetically. Known for blending her clinical expertise and edgy approach to her work, Dr. Mel continues to aim higher.

Her Agenda: Why do you want to become a clinical psychologist?  What has that journey been like for you?

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: I went into college wanting to be pre-med, so I was on the pre-med track, but started to hear about psychology, and took a Psych 101 class. While that was my worst college grade, I got a C. I got to a point where I was like, ‘I like this.’ When I was in college, I had the opportunity to work with a school as part of my master’s thesis, and I did a girls’ group where I looked at middle schoolers and how they could develop more confidence and self-esteem. Not only was I fascinated by how the brain works, but I also wanted to work with adolescents. 

Being an adult, knowing what it was like to be an adolescent girl and then seeing these adolescent girls deal with what they were dealing with in middle school, I was like, somebody has to be here and create space for these girls to help them feel seen. That’s where my love of psychology was born.

Her Agenda: What has been the most pivotal moment of your career so far, or something that just really sticks out to you? 

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: The first pivotal moment was when I was working at my dream job with another psychologist, who was an older white woman who didn’t want me there. I was just there to help her get closer to what she needed, and I always felt very unsafe with her. I emotionally told my bosses I don’t feel safe with this woman. They told me that I was being immature. When the students complained about her, they investigated and found out that she said I was only there to fill a quota, telling my students not to listen to me and that I was incompetent. 

And so it was pivotal for two reasons: First, I realized this environment is unsafe because I am dismissed even when I have instincts and try to get help.

Second, that it doesn’t matter how hard I work. It doesn’t matter what degrees I get. It doesn’t matter how much I bust my a**. There’s always going to be somebody who looks at the color of my skin and just determines from that that I’m incompetent. That shifted the way I think about the work that I do. The second most pivotal moment in my career was about four years after that, when it was time for me to return to this job after having my third kiddo. I was like, I can’t do it. Everything in my body said no. I was supposed to be coming back from maternity leave. Every single time I tried to push myself to do it, my body was just like you can’t. I quit my job in 2017. I have worked for myself ever since. You have to break out and get away because you see things so much clearer, too, when you’re not under the haze. 

Her Agenda: Tell me about the work that you do through your private practice and how you have seen it impact the lives of others. How has it impacted your life?

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: I have a group private practice that’s based in New York City. We serve clients in New York and New Jersey primarily. I have something called PSYPACT, which allows me to see clients in over 42 different states through telehealth. One of the things that I want to do is to have national and international reach. At our practice, we work primarily with high-achieving women who are feeling stuck and underwhelmed with where they are in life. We help them let go of outdated societal scripts and templates, set fierce boundaries, and write their next chapter unapologetically and confidently. 

We also work with adolescents and their families. I had two goals in building my practice. First, creating a space for women, basically creating the space for women like me who checked all the boxes, followed all the rules, was the good girl, and people said good girls don’t get very far.

Second, I wanted to build a space for women like me to, number one, let them know they’re not alone. Number two, let them know other paths exist that are not the traditional ones that people keep drilling into your brain.

And I wanted to make sure that those women felt seen and not just had one-to-one work but have resources, have community, have a place where they feel like, oh, I can go here and feel like home. I also wanted to build my group practice because I didn’t want other women, particularly women of color, to have to always work in environments where they don’t see you and they don’t listen to you. We are providing resources for women of color who want to be seen by people who look like them because that space feels safer. 

Her Agenda: You received the BeyGOOD grant. Tell me what that moment was like for you. 

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: I applied for the BeyGOOD grant on New Year’s Eve. At the time, a colleague of mine said Mel, did you get the BeyGOOD grant? I said I don’t think so. I haven’t heard anything. She said go to their Instagram page. I’m scrolling through, and at the time, they didn’t like to say the names of the winners. They just had a collage of headshots of everybody that won. There’s my little headshot. I was super excited for that to have been the first grant award that I had won working for myself. People never believed in what I could do, and that just felt so validating. 

I was super excited because I was using that money to offset the cost of therapy for people who were impacted by COVID. I didn’t take that money to buy anything for the business. I took that money and put it right back into the community. We served 10 different women, each of whom had six or seven sessions with us. They didn’t have to pay anything. I want to do more of that. 

Her Agenda: What does it mean to you to truly live boldly and unapologetically as a woman?

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: I’ll define it in terms of being a bada**. That’s the bold and unapologetic thing. People think bada**es have to be these rough and tough people. Everybody’s bada** is different. I am showing up as me, and I feel comfortable being fully who I am. Quirks, being a weirdo, that’s who I am. 

For me, my expression through my hair has always been a big thing. I think being bold and unapologetic is doing what works for you and showing up as your full self. It is liberating to just be yourself. I know and accept that some people aren’t going to like that. I’ve been criticized. People have asked me, you’re a psychologist? I’m like, yes, got a doctorate from a really good school. I think that’s being bold and unapologetic. I think what happens there is that people like to make assumptions. Their assumptions don’t matter because I’m grounded in who I am.

Her Agenda: What would you say is your main mission in life and your career? What type of mark do you want to leave? 

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: About a month ago, I lost my dad. He was one of my favorite people in the whole world. Everyone who talked to me would share stories of my dad and how just one conversation was so impactful for them.

In terms of my legacy and my mission, it goes back to this idea of being a woman who just wants to empower women. When I die, I want people to say, I had one conversation with her and I changed the way I thought about this. I want to empower women to feel good about themselves.

Her Agenda: What skills or abilities would you say someone should possess when wanting to get into this field? 

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: Open-mindedness and patience. One of my favorite skills that makes me better at this work is that I love a good puzzle. A desire to work through puzzles. That’s how I am with the clients that I work with. Their lives are all pieces of this puzzle. I’m trying to understand how it all fits together. Your brain has to be able to work through these pieces without judgment. That’s where the open-mindedness comes in. 

The other piece [is] a willingness to be imperfect. This is a hard field, and mental health doesn’t get the level of credit it deserves, and how much it impacts people’s lives. You have to be imperfect and not be so by the book in this field. If you just go out there and try to apply it by the book, you’re not going to be a good clinician. You’ve got to be able to come in and put your spin on this. You’ve got to be able to bring your full self to this work. Let your hair down and let go of perfection.

Her Agenda: What’s a motto that you live by? 

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: Be unapologetic.

Her Agenda: I know that you have two programs, Limitless and Fearless, and the Private Pay Way. Can you tell me how those came to be?

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: Private Pay Way was born out of building my private practice from the ground up. I have always been a cash-pay practice. I have never taken insurance, and I’ve been in business for 11 years. I’ve remained profitable every year.

I created the Private Pay Way because I wanted to share with other clinicians how you can build a cash pay practice and have a successful cash pay practice without sacrificing your integrity, especially for people who are healers. People get into this work, and they’ll say, well, I’m in this profession to help people and make mental health more accessible, not to make money. I can’t be somebody who doesn’t take insurance because then it’s not accessible. I help people reframe that belief because you can do both and have a successful cash pay practice and make therapy accessible. 

Limitless and Fearless came out of me, wanting to figure out how to do one-to-many. I do a lot of one-to-one, that’s therapy. Limitless and Fearless is more of a coaching program that offers group coaching. The intent there is to be able to reach and touch more women. To have women develop better connections because I think women struggle with connecting with other women, with other friendships, and partners. Being able to help people find and build is important to me. That 12-week program was born out of my desire to keep my mission going, which is empowering women, but to be able to do it on a larger scale.

Her Agenda: What’s next for you? What’s something next that you would want to accomplish that you haven’t already?

Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown: Speaking, speaking, speaking. I feel that’s the next part in my career. I know I’m meant to be on bigger stages. I feel it in my gut that my calling is to impact on a large scale. It’s hard to do that one-to-one. I value my one-on-one, but I know that if I’m called to impact on a large scale, the way I’m going to do that is to speak on larger stages, larger platforms. I’m working on building my speaking career, getting my name out there so I’m known. I also want to write a book. I started it and haven’t finished it, but I think those things are tied together. There’s a book in me talking about my journey and, again, empowering women to let go of what society tells them is the right way.

[Editor’s note: This feature has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Carla Zanoni is a truth seeker. As an award-winning journalist, writer, poet, media strategist, and now head of the Engagement Journalism program at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, her work has always centered around that pursuit. 

“Journalists and poets might define truth differently,” she told us, “But at the end of the day, they’re both looking for answers about human behavior, human emotion, and making sense of what is happening in this world.”

Carla has always wanted to be a writer. In graduate school, she grappled with the decision between pursuing an MFA in poetry and a master’s degree in journalism. Ultimately, she chose journalism. Though she’d been writing poetry since childhood, she was hesitant to call herself a poet— to claim that more vulnerable part of herself. 

Years later, while working in the highly structured, professional environment of The Wall Street Journal, she began writing a deeply personal literary memoir. That’s when she realized there was space for all facets of who she is. 

“When I’m around people who fully own the darkness and the light of who they are,” she said, “I feel so optimistic and hopeful about what we can accomplish as people, and as a society.”

Her Agenda spoke with Carla about what it means to live and work in authenticity. Here’s what she told us. 

Her Agenda: You’ve described yourself as having a “poet’s heart and a journalist’s brain.” Poetry and Journalism are often seen as opposites, yet your life seems to bridge many such dualities: born in Argentina, raised in New Jersey, now based in New York; both a cat and a dog person. How do you reconcile these contrasts in your writing and sense of identity?

Carla Zanoni: I’ve always been aware that I share a creative brain that thinks in a non-linear manner with an inquisitive, curious brain. For a long time, I thought that was a problem I needed to fix, but then I started to understand that there were great benefits to having this duality. 

My brother passed away on January 3rd, 2020, and then COVID hit just a few months later. At that moment, I realized that creativity isn’t separate from professional life; it’s actually what sustains it. The poetry flowing out of me (See her book: Knowing / Saber) allowed me to process that loss while also showing up as a leader, with empathy for what my team, the organization, and the world were going through. That healing informed who I am as a professional and as a creative today. I came to understand that you can’t compartmentalize being human. We try so hard to put ourselves in a box. That keeps us from giving the most that we’re here to give.

Her Agenda: Your memoir-in-progress explores how what once felt like your greatest mistake became a path to self-love. As an advocate for a post-shame era, what do you think people most need to understand when struggling with self-loathing and forgiveness?

Carla Zanoni: I’ve come to understand that living life in the mold of what others (i.e., society, our families, our friends, the critic that lives in your brain) want from us is a recipe for disaster. It’s so limiting. A lot of what drives that is shame: shame that we’re not enough, that we’ve made mistakes that can’t be forgiven, that we can’t forgive ourselves. Living in that shadow keeps us from the full amazingness of what can be. By telling this story, my hope is that people will take that lesson: that we can experience the darkest things, but it’s coming out into the light that changes everything.

Her Agenda: You’ve been a first many times: The Wall Street Journal’s first global audience and analytics editor, the first Latina to be named to the newspaper’s masthead, and the first head of audience, marketing, and analytics at TED. How have you handled the pressure of breaking new ground in such high-profile spaces?

Carla Zanoni: I am an immigrant, I grew up in an immigrant family, and I don’t come from a place of great privilege, so one of the most important things I needed to do was build a community for myself. That meant being courageous and asking for help, for mentorship. 

I started saying yes to different things, even if I didn’t fully understand them and even if I was scared, and that led to a lot of professional opportunities. In the early 2010s, I joined a very impressive women’s networking group, which I credit quite a bit with my career ascent. At the time, I was like: Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into? Like, who am I to be in this group? Fortunately, I had enough support around me to say: You belong there just as much as anybody else. 

In addition to support from family and friends, I also have an incredible network of mentors who are women, who are men, who are non-binary, who provide me with lots of different perspectives. We can get into this bubble, so it’s incredibly important for me to have lots of different perspectives to inform my thinking, not just in my immediate industry, but in lots of different industries as well.

Her Agenda: As Director of the Engagement Journalism program at CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, how do you define engagement beyond clicks and shares?

Carla Zanoni: Engagement journalism is not just about learning what’s relevant in the field today; it’s also about developing a mindset that’s focused on innovation and understanding where journalism is heading. 

In the old days, you had a journalist who kind of stood at the top of the mountain, and there was no discussion. It was just: I know what’s best for you. And one of the most important cornerstones of engagement journalism is that it’s a conversation with the audience, a constant back and forth, focused on serving that audience. 

Some people have said to me: Isn’t that just what good journalism is? And yeah, I would say that’s what good journalism is. But the reality is that things have not developed in that way. So when thinking about journalistic rigor, we emphasize listening and outreach. I’m not just teaching students how to build an audience; I’m teaching them how to connect with that audience in a deeper and more meaningful way. 

Her Agenda: Your career is deeply rooted in local journalism, from helping launch City and State to running a neighborhood blog spotlighting underreported communities in Washington Heights and Inwood, to being part of the founding team at DNAinfo New York and Chicago. What role do you think local journalism plays in today’s complex media environment?

Carla Zanoni: Local journalism is one of the most important types of journalism that exists. We have gone through many years now of the decline of local journalism and the belief that it’s not that important, but all important change, information, connection, community, comes from a local lens. They say it takes a village, and what is that village but your backyard, your town square? All change happens on the local level and then ripples out.

Her Agenda: You call yourself a “media therapist,” which is remarkably compelling. What are some of the most common emotional or mindset blocks you see media professionals and creators facing? How can they work through those challenges?

Carla Zanoni: When asking different individuals and media organizations what their biggest challenges were, one of the things I kept hearing was: ‘I’m doing all these things: TikTok, Instagram, a newsletter, etc, but I have no idea what I’m doing.’

A lot of them were on the road to burnout, and as somebody who had long struggled with imposter syndrome, I was able to hear them clearly and realize that it wasn’t just about: What should my digital/media strategy be? The core of the issue was fear and insecurity. By slowing down and having authentic conversations, you can cut through that and become more discerning.

Part of what I aim to do in the conversation is inform a mindset that’s open to change. If you’re not someone who builds the muscle to respond to change while knowing who you truly are, as a brand, as an individual, etc, then you will not be ready to respond. You want to be able to respond, not just react. The world moves quickly, and you need to know what your unique value proposition is, what your ethics and boundaries are, and where you already have established loyalty with your audience(s). If you are not having a back and forth with that audience, then you are locked in an echo chamber that is not malleable and can lose the benefits that come from your audience: relevance, revenue, and relationship. 

Her Agenda: Given your trailblazing career, your navigation of complex personal and cultural identities, and your work guiding others through emotional and strategic challenges, what’s the most important piece of advice you’d offer to readers who want to embrace their full selves?

Carla Zanoni: A good friend of mine taught me many years ago this saying: ‘Data, not drama.’ After experiencing real loss in my life, this evolved into something much deeper: how do we use data to form meaningful human connections? How do we cut through the drama to get to what’s real, that truth that I’ve been talking about? The numbers tell you what’s working, but your humanity tells you why it matters and how to sustain it. That’s the part that I would want people to take away from this: that it’s not an either-or, lean into the duality. None of us is just one flavor. The secret sauce of who we are comes from our multi-flavor wonderfulness.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Carla Zanoni was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Born out of anger, appetite for knowledge, a hunger to educate, and a will to overcome systematic racism, Miller set out to forge her path in the finance industry. A loving disruptor, Financial Equity Strategist, and Founder and CEO of RiteSize Mele Miller created her company in 2018 with the mission to change money culture. With 30 years under her belt, Miller continues to build her company, training the next generation of strategists to educate others. Also, she uses her knowledge to teach those at Seattle Central College. Working her way up the ladder, she set out to change discrimination and injustice in the banking industry. She has refined strategies for some of the world’s largest banks and credit unions in the country, including US Bank and Seattle Credit Union.

Miller has developed an extensive resume, generating up to $386 billion in institutional assets over her career. After completing her education, Miller continued her journey to become a finance powerhouse, serving in the U.S. Embassy in Singapore, and of course, leading the next generation of financial heavyweights through her own business.

The proud mother of three boys is not slowing down anytime soon. She aims to continue to expand her empire, advocating for women and women of color, becoming an inspiration for women in the finance industry and beyond.

Her Agenda: What has been your journey from bank teller to CEO, and what inspired you to make that leap?

Mele Miller: Banking and finance were not on the radar. I didn’t seek it out. It was very much an act of not even desperation. It made sense in the moment. While I consider myself a highly strategic individual, something linking up strongly to my values, what I need, and what my community needs in that moment, those intentions are so powerful. It does change the trajectory of my plans. When I became a teller, it was because I was broke and I didn’t understand the systems of banking and money. I am a hardworking and smart person. Growing up without a lot of resources, the last thing you want to do is blow cash. I felt ashamed of my lack of banking knowledge. 

When I was in there trying to get help, the way that the branch manager and the tellers spoke to me was so demeaning. I don’t know that I’ve ever said this out loud, but instead of simply doing their job, they turned it into a very embarrassing and shameful experience. I saw the way my parents were talked to in banks, the way my community was treated, and I didn’t want that. Becoming a teller was just a small opportunity to earn money and to help fill the gap, but also to learn about some things that I didn’t feel confident about. 

What I’ve learned about myself over the years and in my career is that when knowledge is the gap, I don’t allow myself to become scared. I move forward, try to learn and grow. That is what drove the entire arc from teller to CEO, because I realized in every role that I was in, there was more to learn. It was never enough because in the landscape of my community, I wasn’t seeing the change that I wanted to see. 

Her Agenda: What is a pivotal moment in your career that stands out to you to this day? 

Mele Miller: I would say the day that I asked, the first time and probably the only time in my entire life, I asked to speak to a manager. It was the day when I insisted on becoming a teller and entering the industry. I had overdrawn my account, and I didn’t even know how. It was my first checking account in my entire life. I was a college student enrolled in a dual-degree engineering program. When I went in there for help, it never occurred to me that they wouldn’t want to just answer a knowledge-based question. I went into the branch, and I was dismissed. People were avoiding eye contact, stepping around me, over me, and I have to admit, I started to tear up. 

Then a blonde-haired, blue-eyed basketball player walks in. When I tell you, I thought the entire branch lit up like a party when he came in the door. They were so excited to see him. We see you have an overdraft charge. Don’t worry about it. We’ll just take care of this one for you. That is when the tears sucked back up into my face, and I got so angry. That was the moment of lift. 

From then on, I vowed no one would open an account without understanding it. The moment the tears dried and the shame turned to anger still sticks with me.

Her Agenda: What would you say has been the most challenging part of your career?  

Mele Miller: There were two pivotal moments, and they’re connected to the challenging part. That first pivotal moment was deciding that I couldn’t trust somebody else to educate me if they had no interest and desire. That second pivotal moment that was also difficult to swallow was when I finally made it to the C-suite after 25 years. You realize that people sitting at the table aren’t impressive. They haven’t experienced a teller position or just aren’t motivated to do the right thing. The moment I got to the C-suite, I was underwhelmed. That was the second very difficult moment. My whole career wasn’t just about learning. It was about making sure that others understood how to operate their financial machine. 

I’m a woman. I’m a racially ambiguous Black woman, and people have questions. I overcame that with consistency, but it’s not just about consistency. It’s about authenticity, telling the truth, even when that truth doesn’t get you the deal, but does the opposite, because it’s the right thing. So it’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it, how often you say it. I had to do it to survive, to respect and love what I do. As a result, I realized it was time to do something completely different. That’s why I launched my company.

Her Agenda: What skills and abilities would someone wanting to enter the financial business need? 

Mele Miller: You need a strong sense of purpose. This industry isn’t easy. No matter what role you’re in, there’s a lot of trauma as it relates to money, and it can cloud the day-to-day. You must understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. That sense of clear and resounding purpose is going to help you understand and answer the most complicated questions in life. 

Second, would be self-awareness. Purpose is what is driving you, but self-awareness is critical in your health, your balance, and your being grounded. Purpose is where you want to go, but who you are and that clarity of identity, and the ability to read yourself before you can read the room. You need to know who you are and why you are. 

Integrity. People save all their lives to be able to retire. This is life savings. These are the tools that they use to feed their families, to live, and to survive. You must treat it with the highest level of respect and integrity. 

Lastly, communication. Communicating ethically is mission-critical. That global mindset means nothing if you don’t know how to communicate with people who have a different perspective on the world. Communication is about exchanging thoughts and ideas. 

Her Agenda: There is a lot of competition in this field. How do you typically stay ahead of the curve? 

Mele Miller: As a smart business person, I would say you’re right. Everyone has competition. You’ve always got competitors, even though they may not do the same thing that you do. But being raised in Hawaii, I’ll tell you, I don’t believe in competition. I believe in collective abundance and community. The anchor of what drives me is not competition at all. It’s how do I add value to the people I’m looking to partner with and work with, and support?

I teach. Being a teacher, a trainer, and a developer requires that your pencil stays sharp. It also requires humility. Questions will get thrown at you, and the ability to know when you don’t know and constantly learn. Being a teacher is being a learner. 

I believe strongly in collaboration. We all have blind spots and gaps. We are strongest when we are partnering with others who do a lot of things better than you. That’s a great way to learn, especially when you’re on a team. There is so much synergy and strength and joy that comes from that. I collaborate often with entrepreneurs because they are extremely gritty and creative, and fearless. 

Staying on the cutting edge, especially in this industry, is to be a dreamer. If you build a strategy around them, those dreams become visions that help you shape strategies and outcomes that others may have thought of but weren’t willing to share out loud. Those dreams have brought me this far. I never stopped dreaming. 

Her Agenda: You’ve had a long career, and I’m sure it can get quite hectic at times. How are you able to achieve that work-life balance that works for you? 

Mele Miller: I’ll start by saying I don’t believe in work-life balance. That creates a sense of pressure for me because when I think of balance, I think like 50-50 towards each. Well, my values, what I believe in, my community, my career, my family, they’re all integrated. The sense of balance, I don’t aspire to. Primarily because I’ve tried and failed. It’s not a thing. Integration is a thing. If you recognize that there is no such thing as compartmentalizing your identity, your values, and your priorities, that’s huge. That recognition frees you up to integrate a little bit more seamlessly.

You can see the imbalance glaringly. It’s not rocket science to say, well, that would explain why I feel this way, or why this is happening in my business, or why it’ll help you, it’ll help reveal your blind spots. If I’m not well physically, mentally, I don’t do good work. I’m late. I’m not sharp. I’m not happy. I’m not whole. A whole leader drives well, moves forward, and achieves their objectives. So I think it’s just about understanding that balance is a very different framework than integration. 

Her Agenda: What would you say is a piece of advice you would give somebody hoping to enter the finance industry?

Mele Miller: Know exactly who you are. Also, introduce yourself early and often so that people forget their assumptions and only recognize your truth. You tell the world who you are, state it, and restate it with your actions, your behaviors, and the way you introduce yourself. Good morning, my name is Mele Miller. I’m a financial equity strategist. Know who you are. If you don’t lead with that, people will impose their desires, their expectations, their assumed identity on you. If you’re not willing to tell folks who you are, you become who they want you to be. Come with your identity held strong and a willingness and eagerness to introduce yourself and let it be known. That’s smart. Very confident. Well, if there’s one thing you can be confident about, it’s you, right? You don’t have to be the best in the room, but knowing who you are helps a lot. 

Her Agenda: I have to ask, so what’s next for you? What is something that you are hoping to add to your list of achievements?

Mele Miller: While I am goal-oriented, I’m also a loving disruptor. I understand the beauty and the pain associated with change. A lot of my gifts and talents lie in being a loving disruptor and ushering in, guiding, and building the type of change that makes room for collective prosperity. When I think about what’s next, my goal is to lovingly disrupt and help shape a new type of healthy money culture in America. I’m not driven by money. So, reframing our circumstances of prosperity in the country is my current goal.

When I think about what’s next, global takeover, global transformation, understanding and delivering, and partnering with others to drive this sense of value creation in ourselves versus money as a tool. More tangible things might be this podcast, which in my mind is a talk show. Getting national and global recognition tells me it’s not that it’s popular, it’s driving culture. The articles that I write, the information, the reframing of mindset, it’s more than getting my research published. It’s more than what I’ve done. It’s more than having your articles and your thought leadership being featured in a publication. It’s about driving a culture. 

Her Agenda: In five words or less, who is Mele Miller?

Mele Miller: That’s easy. I come ready, knowing who I am, and I’ve done a ton of exploration. I am a seer. I’m a builder. I’m a doer. I’m a feeler. I will never stop being those things.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Mele Miller  was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Chantel George is a dynamic leader and the founder of Sistas in Sales (SIS), the largest global network dedicated to empowering women of color in professional sales. A seasoned tech sales executive herself, Chantel has held prominent roles at industry giants like Twitter, LinkedIn, Dataminr, and Yelp. Throughout her career, she has been a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Her experiences and observations inspired her to create SIS, an organization designed to address the unique challenges and opportunities faced by women of color in the sales field.

Sistas in Sales has quickly become a global force, redefining the landscape of sales leadership for women of color. Founded in 2018, SIS has cultivated a thriving community of over 12,000 members across diverse industries. The organization provides invaluable resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities, fostering a supportive environment where women can connect, learn, and grow. 

SIS partners with Fortune 500 companies, tech startups, and consulting businesses to drive systemic change, helping them attract, hire, and retain women of color in sales roles. Through its annual summit, workshops, and online platforms, Sistas in Sales is empowering the next generation of women sales leaders, creating a more inclusive and equitable industry for all.

Her Agenda: What inspired you to create Sistas in Sales?

Chantel George: So I get this question asked a lot, and it makes total sense because it’s an organization that’s grown so much over the years, but I think I can answer this in two folds. As an entrepreneur, it’s always best to solve for something that you have a personal connection with because you’ll have the intuition required to make the right and the best decisions, at least from a vision perspective. You know the problem, like the inside and the back of your hand, and so that was my story. I was in sales. I didn’t have a lot of support, I didn’t have a lot of navigation, a lot of mentorship. I didn’t understand the business. I didn’t understand the industry, and I was tired of feeling like I was just in the passenger seat in my life because so much of your career affects your life, your livelihood, and your lifestyle. And what I ended up doing was interviewing women of color who were in sales I found on LinkedIn, and I would write their stories down, and from there, I would publish it on a website because I wanted other people to learn that you could make $500,000 as a base salary in some very senior career positions. You could have access to a private jet and fly around with the CEO to close deals. You could be flown to San Francisco for a business lunch from your company and flown back the same day. Not ideal. But the point is, when you’re bringing in money into the business, it’s like an unspoken, unpublished, or publicized world. But all I knew as an entry-level sales professional was that I needed to be cold calling and cold emailing, that was all the information I had access to. And after doing those interviews, I was like, wait, being good at sales can mean this. I didn’t know that, and I wanted everyone who worked in sales and liked it to know, especially if you are the first corporate professional in your family, you need to know what awaits you. 

Her Agenda: Were there any obstacles that almost deterred you from creating the platform?

Chantel George: I’m completely self-funded. Bootstrapped from zero to multi-millions over the years, and each partnership means a lot to me. Even in the DEI shifts, we’ve done our best to remain a beacon of light for our community. I mean, there’s a roller coaster we have all been on as organizations that support the community due to political and political policies and corporate policies that have been fluctuating over the past five years. But I think a happy moment has come out of my community, standing 10 toes down for me, like I didn’t expect that type of support coming in the opposite direction. My mission was to make their lives easier. I didn’t think they would make or try to make my life, in my life easier, and so that was a surprise. But  a lot of the women now, they’re advocating for us to keep our programs in their in their institutions, to make sure that our conferences are being funded. They are going to bat for us, and it’s amazing. It’s really beautiful to see so much advocacy.

Her Agenda: You talked about how you felt when you first entered the sales industry. Are there things that you would like to tell women of color to become aware of when they enter sales?

Chantel George: It’s a really great skill set to have as a life skill. So there’s no such thing as entering in the sales industry, because the industries are really vertical, based upon what the company is solving for. So, for example, there’s the automotive industry, there is the retail industry, there is the manufacturing industry, and the technology industry, and all those industries, there needs to be someone responsible to bring in revenue in the company. And I think that it’s better for you to align yourself with an industry in a vertical way, as I mentioned, that you are passionate about. Because working in sales, in said industry will be easier for you because you already like what you do. So if you already like fashion, work in a sales career in a fashion company, or if you like media, or if you like tech, because your job and your life really revolved around telling the story of the company and the industry that you are working in. The storytelling is what’s going to get people to buy from you.

Her Agenda: You formerly worked at Twitter, Yelp, and LinkedIn. Can you describe how those experiences shaped you into the person who can run an international organization?

Chantel George: Without being too into the specifics of the companies themselves, I would say I worked for large businesses, and I got to see how large business operates, and you can’t really read about it; you actually be in it to experience it. So I run my company with some elements of that, where we have departments and KPIs and goals, and we run team meetings very effectively and efficiently. So, I would say that it has helped me bring structure to my company. That’s been the biggest thing. And then, you know, in some cases, like with LinkedIn. LinkedIn was one of our first customers, if you will, like they gave us space to produce an event. It was a breakfast event where we explored the importance of getting an MBA or not in your sales career. And so there are some instances where when you go to a company, you’d be surprised that sometimes that company will support your initiatives and your dreams. That was a very big surprise. Alternatively, the opposite can also happen. You just don’t know, but at the very least, you can walk away with a sense of corporate structure. 

Her Agenda: Can you describe maybe one moment when you thought that failure was on the horizon, whether it was building Sistas in Sales or just trying to build your career, but you persevered?

Chantel George: Anybody that’s doing anything to support a particular demographic right now is going through a lot of stress. So we are all, as much as we can, rising above it. We are all stressed about the state of the world right now. But every day is like a new positive. I always say, one negative for every positive and three negatives is one positive. I keep score like that throughout the day, and because I remember that. The challenges are financial. Because, I mean, we’re in a state of disproportionate defunding. There are financial challenges, but I think, I think even outside of that, there are psychological changes that are happening, but people are really sitting with themselves, trying to figure out what side of the fence they are on. And that’s caused a lot of mental health issues for everyone. 

When running a community organization, you feel that. I’m very close to it. I can feel my community aches. [But] there’s some good stuff happening. So we have a conference coming up in four weeks called Aspiring Sellers. It’s for new people who want to enter sales for the first time. And, of course, we have our major event for professional sales professionals in September in Midtown, New York. Sisterhood is the core of everything that we do. 

Her Agenda: What advice do you have for someone trying to build a community similar to Sistas in Sales?

Chantel George: Community business is hard work, so I think you’ve got to determine if it’s something that you want to do professionally or if you can just do it as a part of your personal give back. I do this professionally, but it is not a requirement. I also did it as a side business for years, and I’ve been a professional community builder for about three years. And I would say that there are pros and cons to each, but I don’t believe that you need to. Not everyone is cut out to do this full-time. So my advice is to really think about whether this is something that you need to create into a livelihood for yourself or something that you can do occasionally. Some people just like to gather their friends or their alumni group or their sorority sisters or whatever it may be, and they’re just good gatherers. Don’t get caught up with all of these communities and events and flashy things that show up here or there. It’s very stressful to run a community, and it requires you to be very vulnerable and always exposing yourself in order to keep your connection going with your community. And so that can be difficult over time. But even outside of being a community leader full-time I’m also ensuring that our business is not only based upon qualitative information, but that we are collecting quantitative information about our network so that we can serve them better. For example, when people sign up to be a member where we’re asking them the questions, we’re looking at that data and we’re creating programs for them that serve them. 

There’s also a technology side attached to community building and a way to really understand the data of your community so that you can make sure that you’re giving them what they need. In a lot of communities, especially those that were founded maybe in the 60s and 70s, collecting data about your community was not the most important thing. In this day and age, it’s critical because there are so many places to get community, and nowadays, you’re only going to go to the ones that are super-serving you. I don’t think people are spending money, time and energy at an event that’s generic. The only way to do that is to ask a really robust collection of questions at the onset of someone becoming a member of that community so that you can serve them.

[Editor’s note: This feature has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Chantel George was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Pi-Isis S. Ankhra stands out as a visionary leader who refuses to accept business as usual. As the founder of P.S. 314, a consulting agency that defies traditional corporate structures, she has spent the past decade pioneering a holistic approach to social impact that puts human beings at the center of every strategy.

P.S. 314 was founded as an innovative approach to organizational development, influenced by Pi-Isis’s diverse experience in social impact work, politics, and philanthropy. 

In our sit-down interview, Pi-Isis discusses her unconventional approach to matchmaking for social change, the importance of organizational integrity, and the deep work of internally and externally addressing equity. 

Her philosophy reads clearly. True social transformation isn’t just about external results but about how individuals show up, challenge assumptions, and continuously unlearn the systemic biases that divide many in today’s society.

Her Agenda: What inspired the creation of P.S. 314, and how did your vision for the agency evolve over time?

Pi-Isis S. Ankhra: It was actually an experiment for me. It was going to be this 10-year experiment to build a company that centered on humans and human-centered leadership. When I first started thinking about that, no one really knew what that meant, but I just felt like there weren’t really a lot of places that thought about the people as much as the revenue, just that it’s not really our culture. Our society [is] very capitalistic driven, and of course, you have to make sure that your bottom line works, but I really wanted to create a space that could support both doing good and doing well.

So, as opposed to this pyramid structure where we’re feeding the top, it was more of a round table where we could all work together. So often, our clients become our consultants and strategic advisors because they know the work. And then sometimes, our consultants become our clients because they go off and run organizations or they’re their own activists.

Her Agenda: How do you approach the concept of matchmaking for social change, and what does success look like in that context? 

Pi-Isis S. Ankhra: In terms of the process, we are matchmaking talent. So we’re trying to find the best people who have the expertise. We’re matchmaking to find you the right strategy. The right formula.

You don’t want someone who’s going to pace very slowly with someone who’s very fast. So we’ve got to think about those intangible components as well. That’s where we start, and I’m the lead matchmaker in that realm. 

Externally, in terms of success, sometimes that looks like we’re solving a problem for a client. We’ve had a client who was overly reliant on one funder. 90% of their funds came from one donor. And that is very vulnerable because if they go away, so does the work. So how do we structure a new plan for them and then train them on it and have this be activated over time so that eventually they’re only reliant on it by 60 to 70%? That’s a success, right? [For] others, we will design a strategy where our clients have raised $30 million in 18 months, and it could have taken five years [but] we found the alignment.

Sometimes our clients are individuals, sometimes they’re businesses, and sometimes they’re nonprofits. Sometimes, we’re starting from the very beginning where it’s just this nascent idea of an artist and activist. And all of a sudden, because of the strategy and being able to [translate] the vision to a practical plan, they become fellows and global activists and award-winning artists. We’ve seen those success benchmarks as well.

For organizational and leadership development, that’s a little bit intangible sometimes. We really work and walk with our clients through transitions, founders who are leaving something that they’ve created over 20 years, and making sure that there’s institutional knowledge going into an organization.

So then, how do we build out those structures? How do we build out a plan, a strategic plan that’s really [going to] amplify them to be at the top of their game? Externally, that’s kind of what success looks like. But internally, it’s a little bit different. 

We’ve been in business for 10 year,s and I’ve never done any cold calls. Everything has been through referrals and repeat business. On average, our clients will return between two to three times for more work with us.

