Making Waves

Networking is important. It’s especially critical for women looking to grow and expand in different areas of their professional and personal lives too. I’ve briefly covered this similar topic in previous blog posts, but I believe it’s something beneficial to be brought up again. There’s so much power and progression in the world of networking. I’ve networked with female business owners, college professors, corporate executives, and others who’ve dropped knowledge, guidance, information, and direction on me to help me move forward in areas I’ve felt stagnant, and additionally, assisted me in navigating new areas I’ve wanted to explore. It’s a blessing being able to have the opportunity to connect with others in fields or areas of expertise I’d like to get experience in, and I believe more women, who are interested in progressing, can do the same for themselves too. For successful networking… Be On The Lookout For Events.  If you want to get connected with othe...

A few weeks ago, I started watching the series  Power.  After years of seeing different followers post about it throughout social media, I had to know what all the buzz was about. I’m currently on season four, and to my surprise, so far, I’ve found the show gripping, provocative, and uninhibitedly entertaining. Though the show is controversial and explicit at times, it’s hard to ignore the contrasts and conflicts happening with the main male protagonist, James “Ghost” St. Patrick, played by Omari Hardwick.  James is a businessman who owns a New York nightclub called Truth, who also happens to be a drug dealer whose main goal, at least at the start of the series, is to leave the dope game and street life behind him and go legit with his nightclub venture. Although he has a questionable moral compass, his mission is clear: self-improvement and progression. He stacks his paper, works tenaciously to get out of the drug dealing business, takes care of his family as ...

Be who you needed growing up. A lot of people make the mistake of looking to others to do this for them. I’ve made the same mistake at different times myself. As a child, teenager, and during different times as a young adult…  ·        I needed support, understanding, and encouragement in different areas of my life from important people in my life who were dismissive when it came to support, understanding, and encouragement.  ·        I needed to know it was okay for me to be myself and not have to follow in anyone else’s footsteps.  ·        I needed to know it was okay (and that it’s still okay) to be a young woman who prioritizes my well-being, education, career and dreams, and different experiences and opportunities, instead of choosing a life that’s only perceived as successful or approved of based on having a man and having children. Even though it’s 2019, ...

Wine festivals are a blast. They’re usually filled with great vendors, nice music and merchandise, a cool crowd, and of course, plenty of chill wine. I’m no stranger to the wine festival scene and having the chance to attend the Neptune Wine Festival, meet new people, and taste and purchase wine from one of my favorite festival vendors, Am Rhein’s Wine Cellars, was a really good time. If you’ve never been to a wine festival, I definitely recommend going. It’s a great chance and opportunity to explore wine culture and learn about different wines you may like or dislike, and also be a chance to meet other people who are well-versed in the subject of great wine too.  Do something fun this weekend and enjoy yourself. TGIF!

To me, nothing screams confidence like a group of beautiful women of different races, shapes, sizes, and faces, posing happily and confidently in their underwear. That’s a world I don’t mind being a part of at all. The word for today is  confidence. It’s important to have it and it’s important to build it. Without it, life can be challenging, hell, life can be challenging with it too. Some women may worry that if they're too confident they could come off as arrogant (which is not true) and some may worry that they’re doing too much (which also isn’t true). You will always come off as “too much” or “arrogant” to people who probably don’t have much confidence in themselves. Especially those who feel the need to criticize you about yours. Regardless, you should be taking steps to continue building your confidence and to feel good about being you. I think you’re amazing, just in case you didn’t know that already 😊 and I’m happy to see other women being as confid...

One day a group of my colleagues and I got to talking about deceased public figures we’d invite to our own individual fantasy dinner parties. We talked about the type of questions and conversations we might have with our top five picks and it was an interesting and thought-provoking thing to think about. My top five guests can be found below. Who would make your list? And why?  Do something fun this weekend and enjoy yourself. TGIF!

“Marry someone black.” I was stunned… but not at all offended.   We were having dinner and I could tell by the look on her face, she was serious. After all, those three unforgettable words came out of the mouth of a seasoned black woman I considered beautiful, smart, massively successful, and incredibly  woke . When we first met, I found her informative and inspiring, so I asked her if we could meet up sometime so I could pick her brain about race, racism, and navigating the world as a black woman.   She