That speaks volumes because the nonprofit community, which is the majority of our work in the country, over 70% have budgets of $500,000 or lower. Consultancies are a luxury at times. It’s not necessarily in your budget. While we work with some clients who have a $100 million budget, a lot of them are smaller.

Her Agenda: In what ways has your work at the intersection of advocacy and executive advising brought unique opportunities for change?

Pi-Isis S. Ankhra: My first job I worked for Vice President Gore. I would call that experience grass tops. My very next job was as a public school teacher in Washington, DC, for elementary school, and I would say that’s more grassroots. That’s kind of been my journey professionally, grass tops, grassroots, and everything in between. 

And then simultaneously, I’m also a part of communities where the work is actually being done. How do those policies impact everyday citizens? So, while I had talking points when I was on the campaign about immigration, then I would become a teacher just a year or two later. And then some of my students just wouldn’t come back to school because they were deported. We talked about economic inequality when it comes to education, which is really like the microcosm of our world anyway.

Her Agenda: What challenges have you faced as a trailblazing woman leader in your field, and how have you overcome them?

Pi-Isis S. Ankhra: I’ve always been questioning, and I tend not to have a fear of where to go. So I will often go to who’s in charge.

That’s who I want to talk to because I want to figure out what’s [happening]. So, in a way, I kind of have blinders on. I know what my goal is, and I think I probably learned a lot of that when I worked for Gore because you had to figure out how to get things done.

That’s one thing you learn in a presidential campaign. You find a way to make things happen. I was trained in that way very early on.

When it comes to any kind of discrimination that I might face, it exists. My name is Pi-Isis Ankhara. There are probably opportunities I have never received because someone saw my name and didn’t want me in the room.

My mother told me once: ‘Don’t assume people are treating you a particular way because of who you are. Make them tell you. If they don’t tell you, then how do we know it’s actually there?’ And so that’s the way in which I operate.

It doesn’t mean that I don’t see when I’m questioned more. When my value or my fees are questioned. I used to work at a very large consulting firm versus my own. The work that we do is more compounded, but our value is questioned often. I’m sure that has a lot to do with my identity. We’re definitely a reflection of our society.

I am certainly navigating worlds in which things are not equal or equitable, but I don’t shrink. I really do ask the questions, and I tell the truth, and I keep moving, and I make space for others. I leverage the relationships that I have to make a difference.

Her Agenda: What is your vision for the future of social justice and advocacy in such a rapidly changing world all the time?

Pi-Isis S. Ankhra: We have been socialized to see how we’re different and then judge each other on it. My hope is that we can move away from that a little bit. I think we’re starting to question it a bit more.

When I was working on a film about race in America, I formed partnerships with organizations around the country that addressed racial inequity and reconciliation. One group that I remember was started by two cousins.

One was White, and one was Black. They traced their ancestry back and found that they’d come from the same plantation. They took a road trip and ended up doing a documentary on it. Subsequently, they created an organization called Coming to the Table.

I thought it was so dynamic because it was all about conversations between Black and White people to better understand each other. And there’s a lot of different divisions. 

Her Agenda: What advice would you offer to someone looking to start a purpose-driven organization in today’s global landscape?

Pi-Isis S. Ankhra:  I always say SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) [analyze] yourself first because if you really are interested in purpose-driven work, that’s what we’re asking. You’re asking yourself to consider that [in order to] do good and do well, your integrity is going to hold you. You’re going to have to make certain decisions that are not always for your wellness your prosperity. 
Of course, you want to ensure that you’re solvent and you meet your financial goals, but you really need to know who you are, what your values and beliefs are, and what some of your challenges are. And so, when I did that in the very beginning, I really thought about what the purpose that was going to drive me was and what my vision was going to be. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to execute it. I had this idea for this company. I had this idea to solve many different problems, but I wasn’t sure exactly what the business plan [and] day-to-day strategic plan would be. I needed to begin with my values, and my beliefs and have that be the criteria for the decisions that I was going to make.

[Edior’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Pi-Isis S. Ankhra was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Jeanine McLean orchestrates the kind of success stories that redefine careers. As the President of MBK Entertainment Inc., she’s elevated her skills to identify and nurture talent, building paths for music superstars like Alicia Keys, H.E.R., and Omarion. Behind the scenes, her sharp instincts have turned names into household staples and chart-topping icons, with her expertise extending seamlessly into artist-brand collaborations with giants like Nike, L’Oréal, and Adidas.

Her entrepreneurial spirit doesn’t stop there. At the helm of Castlight Media, an additional marketing branch in her career, Jeanine curated groundbreaking projects like New Faces, Big Voices, a touring platform that gave R&B artist October London his national debut.

She’s also been celebrated by Billboard, ASCAP, and Ebony Magazine while mentoring the next wave of leaders through initiatives like Grammy U and Femme It Forward. Jeanine sits down with Her Agenda to discuss how she not only manages a talent-filled roster of breakout artists but also shares how she got her start in the industry and how she advises her mentees so that they can fill the same type of job role one day. 

Her Agenda: What inspired you to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, and how did you get your start?

Jeanine McLean: So my grandfather was a professional bass player. He’s a pretty well-known jazz quartet. And then later on in life, my uncle was a concert tour promoter. I got to see firsthand how to run major tours, arena tours, etc., and I took an interest in it. I had some early access.

From there, I built my own relationships, just kind of being out and about being the social butterfly and meeting people. And getting pulled into it with folks saying, ‘Hey, you have relationships, you have access, you should really pursue this. Why don’t you work with me on this project?’ So it just started to be just a natural progression to be involved.

Her Agenda: MBK Entertainment has been home to several iconic artists. What do you find are key elements to identifying and nurturing talent?

Jeanine McLean: Well, one of the key elements to identify in the artist is their hunger and desire to go the course. Obviously, yes, there are some overnight successes, which really aren’t overnight if you really think about it. 

But it is that desire and passion you have to see in artists. And you see it in their work ethic. You see it in them practicing if they’re musicians. Sometimes you can call someone, and they’re like, ‘Oh, I’ve been on vacation, just chilling.’ You know, not that there’s anything wrong with vacation, nothing wrong with chilling. But this is the industry that’s more about staying in your grind and hustle and getting it popping. So that’s what we look for, that grit. 

Her Agenda: Can you give me an example of someone who really stood out to you and you knew they’d be good straight away? 

Jeanine McLean: There are so many examples. I’m going to start with Allen Stone. When I met him, he was already making music, and he was out there, but just something about the songs he was making, the soul that was going into it, that passion that was in the writing and the delivery. So Allen Stone, for sure. Elle Varner, we discovered her, and she had just graduated from NYU. She just had that determination to make videos out of her one-bedroom apartment or a studio apartment. Just that passion, writing and just playing her instrument, and sharpening her voice. And obviously the artists H.E.R. and Alicia Keys. I came on when she was already on the label, but really everybody, to be perfectly honest, everybody’s just so amazing. I can go on and on.

Her Agenda: How do you balance creative freedom for artists while guiding them strategically in their careers?

Jeanine McLean: It’s their vision. It’s got to be their vision. It’s got to be authentic to them. Tone Stith, for example, I should have mentioned him a moment ago. He’s written mega hits for so many. He’s got that ability to tell his story, and that is super duper important. That’s something that not every artist can do. 

Her Agenda: What do you find are key elements of a successful brand-artist collaboration? With the rise of influencers who are also music artists, what do you find are the key elements to that? 

Jeanine McLean: We have to start educating brands more on that authentic connection, because all the times the brands will say, look at their numbers. They have a lot of followers. They’re the person. I’m like, well, but have you looked at their engagement? Have you looked at the types of things that this artist is posting?  Have you really gone through their historical conversation and how they’re interacting with their fans? Like, what are they really saying? You know, it’s more than just the data and the numbers.

Her Agenda: What inspired you to launch Castlight Media, and what’s your vision for the company?

Jeanine McLean: I needed a marketing arm that could function independently and create some campaigns for artists even outside of the MBK roster. And it’s a free-flowing company. I’m putting one of the documentary films that I’m working on, I’m putting it through that entity. Also, I assisted a couple of artists with the sales of their catalogs. So I put that through that entity.

And then again, when I’m called in by an artist, a brand, or any other entity to work with them on building out any type of campaign if it’s a tour or festival or any brand building, it’s a bit of a catch-all for that.

Her Agenda: Your company’s “New Faces, Big Voices” series sounds groundbreaking. How did you conceptualize the project, and how has the response been?

Jeanine McLean: The response is amazing. What we do in music and entertainment is we’re always looking for that new big voice and that fresh new face. So to have a platform for these newer artists to have the ability to tour. You’re building that audience awareness. And that’s how you get artists to grow into the megastar. Start small, build out their visibility, and then they get to that upper pinnacle that everyone is striving for. It’s a simple moniker because everybody is always looking for that new big voice and that fresh new face.

Her Agenda:  How do you see the role of artist management evolving in the next five years with tools like social media?

Jeanine McLean: I think that we’ll see more artists and managers, management companies, forming true partnerships. The relationship will be more of a partnership relationship versus a manager relationship. I mean, that’s really what it is anyway. You know, the opportunities are presented, or the manager creates opportunities for the artist, and you sit down with the artist and you go through it, you talk about it. ‘Hey, how does it make sense for the trajectory of my career?’ And then, how does that lead to the follow up step? 

These are really partnership types of conversations, because it’s, again, it’s a long game, building out years from that point on, and it makes sense to be partners. Everybody’s got skin in the game. Whether it’s time [or] energy. I think, really, where it’s at a true 50/50 partnership, you split on the income. And you’re truly building that vision together side by side.

Her Agenda: Mentorship is an important element in your career. What have been some rewarding experiences as a mentor?

Jeanine McLean: Oh, my gosh, I love my little mentees, I can’t lie. Some are so far advanced in their career already. And I’m always so honored when it’s Grammy U or if it’s Femme it Forward, or others when they reach out, and they’re like ‘Hey, I requested you,’ my little heart flutters. I’m just like, ‘Okay, that’s great. We’re gonna have a ball.’

I like to connect with mentees, male and female, who know that this is not just a fluff game, that it’s not just fun. I’m tough. I don’t always create a soft landing. I’m like, ‘hey, get out there and figure it out. If you want to be where I am, you want to sit where I’m sitting, then you’ll have to figure some of it out on your own.’ It’s not just for me to say, okay, let me do all the work for you. No, no, no, no, no, we’re [going to] do this the hard way. We’re [going to] do this the way that’s truly going to let you earn your stripes and feel great about it. So, [out of] all the mentees that I’ve worked with there’s a couple that have said you’re a little too tough for me. And I can respect that. But most are just in love with the authenticity that I bring to the table with them. We hang out, and we go to events with them. I invite them to shows. I invite them backstage. I invite them to meet the artists. I invite them to sit at the table and kind of see what’s going on firsthand. So it’s very much an integrated experience with all the mentees that I work with. Very rewarding.

Her Agenda: What advice would you give to young professionals aspiring to work in artist management or entertainment?

Jeanine McLean: That’s an interesting one, and a lot of the mentees ask that. I tell them, get their people skills up because you’re dealing with an artist [whose] brain works from a little bit of a different side than those that are more corporate and by-the-book thinkers. You have to get your feel on how to converse with an artist and how to communicate. 

Make sure that you’re on the same page. Learn strategy because that’s a big part of being a manager is strategy. You have to plot out steps A, B, C, and D. And, like I said, long game. What’s next? Always think about what’s next. I tell people to make sure that they have that type of mindset. 
As far as knowing that you’ve got to be a people person, I’ve met some people who say I want to be an artist manager, but I don’t really don’t like being out [or] talking to people. Don’t really like talking to people? I was like, well, how exactly is that going to happen? Tell me how you’re going to be a manager without being out, without knowing what’s going on the scene. Whatever scene…on the music scene…the club scene… the touring scene, and fashion, especially when you’re new starting out, you’ve got to have your boots on the ground. You have to be out there communicating what’s going on. That’s really important. You don’t have to be in front of the camera all the time, but you do have to have a bit of a social butterfly ability in you.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Jeanine McLean was originally published on HerAgenda.com

It’s very evident that building a brand that leans heavily on the power combination of culture and community has been a major win for Lisette Scott. The founder of New York-based jewelry brand Jam+Rico launched in 2016 with just $500, and she scaled the business into six figures after four years–all while working a full-time corporate job in the early days. 

She eventually transitioned out of corporate life and into full-time entrepreneurship, taking her brand to the next level by participating in opportunities to showcase her collections, interact with customers via event activations, and cultivate a brand presence on social that attracted new customers while re-engaging with the loyal. 

Triumphantly pushing through the pandemic in 2020, Lisette continued to offer high-quality Jam+Rico pieces made with brass, gold, silk tassels, and semi-precious stones. Each piece infuses notable aspects of Caribbean life, food, and culture—from elements of nature to popular slang to illustrative currency. They’d ultimately land spots on the favorite lists of Oprah Daily, Essence, and Vogue and in Target’s 2022 Black History Month collection. There’s even a special collection of fine jewelry perfect for heirlooms, like the exquisite Fine Tostones Lariat necklace and the Fine Tropical Tree earrings, both made of 18-carat gold and featuring diamond-encrusted shapes of plantains and coconuts.

The brand recently launched its second collaboration with iconic ‘tween retailer Claire’s, making Lisette’s colorful imprint of Caribbean-inspired designs even more accessible, providing a new generation of girls a chance to learn more about the beauty and richness of the African diaspora. She pays it all forward, advocating for and partnering with other Caribbean women entrepreneurs in the space and serving as events chair for the Black in Jewelry Coalition.

Her Agenda sat down with Lisette to talk about her exit from corporate life into entrepreneurship, the key motivator behind infusing her Caribbean roots into her creative process and business model, and how she’s made it almost nine years later in a very competitive and lucrative jewelry market set to reach a value of $432.8 billion by 2033.

Her Agenda: Your launch of Jam+Rico was partly rooted in the desire to transition out of corporate life and build a business that offers fulfilling work. What was the specific “Aha” moment you had back in 2016 that led you to take action to launch your first collection?

Lisette Scott: A lot of my peers were excited about who they were going to work for next—if they were going to go to a higher brand, like Versace or Dior. They had all these ambitions to get to the next level within fashion. And I realized that I didn’t have that drive or that motivation like they did.

I was like, ‘I wonder why I’m not as excited as I used to be about the industry?’ And I had to do a deep dive to think about what I wanted next. It just relayed that I was missing that creative spark. I was designing for other brands that had their own mission and their own brand identity, but that was never truly what I enjoyed creating. And when you’re designing for those brands, you have to assimilate to what they like and start dressing like what they have for sale or available. And I was just like, ‘This is not what I want to do anymore. These brands don’t exude what I look like, nor are [they] pushing a look that is a little bit more unique and celebrates Black women.’

So, I started to dive into what I wanted to push forward in the next few years of my career within the fashion industry. That evolved into me looking into jewelry again, which I had always had a passion for.

Eventually, it just evolved. It grew. People liked the product. They liked what I was creating. They liked my designs. And I did it for four years working full time.

Her Agenda: I love that. And you got into basically scaling because you mentioned, for four years, you were doing both the corporate and what was then a side business, correct? 

Lisette Scott: Yes, yes. I had this great position. I had security, I had mobility within the fashion industry. So I was so nervous, honestly, to decide to take that leap to do it full-time and to pursue it. And I kept pushing my date to quit. It was like, ‘OK, let’s see what happens. Let’s, you know, hold it back a little bit more.’

And I kept honestly putting it on my calendar, and the date would come, and I was just like, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m ready. And what had happened was, when COVID came about and positions were getting moved around within the company, I had to get let go. And it was more so a realization and the revelation for me to have someone just push me out the door so that I can go ahead and pursue it full time and take that leap. 

Her Agenda: Even though you were pushed toward your destiny, by then, you had been running what was then a side business for a few years, so you were able to cultivate the customers. Did you lean more into social media and the fact that people were home? Talk more about the transition.

Lisette Scott: Before everything shut down, we were doing a lot of pop ups—a lot of in-person events. I honestly was leaning more heavily on that aspect of the business because it was easy. I live in [New York City]. There were a lot of opportunities. But once everything shut down, it was like a reset for everyone within every industry. We just had to think of new and exciting ways to connect to the customer. 

We started doing [Instagram] Live, started going on social more, started sharing more about the behind-the-scenes [of] what we were working on, the challenges of what was going on and the unknown of what could happen for the business. That really helped the community stay connected. 

A lot of influencers and people in the blogging and sharing space found our brand and connected with our story. 

Her Agenda: You’ve mentioned ‘fun’ and ‘creative,’ which is what I see with the brand itself, especially that first collection. What was the thought process behind it—the fun of creating the pieces?

Lisette Scott: I’d been designing for multiple brands and sharing their brand mission—their brand story. And I was like, ‘I feel like my story and the Caribbean— the story of the Caribbean woman—should be shared also. So I decided to focus on my identity, which is Jamaican and Puerto Rican, and really dive into what that is as a Caribbean American woman and having these stories of my grandparents from both islands. They both migrated to Brooklyn, [N.Y.], and have these stories of their island traditions— the food, the music, and my upbringing—really drove me to want to connect more with where they were from. 

Growing up, it was always, ‘Yeah, we’re from here, this is where our ancestors, our culture, our heritage, is here, but we’re American.’ There’s so much more to learn and discover on the islands that you’re from, and I definitely create that connection. 

Her Agenda: Well, that is so true. I do know in Trinidad, for example, getting gold—you get that as a baby. And in Black American culture, getting the Nefertiti bangles and the herringbone necklaces and things of that nature—it was a thing. We had a lot of competition between the cousins when someone was getting, like, a gold bracelet, or your grandmother gifted you, you know, a diamond ring. 

Lisette Scott: [Laughs] Ah yes! 

Her Agenda: You talked about the cultural connection, along with building your brand and the audience and the customer base. Now, you’re working with an iconic brand like Claire’s. Share more about how that came about. What was the creative process like working with them?

Lisette Scott: In the beginning, I was reaching out to businesses and trying to get our foot in the door. And as we grew, these brands [started] to reach out to us, which [was] amazing. 

With Claire’s, we were able to do two collections, one in the spring and one in the fall. They were so great to work with. They gave me 100% of creative freedom, which was really exciting to be able to come in as a new brand.

When they looked up my brand, and they saw that we were all about the Caribbean–all about the islands—the first collection, they were like, ‘Go for it. Share that story about how the Caribbean is a part of this brand identity.’ So that was a really fun collection to do that was very Island-inspired—palm trees [and ] cowry shells. We brought all of that into the mix. 

And then for the second collection, I really wanted to connect to the diaspora of Africa and bring the cultural connection of that into how the Caribbean identity has been shaped and formed. And again, they gave me the freedom to design the pieces and share a new collection with them as well. It was wonderful both times to see how we could bring these new shapes, new styles, and unique cultural references into a larger market and how it would be received. And it was phenomenal. 

Her Agenda: Where do you see the legacy of Jam+Rico in 10 years? 

Lisette Scott: The sky’s the limit for me in many ways because I am somewhat fearless [when it comes to] taking risks and doing new things. I really want the legacy of the brand to show that through craftsmanship—through artistry—we can share our stories, and jewelry has a long-lasting way of connecting and sharing that story. You can pass it on. We started doing more custom jewelry, so we dove into wedding bands and engagement rings. We really want to dive into that custom element more so that we can create things that people are interested in having and sharing with their loved ones or with themselves or creating for themselves. 

We [also] want to build more partnerships within the Caribbean. Right now, our focus and our hub has been in New York, but we really want to find new ways to bring artists within the Caribbean, have collaborations [and partnerships] with artists in the Caribbean, and bring more features with the islands that we collaborate with. We’re trying to find ways to connect those dots in the next 10 years, and we want to keep bringing people with us. So, having the retreats and opportunities to do cultural exchanges with these islands is what we really want to share. We think [that] is key to keeping the brand identity alive.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For more on Lisette and Jam+Rico’s latest collections (with a new release showcasing Barbados available for pre-order), visit JamandRico.com.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Lisette Scott was originally published on HerAgenda.com

As 2024 draws to a close, we can reflect on the highs and lows across our personal and professional lives. Whether you use the new calendar year to inspire big changes or continue amplifying the progress you achieved this year. We look towards HerAgenda’s Power Women as a source of inspiration coming into a prosperous 2025. 

Here are 12 motivational quotes from women at the top of their industry, along with what has helped them achieve success.

“Do not be distracted by what other people are doing or have done in the past.” 

”Things that worked back then are not working right now, so don’t let other people distract you and tell you what you should be doing and what you need to be doing. Literally, put your blinders on! Be aware of the climate but put your blinders on. You have to be confident in who you are as a person and you have to be innovative to stand out in the crowd. Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Just focus and pray and do your thing.”

– Robyn Atwater, Founder of CURLDAZE Haircare

“Women need to be aware of owning their voice.”

“It is recognizing that you have the experience, knowledge, confidence, and right to sit at the table you are at. If you are not at the table that you want to be at, you have a right to change courses and navigate getting there. As women, we sometimes become a wallflower as we are unsure if we should voice our opinions or ask for better. Women should find their voice and use it confidently because we have a lot to say and there is a lot to be said.”

– Monika Pierce, DEI Executive

“Predefine your goals.”

“Professionally, let them evolve, of course, but try to keep a sense of and be really clear on what you want to get out of a job, and what you want to get out of your personal time. I love goal setting. It’s such a powerful force for you to guide decisions [and] to help you allocate your time. That certainly comes as part of the job process, too, because you want to know what you go in for, and it may change, but then it helps you decide when it’s time to move on.”

– Noorian Khan, Senior Advisor to the President, The Ford Foundation

“Your self-worth cannot be contingent upon someone else’s judgment.”

”If it is, you will always be at the mercy of their judgment. You can do all the things, you can get all the degrees, you can make all the money, you can gain access to all of these circles but if you’re relying on those people, and those institutions and those factors to give you self worth, that can be taken away from you at any time.”

– Natasha S. Alford, VP of Digital Content for theGrio, Anchor for theGrio TV, CNN Political Analyst

“You have to really look at what it is you want out of your life and where you think you could make an impact.”

”One of the things I always wanted to do was drive value and add impact. If you have the courage to do it, you could be really happy and live the life that you want to live. But you have to be honest about your skill set and what you want to do moving forward. And then you have to put in the work, too.”

– Nadine Karp McHugh, Founder & CEO of Evolve Up

“Give Yourself Grace.”

”There’s no way that anyone can make every perfect decision, and certainly not everyone is going to be happy.”

– Christine Simmons, COO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

“You’re in the room because of who you are.”

“You don’t have to imitate anyone. Once you’re in the room, you have to embrace it and take hold of it. Always be prepared. The biggest moments in my career happened because I was ready when they came. Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.”

– Connie Orlando, Executive Vice President of Specials, Music Programming & Music Strategy at BET Networks

“Be as transparent and as honest with your audience as possible.”

”If you are, you don’t have to doctor all these different pieces of content. If you are being honest and who you are on a daily basis, and maybe sharing pieces of that along the way, then it’s ‘as this journey unfolds,’ I get to be authentically myself and attract this audience along the way because I am just being me.”

– Deja Riley, Dancer, Trainer, & Lululemon Global Ambassador

“There’s nothing wrong with not being at the top.”

”We’re needed everywhere. Sometimes you’re called to be that person that supports the person at the top. Think about what your call is. It’s weird, I always thought of myself as supporting that person at the top, but I would always end up at the top. At the end of the day, if you choose to accept this mission or something like that, it is worth it.”

– Kelley Cornish, President and CEO of The T.D. Jakes Foundation

“Success does not come from working constantly.”

“I actually believe in the opposite. I really value work-life balance and prioritizing rest when it’s time. We live in a culture of glorifying hustle and ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead,’ quotes, but burnout is real. As a creative person, I think rest and replenishing yourself is extremely important. We are empaths so situations can affect and drain us easily. Sometimes, we are called to create on-demand and the creativity of coming up with ideas, pitches, and concepts needs to come from somewhere. If you’re never taking time to breathe, restore, live life, watch a film, go to a museum, listen to live music, get inspired, and refill your creative tank, where would you be pulling your inspiration from? Success comes from consistency, learning, and stretching yourself to take on new challenges.”

– Kara Barnett, Creative Director, Netflix Strong Black Lead

“Friendship is a very untapped source of joy.”

“As busy working professionals, we put friendship on the back burner. I tell people to put one day a week on their calendar, and pick a block of time: Thursday night dinners, Saturday morning bunches, that’s friendship time that is blocked out. Then, fill it in every week. Just fill it in. Because the reality is that if we’re not strategic about refilling our tank and being intentional about joy, it’s actually going to drain us and when we’re drained, it makes it much easier for a lot of those negative thoughts, that ‘not enoughness’ to creep in”

– Isa Watson, Tech Entrepreneur And Author

“You’ll never figure it all out.”

”I really believe that if you are so clear on what you want your path to look like, you might not have the connections yet, you might not have the financial status yet, but it will come.”

– Nikki Cameron, Director of Development at Bunim Murray Productions

This article 12 Motivational Quotes And Inspiration To Start 2025 was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Tiffany Hardin is the CEO and founder of Gild Creative Group, an influencer marketing agency that bridges brands with the world’s most influential voices. At the heart of Gild’s mission is a simple yet powerful idea: authentic connections drive impact.

Tiffany’s career began in the music business, where she honed her skills in talent management and marketing to create culturally relevant stories that build meaningful connections, driving trust, awareness, and impact. Her work with major brands like Hulu, Onyx, Microsoft, and Target reflects her ability to amplify creators and influencers while bringing brands closer to the audiences they serve.

Now, Tiffany is expanding her vision as she builds Represent, a creator services tech startup aimed at empowering talent and redefining opportunities in the creator economy. She’s also the driving force behind Conscious Hustler, a professional development curriculum and lifestyle brand that challenges traditional “hustle culture” by advocating for balance, intention, and purpose. Through her Conscious Hustler podcast, Tiffany shares insights and inspiration, creating space for those seeking sustainable success.

Her Agenda sat down with Tiffany to explore her journey in influencer marketing, the role emotional intelligence has played in her entrepreneurial path, and the legacy she hopes to leave for the next generation of creators and entrepreneurs.

Her Agenda: Can you define influencer marketing in your own words and explain its importance to the media industry? 

Tiffany Hardin: The root of influencer marketing is connected to trust [in people] who have built an audience on [social] platforms that can support the spread of a product, service, or idea. I think there’s even a more basic version of that though, where everybody in their own right is an influencer. Everybody has been influenced by someone. In the advertising world, we consider influencers, [and] sometimes that’s interchangeable with creators, [to be] people who have large audiences and can share something that they are really interested in, whether that’s a product, a service, or an idea, and post that to their channels or share that message with their audiences. That creates a result. That result can be awareness, so that [the] audience now knows this person enjoys something and they’re willing to try it. In marketing, that’s called consideration. Someone creates an action and that creates a lead for that product or that idea through going to a website, putting your email in, doing some type of action. 

Just like there are commercials on TV, there are commercials on social [media], and the people that you know, like, and trust are becoming commercials. It didn’t always used to be like that. We’re in that space now where there’s more opportunity for [diverse creators] to make money using and operationalizing their social and creative capital. [At the same time,] we’re also finding that there’s a pay gap between white creators and nonwhite creators. In terms of infrastructure, there’s not enough diversity in who gets to essentially win in this space.

Her Agenda: Going back to your shift from working in corporate to now being an entrepreneur, when did you know the corporate world wasn’t for you? What made you want to break out and start your own agency?

Tiffany Hardin: I will be honest. I knew I was going to be an entrepreneur very early on, before work. Before I even knew what work was. It was something that my mother instilled in me as an opportunity. She was an entrepreneur. She was a self-taught software analyst and worked for major technology firms. Through her, I was able to understand that there are more opportunities. The thing I want to say about my mom is that she’s no longer with us. She passed unexpectedly in 2020. But she taught me that no matter what it is that you want to do, you can do it. I saw her, at that time, make her own business card, and create her own stationery. I saw her pitch her services, but I don’t think I had enough appreciation for it at the time because I was a kid. But, she really exposed me to possibility and vision. 

I think the speed of entrepreneurship has always been in my spirit. I come from a long line of entrepreneurs, even through the reconstruction era and on. Because I was getting into a very niche field, I knew that I needed to learn from being an assistant. When I started my career, I started in talent management at Violator, which was run by Chris Lighty and Mona Scott Young, and I worked directly for her. I [worked] for Translation under Steve Stoute, and I started as his assistant before I moved into the strategy department. What was fascinating to me was that I’ve always worked for entrepreneurs as well. I always saw entrepreneurship, but I wasn’t ready to do it on my own. I knew that I had to learn. 

[When] I was working at the agency, the sort of cultural context at the time was that social [media] was just developing. The iPhone just came out. Even when the iPhone came out, we didn’t have all these apps yet, right? So then you have the advent of the App Store and people having access to Instagram and Twitter and things from their phones. And then I’m working in the social strategy department, doing what we now call influencer marketing. On the side [I was also] managing talent. At the time, it was both music talent and influencer talent, and we’re still trying to convince brands that influencer marketing is a thing. This is very early days of influencer marketing. Today, you could talk to a brand and say, ‘Hey, we think you should do a creator program or an influencer program.’ And they’re like, ‘Yeah, sure, of course.’  [Back] then, it was, ‘Oh, we don’t know.’  

Social media is growing; people are starting to grow their audiences based on their cultural points of view, and brands are starting to pay attention. That is the petri dish that I had when deciding I was going to start my own company. If I could do it for this one agency, why can’t I do it everywhere? I don’t know who I thought I was. 

There was a particular moment when my now mentor and then boss at the time, Marcus Collins, and I had a conversation in the middle of a review. He asked me this question that just stuck to my bones and he was like, ‘Tiffany, why aren’t you doing what you want to do?’ That threw me for a loop because I thought I was hiding my contempt for that space at a time when I just wanted to do my job and keep it moving. But the reality was that I had a higher ambition and the ambition that I had, there wasn’t space for it to grow there because the agency wasn’t ready.

Her Agenda: Having Gild Creative Group under your sleeve, the podcast Conscious Hustlers, and being a leader and entrepreneur in different communities and building community, how have you used your emotional intelligence to keep yourself balanced and afloat while tackling different endeavors? 

Tiffany Hardin: I think emotional intelligence is operating in its highest form when you’re doing it with yourself. A lot of people can intellectualize emotion, but when it comes to themselves, they’re slamming doors and stomping their feet. So for me, I allow myself to let it be, whatever the thing is. If I’m feeling an emotion, whether it’s my self-critic, [or] I didn’t like the way something was delivered, I remember everybody’s human, myself included, and I allow myself to let the emotion pass as much as possible and to find the clarifying lesson. I’m good to tell myself, it’s okay to not respond. It’s so easy to find the critic, find the compassion. That’s the thing for me that took work. So, I try to use my emotional intelligence to not only help me manage myself and people but also to find compassion.

Her Agenda: The creator services startup that you’re getting ready to bring to the world, Represent, what gaps do you believe [it] will help fill in the creative industry? 

Tiffany Hardin: I’m really excited about the startup because the people that are getting paid the real money [in the creator economy are] the ad tech firms, the social platforms, and advertising agencies. But, it’s centered on creators and 73 percent of creators are not represented. What happens when you’re not represented can equal a lack of operational support, inequitable deals, inefficient deal flow, and ultimately it’s stunted growth. Only 25 percent of creators are making at least $50,000. Of the 200 million creators that are active as creators, only 66 percent of them are doing it part-time. Most creators are women, and those creators are happy with their work. A little less than half, 44 percent, say [that] the work that they do in creative marketing is supporting their life and their families at home. Representation is the difference between people growing their business beyond $50,000. But not everybody wants to give up 10 to 20 percent of their income to have representation. Not everybody needs representation. Sometimes, you just need a good CRM [customer relations management), and some automated emails.  

Canva is to design, what Represent will be for the representation for creators. The manager in your pocket. Creators who are looking to grow their wealth, grow their skill set, and upskill their career are going to need to talk to some people. So, it’s an expert marketplace. It’s an opportunity to chat with talent support specialists. It’s an opportunity to get legal documents reviewed. It’s really a system by which they have access to a manager in their pocket through a subscription service. That is the thing that people are missing. There is not going to be a shortage of creators anytime soon. Creator marketing is going to continue to get bigger. It’s going to be a $500 billion business by 2027, and 97 percent of marketers use creators.

Her Agenda: What do you hope that the next generation of entrepreneurs, creatives, and talent in general learn from you and what you’ve been able to do for yourself?

Tiffany Hardin: I want my legacy to mean a few things. I want people, when they think of me, to think of just the idea of infinite possibility. I think we live in a world where people are waiting for someone to tell them who they are and what to do. Having high expectations for yourself is okay. Having compassion for yourself is even better. I want people to see my career and believe that whatever they want to achieve is possible. If they listen to my personal story, they’re gonna find a lot of the same feelings that we all have, which is self-doubt, scarcity, and all the feelings of the feelings wheel chart is all there. But like Beyoncé said, my fears aren’t going where I’m headed. I think about that line a lot. I want to create an impact that supports my industry and the people that make up the culture. I want them to have the opportunity to say [they were] able to build [their careers] because this product existed. Because I listened to that podcast and was inspired or recommitted to my purpose. I want people to be able to feel like who they are matters, no matter what they’re doing. It’s a hard question, but I feel like at the root of it, I want people to look at me and my career and feel like they were seen, they were heard, and they were considered in the building of all the things that I put out into the world. 

Her Agenda: What is your motto?

Tiffany Hardin: It’s my family’s motto. Keep on keepin’ on. I have one more. If ‘keep on keepin’ on’ was the hustle part of it, the conscious part is (my mom would always say this) don’t let anyone steal your joy, not even me. Honestly, that’s where this comes from, you know? The joy in my heart comes from growing up with parents who had high expectations of me, but, they [also] had joy in their hearts. They operated from a generous place. It makes so much sense for me to be in this space and operate from this space because my intentions are true and real. And I’ve been, quite frankly, trained to produce this type of work with the right intentions and I can lead teams and lead people as a mindful leader.

Her Agenda: Is there anything else that you want to share? 

Tiffany Hardin: I also want to remind people, especially those of us who are hyper-independent creatives and founders, that you need people to share your dreams and to share your progress and to share your wins. I’m in a place in a space right now where I’m scared out [of] my mind. I’ve never started a startup. I’m building a tech platform [and] I haven’t done that before. My immediate circle hasn’t done that before. So, allowing myself to be scared and do it anyway because my fears aren’t going where I’m headed, shoutout to Beyoncé.  I like to tell people God is in the business plan. I got this download, I’m putting it into action, and my challenge to myself is literally allowing my network to know what my vision and my plans are so that other things can be activated. Hiding behind our cool idea that’s not ready yet, no one cares. No one’s judging you. No one’s gonna be critical of you. Just start talking about your vision. Start talking about your idea, and every day, put a stake in the ground that gets you closer to that. When Represent comes out, that’s going to be the stake in the ground for creators.

[Editor’s note: This feature has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Tiffany Hardin was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Vanessa James, the Trinidadian voiceover queen and founder of Vanessa James Media, is a powerhouse in media and entertainment. Known as ‘the voice you hear everywhere,’ Vanessa’s rich, dynamic tones have brought life to some of the world’s top brands. Recently, she was named the official ‘Voice of God’ for this year’s Global Entertainment Marketing Academy (GEMA) awards, celebrating the brightest stars in entertainment marketing.

From Netflix and CW Network to PGA Tour and Amazon, Vanessa’s voice has been a trusted presence. She’s even the voice heard in New York City’s yellow cabs on 103.5 KTU and recently joined Reach TV Network as the co-host of Business Traveler, a show aired globally in airports and lounges. Her journey into voiceover was anything but typical. Starting as a radio receptionist with a childhood stutter, Vanessa’s journey required tremendous resilience. 

Her story aligns with those of figures like Usher and Steve Harvey, both of whom she’s interviewed, who faced similar speech challenges. After two decades in corporate radio, she launched her own company to pursue storytelling on her terms, all while paving the way for diverse voices in the industry.

In an industry where only 42% of voiceover roles are held by women and only 17.3% by people of color, Vanessa is shifting the narrative. She’s passionate about financial literacy in marginalized communities, and her connection to her Caribbean heritage runs deep. Her writings on Carnival and the diaspora’s cultural impact highlight her dedication to authentic representation.

In a recent interview with Her Agenda, Vanessa shared insights into her career journey, her company’s mission, and her commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices. Vanessa James isn’t just a voice – she’s a visionary, leading with purpose and creating a lasting impact in media.

Her Agenda: First, I would love to start off with your backstory and how you got into the world of storytelling and media

Vanessa James: I started off in radio and that was a way to just connect with millions of people in various markets. And I fell in love with being able to lift lines from a piece of paper and make a story out of it. So radio is where I got my launch in storytelling and media.

That transitioned to editorial work at my local paper in Miami, where I am now. And then that kind of springboarded back into radio, into voiceover, and then into launching my own media company after really wanting to reconnect with my Caribbean roots and tell a lot of those Caribbean stories and highlight Caribbean entrepreneurs and culture and carnival. So for me, VJ Media really is a mixed bag of media where I use all of my strengths, starting with voiceover and storytelling to really kind of lend light to my story and others.

Her Agenda: What do you think were some of the most valuable things that you learned in some of those early stages when you were working in radio? Vanessa James: Oh, wow, so many, right? I think valuable for me, especially as a woman of color in radio and as one of the first female program directors for the market in Tallahassee, I really learned early that gumption is really important, especially when you work for yourself or when you’re working for a corporation or for another entity. Gumption is very important in understanding yourself, and understanding what it is that you want your legacy to be.

I think also being really good negotiators and leaning on mentors if you’re not a good negotiator, that’s one of the things I feel like, if I looked back, I would do differently. As women, we want to do so much.  And we [sometimes say]  like, ‘Oh, I can do all the jobs.’ And that definitely was my story in terms of taking on multiple roles just to kind of show that I could stack up to the fellas who are doing one job for the same money and not negotiating.

For me, being a better negotiator has monetary and non-monetary aspects. Maybe that’s stocks, maybe that’s bonus structures, or something else. So, learning how to be a good negotiator would be my number one goal.

Her Agenda: I think that’s so valuable because sometimes in this media landscape, there’s no playbook. And I like how you said, sometimes as women, we feel like we have to do or we want to do everything.

Vanessa James: We wanna do it all, right? And we overcompensate sometimes. 

Her Agenda: How have you learned to say no or this doesn’t serve me? 

Vanessa James: After taking a step back—and the step back was forced, it was a layoff in 2010—it was the best situation for me because it allowed me to take some time to recalibrate. It was really checking in with myself and saying, okay, here comes the next chapter.

What do I want this next decade of my life to be like, to feel like? What do I enjoy? And that’s when I knew that I wanted to start my own company. I did that in 2010. VJ Media will be celebrating her sweet 15 next year. I can’t believe that I’m saying that. But it’s just tapping into self a simple as that sounds, really understanding, well, what is important to me? What do I want the legacy of my business to be? How do I want it to feel to others? How do I want to engage and connect and collaborate with others? And I learned early, that competition’s not where it’s at, collaboration is where it’s at. And once I learned how to navigate that and infiltrate that into my business, brand collaborations, and collaborations with other women, and other founders, it became really easy, and it became a space where I knew this was my sweet spot. This is what I want to do more of. It’s really understanding and tapping into self about what you want your legacy, your business, and your personal brand to be.

Her Agenda: How have you been able to keep the momentum after all this time?

Vanessa James: Understanding what your goals are and staying steadfast to what they are.  And having multifaceted goals. So that can be monetary, that can be legacy, that can be exposure, that can be collaboration, whatever that is. Having an understanding of what that is from the forefront and checking in with them, checking in with yourself, checking in with your mentor, whoever’s guiding you often.

I also think it’s really important to understand, as you’re navigating the world, that some months, some years may not be profitable, but why? Well, when you come back, and you check in with your why, it definitely helps to fuel you and keep you going. I know that has been a source of inspiration for me. This is why I’m doing this.

How can I tap into that for continued momentum and continued success? So again, it’s self-checks, but it’s really structural self-checks too, checking in with yourself. Also, if I could say, as we’re navigating this new world, I think it’s important to make sure you’re saving and keeping some [cushion] on the side for moments where you feel like, okay, I haven’t made any money, but I have been really good about saving my coins for things that are coming up. Investing back into yourself is really important.

Her Agenda: Do you have something that you are most proud of in terms of your voiceover career? 

Vanessa James: Okay, so in terms of VO, I have a couple. It was really awesome to be able to serve as the narrator for Ada Twist, Scientist. It was founded and executive produced by Michelle and Barack Obama.

It’s about a Black girl scientist who is navigating the world with her friends [it streams] on Netflix. I love doing campaigns for The CW Network, where I get to really flex my promo skills and do things like the WNBA, CW Sports, but also All-American Homecoming that I voiced for the last four seasons.

I loved lending my voice to the Women’s History Month campaign for Infinity Motors. It was their global campaign celebrating women entrepreneurs. So any way that I can flex my Black girl magic across the voiceover landscape, I always love that.

Her Agenda: Do you remember your first big voiceover gig that you got?

Vanessa James: Okay, so the first one, I would sa,y would have been 2012. I did a Macy’s campaign, and I got a call back from Macy’s, and they were like, we love it. And then I got to do all their radio spots here in South Florida for their holiday campaigns. 

My first big promo client on air in terms of network promo TV stuff was the CW for All American Homecoming. And I remember getting that job and it was crazy because I was running out of time and I had a doctor’s appointment.

My agent called and she was like, ‘Hey, need this in 15, can you quickly do it?’ Sure. I jumped into the studio. I’m like, ‘VJ, just read the copy, pay attention to the directions and just roll with it.’

I did two takes, no recuts and booked it. So I think sometimes for VO, [it’s about] getting out of your head and just doing what you think sounds right to you and what you would want to hear on TV.

Her Agenda: I know you said that the layoff was not something that you had intended.  Have you ever thought about voiceover before that? I know you were doing voiceover for radio, but did you ever think it could be a career?

Vanessa James: As big as it is now?  No, I always knew it could be a career, but I will be honest, I just got really seasoned in VO, in terms of outside of radio, maybe in the last seven years, since about 2018. My agent was like, listen, we want to start sending your stuff out for other work outside of radio. Radio was my bread and butter for a good 10 years on its own.

I started to go, okay, wait a minute, I can voice that AT&T spot, Macy’s,[and so forth] and then started booking more commercial work. 

Her Agenda: Oooh, and tell me about the GEMA Awards. 

Vanessa James: It’s essentially where all of the big editors and producers behind the scenes who are producing some of the biggest shows across networks come together and celebrate. So I had a chance to be the ‘Voice of God’, which is basically the big announcer in the room.

Her Agenda: Do you have a dream job voiceover gig? 

Vanessa James: I started off in broadcast at Florida State University and wanted to be the next Robin Roberts. So, I still want to do Monday night football sideline reporting one day, things like that. 

I would have to say voiceover-wise, who doesn’t want to star in an animated film like in Encanto or the next Lion King? Those are huge and very coveted roles. I definitely would love one of those. I wouldn’t mind also voicing a global campaign for an auto brand and really being the voice of the brand.

[Outside of voiceover] I still want to score. I want to do the music score and direct my own short film for Netflix or a brand like that. I’ve actually been working behind the scenes on a project that has been kind of sitting on the sidelines for a minute that I need [to do]. It keeps pulling at my heartstrings. I need to dust it off. I’m still celebrating carnivals of the world because I’m from the Caribbean and it’s very important as a part of our culture. There are a few things [I want to do], but as you can see, it’s all in the world of media and storytelling. 

Her Agenda: What would you say is the toughest part about your job?

Vanessa James: Time discipline is the toughest part of my job. Sometimes, I have an article due or a press trip, and all that has to happen while I still have a full-time VO career.

I’m constantly traveling with my gear, and I think the hardest part of the job, is not just time management, but also, checking in with yourself because it’s really easy [for] a year to go by, five years to go by, and you’re like, okay, I did all this stuff but was it fulfilling? So it’s really important for me for things to be fulfilling as well and not just monetary compensation. 

That’s where I’m at in my journey, and everybody gets to this point at a different time where it’s not just about legacy, it’s about work-life balance. [And for me, it is] very important to be able to pick up and go to the Caribbean or go to France for a week. I want to be able to do those things, so having the balance and the flexibility to be able to do that as an entrepreneur is very important for me, and finding ways that I can navigate to do that more is definitely the goal for the next few years.

Her Agenda: How do you approach a New Year or new step in your career?

Vanessa James: Every year, I do a self-check and a business self-check about every six months, but also I would have to say, I am a lover of the to-do list. I try not to overcompensate on that to-do list and have too many benchmarks to hit because it can feel very overwhelming but I do believe in the philosophy of what are the three important things I need to get done today? What are they? And then what does the week look like? And what does the month look like? And then, is that a part of my six-month and annual goal for myself and my business? That’s really how I approach things. At the end of every year, I take stock of how things went financially, and how things went in terms of the brand and the bigger goals, and then I am making recalibrations. 

Her Agenda:  What’s something encouraging that you carry through life?Vanessa James: Believe it or not, I’m a voiceover actor who has suffered from a stutter. You would never know that. I was born in Trinidad, moved to the USVI, and then came up to the US. I kind of developed an anxiety over my accent. And it really has taken a lot of time for me to break that. A lot of speech therapy to break that. My whole life, I feel like I’ve been doing things scared, speaking in front of crowds, popping a mic, and speaking on the radio. I think it’s really easy to dumb ourselves down for what society thinks is acceptable. It’s really easy to pass on things cause you’re like, I’ll never book that. I don’t know if I’m going to be good enough for that. But if it’s pulling at you it’s okay if it’s not [perfect], how about you just do it scared, see how you feel, what if you love it? Then it catches a fire inside of you that makes you say, you know what? I’m going to polish my skills, and I’m going to give it another round, another whirl, another try. So I say do things scared.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Vanessa James was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Gratitude is more than a fleeting emotion; it’s a transformative force that elevates our lives. Studies show embracing it can unlock a wave of positivity, nourish our health, deepen our connections, and fortify our mental well-being. It’s the secret ingredient to a life of beauty and balance woven into the fabric of our daily existence.

Gratitude is also a very personalized practice, with importance given to reflecting on both the biggest and smallest parts of each day. These Power Women each offer a different approach to defining what gratitude means to them and their mindset.

Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon, Founder and CEO of The Village Market 

As a community builder, Dr Lakeysha Hallmon uses mornings to center herself and build gratitude within her daily routine to reach an optimal mindset,

“I’m so intentional about my mornings, I don’t compromise them. I have to start my mornings with quiet. I have to start my mornings where I have an opportunity to give reverence for being here and an opportunity and gratitude to live, to be healthy, and to have vision. I give thanks for that every day.”

Tia Mowry, Actress, Author and Entrepreneur 

With a multifaceted media career, Tia Mowry may have spent decades in the entertainment industry, but counts ageing as something she counts as being most grateful for. 

“When you wear glasses and when your hair turns gray, that is a blessing. Not many people make it to be able to go through the aging process. I am just grateful to be alive, and well. To me, aging should be a celebration, not something that we hide or don’t appreciate. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t allow people to tell me what beauty is. The way I feel about myself is what I will celebrate.”

Victory Jones, Artist and Co-Founder, The Colored Girl

Victory Jones’ approach to gratitude does not focus on one aspect of her life or career, but focuses on embracing the greatest and best moments of her day-to-day life. 

“I’m just thankful for everything, even the parts that ‘suck.’ I’m grateful for everything, because it’s all a fabric, it’s all part of the fabric of my journey. Gratitude looks like prayer, gratitude looks like meditation, gratitude looks like laughter, and it looks like play. It looks like when I hit my yoga mat, and just let my body flow. When I create an amazing meal when I walk my dog and just have these moments where I’m touching trees, or just literally talking to God. I use my dog walks as meditation/prayer time. Gratitude is everything. Its energy is some of the highest vibrations that we can embody. It probably supersedes love in certain ways.”

Gia Peppers, On-air Talent, and Entertainment Journalist

Acknowledging that everyone makes mistakes and need to learn how to find rejection and redirection, Gia Peppers uses gratitude as trust and in focusing on where she is now, even when that may not be where she wishes to be, and finding her sense of self. 

“Though I am nowhere near where I want to be, I have to be grateful for all of the things that I have and have not done. When I think about the process, I trust it and am not trying to be perfect anymore, I am trying to be authentic. If you get so caught up in what everyone else is saying and doing, you forget who you are, what you are here to do, and every single thing that you said that you wanted when you started.”

Devi Brown, Founder of Karma Bliss

Devi Brown believes in the strength of gratitude to serve as energy and motivation to keep going and move forwards, as well as using it as a source of peace. 

“Gratitude is important because you can’t really live a full life without it. It doesn’t just mean to be thankful. It doesn’t just mean ‘thank you God for giving me this’ or ‘thank you whoever.’ Gratitude is literally synonymous with the lifestyle of mindfulness. Gratitude is finding joy and peace even when things aren’t going your way, and definitely when they are. Gratitude is such an interchangeable word that goes right along with everything that mindfulness embodies.”

Aala Marra, Holistic health practitioner and Founder, aalaCare

Wellness-centered entrepreneur Aala Marra takes her approach to gratitude and applies it to the fundamental basics of existence, and life. 

“Being able to know how to come back into myself and to pour into myself, and to see myself and to cater to my needs and fulfill what it is that I need has been instrumental to my mental and emotional health. I’m grateful for the earth and my ability to make contact with the earth and nature. I’m thankful for being able to be within the frequency of gratitude. It’s challenging for a lot of people to even understand what to be grateful for. I’m grateful for all the necessities and the basics that I have, and I’m grateful for me, and for all the ways I’m showing up for myself.”

This article 6 Powerful Women On Their Approach To Gratitude  was originally published on HerAgenda.com

If you aren’t plugged into the who’s who in the marketing world, you may not know this woman’s name, but if you’re a consumer who enjoys beauty products, toothpaste, or keeping up with your finances, you certainly know her work. With nearly 30 years of experience, Nadine Karp McHugh is a seasoned marketing and media executive who has been at the helm of brands including Colgate, L’Oréal, and Goldman Sachs, responsible for budgets ranging from $120MM to $1BN. She also worked on the agency side with Mindshare, where she led the Unilever US business. 

With her well-rounded experience across an array of clients, she’s now the founder of Evolve Up Inc., a consulting firm focused on marketing transformation and leadership development. Nadine sat down with us to discuss how she implements key strategies into modern marketing campaign methods, faces change head-on when many others shy away from it, and shares advice for those looking to make a career pivot within the marketing industry.  

Her Agenda: How did your experience managing P&L accounts ranging from $5MM to $2.5Bn at WPP shape your approach to leadership and strategic decision-making?

Nadine Karp McHugh: I started at Ogilvy as a planner, and when I left, I was working at Mindshare as the chief client officer of the New York office, so I had a lot of accounts, I had a lot of different sizes and scopes, and roles. The one thing that I spent a good deal of time on was running the Unilever business in the US. The work that was recognized there got me promoted to be the chief client officer, so I learned a lot while I was at WPP (Mindshare), and I certainly learned how to lead, I had anywhere from one assistant planner reporting to me to over 100 people on the Unilever account to all of the accounts in the New York office, and so I learned how to drive transformation across businesses and also within an account. It’s where I really fell in love with organizational creativity and change leadership. The work there sort of led to my pursuit of science, organizational creativity, and change leadership. I learned how to move teams forward to be comfortable driving change…relevant change in order to drive business results. Most people aren’t change-friendly. I tend to go towards the fire. I like to live in the what-if.  I learned about change leadership, driving transformation, always with what’s right for the business, and making sure that you measure things so that you’re driving results. That’s what brings everybody along with you.

Her Agenda: What were the key strategies you employed to drive both day-to-day operations and new business development during your time at Mindshare New York and Unilever US?

Nadine Karp McHugh: When I was leading the Unilever business at Mindshare, communications planning started in the US, and it was all about honing in on very consumer-centric insights that were true for the consumer and also for the brand, and it was finding that sweet spot that you could create ideas, campaigns around that would help to propel the business forward and so it was always trying to make sure that you were doing what was always right for the business, what resonated with consumers and ultimately the goal was being your client’s most trusted advisor. I worked on Unilever for around 17 years, so I made some really lasting professional friends and personal friends now over those years, and so I think that I could not have done that, and we could not have driven the business forward like we did collectively if you didn’t have that trust, didn’t focus on what was right for the business and what was truly going to resonate with consumers. 

Her Agenda: Managing media budgets from $120MM to $1BN at Colgate, L’Oréal, and Goldman Sachs is no small feat. What are the key factors you consider when allocating such significant media investments?

Nadine Karp McHugh: In all of those companies, one of the things that I was tasked to do was to drive digital transformation. It was about looking at relevant consumer consumption patterns, really honing in on insights and looking for that white space that the brand had a right to play in [that] would resonate with consumers and then negotiating deals around [it]. So looking for those little nuggets that would drive competitive advantage, that white space, and then creating something there that was relevant that was going to make a difference.

Her Agenda: Can you tell us more about Evolve Up Inc., the consulting firm you founded? What gap in the market were you aiming to address there? 

Nadine Karp McHugh: Instead of going back into the industry for another big corporate role, I decided that I really wanted to go out on my own. I’m fortunate that I’ve had both client and agency experience, so I have successfully driven change across big matrix organizations, and I know what it takes to drive that change.

At Evolve Up, we’re helping marketers, publishers, and ad tech companies find their North Star, which feeds into their go-to-market approach. I’ve been sold to, and I’ve sold to others for many, many years, and I know what you need to look for, what should be in a value prop, what the meaningful parts and approaches of the different products and business approaches to take in order to create business results. Over the course of my career, I’ve developed integrated campaigns across categories, and they’ve penetrated the culture and they’ve allowed brands to box above their weight.

My sweet spot really with Evolve Inc. is transformation, creative problem-solving, team, and professional leadership development. 

Her Agenda: What is some advice you can give to somebody who wants to go in this type of career route who may be pivoting from other careers and not necessarily started in marketing from the get-go? 

Nadine Karp McHugh: I’m using the experience that I’ve had to move into the next act of my career.

At the point that I was at, I looked at what I’d done, and I could have done it again. I know the formula for marketers to transform, drive business results, and resonate with consumers, but I thought that a better way forward, based on where I am in my life, was to be more fluid in my career approach. And so if you’re somebody who’s comfortable in a corporate environment and wants to stay there, then I think that’s fine. For me, I wanted to try something else. I’m leveraging the experience I have listening to the marketplace to see where the white space is.

There seems to be a need for people like me who have client, marketer, and agency experience and a deep understanding of how all of the media works to drive business results. I have digital experience, so I’m leveraging all of that in my independent consultant role. But I don’t think that’s for everybody, either.

You have to really look at what it is you want out of your life, and where you think you could make an impact. One of the things I always wanted to do was drive value and add impact. And so that was a filter for me when creating Evolve Up.

If you have the courage to do it, you could be really happy and live the life that you want to live. But you have to be honest about your skill set and what you want to do moving forward. And then you have to put in the work, too.

Her Agenda: You’re passionate about leveraging new technologies to drive impact. How do you balance the implementation of cutting-edge technologies with the organizational changes required to support them? 

Nadine Karp McHugh: In any big organization, organizational buy-in is important. You need to find like-minded people and objectively share your recommendations.

I always said numbers don’t lie, and business people see that, they respect that. While everybody might have different day-to-day objectives, all marketing organizations have the same overall goals, right? It’s about doing what’s right for the brands and the businesses to drive results. You can win the hearts and minds of consumers and sell more products and services to those consumers if you’re doing it from a place of relevancy, where it makes sense for the business.

Her Agenda: When you wrote your master’s thesis, it focused on how to build a creative DNA for any business. Can you elaborate on what the creative DNA entails and how companies can implement it? 

Nadine Karp McHugh: Creative DNA is a creative problem-solving approach which helps people embrace a way of interrogating problems to come up with new solutions. It gives them an organized way of having permission to discover what’s possible. We’ve never lived in a more rich environment where if you can think of something, you can pretty much create it, thanks to technology. And there are approaches that allow teams to interrogate the possibilities and come up with new, ownable ideas that can drive competitive advantage.

Her Agenda: You’re known for building highly functional teams. What are the key ingredients for cultivating a team that thrives in any corporate culture?

Nadine Karp McHugh: One of the biggest things that you need to do is create a trusting environment. We had a culture within the team that permeated all divisions where it truly was one team. And it took a while to get there. You need to make sure that you mean what you say and say what you mean. [When] people see that in a consistent way, they know that you’re coming from a place of good. The other thing that we did that I thought was really important was we created a mantra for the team, which was ‘no divas, no wallflowers.’ What it meant was nobody was too big. No one could have too big of an ego. We’re all in it together. That was the ‘no divas’ piece. The ‘no wallflowers’ piece was everyone should feel that they have a voice and that their ideas, any idea, could be a good idea, and they should feel comfortable enough in this space to speak their mind, give their opinion, and share ideas if they have them. It really helped to create this wonderful team spirit and vibe that helped us to do a lot of great work together.

Her Agenda: While on the board of She Runs It, you chaired the Mentoring Committee. What do you believe are the most effective ways to mentor emerging leaders, particularly women and underrepresented groups?

Nadine Karp McHugh: One of the things that I learned once I got to a certain level, I felt somewhat alone at times and everyone was speaking a different language. And oftentimes women and underrepresented groups probably get that same feeling.

What I learned over time was that my feelings were not unique to me, and that I was not alone. It’s important to give people a safe space to talk about what their ambitions are, but also what their fears are so that they feel seen and that they know that they’re not alone and that nothing is insurmountable.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Nadine Karp McHugh was originally published on HerAgenda.com

For many of us, Tia Mowry has been a staple in our lives since childhood and a symbol of nostalgia. She’s graced our screens as a beloved actress on Sister, Sister, Twitches, The Game, and now Family Reunion.

Beyond her roles on screen, what we can clearly see is a woman who is playing a major role in restructuring the biased mold designed to confine women in Hollywood.

During her coming-of-age era, Tia noticed a lack of representation in the public-facing space. Noticing the disadvantages for women of color as a teenager, which still exist today, Tia had to navigate who she was as a person and what her value is within entertainment. Once, she was even told that wearing her natural hair to auditions was a distraction and that being on the cover of a certain magazine alongside her sister, Tamera Mowry-Houseley, would not sell. Despite the roadblocks on her journey to self-love, Tia now determines her own beauty standards, all of which realistically encapsulate her inner power and health.

[This feature was originally published on August 9, 2021. We are re-publishing in honor of her new show Tia Mowry: My Next Act.]

After a drastic diet change, Tia admits that her relationship with food ultimately altered the relationship she had with herself and aims to change yours along the way. On Tia Mowry’s Quick Fix, her popular YouTube channel with nearly 1 million subscribers, Tia dishes out delicious cooking tutorials for anyone to enjoy. With the upcoming release of her sophomore cookbook, The Quick Fix Kitchen, and houseware collection, Spice by Tia Mowry, Tia wants to make food a uniting factor in our everyday lives, not a chore.

Before starting Anser — a line of beauty supplements, prenatal care, as well as multivitamins for women, men, and kids — Tia ventured down her own road to treatment following her diagnosis with endometriosis, a common and often painful disorder in which tissue grows outside the uterus. Considering the lack of Black women in wellness, Tia was inspired to start the multivitamin company Anser with BioSchwartz and United Talent Agency (UTA) in 2020. What initially was established with simply three products, now boasts over 20 products that are changing the lives of consumers one supplement at a time. 

Her Agenda recently got the chance to speak with Tia about her relationship with beauty standards, advocating for herself, and her vitamin line, Anser.

Her Agenda: It’s very rare to see someone from an entertainment background partake in health ventures, as celebrities usually stick to beauty or fashion. When it comes to thinking outside the box for something that is literally changing lives, did you have to bypass a lot of skepticism, or were people supporting you from the beginning?

Tia Mowry: From my experience, I did not have to bypass a lot of skepticism at all. I give credit to being an open book and extremely authentic throughout my journey in life. I’ve been very open and vulnerable with the transitions that I’ve experienced in this thing called life from my postpartum depression to my health challenges with endometriosis, to my weight fluctuation. When I launched Anser, I felt it was natural and didn’t have any feelings of skepticism at all.

Her Agenda: Your vitamin line, Anser, launched in January 2020 with three vitamin products, but now boasts more than 20 products, including a line specifically for kids and men. How long does research and product development take until you put a product out into the world?

Tia Mowry: I’m so grateful to be working with an incredible team, my partners over at BioSchwartz, who have been in the supplement industry for over 20 years. They’ve really helped me with the development process, which can be pretty complex. We have to focus on the safety, quality, and efficacy of the ingredients within our products. What’s really great with this incredible company is that we have pre-production trials, in which we do product testing which is very efficient and very important. We also have an experienced R&D team that really knows how to walk through each of these steps quickly and efficiently, so much that we can actually get a product from an idea to an introduction in as short as 6 months. They understand my vision, they understand my ideas, and we are able to get out what we want in a decent time.

Her Agenda: The health industry is notorious for failing Black women in a sense. Pertaining to endometriosis, Black women are less likely to have it diagnosed and more likely to have symptoms ignored. Unfortunately, with this disorder, women often blame themselves. What has your journey to unconditional self-love been like?

Tia Mowry: Unfortunately, my journey was not always great nor easy, it was very challenging. I feel like my journey started when I was constantly going from doctor to doctor and having them not take my symptoms very seriously. I was even told, ‘Nothing is wrong with you’ or ‘Run off the pain, put a heating pad on your stomach, and take a hot bath.’ I’m proud of myself because I actually became an advocate for my health and my wellness. I want to encourage everyone to do the same thing. My supplement line Anser has the hashtag #selfcareisntselfish. Once I started focusing on self, wellness, putting myself first and making it a priority and loving the journey that I was on, that is where I started to see benefits. I just want to encourage others to do the same, to never blame yourself, and never give up. It’s okay to feel frustrated or challenged, but always know and understand that you are worth it. You are worth finding an answer for. 

Her Agenda: With the Olympic games that are currently underway, Simone Biles dropped out of individual all-around competition in order to prioritize her mental health. And, of course, she has been receiving a lot of backlash for it. When it comes time to say ‘No’ and prioritize yourself, have you passed the stage of trying to be superwoman for everyone or does it take you a while to speak your truth?

Tia Mowry: First, I’ll speak on Simone Biles. I applaud her and I am so incredibly proud of her. I just saw this interview in which someone called her selfish. And, that bothered me because prioritizing yourself and thinking about your mental health is not selfish. For them to put out that narrative made me frustrated. Simone doesn’t owe anyone anything. The only person she has to owe anything to is herself. It has to start with you first. I always say, “How can you be the best of anything, if you are not filling up your own cup?” It is her priority to focus on herself. I love the way that she stood up in front of the world. Do you realize how much pressure this girl has on her? For her to choose herself at a young age, is very admirable to me. 

It’s okay to feel frustrated or challenged, but always know and understand that you are worth it.

I think it is normalized for women to feel like they have to be superwomen. Part of it is brought on by societal standards and there is a nurturing side that we have to ourselves. We are always focusing on giving, giving, giving to other people. Society also celebrates perfectionism which is very dangerous to your mind, body, and spirit. I’ve had many challenges trying to be a superwoman. I am a mom so I’m constantly trying to juggle things [along with] the many different facets of who I am as a person. I’ve learned the hard way [the pitfalls] of trying to be a superwoman, like becoming burned out, anxious, and depressed. I know what that feels like and I don’t ever want to go back there anymore. I’ve been an advocate for myself, my self-care, and my boundaries. I don’t think anyone should ever try to beat themselves up for trying to be perfect or trying to put on a cape to be a superhero. But, I’m here to encourage people to become aware of what that can do to you. I want us to get to a place where self-love becomes a priority because you’ll definitely see great benefits from it.

Her Agenda: Last fall, I remember you posting a selfie in which you embraced your gray hair. In Hollywood, there is so much pressure to be perfect and women are often penalized for aging. Do you think your interest in beauty standards have faded as you’ve grown?

Tia Mowry: I’ve learned to follow my own beauty standards. And, what I mean by that is what makes me feel good and beautiful from the inside out. This definitely took time and one of the main reasons why I’m vulnerable and open about posting myself getting older is because I understand those unrealistic standards put on women. I want to change the narrative and encourage women to not allow society to tell [them] what beauty is or what is seen as beautiful. 

I’ve learned to follow my own beauty standards. And, what I mean by that is what makes me feel good and beautiful from the inside out.

One of my friends shared a perspective with me: When you wear glasses and when your hair turns gray, that is a blessing. Not many people make it to be able to go through the aging process. I am just grateful to be alive, and well. To me, aging should be a celebration, not something that we hide or don’t appreciate. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t allow people to tell me what beauty is. The way I feel about myself is what I will celebrate.

Her Agenda: I read that a few years ago, you drastically altered your diet and had to cut out a lot of things. Considering the role that food plays in Black culture, how did your relationship with food change the relationship you had with yourself?

Tia Mowry: It’s all about perspective. When you focus on prioritizing the way you feel and think because food does trigger your mood, and you have a perspective of awareness and realize what food is doing to your body; it’s crazy. It took a health challenge [for me to get to that realization], but my goal is to encourage others to not wait until you’re diagnosed with an underlying health issue or wait until you’re 50 or 60. My goal is for people to see that they are deserving of feeling amazing and great. When you know what food does to your body, it’s almost like a lightbulb turns on. The only way that happens is when you start to take away certain foods. If you focus on how you feel, then you really start to have a relationship with your body and you start to have a relationship with yourself. Why do we have to tell everyone, ‘I love you,’ but you can’t tell yourself that you love you?

When you focus on how you felt when you stayed away from something or what made you feel great, you start to have a memory log of how food makes your body feel. This can help you unlock your wellness potential so that when you are in your 40s you’ll feel like you’re in your 20s. When my relationship with food changed, I started to love myself. That doesn’t mean that I don’t indulge, there are times when I will eat a red velvet cupcake or decadent food, but I definitely get back on track.

Her Agenda: Your second cookbook, The Quick Fix Kitchen is set to be released on September 28. When it comes to implementing recipes in your book and even on YouTube, what helps you determine which ones are so special that you must share them with the world?

Tia Mowry: I definitely have to say, it has to be practical. I want to inspire and encourage people to get in the kitchen and not see it as an overwhelming chore. This could be fun, entertaining, and a way to bond with your family. Why do we go out to eat dinner with our friends and family? Because it makes us feel good when everyone is sitting around together indulging in delicious food, sharing stories, and creating memories. I want people to feel like that’s tangible and something they can do too. When it comes to my meals, it has to be something that’s practical, doable, and not overwhelming. A lot of my sheet pan dinners and one-pot meals are the ones that are definitely going in the book. 

Also, flavor because it has to taste good. My son is really getting into food and cooking with mommy. Now that he is older, he is my taste tester. If he says, ‘Oh my gosh, Mom, I loved it,’ then it’s definitely going in the book.

Her Agenda: Your new homewares collection Spice by Tia Mowry launches soon. With your line, how do you aim to change the way that people eat?

Tia Mowry: Yes, wait, until you guys see this line! I’m so excited about it! With my line, it’s all about the experience. It’s about energy, having fun, and not feeling overwhelmed. The colors are vibrant, bright, and fun. I really wanted it to impersonate my personality in the kitchen and how much fun I have. And, again, it’s all about practicality. For example, in my line is a batter bowl that I really love. When you make batter for something like pancakes, you usually have batter left over. With this bowl, instead of pouring the batter into another dish that you have to eventually wash, I incorporated a lid on top so you can just store it into the refrigerator. A lot of the dishes have that practicality to them. I’m really into organization, so there are some great storage pieces.

[Editor’s note: This feature was originally published on August 9, 2021.]

I’m all about creating quick fixes for people who are in the kitchen. Whether they are new or have been cooking for a minute, I want to make sure that my line contains the essentials that you would need to get started.

Also, the cast iron skillet, which is my favorite and had to be a part of the line because you can create a one-pot dish. You can cook a lot of one-pot meals in them, throw them in the oven, and then your dish is made. We also have sheet pans for sheet tray dinners. What is important to me is the functionality of these pieces. I love design and love when you are able to take dishes straight from the stove and serve them with the pot. That way you are not making a mess and everything is easy. I also want it to have all of the essentials that one needs for the kitchen. I’m all about creating quick fixes for people who are in the kitchen. Whether they are new or have been cooking for a minute, I want to make sure that my line contains the essentials that you would need to get started. 

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. This feature was originally published on August 9, 2021.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Tia Mowry was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Gocha Hawkins is the owner and CEO of Gocha’s Restaurant Group, where she has developed an innovative interpretation of Southern Cuisine. Gocha has found a niche that pays homage to tradition and creativity with the goal of redefining breakfast. Gocha offers a menu featuring traditional flavors with contemporary favorites and gives each dish a story. 

As the face of Gocha’s Breakfast Bar, Gocha manages all aspects of the restaurant, from menu planning to guest engagement. Her passion for cooking and pursuit of excellence radiates during our conversation as she reveals what it takes to run her business in reality. Gocha’s culinary journey encompasses perseverance and ambition as she transitioned from her career as a successful entrepreneur in entertainment as an award-winning celebrity hairstylist to pursuing her passion for cooking. 

Gocha’s past work in the entertainment industry provides her with a meaningful sense of hospitality and nuanced opinions of the intersections of food, culture, and community. She expresses her belief that food can build community and her desire to cultivate space where guests can come to feel at home. 

In her culinary work, Gocha is generating not only success in the restaurant but she is also an inspiration for entrepreneurs. Her commitment to delicious cuisine and unique interpretations of breakfast are a powerful asset to the food industry. Gocha Hawkins is not only a chef, but also a culinary pioneer, expressing style in food and fully impacting the dining experience one plate at a time. 

Gocha spoke with Her Agenda on entrepreneurship, community engagement, and the importance of representation in food.  

Her Agenda: I feel like throughout your career, you’ve just been breaking barriers. You’ve had such a diverse career going from a celebrity hairstylist to an entrepreneur. What was that moment that you felt like you decided to break out and pursue all of these different ventures? 

Gocha Hawkins:  Well, I did hair for 30 years, and by doing hair, I learned a lot in the industry of cosmetology.

I never wanted to be that hairstylist—not to knock anybody else, but I never wanted to be 60 or 70 years old and still doing hair. I’ve always cooked for my family and my friends. They would come over, and we would eat, drink, and have a good time.

My friends [always told me that I] should open up a restaurant. I wanted to open a restaurant back in 2008, but then the market crashed. I moved to Atlanta in 2010.

I continued to do hair. In 2014, I moved to the southwest side of town. I was living in the Atlantic Station [area] when I first got here to Atlanta.

If you know anything about Atlanta and living in Atlanta, you have lots of opportunities, you have great food, and great shopping. But when I moved to the southwest side of town, there was nothing over there. So it was like I was having buyer’s remorse ‘like, what have I done?’ [when I first purchased my apartment]. [There’s also] a high influx of celebrities who lived [in that area]. And I just felt like it was such a disadvantage that they only had chain restaurants. I just thought it would be the perfect opportunity to open up a breakfast restaurant.

I did find a space in 2018, and in December 2018, I opened up a breakfast restaurant, and the rest was history. And now, four restaurants later, we’re still thriving. The community has embraced us with open arms. We have guests who come in and frequent us every single day. That speaks volumes to us, and it allows us to make sure that we’re delivering a five-star service every single day.

Her Agenda: How do you feel that you balance being a creative with the demand of running a full-fledged business?

Gocha Hawkins: It takes passion, it takes dedication, and it also takes perseverance because it’s not easy. I know it looks easy, but it’s not easy at all. You have to have the right team in place.

We filter people in and filter them right out. If they don’t fit, they don’t gel, we get them out because one bad apple can spread like cancer.

It’s really just about having a great team that you can rely on. Because I have so many businesses at this time, I have to make sure that these people are capable of helping me facilitate my vision. That’s just the key: having a great team.

Her Agenda: Besides making sure that the team is right and good to go, what do you think is one major lesson that you’ve learned that you’ve applied to your own life and your own business? 

Gocha Hawkins: Having service. Service is extremely important. There are a million restaurants. When people choose to spend their hard-earned working money with you, they choose you.

So by them choosing you, you are to deliver a five-star service. Service starts at the door, which starts at the host stand by greeting them and making them feel welcome. Make sure that when they walk in the door your team is pleasant, they’re inviting, they’re welcoming. Also making sure that they’re coming into a clean environment. Once they come into a clean environment, you want to make sure that the food is coming out, the drinks are coming out, and that it’s consistent, it’s quality, it’s up to par. [Even] the plate presentation, all of these things play a part in that five-star experience.

That five-star experience is going to grow your business. Those are the key elements for us, making sure that we’re delivering every single time. I always try to put myself in the guest’s space. You have to put yourself in that experience. And once you do that, you should be able to deliver.

Her Agenda: As someone who is so successful, what do you think are the most crucial elements right now for women who want to succeed in today’s entrepreneurial landscape?

Gocha Hawkins: Get an understanding. And once you get that understanding, you need to be passionate about it. I don’t feel like people should jump into doing a business just because they feel like it could be lucrative.

You need to understand all the dynamics that play a part in whatever it is that you’re trying to do. You just need to be passionate about it and understand that it’s not going to be easy, but it will be worth it. So you just have to understand that.

You might need funding or something like that [when you’re first starting out], and they might tell you no, but you can’t give up. That’s the way I got funding for my projects, it wasn’t easy. I got several no’s, but I made it happen.

So just know that people are going to say no. Don’t give up. Be persistent, keep going, and be passionate. 

Her Agenda: I was looking at your social media and you are always on the go. How do you prioritize your self-care and wellness while being on the go?

Gocha Hawkins: I love a massage. My wife tells me all the time that she would never sit in a massage parlor for 90 minutes, but I can’t go for less than 90 minutes.

Self-care is very important. I do Pilates. I love it. I meditate. I do steam rooms, saunas.

I love all that. Those are necessities for me. 

Her Agenda: With the multiple roles that you do hold besides self-care, how do you manage that pressure and keep yourself grounded in those moments as well?

Gocha Hawkins: Well, I go to counseling. That’s number one. And being in counseling has helped me with just the anxiety of doing too much.

Being able to do different breathing techniques and being able to love myself, to make sure that I’m not overwhelmed [helps]. Stress can cause all these different health effects. Being overwhelmed can really kill you. So once I understood that it was a game-changer for me.

Her Agenda: I mean, peeking on your Instagram as well, you built a successful personal brand. Your audience feels like they know you, they want to go on this journey with you. What would you say are the key elements of building an authentic and successful personal brand in today’s age?

Gocha Hawkins: I tell people to be yourself. It’s easier to sell yourself than trying to be something that you’re not. So for me, I’m just myself, I’m very open, honest, and upfront, and I say whatever I feel, whatever it is.

I try to make sure it comes out the right way, but I say exactly how I feel. And sometimes it doesn’t always come out the right way, even though I mean well, but that’s it. Just be yourself.

Her Agenda: When you’re trying to get in the zone, do you have a go to power outfit or go to song or anything that helps you say ‘okay, I’m ready. I can conquer the day I can do anything?’

Gocha Hawkins: ​​Well, my one song is Marvin Sapp’s ‘Never Would Have Made It.’ That is my favorite song.

Her Agenda: That’s a good one! 

Gocha Hawkins: ​​And I wear red when I want to feel powerful. 

Her Agenda: That’s a good one! 

Her Agenda: You’ve done hair, you’ve done TV, there’s so many different lanes that you’ve worked in. Do you have an idea of where you’re approaching for the future or things that you maybe want to explore that you haven’t explored yet?

Gocha Hawkins: Well, what I would like to do at some point is to be a consultant, just to continue to coach and lead people in this industry. Just start-up businesses, how to start, and just once you get in the business, things to look for, what to do, what to expect.

Some of these things are not even things that you can imagine expecting [or preparing for], but I would still like to be able to consult people on some of the unexpected things, too. I enjoy teaching and having these types of conversations, just making sure that we have equality. Those things are extremely important to me.
So if people want to listen and learn, I’m here to share.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Gocha Hawkins was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Rahiel Tesfamariam, a former Washington Post columnist, quickly learned that her career path would be anything but linear. Indeed, it has branched out into diverse roles, including social activist, journalist, international speaker, author, and public theologian. She’s also the founder of Urban Cusp, an online community fostering the power of change and global awareness. Rahiel has won various awards for her work in social justice and media from organizations, including the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Salute to Excellence Digital Media Award.   

Rahiel joined us to discuss her most recent book, Imagine Freedom: Transforming Pain into Political and Spiritual Power, and the cultural, political, and spiritual elements that led her down the path of becoming the author and activist she is today.

Rahiel joined us to talk about her most recent book Imagine Freedom: Transforming Pain into Political and Spiritual Power and the cultural, political, and spiritual elements that led her down the path of becoming the author and activist she is today. 

Her Agenda: I saw that you wrote the book Imagine Freedom. Can you tell us a little more about it and the inspiration behind it? 

Rahiel Tesfamariam: Imagine Freedom comes in the aftermath of the global pandemic. I started working on the proposal after, well, I started working on the proposal during the pandemic. And so initially, I thought I was [going to] write a book about trauma because of all the grief and trauma that Americans and people all over the world were enduring because of the pandemic. But I decided that trauma was not the place to end. And so I asked, what’s on the other side of trauma, and it was healing. And so I decided to write a book that intersects freedom and healing. And the book is about the Black liberation struggles, past, present, and future. What are some of the issues that we’re still facing?  What are things that we need to think more critically about?  [Considering things] like our relationship to Africa and their African freedom struggle. So it looks at the Black freedom struggle through the lens of a continuum of the past, present, and future because I believe that freedom is the intersection of all those things as well. Healing is as well.

Her Agenda: How can freedom be understood as a sustained collective healing journey in contrast to the American narrative of the individualistic hero’s journey? 

Rahiel Tesfamariam: There are a lot of ways in which I touch on this in the book. One is a lot of the self-blame that we place on ourselves for things that we don’t accomplish or things that are not going the way that we want. Looking at our shared struggle in this country, a lot of these issues are collective issues that are inflicted upon us because of racial disparity, socioeconomic disparities, and white supremacy. So, one, looking at our problems and suffering and pain as a collective struggle. And if our pain and suffering are collective, then surely our merging out of it has to be a collective endeavor as well. 

Her Agenda: In regards to capitalism, what do you think it means to be zombies and batteries in today’s capitalistic system? And how do you think we can break free as individuals from these types of boundaries placed upon us?  

Rahiel Tesfamariam: I use the metaphor of zombies as in the context of Fela Kuti’s song to talk about how we can become instruments of the state,  how we can mindlessly follow what the state wants us to do and not think critically and not think for ourselves about the way that we ourselves can perpetuate pain and trauma. So the book really calls on us to break free from the cycle of being zombies always looped into the American dream and the American search for more wealth and more comfort and more luxury. And then the notion of batteries is that there’s always the threat of burnout because we’re constantly trying to make more money and always pushing the standards of success. Then, we push ourselves to the brink of destruction by always thinking that what we’re doing is not enough. And so this is the loop for being zombies and batteries. And we come out of it, one, by acknowledging that we’re caught up in this loop, that we’re not simply trying to achieve because we think that’s the best thing for us, but we’re in a society engineered for us to think that all we should be doing every day is being productive. Part of it is understanding our worth independent of our productivity, that we can have value and our lives have meaning even if we’re not accomplishing something day to day. And that’s very hard for most Americans to believe that their lives have worth and value independent of being productive. 

Her Agenda: I know you touched on this a little bit as well, but maybe as an expansion, how do you think the brand of the US differs from the reality of its history and present identity in the world?

Rahiel Tesfamariam: Well, the US, of course, has always marketed itself as the epicenter of democracy and freedom, but it’s a long history of subjugation that’s tied to that. It’s a long history of alienation and isolation and figuring out who’s neighbor and who’s not neighbor. And so the idea that we’re all one when the reality is America does not acknowledge the contributions of immigrants does not acknowledge how instrumental diversity has been to the success of the country and how critical the role of slavery was to build up this nation.  And so it prides itself on a myth of almost perfectionism. We pride ourselves on being this perfect nation, but what that does is prevent us from being honest with ourselves about how much harm America has caused us and caused the rest of the world.

Her Agenda: How do you think the media has played a part in all of this? And how can it be used as a site of resistance for all oppressed groups?

Rahiel Tesfamariam: Well, I argue in the book that the media is a tool of white supremacy. The media perpetuates the goals, the vision, the ideals, the values, and the ideology of white supremacy through the images that we’re constantly fed, through the narratives that we’re fed, through the headlines, all of it feeds into the goals of white supremacy. And I call for greater grassroots and independent media. I call for Black press, basically media for us, by us. But we also need media that is for us and by us that does not perpetuate an agenda that is not in our best self-interest. 

Her Agenda: How does the concept of the American Dream keep people invested in capitalism? And why do you think there is a need to resist it through a commitment to collective dreaming? 

Rahiel Tesfamariam: The American dream makes people think that it’s in the best interest of the individual to pursue it. Of course, it’s in your best interest to get the house, to get the car, and all of this is in your best interest. But without a critical analysis of what can often happen to an individual constantly striving and striving endlessly to try to achieve these goals and living in a very competitive society where the benchmark is no longer even to be a millionaire, but now the benchmark is even for many now to be a billionaire. It’s gone from just a middle-class upbringing and a middle-class life to thinking that we’re not doing anything of value unless we’re multimillionaires and that the ultimate goal is being a billionaire. And so all of it is driven by this capitalistic notion of achievement, progress, and success, but it depletes us. It drains us. And we have to think more holistically about what our individual and collective goals for advancement look like. They may not look like consumption. They may not look like productivity by gaining more and consuming more. Collective dreaming may look like ensuring the well-being and the safety of everyone around us and ourselves. It may look like ensuring future generations don’t deal with capitalism in the same way that we deal with it. It may look like our men having more healthy conceptions of masculinity and our women not being fed lies about standards of beauty. Collective dreaming puts us on a very different pathway to freedom.

Her Agenda: What are the ideological and revolutionary Pan-African ties that bind Africa and Black America, and what is needed today to better shape our shared future?

Rahiel Tesfamariam: Black America and Africa have always been connected in their freedom struggle. We know this from the anti-colonial struggle and the intersection of that with the civil rights movement. There’s a lot of history about SNCC and its ties to Africa. There’s a lot of history about it. I write in my book about Dr. [Martin Luther] King and how he was influenced by pioneers like Kwame Nkrumah. And so a lot of the freedom fighters on the continent and in the United States were learning from each other. The African freedom fighters were learning about the civil rights movement, and the civil rights leaders were learning about the anti-colonial struggle in Africa, literally taking notes from each other and learning how to advance the local struggle based on what was happening overseas. Unfortunately, those same intersections are not made as much today. We don’t know as many of their freedom fighters’ names. We don’t know who they are. 

Her Agenda: And then, amidst the Ferguson uprising, you led the Not One Dime, a national economic boycott, now almost a decade ago. Why should the Ferguson uprising be seen as more than just a moment that passed, and how did it serve as a catalyst for the Black millennial movement? 

Rahiel Tesfamariam: Ferguson, in many ways, I believe, led to a shift in how a lot of Black millennial activists understood their role in this country and understood themselves in this country. It was a divergence from the civil rights movement, more conflict-driven and more antagonistic. It was the idea that respectability politics was not saving us, and we needed to find a more authentic, generationally relevant way to confront police brutality and state violence. And I think the remnants of that shift in thinking and tactics are with us today. You see a very defiant generation that just refuses to play nice. 

Her Agenda: How can revolutionary love transform our communities, and why is fiercely loving and protecting Black women essential to Black resistance?

Rahiel Tesfamariam: Well, that chapter begins by me talking about the violent removal of families, the violent disintegration that white supremacists understood how critical the family structure was to Black cohesion and Black power. And we should always take note of the tactics of our enemy and play offense and defense. I think that understanding how important the Black family structure is to our building of power and to our maintaining class solidarity [and] racial solidarity has a huge effect on us in many ways; and it has a multi-generational effect as well.

Part of that unity is tied to the love, respect, and care that is bestowed upon Black women. The Say Her Name movement was created to ensure that Black women’s names were lifted up in this fight against police brutality. And oftentimes, women are not understood to be victims of state violence in the same ways that men are. We don’t mourn them as long. We don’t know their names, or their stories as much. And so just as we should protect them nationally in these issues of police brutality, it’s the same way that Black women should be protected on the home front and intimately. The defense of Black women is critical in a world where, as Malcolm X argued, Black women are the most disrespected people in America, and if that is true, we need Black men to support us. 

Her Agenda: How are many individual and collective freedom struggles rooted in the quest for self-determination? What does this mean for the future of these movements? 

Rahiel Tesfamariam: Much of all these struggles are rooted in this desire to have autonomy, whether that’s political autonomy, economic autonomy, spiritual autonomy, every autonomy you can think of, is the desire to not have ourselves, our people, our children governed by somebody else’s will. And so that’s what it means when we say the power of the people. The people have to be able to exercise power, to govern themselves, [and] to decide what’s in their best interest. I think it’s important to recognize that self-determination is still a struggle. I think many may not use that word today and may think of it more so. A lot of people look at self-determination as a thing of the past, as part of the anti-colonial struggle. But self-determination is manifesting more and more every day in America when we talk about bodily autonomy when we talk about voter suppression. We’re talking about ways in which people who do not see the world the same way as us seek to control us. So it’s still, and not to even mention, the banning of books and controlling what can be taught in classrooms. It’s like we have to have the capacity to learn what we need to learn to be who we want to be and do what we want to do in the world. And if you can control our mind and our way of thinking, if you can control our bodies, then you control everything. So what we’re ultimately seeing is a power struggle. And this power struggle is affecting every inch of our lives. And until we understand it as a power struggle, we’ll see these issues as a one-off, but they’re not a one-off. I mean, the Supreme Court is a huge part of the fight to maintain our self-determination.

Her Agenda: What insight can you give to us about faith being an integral part of all of this? 

Rahiel Tesfamariam: In the Black freedom struggle in America, faith was integral to how freedom seekers sought to advance liberation efforts in this country. There was no true dividing line between faith and freedom. I mean, whether that was Harriet Tubman or Nat Turner, our icons often were driven by faith. And so I encourage this generation to not give up what I call their spiritual inheritance, that it’s not just about fighting for freedom, but it’s about the faith that compels us to believe that it’s possible to gain freedom. Because one of the most important questions I get from young people every day is, how do you maintain hope? How do you sustain hope? And faith is the substance of things hoped for, that evidence of things not seen. So faith is absolutely instrumental in our holding on to hope, and hope is what fuels us to continue the freedom struggle. So it’s important that we maintain hope through a lens of faith, but also being very critical about what kind of faith we have. And that’s why I wrote the chapter on decolonizing God, to ensure that our faith and spirituality is not an extension of our subjugation, because there are a lot of ways in which white supremacists have used faith to subjugate Black Americans throughout the centuries. And so we have to be very intentional so that our faith commitments do not intersect with the ways that white supremacy and capitalism are harming us. 

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Rahiel Tesfamariam was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Natasha Leath has known that she’s intuitive since she was six years old. Fast-forward to the present, and she’s a celebrity intuitive life strategist. She has the ability to sense exactly what’s going on in someone’s life from simply hearing their voice or taking one glance at them.

Now Natasha spends her time taking to social media, making talk show appearances, and helping clients one-on-one to help strategize how they can live their lives for the better from an intuitive point of view. Natasha sat down with us to not only talk about her origin story but also give insight into how she overcomes challenges, who she looks to for inspiration, and how you can shift your skills and passion into your very own business too. 

Her Agenda: Can you explain what intuitive life coaching is and how it’s different from normal life coaching? 

Natasha Leath: I have a gift to see things in your life ranging from your past, your present, as well as the possibility of your future. And I use my gifts to help people strategize their lives, because I know more than what lies on the surface. So this could be anywhere ranging from your health, your wealth, your career, your family, your friends, I literally know everything that’s going on in your life, even if you don’t tell me, I know, and I’m going to use that prophetic God-given intuitive information to give you structure and strategy to live the life that you really want you desire. 

Her Agenda: When did you know you were more open to intuition? How did you discover your gift? 

Natasha Leath: My family realized when I was as young as six years old that I had this gift. So I’ve literally had this gift my entire life. But it was when I met with my team lead, Brandon, who I met at Pace University where he was a student, and I was there to speak to the students about employment, engaging into the world…and I just stopped. And I ended up speaking to the students intuitively. I’m like, ‘you have this issue because your dad wants you in finance, and you’re doing this because your mom’….and they’re like, ‘Oh, my God, how did you know of these things?’ And so at the end of the class, Brandon, my team lead of 12 years, came up to me and said, ‘How did you do that?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I have a gift. And he goes, I want to work with you.’ And I said, ‘Oh, I don’t do this for a living. I just, I work for this company, and that’s it. I just have this gift.’ He goes, ‘You need to be doing this.’ And I gave him my number, and I said, ‘Call me in a year. Call me in a year, and we’ll see where we are.’ And so Brandon called me a year to the date that he met me and said, ‘Hi, this is Brandon Brathwaite from Pace University. How are you? Are you ready?’ And I said, ‘Oh, no, I’m still working for this company.’ He said, ‘Well, let’s get started.’ And here we are.

Her Agenda: What led you to wanting to do your own coaching business? I know there’s a bunch of different avenues you have gone through with your intuition. What really prompted you to go that way?  

Natasha Leath: So I want to say I absolutely love people. I think people are amazing. I see greatness in everyone. I’ve been that way since I was a kid. I used to get in trouble for doing too much for my friends. Because I am a giver. I’m naturally a giver. And so I know that God gave me this gift to use it to help people, and I felt like sitting behind a desk in corporate where I was [for] years…I walked away from that because I felt like I was doing a disservice to myself and the gift. So I said, ‘Why would you have this ability of walking in Starbucks and knowing about someone’s life, or sitting in an Uber and knowing about the driver’s life and not using this information to help them?’ And so I knew I had to make myself available to do that. I had no logo, no brand; I had nothing. All I had was a gift and Brandon and I built this, brick by brick, to literally change and save lives.

Her Agenda: What is the process like to create a safe space for your clients? 

Natasha Leath: Well, I always let people know off the bat, my gift is God-given. I’m not a psychic.  I’m not a medium. I don’t read tarot cards. Nothing against it, but that’s not my lane. I’m very clear that my gift came from God. So if people believe in God, then you’re going to believe in a prophetic gift that comes through me to give you a message. So I always start off my sessions with prayer. Before we speak, I will pray in front of you before we even speak, before I even open up my mouth. And once I speak to you, I give you the information. It’s information that you can’t deny. It’s things that are currently going on in your life, things that happened in your life, and things that you actually want to do, but you may not know how to do it. And so I have that information to give you intuitively, to give you that push that you need and the confirmation that you need to live the life that you want to live, the life that you deserve to live. And so people can feel my genuine care. You know, I genuinely care about people’s success and their happiness. The good news is I forget after I speak with someone, and within 24 hours, I forget the message anyway. So that’s the safe space. I don’t remember your business. So, between my genuine care and my not remembering, I think people feel safe in that.

Her Agenda: How do you handle situations where intuition might conflict with a client’s perspectives or don’t understand, you know what it is that you’re doing?

Natasha Leath: So I get I’m very specific in terms of my mission, right? It is what it is. I’m intuitive. I have a gift, and I use my intuitive ability to give you clarity and guidance and oftentimes, because I’m so relatable, it is literally like having a conversation with someone who’s your friend, who just has deeper insight about what’s going on with you. I’m a human being, just like you. I have this gift, and so if I give you information that only you would know, or only someone else would not know, you would want to trust the information that I’m giving you, and it comes from a caring place. So I think that is the difference between people meeting me, having the experience, I am something that you have to experience, because it’s different, it’s a different level. When I tap into your life and I give you a strategy. It is something that is undeniable.

Her Agenda: What are some specific tools, not only to tap into intuition, but maybe to also raise it up a little bit more when you meet with clients? 

Natasha Leath: So I pray a lot. There’s a song that I listen to by Donnie McClurkin called Speak To My Heart. And I listen to that song every morning. It’s about using your gift and having God speak to you and just using you and using your message. So I listen to music that really calms me. I pray a lot. At least four times a day, I have to keep myself grounded because I speak to 70 to 100 clients per week worldwide. So I’m constantly keeping myself grounded because it’s different people, different lives, different energies, that I need to keep together, and family time, speaking to my family and speaking to my friends, it keeps me grounded. It keeps me together. It brings me back when I feel like I’m doing way too much.

Her Agenda: What kind of results have your clients typically seen after working with you, either right away or maybe a couple of months down the line? 

Natasha Leath: It could range from right away, a couple of months, a couple of years. You know, there’s a large range contingent upon what’s going on in your life, but people have found the love of their lives. They’ve built multi-million dollar businesses. I work with a lot of celebrities in the industry as well. There are artists who have made albums based on the information I’ve given them. Grammys have received Grammys from people. Things that I’ve helped show health wise [has] saved lives, literally. I said, ‘hey, you need to go to the doctor. There’s an issue with your stomach.’ And they go to the doctor and find out they had stomach cancer. But they got it from stage one. If they didn’t get this information, who knows what would have happened? And so things that large, and every aspect I’ve saved marriages, you know, everything, literally everything. And I say that humbly.

Her Agenda: What other resources, such as books, courses, or even mentors, have been most influential in your journey? 

Natasha Leath: So my best friend, Shay Wood, is the business mogul here in New York City; she’s been my business mentor and pushing me to keep building the brand. Because, as you can imagine, this is very hard to deal with people’s lives on a daily basis. And sometimes I’m like, this is a lot. You’re questioning why I was even chosen. But she keeps me going. She’s like, you’re supposed to be doing this. And she helps me from a business perspective as well because it is a business, right? I’m using my time. I don’t charge for the gift. I charge for my time, and so she helps me, from a business perspective, my family, my siblings, they’re all an inspiration to me, to keep me going, because they understand my gifts. They’ve always understood my gift, and they’re proud of what I’m doing with my gift in terms of helping people, so I’m blessed with so many friends and family who support me and who backed me. To this day, I can honestly say that I’m very grateful for the support system that I have. So I can’t choose one specific but if I had to mention it would be Brandon for sure, my team lead, Shay, my bestie and my business mentor, Joi Gordon, former CEO of Dress For Success worldwide, and my family for sure. 

Her Agenda: How do you continue to develop your skills and then your coaching techniques?

Natasha Leath: Well, I’m looking to expand in terms of working more with corporations. I think that corporations can utilize my skills in terms of what I can give them from the inside perspective to help them grow and scale their business and operations. I want to focus on speaking engagements to make a larger impact, to get in front of a bigger audience and really connect with a larger group at a time, and to scale back a little bit on the one-on-one sessions. I would like to do television. That’s something that I would love to happen, and I will have a big feature coming out soon. But that’s really where I’m going with this: more radio, more reality television, and speaking engagements to have a bigger reach.

Her Agenda: What is some advice you would give to someone who’s maybe tapped into their own intuitive gifts themselves and may not know how to process that, ground themselves, or even just utilize it in daily life?

Natasha Leath: I tell people, it is tough. And you know, as my fellow intuitive sister, it’s tough. It’s a lot of responsibility to know things about people. It’s heavy, and you still want to live your own life and operate in your own life, right? So I would suggest giving yourself balance and giving yourself grace. Share what you want to share, and release what you want to release. You know, it has to be organic. It can’t be forced. You know, either it’s there, and you’re willing to use it, or it’s there, and you’re willing not to use it; it’s your choice because it’s your gift. I would say ground and pray because it could become overwhelming and a lot, and it could easily become depressing because so much is going on that you get consumed and lost, even in your own life, with having this gift and other people’s responsibility for their lives. So just grounding, really grounding, and using it when you want to, and how you want to use it. People say, how do you use this gift? I’m from New York City. I have great friends and a great family. I like to have fun, I like to turn up, and I have a gift, and I’m using it to help people. I don’t change who I am. This is who I am. And I’m a regular homegirl from New York with a gift, and I’m using it to help people. That’s it.

Her Agenda: Lastly, what is some advice you can give to someone who’s also working to shift their skills or passions into their own business or even coaching business?

Natasha Leath: Find what your niche is. Everybody’s a life coach. So I rebranded, by the way, so my title is celebrity intuitive life strategist. I’m no longer a life coach, right? Because I don’t need to coach you through your life. You have to coach yourself through your life. You have your own responsibilities, you have things you need to do, and if you don’t do the work, then it doesn’t get done. I can support you with the strategy. I can give you the strategy, the insight, and the things that you need to do, but you have to do it, and that’s why in my bio, it says I read your past, your present, and the possibility of your future because, at the end of the day, you have your own will. People need to coach themselves, but you can support someone by strategizing and giving insight and leaving the will up to them because if they really want to do it, they have to do it. 

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Natasha Leath was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Michelle Rankine never imagined she’d become a leader in the in-home care industry. With a PhD and a background in higher education and sports, her career took a turn when her brother suffered a life-changing car accident. This event opened her eyes to the world of caregiving and set her on a path to becoming a successful healthcare executive.

Today, Michelle owns three Right at Home franchise locations, collectively grossing millions over 10 years. Detailing her journey from a hesitant newcomer to a thriving entrepreneur in the caregiving field, Michelle shares her experiences navigating the challenges of the healthcare industry while scaling a business and her vision for expanding access to quality senior care. Her story showcases the power of seeing opportunity in unexpected places.

Her Agenda: Personal caregiving was never a path you planned on being in. How did your brother’s life changing car accident impact your decision to enter the in-home care industry?

Michelle Rankine: Being a resource and helping people has always been my passion. The accident brought light to a career that I never thought of as an option for myself. Although my family has a lot of nurses, I never looked at caregiving as a profession. In my family, you’re either a doctor, nurse or an attorney. That was the expectation. 

My brother and I met with the owner of an in-home care franchise that we were considering using. The owner explained with compassion for people and a willingness to learn, anyone can pursue a career in healthcare. I said to myself at that moment, ‘Yeah, I think I can do this.’ Looking back on it, that was a scary realization. I was scared, but I felt moved by the conversation to pursue the caregiving business further. It was a fearless movement for me, making the decision. I felt I was doing the right thing, and I know for sure now it was the right move. 

Her Agenda: What led you to choose franchising, and specifically Right at Home, as your way to make an impact in the caregiving field?

Michelle Rankine: I’ve always been adamant on wanting to pursue a franchise. When you do research and you look at businesses you must examine the success and failure rate. I knew I wanted a business that was going to provide me with the model. The success ratio with franchises is greater, and I felt that taking a new leap into something outside of the scope of higher education and sports that I knew well I’m going to need support. It was a no-brainer to make the decision to take this route for myself. When choosing a franchise, I prioritized extensive training and good culture. I asked two key questions:

1. Has the franchise been successful? 
2. What is their process? 

Right at Home stood out with their two-week training program, while others only offered a few days. With my first purchase being a resale, I wanted a thorough understanding of the business beforehand.

Her Agenda: Tell us about your journey running your first Right-at-Home franchise location to now owning three successful locations.

Michelle Rankine: Franchises provide coaches as you reach financial milestones. When you’re meeting those milestones, you’re put into a performance group. Those performance groups consist of 10 other owners that are evaluating our business. In addition to your corporate coach the mentors analyze whether your business is scaling and help you think through what’s next, in your business growth. Having the tailored education in the performance group allowed me to think about business differently. Now I am thinking about the territory next to me if it is open and strategizing on when and how I can purchase. 

My performance group and coach advised me to scale up, considering where I wanted the business to go. Right now, in my three territories, there’s over 250,000 seniors and I’m only serving 5%. With baby boomers aging, the potential for expansion is significant.

Her Agenda: What challenges did you face in providing care to Black kinless seniors – older adults without close family support – and how have you overcome them?

Michelle Rankine: Earlier on I didn’t identify myself as the owner, I had a lot of hesitation from the community as a whole. When I started my business, I was 29. Being younger serving seniors made navigating the industry difficult when trying to build clientele. Race also played a factor. I was always surprised when families were blatant about their preferences in the physical appearance of potential caregivers we assigned.

A family informed me that they preferred not to have caregivers with darker skin. Their reasoning was that it might be alarming for their mother when she wakes up. Instead they preferred someone who had a similar skin complexion to their mother. There’s a really good book by Malcolm Gladwell that talks about one of the issues of race, which is the idea of strangers. Having a caregiver in your home is similar to having a stranger in your home for the first time. 

I’m constantly reminding clients we’re an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on race, religion or anything for that matter. There is a common issue around trust and caregiving. As I’ve met with families that are needing care for their mother or father, individuals typically believe they can do it on their own. However, I emphasize that whoever we assign for each home is the perfect fit meeting the skill sets, location and personality requirements for the individual patient.

Her Agenda: What is the most significant lesson you’ve learned about yourself while scaling your business? 

Michelle Rankine: Patience. As an entrepreneur, you want rapid growth. I learned to be strategic and that it’s okay to fail. Every loss has been a learning opportunity.

Her Agenda: Your franchises have grossed millions in revenue. What strategies have been key to building a financially profitable business? 

Michelle Rankine: Knowing your numbers! When you’re going into franchising, it is important. There’s an expectation by the franchisor that you will be expected to meet. Always watching my gross margin and understanding my business helps me to reach the target market for my margin goals. To now be profitable and gross the revenue that the company has requires being strategic in the market that we’re serving. 

Her Agenda: Looking ahead, how do you plan on expanding your impact on senior healthcare access and quality?

Michelle Rankine: Continue solving for how to reach seniors earlier and make them aware of our services.That is the biggest thing. I believe there are a lot of seniors that need assistance, but minimal assistance. Right now, the next step is brainstorming on how we can leverage technology to meet that gap allowing us to start assisting in the home earlier. Seniors are aware that they may need physical therapy or rehab but the idea of caregiving is not something people want, because it is typically associated with a loss of independence. 

As a company we want to change the stigma, seniors should have independence and not fear that will be taken away. This has to start with education and that is where I want to begin focusing the business expansion wise in the next couple of years. Starting the conversations earlier and normalizing them too. People think caregiving is solely for seniors, and I always use myself as an example. I’ve needed caregiving twice for myself. 

When you have a LASIK procedure you need to have a caregiver to assist you. Typically doctors encourage you to get a family member or friend to help. I’m single, I live in Dallas, and my friends are not readily available to assist me.This barrier gave me an opportunity to share my services with the company completing my procedure. It’s not realistic to not provide caregiving services to patients who may be in need when family support is not an option.

Her Agenda: Do you have a quote you live by that inspires you throughout your entrepreneurship journey?
Michelle Rankine: It’s an African proverb, If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together. There’s no way I could have done this without the team that I have. It’s important to build a good team and good systems.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Michelle Rankine was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Rakia Reynolds is the Founder and Executive Officer of Skai Blue Media, a nontraditional communications agency that proudly hosts an eclectic group of storytellers, brand experts, and strategists. 

Rakia continues to be an influential thought leader in the creative business industry as she works with her team to launch, brand, re-brand, and revitalize lifestyle, technology, non-profit, and entrepreneurial clients. This list includes Airbnb, Nasdaq, Comcast/Xfinity, Dell, Serena Williams, Morgan Stanley, Jill Scott, and more. Rakia is recognized for her innovative approach and commitment to authenticity and has spoken at TEDx, SXSW, Inbound, and others. More than a keynote speaker, Rakia is often called upon to moderate panel discussions due to her in-depth knowledge of an extensive range of topics affecting the business community.

Her Agenda spoke with Rakia to discuss the road she took to create and grow Skai Blue Media, how her diverse professional background allows her to show up as an employer and leader at her company, and the advice she has for folks to dream big.

Her Agenda: So, the last time we spoke, you were just honored at the 2024 Matrix Awards. How has it felt to be honored in this way at such an esteemed level?

Rakia Reynolds: You know what? I don’t think it’s sunken in. So many people have contacted me and talked about how prestigious this award is. Other writers and media people that I know have been like, ‘Oh my gosh, I used to try to get into that room and get a seat and just be at the table, and the fact that you’ve won an award…’ 

I don’t know; it’s hard to answer. Maybe it just hasn’t even sunken in, or it’s because I’ve been doing the work [for so long] that I really don’t pay attention to the awards or how it all pans out.

Her Agenda: Before starting Skai Blue Media, you were [working] in the television industry as a producer, you were laid off, and you entered a space where you had to take the reins of your own career. What was starting over like for you?

Rakia Reynolds: I’ve always been able to pivot. Growing up, I never really fit into the mold of what everyone said. I was so used to saying, ‘Okay, that doesn’t work. Now, let me move on to that. That doesn’t work, I’ll move on to that.’ 

Earlier in my career, after grad school, I was a studying counseling psychologist. I was working with people who faced challenges around coping, specifically [coping with] their first year of college. So, how do [they] transition from being home all of the time and now [they’re] going to be in this foreign place? I had to work with students who were experiencing their first time with sexual assault, oppositional defiance disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, all of those things, you name it. I did that for about five years at Temple University in higher education. [After], I was actually recruited by a producer working on a show for MTV Networks, and started working on scripted dramas around My So Called Life and Degrassi High. That pivot from psychology to TV, to me, [was] more seamless because I think I’ve always innately been a producer, just someone that gets it done. I’m always researching, completely immersing myself in whatever industry I’m working in so that I can learn it, and then just go ahead and implement and execute. The world of production for me was essentially like working in higher education [where I produced] programs and activities for young people who were trying to cope or trying to transition out of their normal situations and habitats. All of those things were transferable skills. You can always center yourself around learning, receiving information, and listening to people so that you are better equipped to speak and be an expert. We have a lot of folks out here, now, that learn one thing off of YouTube or Tiktok and then [think] they’re an expert. I’ve interviewed people for social media positions, and I’m like, where’s your experience? And they’ll say, ‘Oh, well, I planned my own event, and it was really successful, and I did this social media and it went viral, and now I’m a social media expert.’ 

I believe in this slow cooker approach of putting all of the things in the crock pot and letting it sit and bake for a while. Studying psychology, human behavior, consumer behavior and being a studying, counseling psychologist for five years allowed me the patience, tenacity, and the wherewithall to get into the cutthroat world of being a producer. In those days, it was earlier before a ton of social media, where people could treat anyone badly. I was in environments where the crews were 65 people, and I was the only Black person [working as] a producer. I’ve had people reach out to me now, some of the craft service people, or the food people, or the janitor staff who were Black, or interns. [They’ll say], ‘I’m now an award-winning producer on HBO, or Showtime, or Starz. And I remember seeing you as the only Black producer, and I knew if that little Black girl named Rakia could do it, I could do it too.’ 

I’ve always had to make do. I’ve always had to be the person who’s going against the grain and swimming upstream. [I bounced] from counseling [and] studying psychology to then the world of production. [I got] into the world of magazines, which is also cutthroat, where I was producing fashion editorials for Lucky Magazine, guest editing for Marie Claire, writing think pieces for Forbes, all while being a married woman who’s a mother. I think I was on my third child when I started my company. I’ve always been in this place where I’ve had so many things on my plate.

Her Agenda: When you [first started] Skai Blue Media and had the first few ideas set out for it, what was your initial goal?

Rakia Reynolds: Originally, I started it as a production company to produce content for people who needed to be able to tell their stories, whether it was a college or university, who was faced with challenges of negative press, or they were trying to get more students to attend their universities. [Also], if a business improvement district was trying to get more businesses into the district, or [trying to get] people to a certain city, [that meant] doing destination marketing [to get] people to shop, live, and play in a certain city. So it started as a production company, and then I started to branch off into traditional public relations, event marketing, graphic designing websites, and then it became a full-service communications agency.

Her Agenda: That’s cool. As you were building the different services, was it as needed? What led to the expansion of it going from just a production company to now being a full service media and communications [agency]?

Rakia Reynolds: It was as needed; it was iterative. So I started it off as the production company, and then it was like, ‘Oh, we need an event.’ Then, I started getting into the world of crisis comms, which [stretched] me into more traditional PR. I was working with the city and a business improvement district that wanted to create content because they had some negative press around flash mobs and people breaking into stores. So, I created content, but then I started working with their city officials, their business improvement district officials, and board members to talk about not [facing] the negative pieces. Let’s be proactive and talk about the positive things and why people should be here. I was looking at things differently. When people were coming to me with one thing, I was like, ‘Well, how about this? Or how about that?’ It wasn’t so much what was needed. It was what I thought was needed.

Her Agenda: Starting out your career [in the psychology] space, going into production, going into the magazine industry, and working as an employee in all those spaces, what have you taken from those experiences that you apply to how you show up as an employer for Skai Blue Media?

Rakia Reynolds: I think it goes back to learning and listening. I’ve been leading teams and managing people for [a little over] 21 years now. I had to get trained in organizational development and get trained in organizational culture [and] conflict resolution. I’ve gotten so many conflict resolution certificates from higher education because I had to do so much of it. 

The first part of my career was really studying human behavior, why people make decisions, [and] why people say the things they say. It’s given me a level of empathy and a sense of attunement to really read the room, to say, ‘Okay, maybe that wasn’t a great thing to say.’ I’ve also had some terrible bosses in the world of entertainment and media. When I was working as a television producer, they didn’t care about you. They just wanted the work done. They didn’t care how you were feeling. Your eyeballs could be bleeding, and they’d be like, ‘Well, are we going to get this round of edits? Is it going to be cut?’ I hated being treated like a disposable commodity, and [I] vowed that when I started my own company, I would never treat people like that.

Her Agenda: [You represent] brands like Essence and Morgan Stanley, and people like Serena Williams, Jill Scott, and Marsai Martin. Did you imagine your clientele looking this way when you started out?

Rakia Reynolds: No, not at all. When I first started, I was working at an office in the city of Philadelphia. I never intended for it to be as big as it was. I thought I’d be a content person or working on films and doing things here and there. There [were] these twists and turns that I can see how my business shifted. The first one was because I had done all of this work in the city of Philadelphia [and] the first CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, asked someone, ‘Who’s doing all of this work in the city of Philadelphia by putting Philadelphia on the map?’ Someone [else said], ‘Oh, this woman Rakia Reynolds. She’s, like, part lobbyist, part communications person, [and] part content person. They couldn’t figure [it] out, and still can’t figure out what I do. But, [Travis] was like, ‘I just want to bring her in because I’m launching this ride-sharing tool,’ that we now know as Uber. ‘I’m launching this ride-sharing tool and would love for her to consult.’ So, [I] started working with Uber early on, and when that did really well in Philadelphia, I got to work on what they were doing in San Francisco and New York. Then, I got a call from HSN, and they were like, ‘Hey, we see all this work you’re doing.’ And then I got a call and they were like, ‘We want you to work with Serena Williams.’ After that, these top models were starting to see some of the work that I had done, and it was Ashley Graham.

One thing after another, people were just finding me. I never pitched the business, I never marketed the business, [and] I never talked about the business. In fact, I hid myself as the CEO of the company for so long and just said that I was the Director of Media. I wanted to do my own social experiment to see what it would be like if people thought I just worked for this company. So I did that, and it was just a snowball effect for many years, where someone was finding out about what we did and how we worked, and that’s really how the clientele grew. We’ve gotten calls from some of the top celebrities in the world inquiring about our services. Some of them have worked out, some of them haven’t, but it really has been this whirlwind of it happen[ing] on its own.

Her Agenda: What is something that you ask in that initial client meeting when you’re first meeting with people to get a sense of what kind of services they want from you and what kind of story they want to tell?

Rakia Reynolds: I ask people a lot of questions like, what do you think the story is? How do you think the story should be told? Are there any publications that you’ve seen as of late where stories are told and you wish, or you believe that it should be your story told instead? Are there any public figures out there right now [doing] something that [you think you] should be doing? Are there any pieces of press that are out there right now or any recent media stories that you’ve read where you felt like you could fit into the story? I ask a lot of questions. I ask them what their favorite headline would be if someone were to tell a story about them. I ask them a lot about themselves, their personal brand and how people perceive them. Typically, if someone comes to you, they already believe that they should be a person in the media. They already believe that they’re a person of note. So, if you believe you’re a person of note, what do you think that story is?

Her Agenda: [Authenticity is] definitely a thread and a theme that runs through Skai Blue Media. Outside of your commitment to authenticity, what else do you think sets Skai Blue Media apart from other media and communication firms out there?

Rakia Reynolds: This is going to sound cheesy, but I really do think it’s the part around honesty because we value trust, honesty, and sincerity. I really do think that’s it. Folks want people, whether they say it or not, they want people who are going to tell them the truth. They want people who are going to push against the grain and say, ‘Hey, you should think about it this way.’ We are [also] a very imaginative group, and because I come from this place where I had to start from the ground up, [and] be able to work without resources very early on, [it] caused me to be creative. [I] had to innovate and figure out different ways to solve problems and come up with different solutions. When you’re faced with adversity very early on, it causes your brain to think differently and for you to solve problems differently. Having to do that constantly gives us a different leg up and a different approach to our work.

Her Agenda: I read in a previous article that one of your favorite books [is] ‘A Wrinkle in Time,’ and a lesson that you learned from the book was to dream big. How do you apply this lesson to your everyday life now?

Rakia Reynolds: It really is dreaming big, [and] never settl[ing] for anything. We live in this world where we see so much, and we compare ourselves, and all of it [is] an illusion. People tell you what they want you to hear. You’re not really doing what you said you’re doing, and you’re not really who you say you are. I think everyone should come from this position of power, in this position of I can do anything [and] I can do all things. I should be able to create for myself. I should be able to think for myself. I should be able to create the unexpected and do the unimaginable.

Her Agenda: That’s incredible. Along with being a media boss you’re a wife, you’re a mother, and I think your online presence really showcases that well. People sometimes think that women can’t have both a fruitful career life and a fruitful love and a fruitful family life. What would be your advice to help folks break from this kind of limited thinking?

Rakia Reynolds: You know, I think that’s funny. I don’t think I have it all, but when you put it like that, I do. I am married, and I’ve been married for a really long time. I have three children who are happy and healthy, and here, as we like to say. Being able to have that kind of life affords me to be grateful and thankful for what is in front of me. I know that might sound cliche or trite, but I really do believe that you sometimes have to look at what’s in front of you and say, what are the things that I have, not what are the things that I don’t have. That’s how I look at them every day. Living in your power and being grateful for the things that are right in front of you, and not focusing on what you don’t have, that’s my constant and what keeps me going. 

Her Agenda: [Is there] anything else that you want to add or go into in regards to you as a founder, as a woman, and as you’re continuing to strive in your career?

Rakia Reynolds: One of the things that I am really keen on right now while the world is concentrating on artificial intelligence, I want to be in a space of ethical intelligence and human intelligence. I’ve done a lot of research around AI. I’ve actually been writing about AI since 2016-2017. My first article for Forbes was [about] creativity and AI and how people can use it. So where I am right now is really in this space of human intelligence and building around ethical intelligence. 

Her Agenda: What is your motto?Rakia Reynolds: At the company, from a business standpoint, we have values, and the one listed first is trust, authenticity, and transparency. Trust and integrity are close cousins. When I’ve had to do some deep, reflective thinking about how I take on clients or what kinds of people I hire, they have to operate from the space of trust, integrity, and authenticity. One of the things that we repeatedly say, or people say about folks at Skai Blue Media, is that we’re honest. One of our clients actually said [we] should be called truth serum because [we] take stories and pull out the real truth instead of massaging or trying to PR a story. It goes into our brand colors, too. I wear blue all the time. And Skai Blue, the blue represents trust, honesty, and authenticity. I studied consumer behavior and color psychology, and blue on the color wheel is the color of trust, honesty, and sincerity. So, for me, the motto is always along the lines of being honest whenever you can. I know we live in this world where you sometimes have to PR things and show up differently, but never sacrifice or compromise your own integrity to be anything other than you.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length, grammar, and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Rakia Reynolds was originally published on HerAgenda.com

In a seemingly uncertain world, Joy Marcus looks to the future with optimism. As co-founder and General Partner of The 98, an early-stage venture firm that invests in women-led technology businesses, and a lecturer at Princeton University’s School of Engineering, Joy is engaged in ongoing mentoring of the next generation of entrepreneurs, thinkers, and leaders. 

It’s through the process of sharing her decade’s worth of expertise with the next generation as they galvanize their vision for the future that Joy’s optimism is born. While her accomplishments as a venture capitalist and professor are significant, these are only the most recent. She received her law degree from New York University School of Law. She spent twenty-five years in digital media and commerce, launching and growing digital businesses for legacy companies like Conde Nast, Time Warner, MTV Networks, and more. Her presence as a changemaker and deal maker earned her recognition in the Digital Power 50 by The Hollywood Reporter and Forty Over Forty by Forbes. 

We had the opportunity to speak with Joy and hear her dispatches from the front lines of entrepreneurial innovation. 

Her Agenda: It seems impossible to pin you down into one box or introduce you as one single thing. I’d love to hear from you about what you do.

Joy Marcus: I appreciate that. If you’d asked me that five or six years ago, I would have said that I’m an expert in digital media. That’s really where I spent most of my career, culminating in a pretty big role at Conde Nast. Since then, I would say it’s almost my second career. The overarching thing that I do is mentor and support. That’s common to everything I do. I am very much a Princeton professor and I am very much a venture capitalist. And I think those two things really complement each other. 

In my role at Princeton, I spend time with brilliant young people, helping them along their potential entrepreneurial path. I teach an introductory course, so I’m putting in their minds this idea of perhaps being an entrepreneur and straying from what is the most conventional path for a Princeton graduate, which is advanced education of some kind and/or investment banking, consulting in those kinds of traditional jobs. So, part of my job is to help them think about another path potentially, or at least another step down the road, and to really open up their minds. What I get from them is far greater, which has helped me do the other part of my job, which is to predict the future. I basically stare down the future, 68 [students] every week, and they really are telling me what’s important to the future of humanity. Then I get to look at young companies run by brilliant young women who want to help shape that future and be part of that future. So the two things really go together extremely well. And I’m a better venture capitalist because I teach. And I’m a better teacher because I’m a venture capitalist. So they really fit hand in glove one with the other, and I’m very fortunate to have those two things working together in my life right now.

Her Agenda: The theme of stewarding the future is prominent. You used that phrase, encouraging them to consider other options and stray from the traditional path. Is that a value that you have held highly in your own life? What does that mean for you?

Joy Marcus: I wouldn’t call it a value. For me, it was always a desire to make things better, change things, and not live the status quo. I think you see that peppered through my career. The things that I chose to do, generally, even when I was at very large companies, were kind of at the edge of what the large company was doing. So, even back at MTV Networks, I was working on bringing MTV internationally. At Conde Nast, I worked on video. Conde, certainly at the time, was primarily print publications, and video was very different for them. So, I always like to be doing the new thing, challenging the future.

I think it’s spilled out in this next phase of my career, which is all about change, essentially just encouraging change and creating value through change. That’s what entrepreneurship is: it’s changing something that’s the status quo, either by creating something new or making something better and creating value. What we look for in companies that we choose is exactly that. Is this company going to create something new that will be of value?

However, so much of what venture really is is about teaching, mentoring, and supporting, just like my role at Princeton. With the firm that I founded with my partner, Lynda Clarizio, we are extremely active venture capitalists. We invest with a female lens, so we invest in gender-diverse teams. There needs to be a woman high up on the cap table in a non-investing position. So, an operating person who owns a big, big piece of the company, that is a woman, [needs to be in place] in order for us to invest, but we love gender diverse teams as well. 

Our firm belief is and the reason we founded the firm is because of this great discrepancy. Exclusively female-led firms only receive 2% of all venture capital. And that number has been consistent for the last 10 years. It’s an absolutely disgraceful number. The number gets a little bit better If you add a man to the mix, then it’s more like 12%. However, close to 88% of all venture capital invested goes to all-male teams, which is just a travesty. It’s not good for humanity to have the technology that we all rely on built almost exclusively by men. So that’s the reason we founded The 98.

We are extremely active investors. So yes, we give capital, but it goes far beyond that. We provide expertise, mentorship and networking and help our companies in a way that is atypical. 

Her Agenda: And it sounds like along with the expertise, there’s that element of relationship building.

Joy Marcus: Yes, we try to develop very strong relationships with our founding teams. And look, a venture capital relationship is usually quite long. Companies take a bit of time to exit, so it’s an important relationship in these people’s lives. It’s an important relationship for us, and we really work on it as we would on any relationship, but mostly, what we’re doing is we’re just trying to bring to bear that expertise we’ve gleaned that we’ve created as well.

Her Agenda: The thoroughness of the mission you’re serving really comes through. The idea of the expertise you’re bringing in and also looking to the future creates a meeting of these two different timelines.

Joy Marcus: Yes. My life is really about the future right now. It’s about teaching. I’m very fortunate to teach pretty brilliant young minds and then invest in the future and the brilliant young women and men that we invest in.

Her Agenda: I’m curious if you’re able to share anything about what that future looks like.

Joy Marcus: I can tell you that I’m super optimistic for a number of reasons. And it’s not so easy to be optimistic these days. There’s lots going on that would make one not feel that way. [But] I think we are raising a very self-knowing, fierce generation now. It’s like they are living their lives out loud. They are not afraid to state their opinions and to ask for help when it’s needed. And I think that is so different than my generation or even the generation in between. We were more reserved in our ability to express ourselves and in our ability to ask for help when needed. And I think this generation has no fear. So, I am super optimistic.

I also think they care a lot. And you know, if I had to say themes that come up both in my class and also in the companies that I meet, they really deeply care about the planet in a way that I find reassuring, and I think there is a fear that the planet is going to explode, and they don’t want that to happen. They think they’ve inherited this big mess from us, and which, to a certain degree, they have anger, but they’re going to do something about it.

I think there’s going to be a lot around being really protective of climate. I think there is going to be a lot around the protection of individual freedoms and choices. I think women, in particular, are going to be technologists in a number that we just haven’t really seen before. The image of who is a tech technologist who is a scientist is going to shift from the image we currently have, and I see that again in my work as a venture capitalist but also in my classes at Princeton. The world will be a better place when the technology is created by a more diverse group of people.

Her Agenda: Could you talk a little bit more about the implications when that image changes? 

Joy Marcus: I mean, I always think about like some very basic examples. I think about if Uber had been created by a woman or with a woman, would all the safety issues not [have] been pre-thought of? Or if Instagram had more women early on, would they have raised issues of what this kind of medium does to the image of young teenage girls? So I think that women in the mix just make things better and there’s all kinds of data around this. There’s data that shows that companies are more successful when they have diverse teams, and that women-led teams return better and faster. I mean, I can inundate you with data. So that’s all quantitative, and that’s great. And that’s what makes it a really good thesis for my investment firm. But there’s a qualitative part to it, too, which is I think the products will be less harmful, potentially.

Her Agenda: Given your experiences, what advice can you share with our readers?

Joy Marcus: I think there are opportunities out there at all levels now. There are all kinds of incubators and collectives. I think society is answering that call and that there are people who are there to help. I think that if you look, you will find it. I can tell you that if you’re a young woman, or an old woman, or any kind of woman starting something new, there are resources for you that are available for low cost or no cost that can help you get started.

Her Agenda: That ties back into what you said earlier about witnessing people not being afraid to ask for help.

Joy Marcus: I am very confident that this generation will do that. The economy in this country really runs on small businesses, so there are resources available to help people start these businesses. And [majority of those small businesses], they’re outside [what is considered] venture [backable]. The venture capital system is about, high, multiple returns, And those tend to be in tech and that’s where we invest. That’s our job. There are folks who invest in small businesses. There are support networks for those kinds of businesses. Venture capital is not the right one for that, I will tell you. It just isn’t because the returns are not as immediate and as high. But there are other resources for people like that and I highly encourage them to just look because they will find it.

Her Agenda: Thank you for making that connection. I think that’s really helpful for people to have in mind. And on that note, I’m curious if you have any other last thoughts that you wanted to share.

Joy Marcus: [Whether] you’re a small business owner or just starting a new business [that’s] not venture-backed, some of the same principles that I teach apply. First of all, you have to understand the market you’re going into, and you have to understand what the potential of the thing you’re creating is. If it’s so, so teeny, it may not be worth your time. So you need to recognize, is this worth my time? How big will this get? Is this going to have enough impact that I want to spend my time? A lot of people jump into things without really thinking about that in a very disciplined way, which I think would apply to anything you’re doing, whether it’s a bakery or sporting goods store [or a] bank company. Apply that discipline, it may be big enough for you, and that’s fine, but apply that discipline.

Then, I always teach my students that 99% of this is grit and resilience, and that applies at all levels of entrepreneurship. You’re gonna get whacked around a bit, and everyone does, and what differentiates those who succeed is the ability to pick themselves up and keep at it. And then finally to recognize when it’s really not working: the ability to say ‘You know what? This is not going well, it’s not going to go well, my time is better spent figuring out what I’m going to do next.’

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Joy Marcus was originally published on HerAgenda.com

One conversation with 30-year media industry veteran Michele Ghee, and you’ll know, simply from her vibrant tone and tenacity flowing through the phone, that she’s truly the transformational leader she’s been touted to be. In just a 27-minute interaction, there are convicting, affirming insights on faith, confidence, and purpose that will literally drive anyone toward self-reflection, assured boldness, and dynamic action. 

“I wrote my first book called ‘Strategic’ because people would look at me and say, ‘Oh, you’ve had advantages because you’re 5’10” and look a certain way.’ But oftentimes, I literally did not. They assumed I wasn’t intelligent. They assumed that I didn’t work for what I wanted. There were all these assumptions about being a woman,” Michele shared in an interview with Her Agenda. 

“And so, there is no way that you can serve God and stand in a room and not take up that gauntlet because it affects all of His people. And we were wonderfully made. There should be a whole bunch of us at the table because we are brilliant. We are strategic and we do understand operations and how to get things done.”

And you can’t be a transformational leader with results without having gone through a few divine transformations of your own. Michele tried her hand at diverse work experiences that all impacted the well-rounded leader she’d become. “In my 20s, I cleaned houses. I worked at a hotel. I worked for a janitorial company. I worked on a government base, and everyone said, ‘Don’t quit that job.’ People counted me out.”

She graduated from college at 31 and worked her way through a diverse career path that included building off early business lessons she’d learned as a youth working at her dad’s Oakland, California restaurant. 

“[My dad] would literally know everybody’s name. He would know their order, birthdate, if they were having challenges. He was, like, there at the restaurant and [their] therapist all in one. And I saw the power of that,” Michele said. “And then he worked for a little network called Soul Beat, but he would deliver food, and I would go on those runs with him sometimes.”

Her dad also worked for a car dealership, and she’d emulate her father’s gift of salesmanship and communications, observing how storytelling and good communication skills could not only lead to action to buy into a service or product but also connect communities. “You go through life, you’re seeing all the stories that are being projected. And I oftentimes [didn’t] hear the voice of: my crew, my family, my community, in a positive way. So, I knew I wanted to be in media.” 

She got the prime chance to hone in on her dreams of breaking into the industry via a program launched by the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC) that offered support, mentorship, and placement. From there, she thrived in roles where she could tap into intrapreneurship, even before going into business for herself. It all came full circle, allowing her to bridge that early hustle and grit with her corporate experience— working for or with powerhouses including CNN, The History Channel, Ebony and Jet, and BET—into succeeding in her current role as CEO of Expectant Media, a boutique Ad Tech and content agency.  

“I think the thread through all that, although I was an employee, it also allowed me an opportunity to be an entrepreneur, hence, launching CNN’s first multicultural effort, and then going to BET and launching BETHer and then going into Ebony and Jet and reviving that brand, and then to go into [The Grio run by] Byron Allen and [leading on] his multicultural efforts. And now I’m doing what I’m doing. It allowed me to not only work but be an entrepreneur, and I just love that opportunity to still be innovative, even though I was a corporate employee at the time.”

For Michele, realizing her own purpose and rocking heavily with hard work and self-actualization informs other acts of servant leadership. She’s written several self-empowerment books and speaks widely on topics including negotiation, business transformation, consumer acquisition, and engagement, empowering women to tap into their highest visionary potential, shake off fear, and maximize their multiple talents as she has done. 

Knowing how to embrace and learn from unique life experiences and confidently speak on what you offer the world (and the value of that offering) is another aspect of career fulfillment that’s vital for women professionals and executives. For Michele, it’s something she urges all to master doing—whether entrepreneurs, executives, junior professionals, or interns. “Those are skill sets that are valuable. They’re important [and] everyone should lean into them. And then, if you want to be crazy, like me, then you launch a whole business on the back of selling great stuff,” she added with a chuckle.

Expectant has done more than just “sell great stuff.” According to Forbes, the firm’s marketplace has almost 200 publishers, and its Ad Tech platform is the secret sauce within a winning strategic recipe that has led to the company’s success in optimized campaigns that push broader reach and boost engagement. 

Her commitment to service and leadership flows into her work at Expectant Media, a firm that she co-founded with two other amazing power women. The company leverages proprietary technology and authentic storytelling to amplify Black-owned media, producers, and the communities they serve around the world. It has established partnerships with initiatives and programs launched by Black women, including the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration, the Boss Network, and HBCU Honors, to name a few. 

“When I left Allen Media Group, someone sent me an article… Byron Allen had just quoted, it said, ‘If you want to make money, sell something,’ because how he made his first million dollars by creating content. But not only did he create it, he sold it. So, he owned the entire process. It resonated with me that I knew I was onto something when I was like, ‘You know what, I can go, and I don’t need to work for a network to sell something.’” 

Expectant Media recently celebrated its partnership with Black Girls Rock with an awards show that’s returning to TV on August 1 on Lifetime. She was also recently appointed chairwoman of PlayersTV, an athlete-owned media network.

She’s a huge advocate of women owning who they are, knowing what they stand for, and boldly leading authentically with the knowledge that they hold a powerful space in the market due to their unique talents and skills. “Every single person needs to understand that they’re also a brand, that they need to understand who they are, [and] that anytime they’re working for a company, they have a responsibility to sell something. Everyone is selling something. No matter what division you’re in, you’re creating something for somebody in that pipeline to sell something. And so you need to have that attitude.”

Michele balances motherhood, being a wife, and leading a thriving business, all while redefining what it means to be present and successful in each role. There are triumphs and challenges, as many ambitious women relate to and face. “You have to humble yourself through the entire process and get your hands dirty, and be willing to work like no other. The outcome, though, is you have an opportunity to build wealth, not only for yourself, [but] generationally for your family, and for the people that you serve, because I do serve the creators as their partnership liaison to take it to the marketplace and have brands give my Black creators money,” she said. “People have a vision of what being a CEO means—that journey and what that climate is like. It’s hard, and you’ve got to just get up every day and continue to do it. And sometimes there aren’t days off, and your family’s looking at you like your work is a priority, but you know what the outcome [is that] you’re trying to build and do.”

Michele emphasizes cultivating the right mindset that centers on gratitude, emotional intelligence, delegation, and resilience. “You’ve got to have a little bit of tough skin. Everything’s not personal. It’s not just against you. You can’t have that defeatist mentality. You’ve got to take ownership of work, your life, of everything.” 

She’s also a huge advocate of setting goals and creating a plan. “Because where there is preparation, there is success. People are like, ‘You’re a really great public speaker.’ Well, I practice and practice. I’m looking in the mirror. So I know through preparation— whether you’re playing a sport, speaking on a stage, or just trying to command the attention in a room— it’s about preparation. It’s about knowing what you want, it’s about setting goals, and going back and checking those.

Michele’s final sweet spot for success: Your village. “If you’re hanging around people that have to be the center of attention, if you’re hanging around people that are quietly preying [on] you because they’re always putting down your ideas or not encouraging you, or not holding you accountable or being honest, I can tell you 100%, you’re not going to be successful.”

Faith and humility sustain it all, allowing Michele to continue to reinvent, refocus, and renew her commitment to doing work that she loves and advocating for the clients and audiences she serves. “I don’t care what my title is or where I come from. I’m wonderfully made by my Creator, and He created me in excellence,” Michele added. “And so for me not to have confidence, I’m questioning who He created. I’ve had some crazy conversations with myself, like, ‘Come on, Michele, you know, you’re wonderful. You know, you’re amazing. When people have told me I’m not, when I didn’t get that promotion, when I wasn’t making enough money, when I went through bankruptcy in my 20s…And that is why I’ve leaned into my prayer life. That is why I’ve leaned into my faith and removed fear. Because without that, I honestly would not be able to do and be what I am today.”

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Michele Ghee was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Sometimes, symbolism is a clandestine way of revealing a purpose. With Esmeralda Baez, whose name means emerald, a gem symbolic of truth, love, and inspiration, it’s foreboding of all the accomplishments of the multihyphenate. This Afro-Latina renaissance woman does it all – from leading international business councils to running her own PR firm to being a two-time bestselling author. But behind her impressive resume lies a journey of resilience and reinvention.

Recovery from a health scare led to a personal and professional transformation, and since then, it’s led Esmeralda to center on her purpose, which includes sharing her story to provoke change in others. Read her story of resetting and rebooting life on her own terms.

Her Agenda: I know you have many different titles. What are you currently up to?

Esmeralda Baez: That’s a great question. I don’t have a specific title because I do a rare combination of things. One of the things I do is I’m the director of line affairs for Pacific Rim Business Council, which is based in California and it’s right now in about 48 countries. Outside of that, I’m also the project manager for North Star Group, which is pretty much Source Magazine. I’m the founder of Elite Vision Media, which is a PR firm based in New York where I specialize in Latin music and entertainment, but I have extended it now to also sports, beauty, lifestyle and other things as well. I’m also the creator of an annual women’s networking event that I call Women’s Trailblazer, which is pretty much to empower and support women who are in business or starting [a] business. Also, I’m part of the social, and economic team of experts for the United Nations and just recently became a two-time best-selling author.

Her Agenda: The first question that comes up after hearing all this is how do you make it all work with so many different things pulling you in different directions? What does it look like to manage all of these things? 

Esmeralda Baez: I think that having a very well-balanced lifestyle, I have a switch that I know when to turn it on and when to turn it off. So, how do I manage? I think by definitely knowing my purpose. I know that it sounds like it’s all over the place, but as much as it may seem like it’s a lot when you really like what you do, it never really feels like you’re working. I take everything, it’s like fun up to this point for me. 

Her Agenda: I know it wasn’t always like this for you. The health part was definitely something major that caused you to shift how you work. Talk to me about maintaining this shift, knowing that you didn’t always do it this way. 

Esmeralda Baez: I’m going to give you the whole story. I’m going to bring you back to 2018. Six years ago, I was doing a couple of things. I was a nanny, I was styling and working at a regular job in New York City. 

One morning, I went to the gym, and within probably 45 minutes of being in the gym, I started feeling a little weird, very tired, [I] couldn’t explain it. By the time I get to the office, I sit down with just partial numbness in my left arm, tension headache in the back of my head. I just told who was with me in the office, I think you should call 911 because I’m about to have a stroke. 

And that’s exactly what happened. 

On May 1 of, 2018, I actually had what they call a TIA (Transient ischemic attack, a stroke-like illness), because it wasn’t like a major stroke; I don’t have any long-term damages. But I did find out at that time that I have something called a brain aneurysm, which is something that a lot of people are not even aware of. 

It’s pretty much like a balloon in your brain, and if it bursts, you die. 

So, I have to pretty much live a very healthy lifestyle. I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke, I eat very healthy, I drink a lot of water, I meditate daily, I try my best to do detoxes once a week, I fast once a week for 24 hours where I don’t eat any food. Prior to that, I wouldn’t say that I had a crazy lifestyle but I would say that I wasn’t as selective. I never really put myself first. 

I didn’t understand the power of energy, [but] I became just more selective after that. I made major changes after that. This time around, I wanted to do things a little bit different. I became more appreciative of my time on earth and more appreciative of the people around me. It also was a time when I realized who my true friends were. Because they couldn’t really understand that I couldn’t be out as much anymore. They were just like, why aren’t you out? What’s going on? You’re not fun anymore, blah, blah, blah. And eventually those people had an expiration date.

Her Agenda: That makes so much sense. That’s just such an interesting story because we don’t think about health scares at such a young age. 

Esmeralda Baez: I feel like people don’t always talk about it, but I was 30 at the time. 

Her Agenda: Everybody feels very invincible at that age. 

Esmeralda Baez: Yeah, we do feel invincible. And you know what, in the book, [it] was my first time being open about that, being open about having a brain aneurysm, having a TIA (Transient ischemic attack). Then after that [I got] anxiety. 

The thought of having another TIA was just causing me so much anxiety. [I was] going to the therapist, to the psychologist, to the psychiatrist, and then [was] diagnosed with bipolarism. 

I’m like, okay, this is new to me. Now, I just don’t have an aneurysm. But on top of that, I’m also bipolar; what’s going on here? The book is not long. It’s only 85 pages. It’s titled: Reset and Reboot, Regaining Mindfulness. Because that’s what we should all do at some point: reset and reboot. I speak about the power of manifestation, the importance of detoxing every so often, going on retreats, and the power of self-care. And by self-care, I mean anything that you’d like to do, whether it’s to go and eat ice cream on your own take long baths or go shopping, whatever it is that makes you happy. I encourage people to do it at least once a week. 

It’s very important. Find a space in your home or wherever you are where you can actually speak to yourself. I’m big on affirmations. I speak of that in the book. 

Her Agenda: Are there any new realizations that you’ve had now that the book has been out a while? I know sometimes when you write things, you feel one way about them. And then when you go back and reread them, you’re like, oh, now I kind of feel this way about them. So, are there any new realizations that you have since you’ve written the book? 

Esmeralda Baez: Absolutely. I feel that that happens. I’ve been a reader my whole life. 

We are in a constant state of evolution. To be honest, when I wrote the book, I didn’t even know it was going to turn into a book. I was just pretty much doing my morning journal. I think I found my life purpose through the book. One of my life purposes is to share my journey of healing and self-discovery with others who may be feeling alone or lost. I want to continue using my voice to promote positivity, spread kindness.

Her Agenda: There was a quote from your book, and it says: to love who you are, you can’t hate the experiences that have shaped you. Make the decision to live more from intention than from habit. The goal is to grow so strong on the inside nothing on the outside can affect your inner wellness without your permission. I love quotes. I love affirmations. So when I saw this, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is a gem.’ The interesting part about this quote to me though, is that it says don’t let it affect you without your permission. So talk about that. Why is permission so important in those moments? 

Esmeralda Baez: One thing that I came to understand is that we allow people to treat us the way they do. No one can do anything without your permission. That goes from hanging out with people to traveling to doing anything. You have the power. 

That’s really what the quote is about. We are in a constant state of growing and learning. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t allow other people to have a say in the things that you want or in how you see yourself. 

Her Agenda: Do you have a favorite affirmation? 

Esmeralda Baez:  Oh my God. I have so many: I am beautiful. I love myself. I am confident. I am worthy of good health, joy, and peace. I am a magnet of success and attract my deepest desires. I am open to receiving unlimited prosperity, and I welcome love in all forms into my life. The universe is transforming my fears into faith and power. I am aligned with source energy. I am destined for greatness. I know my talents and accomplishments, what I have to offer, and what leads my life’s purpose. Never underestimate a woman who holds God’s hand. That’s one of the ones that I wrote, and I’ve said it so many times to myself that now it’s like, I can just say it in a meeting, you know? 

Within 30 days of you telling this thing to yourself, you’re going to start believing. Your subconscious is going to start believing this. 

I think the mind’s natural inclination is to be negative I have worked very hard to turn that into just being a very positive person. And the words of affirmation have truly helped. 

Her Agenda: Hearing all this advice, and understanding your story is so powerful. But for someone like you who has overcome, I feel like on the opposite side, there are so many women that are still stressed out, working themselves practically to death, etc. If you could just give one piece of advice to them to put them on their reset and reboot path, what would it be? 
Esmeralda Baez: It’s a hard thing because there are days that I still wake up and I’m lost. It’s completely normal to feel lost. But I would definitely say that what has helped me personally is trusting in the process, having faith, believing in myself, knowing that if you are a good person, good things will come eventually, being patient, and being kind to yourself.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Esmeralda Baez was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Melissa Dawn Simkins is the President and CEO of the Velvet Suite and Founder of The She-Suite. As described by Melissa, The She-Suite is ‘a global leadership and lifestyle platform that empowers women and their managers. It’s designed to address the persistent pipeline gap by providing a personal brand playbook for women at every stage of their careers: from launch to lead to legacy.’ 

As a wife, mom, and CEO, she’s found purpose in all aspects of her life and desires for women in today’s workforce to do the same. Most recently, The She-Suite released its inaugural ‘Why Women Stay‘ report to highlight the important reasons women decide to stay in the workforce and provide organizations with methods to create more sustainable and joyful careers for women. We had the opportunity to talk with Melissa and dive deeper into her purpose with The She-Suite and career-shifting insights from her report. 

Her Agenda: Who is Melissa Dawn Simkins? How would you describe yourself?

Melissa Dawn Simkins: I describe myself as a woman who is really in love with purpose. I’m someone who loves people. I love my family; I’m big on family. I love being a mom. I love being of service to the world by doing something that I feel is contributing to my purpose. I love working out. I’m a wife and a CEO, and I love my business, but I also love vacations, spas, Reese’s cups, and really funny videos on Instagram. I love all of those things. I’m always sending my friends funny videos on Instagram, and that’s a part of finding joy in everyday life because work can be heavy and life can be heavy. So yeah! That’s me. 

Her Agenda: You mentioned service. I’d love to hear your inspiration for starting The She-Suite and the impact it’s made so far. 

Melissa Dawn Simkins: I grew up in North Carolina. When I was about 14, Marian Wright Edelman, the founder of the Children’s Fund, wrote a book called ‘A Letter To My Children and Yours‘ and I remember in that book she said, ‘Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.’ So growing up in my community, I had a non-profit volunteer organization for my high school friends. It was something I did because I felt like it was instilled in me. Everything that I’ve done, I try to be mission-minded about it and make sure it makes an impact. The She-Suite came as an evolution from starting my business the Velvet Suite, the parent company. The whole genesis of Velvet Suite was around leadership innovation and how we redefine leaders. Most people who are experts will say only 10% of the world are born leaders. I never felt like I was ‘born to be a leader,’ but my whole passion and mission is ‘How do I expand the 10%? How do we show that leadership can be accessible to anyone?’ It comes down to how you think about yourself, your life, and your agency. Women became a part of Velvet Suite as I started to have more leadership-focused conversations with women, and they would mention all the things they’d love to do in their career but also have all these things they did in their lives, [having] passions outside of their corporate gig, and [feeling] torn/conflicted. So it became this passion of mine that evolved to help women and it was also helping me redefine my purpose beyond my career. The She-Suite was really birthed from my own challenge of defining my own ‘why’ and how to align my ‘why’ with my work and with my life. That was the genesis of The She-Suite. 

Her Agenda: How did you go from having the idea of The She-Suite to actually executing it?

Melissa Dawn Simkins: It was lots of [iterations]. Lots of brand names. Before there was She-Suite there was ‘Women in the Spotlight’ and before that, it was ‘Win like a Champion.’ The first She-Suite Summit was actually called ‘Me Unlimited.’ So, there were all of these iterations of trial and error. Creating something, seeing if it worked or fell flat, getting discouraged, and then convincing myself to try again. It began to take wind when I started to go to my lab (my little bedroom) and master my craft. I had moved to Virginia and I remember saying ‘I want to build an online platform and community’ because prior to getting married, I was traveling and doing my own thing. Then I got married and became a wife, mother, and now grandmother, and I can’t just get up and get on a plane every week. I had to do something different, so I went to the lab and started working on a curriculum that I felt was helping me and could help other women manage through work and wellbeing. I found a developer. We were up at 4 am for like three months just building this platform. Scripting my own content and getting on video to package this curriculum, and that’s where it started. Now we’re a decade later – the accelerator was #Metoo. #Metoo happened right after we launched, so all of a sudden, companies were focused on women, and now a little over a decade later, we’re in 29 countries. It was my baby project because at the time, I was trying to conceive, and I was not having success. So I was like, this is my project so when I do have a baby, I will be present with my child. 

Her Agenda: How does it feel to witness what your hard work and diligence have turned into and the number of people it’s impacted? 

Melissa Dawn Simkins: I have to step back and look. Especially at the Summit, I had to really step back and appreciate it. I get so busy and sometimes don’t realize that what I’m fussing about or stressed about is what I prayed for ten years ago. I remember when I used to pray ‘if I can just get ten people to show up,’ and now 800 people from around the world show up. You have to step back and appreciate it. So thank you for asking this because it’s so important to do that.  

Her Agenda: You hosted The She-Suite Summit on March 8, 2024. What are the biggest takeaways from your event? 

Melissa Dawn Simkins: The theme was ‘Your Next Chapter: Success on Your Terms.’ So, conversations were centered around navigating change and transition. In life, that’s always happening! There was a session on hellos and goodbyes to talk about how to say hello to something new and how to say goodbye when closing a chapter. We had a really powerful conversation about some of the hidden barriers for women in the workplace, which led us into the topic of the Queen B syndrome. A lot of women have experienced work cultures where other women don’t support them because they want to make sure you earned it like they earned it. Then, a virtual room of 700-800 people broke out into tables of six and had a chance to talk about the things that keep them from their purpose and what are strategies they wished organizations knew to help women move their purpose forward. Everyone had a mission-vision-purpose we call it the MVP playbook. They got the chance to workshop throughout the day, building out their next chapter and defining a 90-day plan. We had over $10,000 worth of giveaways. It was so nice to give away flowers, and everyone got a 90-day subscription to the Calm app. We also gave away a 4-day trip to a beautiful resort in California. So it was beautiful to lavish on women – show appreciation, recognition, and honor their time. If it were up to me, I would give away more tickets than we sell because this is a seed. There was so much greatness about Summit. 

Her Agenda: What do you think is the biggest mistake corporations are making when it comes to helping their women employees progress in their careers?

Melissa Dawn Simkins: They’re making a mistake by thinking all women are the same because we’re all very different. They’re making the mistake of not appreciating women can do a whole lot of things, but oftentimes, they are not fully actualized at work, and there are reasons for that. Number one: Women sometimes aren’t able to actualize their ‘why’ and how their ‘why’ fits into their work. Companies have to have the opportunity to understand insights around purpose for women better, help them accelerate their leadership their lifestyle, and sustain them because the burnout is real. People aren’t just burnt out because they’re overwhelmed. They’re burnt out because they’re not doing what fuels them.  

Her Agenda: How do you encourage women even to have the courage to speak up about their ‘why’ to their employer because communicating it confidently plays a big part too? 

Melissa Dawn Simkins: Everything in a relationship is trust. You build trust by consistency, authenticity, empathy, and time. A crisis most companies and institutions have is a trust crisis. So, individually – the company, the manager, and the director need to have trust and also have those key factors in place. It requires some foundation of trust to be in place for a conversation like this to happen. I think now more than ever, leadership is realizing they have to build these trusting relationships really understand their team members and who they are wholeheartedly. 

Her Agenda: Can you discuss more about the insights from the ‘Why Women Stay’ Report and why corporations should have plans in place to make women want to stay? 

Melissa Dawn Simkins: The ‘Why Women Stay’ Report was created because there’s a lot of conversation around women leaving their jobs, but we wanted to talk about what makes people feel connected to their work and why they choose to stay. Some of the insights I found eye-opening were that when women have a sense of purpose, they’re 3x more likely to stay because they really do feel connected to the work. For the women who have gone through our experience, which is a purpose-powered leadership accelerator, these women are significantly more likely to advance. Our big ‘why’ and mission is to reinvent the world of work for women in leadership specifically, and we focus on enterprises. That’s a huge mission that seems daunting to accomplish, but one of the things we see from organizations is that they’re mainly led by men, and women still do not often ascend to higher ranks of leadership. But if we’re seeing women more likely to advance and they’re tied into their ‘why’, which helps them sustain their career, then really we have a shot at changing the outcomes. 

Her Agenda: To the point on purpose, why do you think it’s important for corporations to have plans in place to help women want to stay at work? What value would corporations be missing out on if they don’t keep their women in the workforce?

Melissa Dawn Simkins: That’s a great question! If you look at the intent or the purpose of the business, it’s usually to do good in the world, but it’s also to make money. Ultimately, women globally contribute to 70-80% of the purchasing power. We are the number one influencer of purchases. So, just for the health of your business, would you ignore 80% of those who actually buy? You wouldn’t be able to sustain your company. So, not having women in the mix of the conversation to understand how to connect with them isn’t a smart business move. When you also think about women being the driver of family, children, and the community, it’s a pebble in a pond that has a lot of ripples. So when companies limit this to just a DEI initiative like something good they should do, it’s truly missing the bigger picture. 

Her Agenda: There’s been a lot of conversation related to DEI and corporate America. What are your thoughts? 

Melissa Dawn Simkins: I always said we are a leadership company, so we never prescribed the DEI trend. I think the real root of purpose is what defines our differences. So, when you look at purpose, purpose is universal. Purpose is truly the driver of what creates sustainable systemic change. It’s why we do what we do. If you’re truly an organization that values people, the math doesn’t math if you don’t value women. If your purpose is to be a place where you truly value the people and the outcomes of the impact of your company, then this is not a DEI conversation. We get caught up in the semantics of branding movements versus really owning the accountability for the change. Long story short, my take on DEI is that it’s going to be really telling about companies that are really purposed for their people. 

Her Agenda: Can you share more about your ‘Lead with Your Whole Life’ approach and how women in leadership can implement this into their personal and professional lives?

Melissa Dawn Simkins: This is tied to our mission and how we achieve this mission. This modern approach is called ‘Lead with Your Whole Life.’ It’s a lot easier to say in a tagline than it is to implement, but we really are going hard after that to accept that challenge. What it means is I am one woman, but I have many facets to me. If I lead each facet and take agency through purpose, then I am leading in my company, my home, and my church, I am leading when I go back to college –  I have the ability to take agency. Leadership is defined as an individual who has a compelling vision that other people will follow. So, I have to create a compelling vision to get my son to eat dinner right; I am leading even though we don’t think so. We have to own that mindset, and when we do, it empowers us to take agency over our lives and time. As women, we need to start seeing ourselves as leaders in every facet. We always make leadership decisions. It’s a strategy that empowers women to lead with their whole life. Our curriculum provides women the tools to do it, such as the MVP playbook, creating a career path, and envisioning what your career looks like. We have tools like ‘Your Perfect Day’ to outline what your time looks like in your day and where you slot the things that matter to you first.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Melissa Dawn Simkins was originally published on HerAgenda.com

“From love to loss to love again” is captioned on Regina Lawless’ Instagram page sharing her February engagement. What could easily be assumed by the caption is related to a personal relationship, but for Regina, author, entrepreneur, and former Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Meta’s Family of Apps, it means so much more. 

When her husband of 21 years suddenly passed away, the loss was the catalyst that led her to leave a 20+ year career in pursuit of healing.

Through her healing what she found was love. Not only through a partner but through releasing everything she knew to be true. Her journey led to writing the book, ‘Do You: A Journey of Success, Loss, and Learning to Live a More MeaningFULL Life‘ and creating Bossy & Blissful, a wellness community for Black women executives and entrepreneurs.

While the formal terminology centers around wellness with the goal in mind to help high-achieving Black women balance their hustle with healing — it’s easy to see that teaching women how to love themselves while working is foundational for Regina’s “second act” outside of corporate constraints. 

With entrepreneurship as her focus, her determination to seek peace, redefine success, and thrive is guided by the sentimental mantra that titles her book, “do you.” Hear her story in her words by reading our inspirational conversation below. 

Her Agenda: Thank you so much for joining me today. I know you have just a broad range of experience. Of course, the last thing you did in corporate was being Head of DEI at [Meta’s Family of Apps]. So I do want to get to that. First, I want to start at the beginning. I always think the why behind something is so important. So why HR for you? I’m a marketer. So to me, you came off as a marketer. So when I saw HR, I’m curious why? 

Regina Lawless: It’s so funny. I actually thought in the beginning maybe marketing or PR, so let me tell you how I got into HR. It was actually by accident. I graduated with a degree in communication studies so you’re spot on with that. I originally wanted to be a journalist. I have a minor in PR, so I thought about that. But it just so happened that only a couple of companies were recruiting from my small town. Well, Sacramento is not a small town, but it feels like that. I went to Sacramento State University, and it still feels very much like a small community up there [where] an insurance company came to recruit folks and then Target.

I love Target so I ended up deciding to go with them right out of college in their management training program. They gave me some options, do you want to work in guest services as a manager? And I like people, but not that much, not enough to deal with customer returns and complaints. I thought maybe the clothing, they call it soft lines area. Then they said what about HR? That clicked for me because I am a people person. It seemed interesting to get to know the HR function.I got in and I loved it. I stayed in HR for almost 20 years.

Her Agenda: HR and DEI is not the same thing, although they’re in the same area. Why the pivot? What made you want to do that part? 

Regina Lawless: I like to say that DEI is the culmination of all the experiences I’ve had in HR before that point, because at its core, DEI is about change management. It’s about strategy. You have to understand people and how the business works in those multiple parts of HR that you talked about. You have to know a little bit about recruiting talent, how talent is developed, how people are promoted, and how we assess performance so it was a gradual move for me over my career. I started as an HR generalist, and you get to touch on all the different functions of HR. 

That was a great training ground for me. Then I decided to get my Master’s degree in Organization Development, which is a form of change management. That interested me in how we get leaders to do things that scale around people. That introduced me to the concept of diversity because I was working with leaders. 

Around 2016, when I went into the tech industry, they were very interested in how we recruit more women. How do we recruit more people of color? I had a diversity champion reporting to me, and I was like, oh, I like this focus on trying to get more of us into this company. From there, I decided to specialize in leadership development.

I had a diversity component there because we were running programs for women’s leadership. Then a colleague of mine left there to be Head of DEI at Micron Technology, and she needed a strong number two, so that was my first full-time diversity role. I was a global director of DEI at Micron, and it felt like I had arrived. I was like, okay, this is everything I love about HR. It tapped into my passion for social justice. 

From a very young age, because of where I grew up, I was always aware of inequality. Something in me has always wanted to fight to make things fairer for other people.

Her Agenda: I feel like it wouldn’t be a good interview if I didn’t ask, how do you feel about where DEI is today? And just to give a little background on why I’m asking, we know that there has been a shift where it seemed more around the 2020 time period that people were going to put effort towards this initiative. And now it seems like people are kind of backtracking, especially in those very global and visible companies. 

We also know there’s been this attack on DEI, even from the entrepreneurial side, as far as the Fearless Fund being sued and things with affirmative action. So I’m saying all that to say, do you still believe in the world that we exist in today that there’s still a role for DEI? If so, how does it look knowing that all these different challenges exist? 

Regina Lawless: DEI has become like this hot potato issue. It’s interesting to see the pendulum swing in the other direction because you’re right, in 2020, that was like the heyday. 

We had finally gotten to a point where people were listening, they were willing to do the work, or at least some of the work, and educate themselves. And then, of course, after a couple of years, people’s attention shifted, particularly as we got out of lockdown and other things were happening in the world. I say all that to say we have a problem in DEI of people not having the focus and attention that they had in 2020 and 2021. 

We also have a very concerted, deliberate effort to try to demonize, undermine, and misinform around DEI. That poses a challenge for practitioners on how do you continue to move forward? I don’t know that I have a great answer to that other than we have to, because there is still so much work to be done. We can see the social movements right now that are happening and we’re going to regress if we don’t continue to move forward.

I think DEI practitioners have to get really creative in how [we’re] embedding what we know needs to be done, not in these necessarily flashy programs or initiatives, but [in everyday processes]. That’s [the] approach that we took at Meta—change the policies and practices around how we hire to make things more fair, and try to train managers to assess performance more equitably. 

Some of the DEI fundamentals go back to a sports analogy: blocking and tackling. My son used to play football, so I was like the mom on the sidelines trying to learn football. I liken that to this, I feel like DEI was in the Superbowl in 2020 and we had all the resources and all the attention and now we almost have to go back to the fundamentals and that basic blocking and tackling — that work isn’t sexy. But I think that’s the work that needs to be done, around the systems and processes, which many companies were trying to do, but I think it got almost co-opted and people wanted to do these very loud, performative things and not really do the work of changing the system. 

Her Agenda: I love the explanation of it all. And I think from the outside looking in, because again, I’m a marketer, that’s not my area, but we saw a lot of things and then it felt like it wasn’t very aligned with what we had all hoped for it to be. Now as more people have come out of these roles, it’s almost like the progress that we made was lost because so many people were hired, who are no longer with the company. 

Regina Lawless: Yes, myself included. I was one of those hires. Instagram created that role in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. There were a lot of us that got into that head of DEI seat or into DEI teams in that era. 

I think in some companies, the progress has slowed or come to a grinding halt, so that’s where we need to get creative. DEI is one of those things that it’s almost doomed to fail from the beginning because of the way it’s structured in a lot of companies. It’s one person or a handful of people who don’t have the resources and you’re trying to solve a problem that’s not yours to solve. 

Her Agenda: That segues to a good point though about just where you are. I know you’re not in that role anymore, but the reason that you’re not in that role is not particularly because of anything Meta-related. You had something personal happen to you, which was your husband passing away. So first, my condolences. With that being said the way I envisioned this part for you is almost a part two which included writing a book called “Do You,” and that it was anchored around the last text message that you received from your husband. Why was it so important to embed those words into what you were doing in this next period? 

Regina Lawless: I love that. People always ask me, where does the title come from? And I try to encourage them to A. read the book because if you get to the end, you’ll know exactly the full story. But you captured it. 

It was something [from]  my husband. The last text message from him said, ‘do you, babe, don’t worry about anything else.’ And I’ve come to live into that over the years. For so much of my life, and if you read the book, you’ll hear about this journey or you’ll read this journey of me constantly striving and chasing this success up the corporate ladder. That’s all that I knew. So many of us are taught the American dream is to get a good job, preferably a good corporate job, get the salary, then you can have all the things, the car, the house, the vacations, whatever the things are. But as you pointed out, I got there and I was like, is this it? And losing my husband just made that question even louder for me. 

Is this it? Is this what I’m supposed to be doing with my life? Is this what I want for myself? Through my grief journey, I came to realize I had gotten so far away from who I was and ‘doing me’ what I believe in, what I enjoy that I had lost. I’d lost myself. In the grief journey, I ended up finding this text message from him probably a year or so after he passed, it was actually in the course of writing this book. 

Her Agenda: Something I wrote down that you said in one of your previous interviews about this book is that it is the guide to being yourself. For millennial women or especially Black women. It feels very hard to show up and be yourself. In that interview, you said you were the queen of compartmentalization and that people would not know what was going on with you. But we know the impact that has on how we feel. All that to say, what is the advice that you would give someone today who’s still hoping to climb the career ladder? What advice would you have for them? 

Regina Lawless: I would say be very careful, and be very intentional about the company you choose to work for if you choose to work in service to a corporation or an organization. 

I was not intentional. Well, I take that back. I was intentional in taking roles that could grow my skills and could increase my salary. I was working on building a legacy. I grew up poor. I wanted to make sure that I had success that would help support me and my family. But I didn’t pay attention to the companies and the sacrifices that I had to make to conform and all of the extreme work hours and assignments. 

I would tell younger women, that you don’t have to put yourself through this extreme sacrifice, especially if what you really want to do is to be a truer version of yourself. If that is what you desire. I believe that’s what all of us should work towards. 

Try to find those environments that align with who you are. By the time I got to Instagram, that was a company that had much more freedom of expression. I had gotten to a point in my career where I just felt more comfortable in my skin and had gotten to a point where I had all the receipts, and all the credentials so who going to tell me I can’t show up with my head shaved on the side? 

But at the beginning of my career, I very much was trying to conform and fit into a very white male dominant culture in all of those companies. That would be my advice to be intentional and not try to put yourself in those extreme situations where you have to be a completely different version of yourself.

Her Agenda: Now that you’ve ventured into entrepreneurship, which is a 180 [degree-turn] from being in corporate, entrepreneurship comes with a whole other set of challenges. How does your previous work role play into the work that you do today as far as being an entrepreneur? 

Regina Lawless: There are a lot of crossovers and a lot of skills I learned in my corporate life that helped me today. One of those is knowing how to set a strategy and set goals. As a corporate leader, I had to either come up with a strategy or if we were given a strategy from leadership, figure out how to translate that into goals for me and my team to accomplish every quarter. 

I still use that approach to figure out, ok, what do I need to do and how am I going to get there? How am I going to get from A to Z? It also has taught me how to budget, and how to think about resources and revenue because I owned budgets as a corporate leader. That gives me a sense as an entrepreneur, even though I don’t have the same budget that I had. I wish I had the budget that I had in corporate. I wish I had all the people too. Sometimes I’m like, oh, like, where’s my admin assistant? Where are my peeps to help me out here? Because I’m doing it by myself right now. One thing that I’m doing now that I did a lot in corporate was training and workshops.

And then coaching. I use my experience working in corporate and being a corporate leader to help other women who are still in corporate. I see myself because I’ve walked that path, I can be a good coach and guide to others who are still struggling to find themselves and find meaning and purpose.

Her Agenda: With that, you named this business Bossy and Blissful. Why Blissful? Bossy, I got it right away because you’re a boss. You’re a DEI boss. You’re the boss of your life right now. I get it. Why blissful? 

Regina Lawless: Oh, I love that. For two reasons, I learned to be blissful again after my grief. For anyone who’s lost someone or gone through a deep period of sadness or just gone through something deep in their life, when you finally come out of it and find joy again, the joy is that much richer. For me, I am living my bliss. 

For folks who know me, like my former team at Meta one of my team members said, that’s so you like you are bossy and blissful. In many ways, the brand is an extension of my personality. There’s a toughness and a bossiness to me. 

I’m very driven, and very goal-oriented. I don’t play about my business, but there’s also a lightness and a joy and I don’t take myself too seriously. I think that balance is necessary. 

We spend too much time thinking about all this stuff in corporate. I like to say now those people will let you go tomorrow if they have to, so do not give all of your life force. If they decide tomorrow, they have to cut everybody. You are on that list. I say treat it with intention, go there and do what you’re supposed to do but also live a really big blissful life in the meantime. 

Her Agenda: If you had to offer one piece of advice to someone as far as being a career coach, what would you say to them that way that you feel will put them on the correct path? 

Regina Lawless: I would say find your sweet spot of what you’re really good at, your natural strengths, what you’re passionate about, and then what the need is. That could be the need in your organization. That could be a need in your community or in the market if you’re an entrepreneur. The sooner you find the intersection of those things, that is the path to career success. 

I found I spent too much time trying to work on the things that I wasn’t naturally good at or trying to emulate male leaders and contort myself to be a certain way. I’m never going to be the person that comes in a meeting and tells everybody what to do. That’s not how I operate. 

I am a relationship builder. I influence through relationships and collaboration. I like to leverage the talents of everybody to get the best outcome. I had to find that that was my strength. That’s what I would say. Find, figure out, and there are so many different assessments that you can figure out your natural strengths, but do that. 

Do what you’re strong at, what you love. Do that wholeheartedly. And sometimes it may feel like that’s not where the money is. But as someone who got the bag and then some, I will say that money isn’t all that there is. I left a very cushy, very nice executive job at Meta. I left a lot of money on the table, but I am happier than I’ve ever been. 

Her Agenda: What is your motto? So do you have one? 

Regina Lawless: Ooh, well, it’s gonna sound cliche, but ‘do you.’ And that’s why I feel like my purpose now is to help other people be the truest version of themselves, particularly Black women. 

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Regina Lawless was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Jay-Ann Lopez founded Black Girl Gamers (BGG), a community-powered business providing a safe space for Black women and non-binary individuals. Community-driven, BGG advocates for diversity and inclusion in gaming and amplifies Black women’s voices. The organization works with brands to promote equality for Black women through talent brokerage, career development, consulting, events, and content creation.

As a result of her contributions to leadership in the game industry and advocacy for Black women gamers, Jay-Ann received an Honorary Professorship at Norwich University of the Arts. She was featured in British Vogue as one of the top players changing the gaming and entertainment industry. The Institute of Digital Fashion named Jay-Ann one of the top 100 innovators of the year, and she also serves as a member and judge of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

The sought-after speaker has addressed diversity issues in gaming, entertainment, fashion, beauty, human resources, and marketing at prominent events such as E3, PAX East, Cannes Lion, EGX Rezzed, and Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit. In addition, Jay-Ann curates content and consults for brands such as Warner Bros., SEGA, Microsoft, Playstation, Maybelline, and YouTube. Publications like Black Enterprise, Revolt TV, BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, Afropunk, I-D, and Vogue have featured her work. In addition, she co-produces Gamer Girls Night In, a first-of-its-kind celebration of gaming, fashion, and beauty for women and non-binary individuals.

Her Agenda: Tell me about what Black Girl Gamers is and how it came to be.
Jay-Ann Lopez: Black Girl Gamers is a community-powered organization that specifically highlights and hopes to increase the equity of Black women in the gaming industry. It started in 2015 as a Facebook group. It came about because I was super ostracized from any other Black women who gamed around me. Most of my friends that gamed were men; some were white men, and some were exclusionary. The industry itself was very isolating and ostracizing when you’re a Black woman. So, I met some people online because I started my gaming channel, and they were Black women. I said, ‘Yo, I’m starting this Black girl gamers group. Do you want to join?’ So, they became some of the first community moderators of the group. It grew before COVID and during and is just the vocality of myself and the brand.

Her Agenda: As a community member, I have stayed in BGG because it is more inclusive than other Black-centric groups, especially in gaming.
Jay-Ann Lopez: We call out the industry for some of the issues we’re noticing when hiring Black women, Black representation in games, specifically Black women in games, and discrimination in the industry in general. Over time, we’ve grown and attracted partners, clients, and sponsors to create events to broker talent. So it can be for creating content to curate educational programs to heighten Black women’s equity in the industry and provide a kind of a pumping pipeline for Black women. So that’s what Black Girl Gamers is. We’re popular on different social media platforms. We have a community of around 10,000 people on Facebook, which is great, and we’re LGBTQIA+. We’re really trying to hone and create an intersectional Black woman and Black non-binary space that keeps gamers essentially safe. 

Her Agenda: What are some things you’re happy with regarding the [Black Girl Gamers] community?
Jay-Ann Lopez: We are currently changing up the Discord and some of the community experiences to make them better serve. One of the things I like is that people are quite forthcoming with their feedback so that we can act on it. We don’t know what we don’t know. So, we love to improve how we interact with the community year on year. One of my favorite things is watching, going, and reading through people’s introductions. Just seeing who’s who, where they come from, how they identify their experience, and seeing that this group has pulled so many different walks of life together.

When we hold our workshops, we see people attend and be invested in them. They don’t have to pay for it, and they feel they’ve got something that they can go to for their own good. It’s not like there’s a catch. We want to give you this to provide you with the skills and tools to change this industry. And they are connecting with friends. Some people have started becoming lifelong friends because of Black Girl Gamers. I like seeing those kinds of things from members.

Her Agenda: Can you explain a few types of workshops and how you can offer them for free?
Jay-Ann Lopez: They’re free because we choose them to be; we don’t charge our members. We only charge for workshop content if someone hasn’t signed up for the free workshop and misses it.

But in terms of the types of workshops we offer, we’ve just finished a workshop with Adobe Express. They provided all the attendees with a three-month subscription to Adobe Express to create their branding for their own content creations. We’ve had voice-acting, journalism, and music creation for games workshops. Our upcoming classes for the next eight weeks are in partnership with Anything World. They will teach how to create a game from scratch in Unreal. We like to touch on all the different areas of the gaming industry because we don’t want people to think that if they don’t get into coding or art, they can’t work in this industry.

We’ve also done workshops with Unity and the Meta mentorship program with people working in the augmented reality field. We want to offer and be that pipeline for Black women into the gaming industry, regardless of what kind of entry point they choose. We choose to make them free. That’s a conscious choice. 

Her Agenda: How do you pitch BGG in the industry to where you could make a difference?
Jay-Ann Lopez: It’s not easy; there’s no special formula. It’s just pitching ourselves; sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The industry still provides a lot of lip service regarding what they want to do with diversity. We work with partners whose ethos is the same as ours and who want to see long-term change in the gaming industry. We also work with companies that want to enter the gaming industry and don’t want to do so in a way that furthers the status quo. But there’s still a lot of pushback and drawbacks now regarding diversity in the gaming industry. The surface-level advocacy that came about after George Floyd’s death is seemingly being pulled back. What we do is not something where we say, ‘Yes, this is how we did it, and it’s complete. We’ve figured it out.’ No, the industry’s still in that space where we must navigate.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Jay-Ann Lopez was originally published on HerAgenda.com

“Doing it big” is a colloquial phrase often used to describe actions or behaviors that are grand, impressive, or done on a large scale. By that definition, Akira Armstrong does it big as the founder and CEO of Pretty BIG Movement, the first international full-figured dance company based in New York City.

Akira is a trailblazing Bronx native with skills that have taken her resume to the next level with credits including performing alongside artists like Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Lizzo, Salt-N-PEPA, SWV, Jennifer Hudson, Jasmine Sullivan, Daddy Yankee, Big Freedia, television performances on Lip Sync Battle, Black Girls Rock, and the 2019 MTV VMAs, and even a stint on Netflix’s Dance 100 dance competition show.  

While moving her feet to the beat is a passion, Akira’s purpose is bigger. Akira has made an impact beyond visibility. Her purpose is to encourage body positivity and inclusion through her love of teaching and choreographing. From her middle school students to her apprenticeship intensive dance training program geared to cultivate non-professional full-figured and plus-sized women and men to prepare for mainstream media platforms, Akira has created a no-judgment zone and safe space for women and men of all sizes to embrace their love of dance.

In early January 2022, a monumental announcement showed that after 15 years of work, Akira had arrived. Tina Mabry, writer, director, and producer with credits from Queen Sugar, Queen of the South and Pose, signed on with Warner Bros. for HBO Max and John Legend’s Get Lifted Film Company along with MACRO to tell Akira’s story. It’s the story of rising over rejection in Hollywood to build a dance company that would defy stereotypes for years to come. 

Ahead of Akira’s shift to focus on her movie and next steps with Pretty BIG movement, Her Agenda spoke with her about motivation, momentum, and motherhood in her nearly two-decade career.

Her Agenda: I know you are from the Bronx. How do you think growing up in the Bronx influenced your journey? 

Akira Armstrong: First and foremost, my style and how I dress is very Bronx ‘90s chick, even at the age that I’m at. Growing up, my mom was very influential in how me and my brother presented ourselves so that plays a huge part in my personality. And it plays a huge part in my company, Pretty BIG Movement. I’m colorful every day. Even at this big age that I’m at, it’s always going to be color. I was [also] impacted by music. Of course, ‘90s hip hop and ‘90s R&B play a huge part in my aesthetic and how I style who I am. 

Her Agenda: There was no shortage of information to find about all the stuff that you did. Of course, the thing that probably stands out the most is working with “the” Beyoncé. Talk about what your experience was like working with Beyoncé, not once but a few times. 

Akira Armstrong: I’ve only worked with her twice, back in 2007. I’m going to say the year, because it’s important that I mention a year because in 2007 plus size women weren’t really being recognized. I auditioned for [Beyoncé’s] world tour at City Center in New York City and unfortunately, I didn’t get the opportunity to be on her tour, but I did get the opportunity to be in two music videos at the time when [Beyoncé] was creating the project B’Day. The album where she did like seven videos in one week. 

So I was a part of that history, and working with her, I noticed that she never complained. She’s a hard worker. She literally sat in rehearsal for like 16 hours and never got up to use the bathroom. ‘It was like, does she even go to the bathroom?’ She’s just so tuned in and so locked into what she’s doing. I respect [Beyoncé] as an artist because she’s so locked in and she wants to see every part. We had to wear heels in rehearsal. Nobody could wear [just] socks and sneakers. I even recall losing like 10 pounds that week because we were in rigorous rehearsals for this project that she wanted to put out.

Overall, I respect [Beyoncé] as an artist and what she brings to the commercial world. What she exemplifies and what she exuded in rehearsal was there’s no complaining. You work hard, you get the job done and you stay consistent. And that’s how you see results.

Her Agenda: I love it. I love it. So of course, one of the things that stands out about your work is how you’ve worked to reshape beauty standards in the entertainment industry. The reason I want to ask you a question about this is because there is not a big push for you in your work to lose weight or any of that kind of stuff. It’s all about dancing and having fun. What is it that made you want to really focus in on more of the inclusivity and a self-acceptance part rather than losing weight or trying to transform yourself? 

Akira Armstrong: Initially when I came up with Pretty BIG, it was because I was being rejected. I wanted to get representation, so I thought to myself, I know [there] has to be other plus-size women out here who share the same plight as me who want to be seen, who want to be heard, and who want to be respected for what they do as an artist.

When I left LA after the Beyoncé videos, I had to figure out what I wanted to do. I graduated from college and dance was something that I wanted to do, but nobody was trying to see the big girl. Nobody was trying to see us.

I took some time off and I got into makeup and I started working with Salt-N-Pepa as a makeup artist for about three years, as their personal makeup artist. But within that, I still kept true to who I was and wanted to prevail with Pretty BIG movement. I did this gig for Full Figured Fashion Week with a couple of girls. I didn’t know who they were, but we all were plus size, and we were all here for the same common goal, so I said, you know, I’m starting this dance company, this is my vision. Would you like to be a part of it? And they all agreed.

At that time, I think it was maybe six of us. We used to rehearse in 135th Street Hall and YMCA. The reason I made it exclusive to just plus size was because there was no space for us. There was no platform for us. Nobody was giving us the opportunity to dance at award shows or go into the Grammys or none of that was even an inkling in anybody’s mind, in my opinion.

I took it upon myself to create my own lane— plain and simple. 

Her Agenda: Obviously it’s worked really well. Something you talked about that I think is really interesting is how you decided to embrace community and say I know I’m not the only person experiencing it. I feel like sometimes that’s a little bit hard for people to do, like to talk to other people about these shared experiences, especially involving rejection. What made you comfortable enough to be able to reach out to someone and share?

Akira Armstrong: What made me comfortable is my confidence because people would expect someone of a certain aesthetic to have low self-esteem.

I didn’t. 

I mean, of course, as an adolescent, I dealt with body image issues being a dance major at a professional performing arts high school and things of that nature. But my confidence came from my mom. It came from certain particular women that my mom had in her life that will remind me and reassure me that you’re beautiful, you’re talented. Keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t stop. Don’t give up on your dreams. Just as cliche as those affirmations may sound, it’s very true because it becomes embedded in your spirit and that’s what it did for me. I think my confidence is what kept me in the game. 

Her Agenda: That’s a good segue because I know you have danced for a long time. I’m curious how did you keep the passion going when you knew all of these different things were happening? Career setbacks in any form are miserable to anyone so how did you kind of keep that passion? Outside of confidence, was there anything else where you feel like you just had to lean into that to keep going? 

Akira Armstrong: My mom got sick in 2014. She had a stroke and a brain aneurysm. During this time, Pretty BIG was literally at the height. We were doing America’s Got Talent, and my mom was in the hospital. So I’m on stage dancing and doing what I do and what I love because it’s my passion and I knew that if I was to stop, if anything was to happen to my mom, she would not want me to stop doing what I’m doing, which is dance and performing, which is my passion. 

What I will say is that if it wasn’t for dance, I don’t know where I’d be. As an educator, I teach dance. I teach at a charter school during the day and then I run my business. Everything is dance for me. No matter what dance has been a part of my life. It’s what I am. It’s what I walk with, what I breathe, what I think about, you know, it’s just dance. It’s just what it is for me.

Her Agenda: Talk about teaching. Teaching is always something that people talk about from a very noble perspective. But I also know teaching can be challenging. I’m the daughter of an educator and it can be hard. So talk about your experience teaching and how you keep the mission in harmony with what you do on a day-to-day basis.

Akria Armstrong: Okay, so this is a good question because, in 2023, this generation has the attention span of five seconds. I teach fifth to eighth grade, that’s those ages where they think they know it all. They’re going to try you, they’re trying to find themselves. It’s a whole bunch of things going on at those ages. I use my platform Pretty BIG and the artists and the celebrities that I’ve worked with to kind of reel them in. I think that makes me relatable to my students. Now it’s like, oh, Ms. Kira did this, Ms. Kira did that. [And it also shows them that dance] can be a career. You can take this seriously. Dance is not just an extracurricular activity. This can be something that you can mobilize into your life. Once I get them in, I can teach them. These are things that I had to do to get to that point. You need to do ballet. You need to do modern.

You need to do West African. You need to know your dance terminologies. You need to know your stage directions. [A big part of] teaching the kids is reminding them that it’s not all about the twerking. It’s not all about the glitz and the glamor. It’s a process. It’s a process that you have to go through. I enjoy being an educator. It keeps me on my toes. 

Her Agenda: I’m sure kids eat that up because I would eat that up. I was a dancer growing up and I was like, oh my God, you work with Beyoncé? I get it. Something else I think would excite me is the movie. Like, oh my God, you have a whole movie coming out about you. 

Akira Armstrong: I think it’s been about three years now [and] we’re still at its beginning stages. The strike put a real damper on where we were going with the project and things of that nature. But it’s still happening. It takes time.

That came about simply because of the work and the consistency that Pretty BIG Movement has been putting in and the power of the internet, the power of going viral and the power of networking, and then the power of meeting people and building relationships with people. That’s how the movie came about. To be transparent with you, it was a bidding war and once it was a bidding war, I said, Akira, you can’t give up on this.

Obviously, not that I’m doubting my brand, but you know, the pandemic shifted a lot for us as creators and what we do in our art. It made some people give up or made some people go harder or [made] some people rethink and revamp their businesses. It uplifted you to either get your [ish] together or gracefully bow out and figure out what the next chapter is in your life. For me, when the movie [opportunity] came around, it came in the middle of the pandemic. And that’s when I was like, Okay God.

I have to keep doing this. So we went with Warner Brothers and teamed up with John Legend’s production company called Get Lifted and MACRO. 

To me was a testament to the work that not only myself, but also the women who have come into the space of Pretty BIG Movement, whether they’re still here or they transitioned and did other things and left the company, it’s a reminder that I have something valuable. It’s something that’s a legacy for my son. It’s a legacy for the little girl who’s home, who’s being bullied at school because of her weight, because of the way she looks. I’m praying that this movie is not only empowering, but it’s impactful to the spirit of the young girl and the young boy who may feel like they’re not good enough to be exactly who they were born to be. 

Her Agenda: I think that’s so true. I think we always need more of that. So my next question is about your participation in Netflix’s Dance 100. I’m not a big Netflix girl so when I was reading your experience about this, I felt like it was kind of 50-50. The way I viewed it was partially positive, of course, because of visibility, but it was partially negative because of what happened with the voting. So how do you feel the experience was?

Akira Armstrong: My experience with the Dance 100 Netflix series, I’m gonna be honest. I enjoyed the people I met. The experience was a little challenging in the sense of having to work with teenagers. At the time when the project was presented, I was in my thirties but I just felt like I had outgrown that season of my life. I enjoyed meeting beautiful people in the UK working with hair and makeup and working with my competitors. Even though we were all competing, the eight choreographers that got chosen to lead the show, we all got along. We all respected each other. They wanted beef, but there was no beef to create amongst us because we all literally, genuinely liked each other.

The issue wasn’t us, the choreographers, the issues were the dancers who were making the final decisions on whether or not as a choreographer, you stay or you go. The concept was okay, but when you’re talking to 19-year-olds and 20-year-olds, they want to be fed in a different way, they’re not going to understand my process of how I go about choreography, the development of my choreography, the vision that I have. Some people just don’t understand the vision or understand you as a choreographer.

I think that’s why I was eliminated first, which I already knew I was going to be eliminated because number one, just in terms of age [and] process of developing choreography. Like I said, they didn’t get it. 

Overall, I’m glad I did it because it pushed me. It really pushed me and my artistry to another level. Will I do it again? No, but I’m glad I did do it because I learned a lot about myself.

Her Agenda: So my last two questions are more about you and development. So the first one, which is so funny, you have your baby on camera with you, but it’s about being a mom. I’m a newer mom and when I talk to people that are moms, I kind of do this selfishly. I always ask what do you envision your motherhood experience looking like, especially because you are what’s considered a working mom? How do you think you will maintain harmony as a working mom? 

Akira Armstrong: Hmm. Whoo. All right. How I maintain harmony as a working mom is by giving myself grace. I am very much a perfectionist in a sense, but I’m unorganized, if that makes sense. 

Motherhood and I’m gonna be honest, I just started enjoying motherhood. In the beginning, I went through postpartum. I went through a lot that I did not expect. When you’re a little girl, you’re like, one day I’m going to be a mom and it’s going to be flowers. And it’s like, oh, no, it is not. I think a lot of things people don’t mention, especially as Black women and postpartum within Black women, because it’s very different. I’m not making this a race thing, but it is very different. I struggled a lot in the very beginning. 

I had a C-section. And so, that healing process, if you are familiar with it, it’s…if you don’t have your village if you don’t have support, [it’s a challenge]  Did I enjoy pregnancy? No. I didn’t like it. I didn’t enjoy pregnancy and people ask me— no, I didn’t enjoy it. Do I love my son dearly? Am I happy that he’s here? Yes. Am I grateful God gave me a boy, not a girl? Yes. Like I wanted a girl so bad, but I got a boy and I love him. Oh, my God. I’m so happy, like I’m enjoying it. I’m understanding what it is now because I didn’t understand it in the beginning. I love it. I love being a mom. The tireless nights. I’m exhausted talking to you now, but I have a supportive partner. His dad is very hands-on so I’m grateful for that.

Her Agenda: The last question is simply — what’s next? I want to precursor this question before you answer because sometimes when you ask people what’s next, it’s almost like prodding them to say the next project or the next thing. I’m just curious, what do you feel like is next for you? What’s next for Akira Armstrong? 

Akira Armstrong: Well, of course, I am a mother and will forever be a mom. Raising my son to be the best Black young man that he could possibly be. I want to travel more with him. I want to expose him to things, culture, and as much as I possibly can while I have breath in my body. Pretty BIG Movement is preparing for its first honorary dance showcase, which will be on Saturday, January 27th, 2024. It’s my first time ever putting on a show with the headline of my company, Pretty BIG Movement, so I’m excited and nervous. The only thing that makes me sad is that I’m not partaking in it as a dancer because I just don’t have time to go to rehearsals.

I have great women in positions that have been holding down the company and moving it forward and doing all the things that need to be done for us to have a successful show. Then also relaunching, and revamping my website and launching our e-commerce online Pretty BIG apparel store. Then the movie, getting ready to gear up for that and revisit that project because it’s necessary. And I’m going to keep speaking positively over that project because it needs to happen. That’s pretty much it for me. 

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Akira Armstrong was originally published on HerAgenda.com

With 50 years of hip-hop under our belts now, it’s exciting to see how the culture is influencing the world far beyond just the beats and bars. Hip-hop is everywhere, and a key thread within the fabric of culture across the globe.

But it’s not just the music we grew up on that’s making bold moves and showing up in new ways. The artists and industry greats themselves are stepping up and out of their usual spaces to make different kinds of changes to and for the culture. Shanti Das is among them. 

Shanti’s music industry career began over 30 years ago, working closely with hip-hop legends like Outkast, Usher, and TLC. She started her professional rise as an Urban Promotions Assistant at Capital Records in 1991, and just 7 short years later, was named “Music Executive of the Year” by Impact Magazine. She continued to impact the hip-hop scene and culture for the next decade+ with other major labels like Sony Music Atlanta, LaFace Records, Arista Records, and Columbia Records, finalizing her iconic climb as Executive Vice President of Urban Marketing and Artist Development at Universal Motown in 2009. 

But just as hip-hop itself has evolved, so has Shanti. These days her conversations with industry greats are a little less “hip-hop” and a little more “human.”

In 2014, Shanti was hit hard when a close friend ended her own life. Through her grief process, she recognized that she had some unhealed wounds from her own father’s suicide when she was just 7 months old. Although often considered taboo, Shanti turned to therapy and took a more intentional approach to her own mental and physical health. 

Since then, she’s dedicated her life to repairing generational traumas and “silencing the shame” of asking for help. Her podcast, The Mibo Show (which stands for “mi” for mind, “bo” for body), gives the giants of hip-hop a platform to speak to the culture – real discussions, about real health issues, with real (famous) people. Her conversations showcase the simple fact that we’re all human, we all need a helping hand at times, and it’s more than okay to ask for it. 

Her Agenda sat down with Shanti Das to dig a little deeper into her purpose and passions and she was not shy about sharing her journey.

Her Agenda: Tell us a little about your history in the music industry.

Shanti Das: I got my start in the early ‘90s so I was in the entertainment industry for almost 20 years. 

My first internship was at Capitol Records while I was a sophomore in college and I did that for 2 summers, working in the promotional department. That was back when MC Hammer was on the label, Young MC – really old-school artists.

Once I graduated from Syracuse in 1993, I got hired at LaFace Records in Atlanta, GA. The first record I ever worked on was Players Ball from Outkast. I did promotions on their first two albums and marketing on the last two. And I was actually at the Source Awards in 1995 when Outkast won and Dre uttered those infamous words, “The South got something to say.” 

In the late ‘90s, I also brought Ludacris to L.A. Reid. He didn’t end up signing with LaFace Records, but I was one of the few people in Atlanta who really wanted to bring him to our label. Although I didn’t do A&R, I felt I had a pretty good ear for music. 

Fast forward, when I went up to New York City, I did the marketing on Killer Mike’s first album, worked alongside Jermaine Dupri, and later, got to work with Busta Rhymes. 

Her Agenda: What are some of the struggles you’ve faced in your climb?

Shanti Das: I worked hard to demand my respect in a very male-dominated industry. I learned how to fight for myself in terms of salary and compensation. I eventually figured out what it took in terms of getting an attorney and negotiating what I felt was my value. 

And then also, not being afraid to ask for what I feel I deserve. I think oftentimes we can be complacent with what we’re given because we’re just happy for those opportunities. Whereas men, they’ll have these big pie-in-the-sky outlandish demands, but they ask for them and they get them. But half the battle is asking. 

Her Agenda: Do you have any words of professional wisdom for women aspiring to be business leaders?

Shanti Das: We have to believe and feel that we’re deserving and that we’re valued. I think that’s sometimes where we struggle. Women have to learn how to push forward and really exude that confidence. Really show that you deserve to be there. And the way you do that is by being so good, they can’t refuse you. There’s nothing better than hard work and determination – the statistics and the work will speak for itself.

I wrote a book about my career called ‘The Hip Hop Professional – A Woman’s Guide To Climbing The Ladder of Success In The Entertainment Industry.‘ I stepped away from the industry but I learned a lot as a woman. I understood the importance of mentorship and having people to support me.

Her Agenda: Did spending so many years in the music industry impact your overall health?

Shanti Das: I was a workaholic and I had pretty much dedicated my life to this career. I think I’ve sacrificed a lot of family time, outings, and different things from a friend perspective. The first time I felt like the work was impacting my mental health was around 2010-2011. I [considered ending my life.] I don’t think I meant that at the time. I just was so stressed out, didn’t really have healthy ways to cope, and wasn’t really leaning on mentors. The number of hours I was working, the lack of sleep, and not eating properly – all of that was really taking a toll on my mental health.

Her Agenda: How did you manage the stress?

Shanti Das: I went to counseling for a couple of months and then threw myself back into the work – I should have stayed in there a lot longer. About five years later, I was diagnosed with cervical spinal stenosis. I thought I was going to have to have spinal surgery and my doctor said it was a direct result of stress – I was in my early 30’s. That’s when I knew it was a problem and I decided to walk away – at the height of my career, making a lot of money. 

Then four years later, my best friend took her own life. That really took a toll on my emotional health and wellness, and in 2015, I came close to taking my own life. 

As a community, we didn’t talk about mental health much growing up. Had I been better equipped with tools and really understood what therapy was like, or how antidepressants could have benefited me, who knows? The work that I’m doing now is definitely important work for our community. But maybe had I been better equipped, the journey might not have been quite as tough. 

Her Agenda: What are some of the other ways you’re spreading your message?

Shanti Das: My nonprofit – Silence the Shame – is so important because we’re still knocking down stigmas. As well as my podcast, which I launched earlier this year – The Mibo Show. Being able to talk to others about their journeys and what they’re going through still goes a long way. If we see someone talking about their own struggles and opening up, saying how much therapy has helped them, or different things that they’re doing from a wellness perspective, that is something that we want to permeate in culture and society right? 

I just want to do my part to really try to affect culture in a positive way and bring as many resources to the table, which is why I’m excited about my partnership with Johnson and Johnson. They supply medical experts for each episode of The Mibo Show and they’re really committed to bringing a lot of really wonderful resources to the community so I couldn’t do this work without them. 

Her Agenda: Will there be a season 2 of The Mibo Show?

Shanti Das: I’m going to put it out there and say ‘yes, we’re going to have a season 2’ and God willing, we’ll be able to open up into other industries such as sports and entertainment. Maybe some actors and actresses, the fashion industry, and political icons – just keep these health conversations going.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Shanti Das was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Tammeca Rochester, CEO and Founder of Harlem Cycle, left her career as a mechanical engineer at Colgate-Palmolive to fill a gap she saw in her Harlem community. She found there was a lack of accessible gyms and facilities. Tammeca’s personal interest in cycling which stems from her childhood in Atlanta, led her to open Harlem’s first and only cycling studio in 2016. 

With two locations, Tammeca uses her business to eliminate the pressure those may feel when trying to incorporate fitness into their lives by promoting community over competition. She hires trainers who can connect with clients on a genuine level, offers online classes for those who can’t always make it to the studios but want to remain connected, and reminds her clients that they don’t have to look perfect to be in shape. Harlem Cycle has been featured in the New York Times, Essence, and Tammeca recently took the stage at TedxHarlem to discuss her advocacy for holistic wellness in underserved communities.

Her Agenda spoke with her to learn more about how the idea for the studio came to be, juggling her personal life with her professional life, and how feedback from the cycling community she’s cultivated keeps her going through rough times in business. 

Her Agenda: So Tammeca, there are a lot of articles out there on you, the business owner, and your journey with Harlem Cycle. But who is Tammeca, the woman?

Tammeca Rochester: Every day, I try to understand who that person is and I don’t know if there is one set answer. Tammeca the woman is a Jamaican-born immigrant who loves family, her son is the absolute star of her universe, and just loves being around people. That has always been what fuels me, the need to be around a community and be around family. Tammeca is complex and simple all at the same time.

Her Agenda: You went from the corporate world, working in engineering and marketing, I think you were a mechanical engineer. Going from that to being the owner and founder of Harlem Cycle, how did you decide to make this shift?

Tammeca Rochester: I saw a need and I wasn’t happy with what I thought would happen if I didn’t solve the problem myself. It’s part of that engineer in me that’s always still there, like, okay, there’s a problem, let’s solve it. I saw in our community there [were] no cardio-focused exercises, there [were] no studios or gyms. They had the bigger gyms like the New York Sports Club and the YMCA, but they didn’t tailor to what I felt we needed, and what I felt we needed was more of a connection for people to stay committed, and passionate about their wellness. You [have] to feel a sense of belonging and not like you’re just [a] number walking into a space. And so I thought, okay, well, maybe the studios will eventually come Uptown, but then I saw again, the problem was not also that these studios were missing for our neighborhoods, but they weren’t right for our neighborhoods. They didn’t have the values and the things that I felt our community needed.

Her Agenda: Why cycling?

Tammeca Rochester: Because it’s just so fun! Honestly, cycling to me is like the best of all worlds. You can be community-focused versus competition-focused. You can have amazing music that just keeps you motivated the whole time. It’s low impact, so every age group can do it. And it’s like, we all grew up riding a bike. So it’s always nostalgic to me to be like, okay, so I’m not on the streets [anymore], but I’m inside, but I’m doing what I love. That takes me back to a great childhood memory. It was my first little sense of independence as a child. We learned how to ride a bike and my mom would let us ride it around and everything. It was like, just being able to be independent from mom. Once she showed us how to do it, that was it. We were on our own. 

Her Agenda: What was the adjustment like for you moving from one world to another?

Tammeca Rochester: I’m still adjusting, honestly. The first year I did both. I’d work nine to five and then open the studio. I think the adjustment came to me by giving myself more grace and realizing that I’m working equally as hard. In the middle of the day, I might pause, take my son, and we might go do something and then I would go to the studio at night. It’s not that [I’m] not being productive, it’s realizing that I am now more in control of my time, and I don’t have to do nine to five. So that took a lot of mental adjustment to not be stuck on this clock that had been so ingrained in my mind for years. And realizing that I’m working equally as hard, just at different timing.

Her Agenda: You mentioned your son and not working [traditional] 9-5 [hours]. What does your day-to-day look like as an owner and founder of a cycle studio?

Tammeca Rochester: On the days that I’m not teaching, I wake up, check in with the team that is at the studio, and then I take my son to school and I come back. [I’ll] respond to client emails, and probably make some breakfast. Then I go do a fitness class for myself and I enjoy fitness classes. I’m the kind of person who loves a good 9-10 a.m. class that’s nice and empty, just me. I take a class and then I come back and that’s when I start working on our newsletters, working on our social media, doing payrolls, stopping at the studio and checking inventory, and doing things like that. And then by three o’clock, I go pick my son back up, and then we’ll do stuff like we’ll go for a walk, or we’ll stop and do something that he wants. He usually wants some kind of food or snack in the meantime, then we’ll come home, and start homework. And then at five o’clock, I’m back in the studio with our teams. [Sometimes] I’m teaching, or I’m just there with their front desk staff. And then I’m usually back home by 7:30, or 8 o’clock.

Her Agenda: I see on the website that you offer online class options along with the in-person ones. Did the online class model come from running your business through the pandemic?

Tammeca Rochester: We actually started that because of the pandemic, it was never our mission to be online. For us, everything is about connection. But of course, the pandemic ended up happening and no one could plan for that. So we switched to doing on-demand classes, and then really just saw a market. 

We were getting people who weren’t even our customers, they were people who lived outside of New York City, on our on-demand platform. The feedback we were getting was they were looking for relatable content, from people who fit the image that they want to have of themselves. We’ve kept it going since then.

Her Agenda: Going through the pandemic was, not, even a hurdle, just a huge redirect. I’m sure other ups and downs come with being a business owner in general. How do you remain resilient and work through those ups and downs that may come along?

Tammeca Rochester: I always have to sometimes look back and be like, ‘Okay, is it worth it Tammeca?’ Like, [are] these late nights and all the things that [I] do as a business owner, is it worth it? And the answer is always yes. Right? We get these amazing stories from our clients, who will tell us the impact that we’re having on their lives. If I was to go tomorrow, and knowing that I changed one person’s life, that [would] be enough for me. Knowing that we are doing that daily, is what keeps you going.

Her Agenda: What about your son? What does he think of your business?

Tammeca Rochester: When we opened, he was just four and now he’s 12. He’s kind of grown up with the business. And clients have grown up watching him grow up, so it’s a very interesting thing. He’s a very business-oriented person. The teachers at school when I went to pick him up [were] like, ‘You know, Michael gave us cards and flyers for the studio,’ and I was like, what? 

He has such a business mindset now, and I love it, I love every part of it. We call him our unofficial intern. 

Her Agenda: As an entrepreneurial and ambitious woman, how do you balance your personal and professional time?

Tammeca Rochester: I just recognize there’s no such thing as really a balance. Some days, I’m good at one, some days I’m not so good at the other, and it’s okay. I just know that tomorrow I’ll pick up on the next one. If today I’m excellent at business, because we had pizza for dinner, tomorrow, Mommy might cook something and I might have missed a couple of emails. So to me, the balance is not on a day-to-day basis, but in the overall grand scheme of things.

Her Agenda: I feel like a major takeaway from Harlem Cycle, outside of the physical fitness aspect, is that you saw a gap in your community that needed to be filled, and then you decided to fill it. What is some advice that you would give to other women who see a gap in their community and want to make a change in that way?

Tammeca Rochester: I say go for it. Change only happens when we decide to make a change, right? We can’t always wait for other people. Sometimes the solution from other people isn’t the right solution. Trust your gut on it.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Tammeca Rochester was originally published on HerAgenda.com

We all experience that inner joy when we see our favorite Black-owned brand on shelves in our favorite department store. Since 2020, major retailers like Target, Walmart, and Sephora have pledged 15% of their shelf space to add more Black-owned labels. In fact, according to the Black representation in the beauty industry study by McKinsey & Company, “Black brands make up only 2.5 percent of revenue in the beauty industry. Yet Black consumers are responsible for 11.1 percent of total beauty spending.” 

Beauty advocates like Crystal Peters, the founder of Beauty Brand Camp play a crucial role in advocating for brands catered to Black women that can conveniently be found in large retailers and purchased. Her Agenda had the opportunity to chat with Crystal about her niche expertise within the beauty industry and how through her company, Beauty Brand Camp, she is increasing retail sales for multicultural cosmetic, haircare, and skincare brands.

Her Agenda: When we initially connected, I remember you shared you started your company in 2021, during a pivotal time in America due to many current events happening. What inspired you to begin Beauty Brand Camp and why did you find it necessary to do this full-time? 

Crystal Peters: 2020 was such a stressful time for me and working in beauty is really important to me. I felt that multicultural brands needed a voice and I had a seat at Sephora’s, Ulta’s, Target’s, and Walmart’s table on behalf of the culture so I was able to advocate for the brands that I served from a negotiation standpoint. I also validate the message from an authenticity standpoint because I am a Black woman who does lots of things to her hair, wears lots of different makeup styles, wears the nails, wears the weave — all of it. My beauty experiences as a Black woman provide an authentic voice to the retailers. 

Her Agenda: Many women consider entrepreneurship for several reasons like having no cap on their salary, more time with family, and flexibility in their schedules. What was it like for you to make the pivot from corporate beauty executive to entrepreneurship? 

Crystal Peters: On the last day of my role at Black Opal, Chris-Tia Donaldson, the founder of Thank God It’s Natural (tgin) reached out to me. Unfortunately, she passed away two years ago, but she hit me up like ‘Hey girl, how are they treating you?.’ I had told her it was my last day and she was like, well ‘what do you want to do?’ and I told her I just wanted to rest because I’m tired. I had planned financially for a sabbatical and I was ready to just rest. She asked me to support her from a sales perspective as she began to scale tgin. So I was like okay, I can come in and do this like a project. What was supposed to be for one month turned out to be two and a half years. So she was my first client! I don’t have the traditional path to entrepreneurship because the same day that I left my corporate beauty role was the same day I received my first client. I was having more of the flow moment than the eb. So throughout that year, once I began to share what I was doing I started an LLC because, at this point, it had to be a legitimate business. 

I told Desiree Rogers what I was pursuing and she hired Beauty Brand Camp to relaunch Fashion Fair. I had done the pitch the year before to Sephora. We got it in so now we needed to execute. So that’s how the year went, it was crazy. I worked so much that year. You mentioned flexibility and spending time with your family. I missed every single thing in my family’s lives, my friends’ lives like every birthday party, every wedding, and every baby shower. Pretty much, if it wasn’t work-related then I wasn’t able to go because I was managing TGIN. Then from April 2021 to October 2021, was the launch phase for Fashion Fair | Sephora. We were shooting a documentary on HBOmax called The Beauty of Blackness, we’re launching at fashion week with Sergio Hudson and then Sephora wanted us to execute 100 events in the month of October. 

Her Agenda: I’m so sorry and saddened about the death of Chris-tia who was truly a legend in the Black beauty industry. How do you honor her in the work you do today for other multicultural beauty brands? 

Crystal Peters: Unfortunately, Chris-tia passed away from breast cancer. From that experience, it made me question: ‘Why are we working this hard as Black women?’ ‘Are we taking care of ourselves?’ She was such a champion for self-care and the way she led was so beautiful. After she passed away, I realized it was one of the worst deaths I ever experienced because she was only 42 and the company was booming. We were doing so much that year to put her in an amazing position. The next year we tripled sales and had amazing penetration within the retailers we worked in. The marketing team and I worked well together while she was battling breast cancer. The fact that she trusted Beauty Brand Camp is something I’ll never forget. During that year I also signed Beneath Your Mask, a luxury skincare brand that was started because the founder has lupus. She wanted to create a solution that was healing but didn’t feel like medicine. So being surrounded by these powerful women who are creating these products to help other women by also telling their stories and encouraging self-care is something I’m proud to be connected to. 

Her Agenda: Black beauty brands experience challenges such as lack of marketing, poor access to stores, and limited availability of products. What are some challenges you faced while advocating for multicultural beauty brands? 

Crystal Peters: I think it’s so important that you framed the question that way. I feel that the ecosystem is broken for multicultural beauty brands. Advocating for my client’s brands negotiating more shelf space, and new products, and taking off products that may not be performing as well is what I do in the grand scheme of things. I also help with convincing the buyers to buy the products and that we have what it takes to sell. Shelf space is very sacred. So if you take something off the shelves, you have to put something back on. Sometimes, brands want to over-index to have more products on the shelf, and advocating for them to have that shelf space can be a challenge within itself.    

Her Agenda: During your panel Black Women Pioneering Change in the Entertainment Sector (such a powerful title by the way), during Congressional Black Caucus week, you said ‘Black women are completely taken out of the venture capital conversation and in order for us to be successful we need venture capital.’ How are you making it your duty to advise these venture capital firms to work with Black-women-owned businesses? 

Crystal Peters: I am currently consulting with Cleveland Avenue, a privately-held Chicago-based Venture Capital (VC) firm, that primarily focuses on food but they do have some beauty brands that they are working with. I’m helping to advise one of the brands in their portfolio named Curlmix, with their launch strategy. They recently launched in Ulta. I’ve had the opportunity to connect with the founder of the brand to provide her advice and consult her. I believe that’s step one. We need to let these VC firms know that the beauty industry is financially lucrative and lots of opportunities are available from investing in these companies. If we look at the data points, less than 2% of Black-owned companies receive VC funding, and even less than receive over a million dollars. My goal is to continue to work with VC firms to help impact their decision-making and identify multicultural brands because as we look at the future, complexions and hair types are going to change. We need to think about the products for the future and invest in different skin tones and hair types. That’s how the market needs to be thinking and that’s how I’m thinking while sharing this information with VC firms and key decision-makers.                   

Her Agenda: You’re in a very niche area of the beauty industry that I’m sure requires an exquisite skillset. Which skills do you use the most to create outcomes for your clients?

Crystal Peters: Knowing how to leverage my network and negotiating. I’ve been cultivating my network since I was a makeup artist at MAC Cosmetics, while I was attending Hampton University in 2007. I still have relationships with some of the makeup artists I worked with and continue to build my connections. Adding value to the conversation is important to me too. The brands and retailers know when I’m a part of the conversation, it’s going to be a win-win-win situation. It’s going to be a win for the customer, a win for the brand, and a win for the retailer because I think about everyone when I’m pitching. 

Her Agenda: What has been the most impactful thing Beauty Brand Camp has done?

Crystal Peters: No one prepares you for the death of a founder. The resiliency that took place that next year to grow the tgin brand, triple the growth and make the products more accessible for women who have textured hair all while keeping her legacy alive has been one of the most beautiful things that I’ve been a part of although it was very sad. It was beautiful to continue her legacy because it was so important to her. Also, relaunching Fashion Fair was impactful because they’re such a staple in the Black community. The Black beauty story is never told without mentioning Eunice Johnson and Fashion Fair. I got to name some of the products with homage to my grandmother like Mellow Mocha because my family’s last name is Mellow. It was very exciting and impactful. 

Her Agenda: What role did the Beauty Brand Camp play in the development of The Beauty of Blackness documentary? 

Crystal Peters: Cheryl and Desiree are here in Chicago, they’re the co-owners of Fashion Fair and Black Opal and they hired me to help with the launch [of the doc]. I was there to support leadership and liaison between production and leadership. For example, calling the production team in Los Angeles and pitching scenes to highlight milestones in Fashion Fair’s relaunch. Also, I was able to speak to the importance of the beauty of Blackness. The documentary was a fabulous part of my career and truly a stamp in time. It was amazing to be a part of this documentary and I was delighted to contribute to it. Just to be able to tell the story of how brands get on the shelf was so important to me. 

Her Agenda: As a self-proclaimed ‘beauty product junkie,’ which products are you currently obsessed with that other women should get their hands on? 

Crystal Peters: Curlmix gel, Ami Cole’s lip oil, Beneath Your Mask Skin and Hair serum, BROWN GIRL Jane has a beautiful fragrance line, all the Black Opal products, Clean Skin Club face towels, everything Osea, AESOP body bar and Amika products.

Her Agenda: What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs interested in getting into the beauty industry?

Crystal Peters: Stay focused. Identify the problem you’re solving and find your customer base then talk to them. Don’t overanalyze on Gen Z and Tik Tok thinking this may be the best place to sell your products. It might be Facebook ads or Instagram ads. So make sure to identify a problem, how you can solve that problem, find your core base talk to those people, and stay focused. Don’t let trends distract you. Also, keep your faith and remember your ‘why.’ For me, I want Black women to feel seen and heard when they’re shopping for their beauty products. I want them to know a Black woman is behind this and is a part of the conversation. I know what I want and I’m working to democratize beauty, Black beauty, and make sure Black brands are celebrated and elevated and are in the spaces we frequent so our shopping experiences are authentic.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Crystal Peters was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Eve Rodsky’s success all started with the “Sh*t I Do List.” When she totaled up all the unpaid, and invisible labor she was providing for her busy household, her husband’s response was underwhelming. On her journey, Rodsky discovered identifying issues of the imbalance of domestic duties was not enough, but a universal problem she would aim to fix. As a Harvard lawyer and with her years of experience in foundational management at JP Morgan, Rodsky realized her skillset could be applied to the home – a system to rebalance the home and reclaim lives, especially the lives of women.

Now, Rodsky is the author of the New York Times Best-Seller Fair Play and the newly released, National Bestseller, Find Your Unicorn Space. Rodsky’s work is backed by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, and she continues being an advocate to elevate the cultural conversation about the value of women, unpaid labor, and their role in our workforce. Rodsky is not only a representation of the personal being political, she is a woman taking action for us all.

[Editor’s note: This feature was originally published on March 7, 2022. We are republishing in honor of the release of the Fair Play film on Netflix.]

Her Agenda: I’d like to begin at the beginning of your career journey. How was your experience working at JP Morgan valuable to launching your vast career experience in organizational management?

Eve Rodsky: It was really integral for me. In my work there, I worked in a private bank, and what we did was provide a special type of organizational support to high-net-worth families, which helped me launch my career. It bridged the gap between being a lawyer and being a philanthropic advisor, which led to the firm, Philanthropy Advisory Group that I founded after. But I would say the best part of JP Morgan for me, is that any stint through a traditional corporate workforce will give you really important lessons about rigor, detail, orientation, and professionalism. It will also expose you to the roots of gender bias, which is how I felt. Even the best companies aren’t always prepared for different types of family structures.

The other amazing thing I will say is, I was able to bridge two different jobs. One was structuring systems for high net worth families, organizational family businesses, and family foundations. But on the other hand, we had stewardship of the foundation. So I was in charge of vetting nonprofits and giving multi-year capacity-building grants to those organizations. From two sides, I got to see the insides of how many different organizations work through the proposal writing process and the grant-giving.

Her Agenda: Can you describe your “blueberry breakdown?” What were the immediate steps you made afterward toward your mission of creating domestic rebalance in marriages?

Eve Rodsky: The most important thing to remember is I felt that I had these special skills where I thought, “this shouldn’t happen to me.” Being the product of a single mother and living in a house where a psychologist called me a parental child, I was already very used to being a partner to a single parent, helping my mother with eviction notices and utility bills. On top of that, as we just said, I’m trained in difficult conversations. And still, I found myself, crying on the side of the road and feeling completely isolated and alone. It is a product of understanding that the home can present very dangerous because it’s this one last frontier of equality where we were fighting over a sponge in the sink, or whose last done the dishes, or why you didn’t empty the diaper pail. We don’t understand that these small breakdowns, whether it’s my husband assuming I was just fulfilling his smoothie needs, we don’t realize that this is a systemic devaluing of women’s labor.

I was talking to a man today whose wife died in childbirth. They can’t get a dime from the courts because they say her life was worthless. ‘Why would we pay you malpractice money for her death? She was not working. She is worth zero.’ We see in the family law courts that people that women are not afforded alimony because why would they need to be paid? Their time is worthless. We say things to women like, “breastfeeding is free” when it’s a job requiring 1,800 hours a year. ​​

We’ve been completely gaslighted for generations to be put into a bind of literally being the foundation of our society. The unpaid labor of women is the foundation of our society, and we know it because we don’t see women in positions of power.

This idea of a Fair Play lifestyle starts to invite men into full power in the home so that women can step out to full power in the world. That is really the only way that we’re going to get to a fair day in the future of work – where there is predictable flexibility and fair pay, which is, paying women what they’re worth.

All of those understandings came to me from the small, individualized, personalized moments which could have stayed personal. One of my favorite sociologists C. Wright Mills says, “private lives are public troubles.” Once you can start connecting it to these bigger systemic ills, then you start becoming the canary in the coal mine. So much so that I went to Davos in February of 2020 literally saying, “we are one crisis away from losing thirty to forty years of labor force participation of women.”

Her Agenda: Not only do you have multiple books, Fair Play and Unicorn Space but your projects are backed by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine. Can you describe some of the experiences you have had working with a company that is founded on women storytellers?

Eve Rodsky: It’s been unbelievable. It has been so interesting because there are different facets of Hello Sunshine. I don’t work with every facet, but I do work most closely with Sarah Harden, the CEO. The nature of how we came to be was, she had my early version of my cards. I still have some of that which makes me laugh, the old school Fair Play cards that I was using to beta test the system. I’ve known Sarah for a while when she was working for The Chernin Group, which was a different media company before she became CEO of Hello Sunshine. She was an early beta tester. As my data grew, the system became more solidified, people reported back that it was a life-changing moment for their decision-making in Fair Play.

When I realized what was happening with the Fair Play system, Sarah was really on board with saying, “okay, well, you’re going to make this into intellectual property. I want to support you.” Having her behind this project changed my life.

Her Agenda: How do you think women can eliminate the guilt and shame while tapping into our creative selves? Specifically, while creating our art?

Eve Rodsky: You have a life of guilt and shame ahead of you if we’re not careful. I think the biggest lie we ever told women, especially [Millennials and Gen Z], was that you could be anything. It’s just not true. Basically, women have ten years left to live when they turn twenty-one. Because then the reign of bias comes down on us. While we’re going to fight for systemic change, we also have to be realistic. Women are not given the same opportunities, and if there are intersectional issues, if you’re a woman of color, it’s going to be incredibly painful to be in a workplace. I think anything else that we tell people is a lie. I try to help people understand that feelings of guilt and shame are incredible tools of a patriarchal capitalist society to keep people small.

Her Agenda: When you were interviewing men for both of your books, what was the most shocking information you discovered about the people that you were interviewing?

Eve Rodsky: The most shocking thing to me was how much empathy I start to feel for men. What was happening was, women were saying to me, the hardest thing about home life was that they couldn’t shut their minds off. It was leading to autoimmune diseases and complete breakdowns and stress. Men were reporting to me that they couldn’t get anything right, especially in a hetero/cisgender relationship – that they didn’t know their role. Some said they sort of felt like outsiders in their own home organization. That sounds like a terrible place to be as well.

Her Agenda: In Unicorn Space, you have a chapter where you discuss redefining success. In it, you tell readers to “find their community.” How do you think the pandemic has impacted women to make space for creativity and community? In these unprecedented times, what can we do to reclaim ourselves?

Eve Rodsky: The best thing to do is to really step into the things that make you come alive, the things that make you interested in your own life. Then the friendships and the community follow. That is why connection is the second piece, not the first in Unicorn Space. I saw people getting curious and then their community followed.

The key here is to recognize that once you start becoming interested in your own life, community is everywhere. It’s really the law of attraction and also that unavailability that says, ‘I’m doing this no matter what anybody says.’ It has a sort of defiance to it and unavailability that makes you sexy to other people. I don’t mean that in a romantic way, but it just does. It makes you attractive. At the end of the day, it’s really about self-worth. Like, I deserve a community. I deserve to be loved. I deserve to be seen. I deserve to be known. The bigger we become in our curiosities, the more we attract communities. For me, it started with my “The Sh*t I Do” spreadsheet community ten years ago. I just started to ask people all across the country and a lot of those women stay with me, and they became the first beta testers and early readers of Fair Play. I would have been scared without them.

It will always rain on us. We can either choose to drown in the rain, or we can grab an umbrella.

Eve Rodsky, Best-Selling Author of ‘Fair Play’ and ‘Find Your Unicorn Space’

Her Agenda: What excites you most about this new chapter in your writing career?

Eve Rodsky: How it corresponds to advocacy. I don’t look at my work as just self-help or personal growth books. I look at them as self-compassion, which allows for connection to broader communities that will lead to change. Once you realize that we’re breathing that polluted air, you can’t unsee it.

When you create these communities and you put yourself out there, it’s very scary of course, you don’t know what’s going to come of it. But to me, as long as the work is centered, and I understand that everything I do is in service of believing that our society will change. If we believe that, an hour holding our children’s hands at the pediatrician’s office is just as valuable as an hour in the boardroom then to me, nothing can go wrong. Of course, things will go wrong along the way, but for me internally, as long as I can keep my eye on that prize, even when there’s a ton of rain, I can still have that compass of where I am going.

Her Agenda: What is your motto?

Eve Rodsky: For too long we have been focused on an illusion of happiness. That somehow if we stay on this path it’s going to lead us to happiness. As women, we stay straight and narrow, we get the ‘A-pluses,’ and we think things are going to be fair. Then we go into the real world and things don’t work out the way that we thought they were. We get surprised, we leave, we get dejected, we lose our power center. It will always rain on us. We can either choose to drown in the rain, or we can grab an umbrella.

[Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. This feature was originally published on March 7, 2022. We are republishing in honor of the release of the Fair Play film on Netflix.]

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Eve Rodsky was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Kaleidoscope, which by its Greek origin loosely means beautiful shape to look at, makes perfect sense for Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart. As a sought-after hairstylist, Jesseca has been a fixture on social media and the haircare industry since 2013. Launched in 2014, she’s since evolved into the powerhouse behind the Kaleidoscope hair brand. With 2.9M followers and signature products like Kaleidoscope Miracle Drops, Jesseca leads a multi-million dollar empire, according to Essence. Her products are sold at major retailers such as Target, Sally Beauty, CVS, and Walmart.

With her New Orleans spirit and accent in tow, Jesseca spoke with Her Agenda on her beginnings as a teen mother, her upbringing, her relationship with her wife Da Brat, and of course, her entrepreneurial lessons and innovative approach to hair products. 

Her Agenda: I have to start with: how are you loving your new addition to your family? 

Jesseca “Judy” Harris-Dupart: I don’t even know if I have words to describe it. I’m a mother of four now. My other three children are in their 20s so having a brand new baby my fear was that I wouldn’t have enough time. Being a busy CEO and entrepreneur I [wasn’t sure] how we were going to make it work. But it’s been the opposite. This made me not necessarily slow down but pay attention to and appreciate [for instance] the seven minutes where he’s smiling and giggling and laughing that we have or even when I might be on Zoom and I’m holding him, I feel like it’s not necessarily a new lease on life but it makes me start to appreciate [it] way more than I ever did. 

Her Agenda: Anybody I talk to who is a mother and an entrepreneur always talks about how they are working to [create harmony between] the two. But being an entrepreneur is a whole different world, what do you entrepreneurship is teaching to your children?

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: I was very young when I had my children, well, my three children who are now in their 20s. So I was growing myself, I was growing my business myself, I never expected to be where I am. As parents, we don’t want to share things with our children like the struggle. You want to keep your children very protected. I can honestly say that’s something that I wish I hadn’t done because now my grown adult children, don’t even know. That’s the best way to put it. They don’t know what it comes with.

They don’t know the art of mastering budgeting, knowing when to and when not to double down or pull out. It’s a lot of stuff that I feel like had I included them in versus keeping away from them, they would be better at as far as life, money management, knowing how to deal with situations when they don’t go your way, and knowing that no is not the end of the road. I was just being a parent trying to provide the best life for my children, but also keeping out what it took to make ends meet or when I would take all of the money out of the bank and double down on inventory. For two weeks, I might not have been able to get my nails done and we might have been eating some of the stuff in the house versus eating out but I never told it to them.

Her Agenda: Your profile, not only as a business owner, but pretty much a celebrity is being transparent online. I know you are one of the early entrepreneurs who really took social media to the next level as far as being super visible online. Can you talk about your relationship with social media when it comes to transparency as well as what made you want to even embrace it? 

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: I honestly think that because of what happened to my children, I have been very transparent. I hate that so many things are glorified, but they don’t tell you about the bad.

Yeah, I took a great picture in my warehouse with all of this inventory, but b**ch, excuse my language. On the other side of that, I got too much of this godd**n product because somebody I hired ordered five years’ worth of the product. Why y’all not saying that? I’m like, that’s a pretty picture. And it’s cute. But let me give you the details behind it. I still have to fix the problem. But nobody in this world is problem-less.

Then the more you grow, the more problems you have. And if you don’t identify how to be a problem solver when you make $1,000 a year, who’s to say that when you make a million dollars a year you’re going to be able to handle that?

Before [transparency] was a marketing [tool], I felt like if I’m a woman that got put out my mama’s house at the age of 17, had my first child at 15, if I’m able to do this, I felt like y’all could do this too. And I don’t feel like there’s any amount of information that’s too much. Because I think a lot of people are scared that if they give their “how-to” away somebody else is going to do it or take away from what they have. But I don’t think nobody can take away from what I have. I don’t think that there’s a limited amount of resources, nor do I think that there’s a limited amount of blessings that are able to be got. The more I sow into people, the more God sows into me. So I prefer to build millionaires. If I sowed into fertile, great ground, and I helped this person even if it was just me giving a word or listening ear, I feel like I’m going to get that back. 

Her Agenda: I love these life lessons. I revisited your Wired interview from a couple of years ago. I thought there were so many good gems in there. I want to talk about something you said in that interview. You said that you weren’t only doing good hair, but you were giving good customer service and that was a differentiator. Talk about how you were able to do that because the conversation that we often see online today as it relates to hairstyling is quite the opposite.

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: Oh my God. Oh my God. It wasn’t anything that I was taught or that I read. I’m not saying, oh, I’m the smartest person in the world. Life was happening. And in the hair industry and the hair that I did, this was back with Marcel irons and spritz and hard hairstyles. My June and July would be slow because I didn’t do braids. And people’s kids would be off in the summertime, so their grocery bill would increase, so they would see me less. As a customer service practice, I would reach out to my regulars right around that time and give them a discount to make sure that I still had consistent money going. And if for some reason, like if somebody didn’t like something, I was okay with fixing it. I don’t know where we got this sense of entitlement. Well, I do. I think social media is the reason why we get the sense of entitlement, especially when it comes to [the] amount of followers, especially when it comes to all of the different things. All of that has value. I know that that has value, but it doesn’t necessarily make you better than somebody. If you’re in the servicing industry, you’re still the service provider. I think a lot of people get that messed up. They’re not doing their client a favor. They’re servicing their client who booked and paid them. 

Her Agenda: As a consumer, I love that. I think everyone loves a good hairstyle, but there is definitely some balance in the relationship that has to happen where both parties really respect each other. I feel like we’ve just got away from that a little bit.

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: Yeah, but let me tell you something. That’s making the people who sell multicultural hair care super rich because people are now doing their hair themselves. They would rather pay us for the products than they would to pay the hairstylist to do it because they don’t want to go through the hassle of what it takes. My average consumer that I sell to is a woman that’s probably doing her hair herself. Not because she can’t afford to pay a hairstylist, but because it’s more convenient, especially when the pandemic happened and people were forced to look at other stuff. Now she wants to do her hair herself. Now [she’s] learning.

[She’s] embracing my natural hair. She’s learning how to do a twist out [and] watching YouTube videos on health and maintenance. Before the rudeness started happening, the first thing that started happening was the health of the hair was compromised. Then the rudeness started happening. Now we have an epidemic of not only some of the stylists not caring for the hair underneath the units and the wigs and the braids and the stuff, but then they also curse at you out. 

Her Agenda: I know some of that was the reason that you created your brand, but can you talk about, why you felt like that was something you should do? Why did you feel a duty to do that? 

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: Girl, I had a client cheat on me and she went to another hairstylist. I know how to do ponytails without using bobby pins to attach the track, and without using glue to attach the track. There was this trick that I used where I pulled a piece of the track, the weft of the hair, and used the rubber band method, right? So my client cheated on me, and went to a different hairstylist. This lady put a ponytail on her head, used bobby pins, and compromised her scalp. I realized I grew her hair to mid-back so when she came back to me. She had a circular bald spot, which was at the time a sore because she got the bobby pins. I felt responsible for bringing her hair back, even though I [didn’t] cause it to come out because she shouldn’t have cheated in the first place. And when she came back, I felt like ain’t no way in the world I worked this hard to grow your hair this long and we got a spot.

So at that point, that made me feel like I [have] to do something about this. For me, when I first started selling hair products, it was to my clients.  It wasn’t until I had a grand opening of my salon that I realized how big social media was when we were posted about the grand opening. Then I was like, oh, maybe I can sell hair products on here too. But my main reason for selling hair products initially, in the beginning, was for my clients and knowing that there was nothing that I could just recommend to her to fix it. It was like, I don’t even know what to tell you to do to fix this because you went around and went to Susan Q up the street and then the ponytail was ugly.

Her Agenda: I feel like something that’s coming out in this conversation, of course, is your New Orleans roots. How do you think New Orleans shaped you as a person? What do you think about your personality says New Orleans? 

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: The thing about New Orleans, is you have to be tough. I was living [there when] Katrina happened. So going through devastation, loss, tragedy, and then being okay…I didn’t lose my life. I might have lost my material possessions, but I got them back. It’s like it was a hard, uncomfortable, painful lesson to learn. But it made me feel like nothing is impossible. You can bounce back from anything. You can get everything stripped away from you at a moment’s notice and still be okay.  

When [Da Brat and I] had our wedding, I had a second line at the end of the wedding and to this day [she] tells me, [she] didn’t even know what we were doing. We second line out of there and I didn’t even get to mix and mingle with people. I said, well, Beautiful, when you second line, that’s when you leave. We second lined to the car and drove off. She was like, I’m still traumatized. I thought we were going back in. No, you don’t second line and go back in. You second line out. That means that’s the end. That means it’s over. That means we wrapping up. 

Her Agenda: Your wife is such a fixture in just culture overall from her early days of doing music to now she’s a mainstay on a radio station. Talk about how you met because it felt like it was out of the blue for a lot of us. But I also feel like everybody loves it. We love to see you all on TV. We love the People magazine shoot. We love seeing y’all so what is your relationship like? 

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: I actually was the aggressor in the situation. She is very shy. As aggressive as she is in her songs and that persona that she has, she is the most nurturing person that I have ever met. I will never forget [the first time I met her]. She burnt the hole in the seat at So So Def Studios that day. She dropped her drink. She missed her mouth, all of that. We were talking about different things that we like to do and what we were interested in. I said, well, I’m interested in you. Because for her, it came out of the blue. 

I thought I was doing a Judy Dropping Knowledge tour. I was working with her. She was doing promo for me and she stopped by the tour to surprise me and say, let’s shoot some videos. She said, hey, why don’t we link later? But in her mind, she was like, oh, we could shoot some videos later. So I went and got cute, changed my clothes, and met her at JD Studio.

She was like, where are your people? Where is your team? I was like, what do you mean my team? I said, you said let’s link. I just caught her off guard because one, she didn’t know that I was interested in women, nor did she know I was interested in her. Long story short, for about a year or two, we were going back and forth. She had me fly to Atlanta a few times and didn’t answer the phone. The nerve. The nerve. So I moved on with life. She would never let me live it down. Got a boyfriend. Moved on with life, and got into a relationship. The relationship didn’t last. We wound up connecting after that and then it seemed like it was off to the races.

It’s been a fairy tale since then. I think she realized at that time, oh boy, if I want to deal with her, I got to be ready.

Her Agenda: Something interesting is that you all have a collab together now with Kaleidoscope, so how did that come to be? 

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: First and foremost, I feel like if I’m getting in the bag, so should she. That’s first. When we did this collection, I made her sign a contract with me where I was paying her for her likeness and her royalties, letting her know that her capability of her earning potential was far greater than she could ever imagine and that she’s the queen of protective hairstyles. Anybody that knows Brat [knows her] for [her] braids, twists, faux locs. We already were thinking about coming out with a protective style collection, [and] they know her for that. First, it was going to be called the Spoiled Brat Collection, but we played with a couple of different things versions, and we landed on Kaleidoscope by Da Brat with her face on it. At first, I was like, I don’t know if I want to put her face on it cause what if people don’t even know her? They should just buy it. But we landed on that and I am happy that we did because it is a very, very, very successful collection. And I feel like she now has some inclination of what her earning potential really is. She is so chill. You know she does Rickey Smiley. She does Dish. She’s been featured on The Chi. She does a couple of different shows, but I was like, girl, we can be getting to a lot of money over here.

Her Agenda: I’m glad to hear that’s how that all came to be. I like that you actually saw something where you felt like this could really help her and push her further. 

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: Right. I wanted it to be fair the same way I would pay any other celebrity for their likeness and their royalties or whatever. I wanted to make sure we did the same thing with us. 

Her Agenda: My last question is twofold: what do you wish that you would have done sooner and then what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs? 

Jesseca Harris-Dupart: The advice that I would give to aspiring entrepreneurs is to go after it, no matter what. Oftentimes people want to wait for the perfect timing or they want to tell their idea to 10 different people [to validate it] and nobody understands or sees it. But when you are a trailblazer, when you’re supposed to be the creator of something, they’re not supposed to understand it. Anyway, a lot of people want, the perfect timing: when they have a certain amount of money in the bank when they have all of this, but I just feel like going after it no matter what, no matter what the circle, no matter if your boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t want to support it, don’t believe in it, no matter if your mama told you not to do it, I don’t care what it is. If God put it on your heart, I mean, He has a plan for it. He has a plan bigger than you ever imagined. Bigger than them, cause my mom and [past partners] didn’t even want me to do hair. I retired my mom, I don’t know, five, six years ago. So I just feel like go after the thing, whatever the thing is, go after it. 

I don’t think there’s anything that I wish I would have done sooner. All things happen in perfect timing. Everything happened the way it was supposed to even the uncomfortable stuff.

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Jesseca Harris-Dupart was originally published on HerAgenda.com

With a leap of faith and a bottle of curl-defining cream, good things are bound to happen, at least that’s the case for Robyn Atwater. Inspired by her personal experience with hair loss, Robyn’s journey to grow her hair led her to become a natural hair influencer. After many years of success as an influencer, Robyn launched her company, CURLDAZE Haircare, in the pandemic of 2020. 

Since its inception, CURLDAZE Haircare products have made their way to major retailers like CVS, Ulta, Walmart, and Target, and it’s just the beginning. Primed for growth and ‘curl domination,’ Robyn is letting God guide her steps. 

In this interview with Her Agenda, Robyn shares more about her influencer beginnings, motherhood, advice to entrepreneurs, and what’s next for her and the CURLDAZE brand.

Her Agenda: What is the story behind what inspired you to create your company?

Robyn Atwater: CURLDAZE is more than just hair products which is unique in this space. The brand was actually created years before the products ever came to my mind or to fruition. I went through a bout of hair loss and my hair was coming out on my pillow. I [was] used to having thick, luscious hair all my life and I was not used to this. I had a career working for the federal government and it was a lot. I was traveling a lot and I think it was just stress. Being the researcher that I am, I said I have to stop this and I have to stop this now and find a solution ASAP. So I started doing research and I tapped into my roots. My dad has always told me about my lineage and my grandmother, so I looked into Ayurvedic herbs and I’m like this is exactly what I need because it is a holistic approach. I put together a little growth oil in my little kitchen and I started oiling my scalp. I started embracing my natural hair because part of the natural hair process was not putting heat in your hair, so I did the no heat. I had to wear my curly and I’m like, I think I like this.

I started posting on Instagram shortly after I started my natural hair journey. When I got on there, people were drawn to my hair. I would literally take pictures with no face just my hair because I really hated taking pictures. I don’t think I’m photogenic, instead, I’ll just post my hair because I think it’s cute today.

That’s really how it started. And people are like what did you do today? What did you do to your hair? What did you use? That really started CURLDAZE. Every day was a curl day for me. I started working with brands and over the next five years, I just realized I’m posting every day to people, but still every day they’re asking me what I’m using.

So I said I’m going to create products that people can love, know, and trust because they love, they know, and they trust me. 

Her Agenda: Something that jumped out immediately is that you have a background as an economist. How do you feel like your background helped you?

Robyn Atwater: First of all was the research. For any industry, you have to know about it. You have to know what you’re doing. Being able to be creative in the ways that I research and with the avenues and the things that I look into, I dived deeper than the average person because I am an economist.

The second part is economics is built on supply and demand. That’s the basics of it. I realized that even though so many people were saying, ‘Oh, the market’s saturated, whatever, whatever,’ you can go into the store and see, we still have a little sliver on the shelf.

It’s not saturated. Don’t let people lie to you. We still need products. We still need help. I didn’t think that there was enough supply for the demand because I was able to talk to so many people on a daily basis, all kinds of direct messages, text messages, and personal emails. People would ask me, what do I do? How do I do it? 

[I knew] there’s a demand for more and I’m going to supply that demand. 

Her Agenda: Why was taking the holistic approach to things important to you? 

Robyn Atwater: The whole natural hair movement was really based on avoiding things that are harmful to us, right?

For so long, things have been created by people that don’t look like us. They weren’t taking our health into consideration. There were things on the market that we were putting on our hair and in our bodies that were making us sick. I said I have to eliminate all of these things and really get down to the basics of who we are as human beings, what makes us healthy, and what makes us thrive.

I felt that if we just strip everything down to the basics of before we had any of this, you know, we were beautiful Black queens with long flowing hair before any of this happened and we were straightening our hair and putting chemicals on it. Let me take it back to the basics, right? That’s how when I produced CURLDAZE Haircare, this first line, the Kukui line, does not have any salt sulfates. It has no silicones. It has no parabens. It has no drying alcohol. I was very strategic in how I formulated the first offerings of my products because I want people to be able to have healthier options if they decide to go on a healthy hair journey. 

Her Agenda: Talk to me about the horseshoe method. Tell me about creating this very signature technique for naturals.

Robyn Atwater: It’s a very signature [technique] and it’s funny that it’s still around today, to see people still do it on TikTok, which is new, is so cool. 

I feel like I’ve left a mark on the natural hair community, which is dope to me, but that came about because I was doing so many hair videos for brands at the time. I sat down one day to do a video for a brand, and I was tired, girl, I was tired. I said I can’t do one more rod set, I will pass out. There’s no way I can complete this. I literally had the camera rolling and as it rolled, I looked at the rod and said, how can I do this in the most efficient way possible so I’m not here all night? Then the idea literally just came to me live on film. I bent that rod in half and said, I can put twice as much hair on this rod if I use both sides, and girl, I literally did it on the spot and it worked. I was just as shocked as everybody else seeing the video, honestly.

I named it on the spot. I said this looks like a horseshoe. And it was a hit! I think I’ve saved a lot of time for many girls out there. It’s still going really strong. I literally Googled myself just to kind of check it out.

Her Agenda: That brings up something that I think is really insightful— your background as an early influencer. Talk to me about what the transition from influencer to CEO has been like for you.

Robyn Atwater: You know what the transition has been seamless for me only because when I started as an influencer, it was before you got paid per view. We were not getting paid to post these videos on YouTube. We were honestly just sharing the things that we knew and we understood it and we wanted to help other people.

So creating the hair brand is literally the same thing for me. I just want to help. I’ve never been one to do things for monetary gain. When things are based in giving, there’s never any pressure because there’s never any pressure to not be yourself. It’s always coming from a place of love, from a place of understanding, from a place of just giving back. Right. A lot of people now in the influencer world, in my opinion, and in the hair care world, they’re chasing a dime so they’re not going to post the name of the gel they use because the company’s not paying them.

We’ve gotten away from sharing within our community, genuinely. I think the benefit of starting back when I did, I never had to join the rat race of monetary gain for knowledge or information. I’m giving it to you for free because it’s out of the kindness of my heart. I think God gave me the information to spread it and help others. And so it’s been a seamless transition, in my opinion. 

Her Agenda: Your brand is in all of the big retail stores people dream of. What is next for CURLDAZE?

Robyn Atwater: We’re working on so many different products. I’m so excited about it. The next chapter of CURLDAZE will consist of more hair growth products. We have your curls popping and shining now, but we’re going to have them growing next. That’s the next phase is just to add more nourishment into your hair care routine and give you more options in that lane.

We’re one of those slow and steady types of brands. We don’t just throw things out to catch a trend or a wave. I really take my time in formulating products. I take my time and pick out each and every ingredient that goes into my product. I’m more of a quality over quantity. 

Her Agenda: How do you see your partnerships with these big box retailers helping with exponential growth? 

Robyn Atwater: When I first launched the brand I was able to build an amazing team for the company. They asked me what my goals were and I said, I want to be in Target.

When I said this out loud, [CURLDAZE] was probably six months old, so that’s a very ambitious goal for a brand that’s six months old. But by month nine, I had an interview with Target.

You have to know where you want to go. When somebody asks you what you want in life, you better be ready to give them an answer because you just might get it. I was blessed enough to get the opportunity to get into these stores very early in my career. And it gives you some validation in the community that okay, these big brands are getting behind CURLDAZE. Okay, I’m going to support it too. Being in the retail space gives people the opportunity to see it next to their other favorite brands and it gives the brand a chance to grow in avenues and in communities that it wouldn’t normally reach.

I’m just thankful that Walmart has been such an amazing partner for CURLDAZE. We recently got in there but the team loves supporting what we’re doing and we love supporting what they’re doing. Once you get a retailer that understands the brand, instead of really comparing you to others and what has happened in the past, you can grow so much faster because they have the means to put you in front of millions of people.

I always tell people you’re not going to have a lot of money in the beginning when you start your brand, but make sure you pay special attention to look at your packaging and look at your photos because when you finally do get that big retailer’s attention, you want to make sure you have a quality product to show them. Don’t rush your packaging. Don’t rush your presentation. Make sure it’s something that you’re proud of because you don’t know one day a retailer might look at you and say, give me your hand, and I’m gonna take you to the next level, let’s go.

That’s why we’ve had success because we were ready. We weren’t perfect. But I think we were somewhat ready to go to that next level. 

Her Agenda: What other tactical advice can you share? 

Robyn Atwater: I would say lots of prayer because I could not have done any of this without the Lord and heaven above because a lot of it seems impossible and it seems very overwhelming.

Because it’s something I’ve never done before. You don’t know if it’s the right thing to do, but I think God doesn’t put dreams in your heart for no reason. He wouldn’t have put that in my heart. He wouldn’t have let me blurt out, I want to be in Target.

I will always say, to keep God first and pray because it will get hard. It’s not all roses. It’s not all photoshoots and giving away cars. It’s a lot more than that. We see that on the outside and it’s very exciting, but it does get dark and it does get hard and you will have times where you have to call on your family, your friends, and the Lord, but He will bring you out.

Like I said, He put that dream in your heart and you are more than capable of succeeding.

Her Agenda: What do you hope your entrepreneurial journey is teaching your child? And how do you think being an entrepreneur has shaped the way you do motherhood? 

Robyn Atwater: Wow. It’s funny because my husband is also an entrepreneur.

So my son has no choice, but to know what entrepreneurship looks like. We drop him off at school and he gets out of the car and my husband says to him, Roman, what are we? And he says, entrepreneurs. So he understands that. It’s a different way of life and a different way of thinking.

Being a mom and an entrepreneur is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through. At one point, I had high blood pressure, trying to balance all things. I’m like, wait a minute, I’m too young to have high blood pressure. But that was a wake-up call.

I said I have to do better at balancing and I have to be better at delegating. You have to have a village and a village of people that you trust wholeheartedly with your child. That is critical. My mom has been the best thing to ever happen to me.

She came here from Georgia. She moved in with me and helped launch my business. We launched during the pandemic. I had my kid, we were on lockdown. I’m like, what should I do? She’s like, go ahead and launch girl. You don’t know what tomorrow holds. Launch your business. And she’s from day one has helped me make meals and pack lunch boxes.

Having a mate who will support you through it all is the second thing that really, really helped me get through this because he started his business. He’s in the music business. He has an independent record label and I have had to use some of the tactics that he has used to be successful in my own business.

Being able to set your own schedule helps with being there for your child more. You can move a meeting if you have to, you have the freedom to say no to certain things to be there for your child’s first recital or their first summer concert. You just have to prioritize things. 

I always tell myself if I miss out on a business deal because I chose my son, it wasn’t the business deal for me. I think God will put things back in place. My husband and I pray every morning for God to order our steps and put the right people in our circle.

I’m very confident in the path that God has put me on. This new path of entrepreneurship, I think is right where I need to be. My parents were entrepreneurs. My husband’s parents were entrepreneurs. It’s in our spirit and in our souls.

Her Agenda: Any pieces of advice you’d like to give our audience?

Robyn Atwater: Yes. Do not be distracted by what other people are doing or have done in the past. Things that worked back then are not working right now, so don’t let other people distract you and tell you what you should be doing and what you need to be doing. Literally, put your blinders on! Be aware of the climate but put your blinders on. You have to be confident in who you are as a person and you have to be innovative to stand out in the crowd. Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Just focus and pray and do your thing.

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Robyn Atwater was originally published on HerAgenda.com

Self-dubbed, ‘The Queen of a Pivot’ Shaleeta Pendleton, better known as SheShe, is a force within the creative industry. 

From fashion styling to creative directing, her expertise has expanded to A-list celebrities including Erykah Badu, Bela Hadid, Offset and his family, and luxury companies, such as Marni, Lanvin, Maison Margiela. The styling industry is one of the toughest markets to break into. SheShe credits the power of gratitude and betting on herself, for helping her get to where she is today. 

Outside of her hustle, she’s a proud Philly native who values quality time with loved ones and serenity after working in such a high-intensity career. The diligent creative spoke with Her Agenda to tell us more about who she is personally, how she got her start in the business, and her dope business accomplishments thus far.

Her Agenda: How did you get into your field of work?

SheShe: I got into my field of work by taking a chance on myself. I’m a first-generation entrepreneur, and I’m the first person in my family that’s pursuing a career in fashion and music. It’s always been a passion of mine since I was younger. But it took a lot for me [to build] a solid foundation and a name for myself. I started investing in myself at an early stage with my little paychecks from my retail jobs. I started traveling at age 17 to different places around the world, building my catalog and studying and taking different opportunities in different places as a stylist, as a creator, and as a brand strategist.

Her Agenda: I definitely resonate with you on being first generation, and especially taking on a career that is non-traditional. You talked about, betting on yourself and creating your own opportunities, what were some emotions that you felt in that moment when you had to go on that journey of self-discovery?

SheShe: I’m forever on that journey. I’m still learning as I go. I think of it like any creator, and any entrepreneur, if you continue to be a student, then you’re always going to be on this journey. So for me, the initial feeling was, overwhelming, and super scary. So every single time that I feel overwhelmed or scared when a new opportunity approaches, I think back to the first time I felt like that, and stay in it. [And I just,] I just stay in it. I know that whenever I feel overwhelmed or scared something good is coming. 

Her Agenda: So what is it that you enjoy most about it?

SheShe: I enjoy the rush. I’m always doing something last minute. Or I’m always given a major major task to accomplish within no time. That’s what sets me apart from other people in my lane because I’m executing at a very, very high level with no time. And I really operate the best under stress. I know that sounds weird, but I enjoy the rush and I enjoy being able to create something from nothing from a blank canvas and coming up with ideas and being able to execute them.

Her Agenda: As you know, with careers, there are some highs as well as there are some lows. So what would you say is a tough part of your job as a creative director and a stylist?

SheShe: The toughest part for me is not being able to fully take care of myself. Personally, I’m such a family person. I don’t have time for my family and friends all the time. The toughest part is emotional. But I don’t look at any of the no’s or the losses or any of that as tough things because they’re all lessons and it makes me better. 

Her Agenda: What do you do when you try to make the time for yourself to decompress or pour back into yourself when things get overwhelming for you? 

SheShe: I call my friends, I go to museums, I’ll travel back to Philly, I’ll sit in my grandma’s living room and just watch Family Feud with her. I really center myself and bring myself back to the ground so that I can breathe because a lot of the time, I’m working in a high-stress, high-intensity industry so I’m always on the go. I’m always needed for something. I’m always thinking about a lot of things. My mind races so much so the best thing for me is being able to just call my friends and see my family and talk to my mom every single day. 

Her Agenda: How important is it for you as a Black woman dominating in the creative industry?

SheShe: It’s super important, I didn’t have a role model or, a direct role model, there are definitely people that I look to and look up to. But I [also] look at myself and put pressure on myself to just be better in this space. Because if I am walking around with my skin tone, my braids, and my hair and really dominating the space that I’m in, I know it’s going to inspire other people. It doesn’t matter what color they are, but because I’m the only person and the first person in most of these spaces it’s definitely going to inspire somebody. So I love that the most. People are able to look at my accomplishments, and really think that they’re accomplishable [because they’ve seen me do it.]

Her Agenda: I hope that you’re reminded and celebrated for those accomplishments as well! 

SheShe: I thank God every single day that I have a really strong support system. They call me and they tell me. I was just randomly getting tacos the other day in LA, and somebody walked up to me and was like, ‘Are you SheShe? I love your work!’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, my God,’ like, it gave me a little anxiety because I don’t understand my reach sometimes. But, I’m starting to understand it more and starting to understand why God has put me in a certain position. So I’m excited about it. And I’m happy to be that person.

Her Agenda: You’re walking in your purpose! I think that’s one of the most rewarding feelings that you can have, especially when you’re doing something that you’re passionate about.

SheShe: Yeah, I’m excited. I’m still nervous because there’s so much more for me to do and so much more for me to accomplish. I haven’t even done anything yet in my mind. But I do recognize the impact that I have so far.

Her Agenda: What would you say, is your proudest moment thus far working in your industry? 

SheShe: Hmm. It’s so hard for me to pinpoint that. I think other people always answered this question better. For me, I think my proudest moment would be…[pauses] ah it’s so hard! Because I do new things like every week, I feel like my recent proudest moment is being an executive producer and a director role for visuals. That is something that I’ve always done on a smaller scale, but doing it on a large scale. And having a major impact is something that I’m super proud of right now.

Her Agenda: How do you navigate on set challenges? For example, you had an idea you brought to the client and they’re just like, ‘Nope! I don’t like it. I want you to change everything completely.’ What’s something that SheShe would do to fix an issue on the spot?

SheShe: I tell people all the time, that I’m the queen of a pivot. I already got the next one [idea] down. I bring options whether I’m styling or creative directing. I go all out with the options because I never want to be left [feeling like there’s no plan] when they don’t like the first pitch. I always bring something I know the client is gonna like and love, something that I think is next up [that client may like], what I love, and then I bring a wildcard. In each one of those categories, there are 10 different things. Now, when I was younger, just starting [as a stylist], I’d bring three, or four options and if the client didn’t like anything I used to get so defeated. But over time, I just learned, that I’m pulling up with the whole store. I’m creating a whole boutique for you at a fitting, because I’m not going to be caught outside taking a loss, ever!

Her Agenda: I love that! Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready!

SheShe: Exactly!

Her Agenda: Lastly, at Her Agenda we always ask our interviewees what is their motto. So for you, SheShe, what is your motto?
SheShe: My motto is to stay genuine, stay real and the blessings will follow.

This article A Peek Inside Her Agenda: Shaleeta ‘SheShe’ Pendleton was originally published on HerAgenda.com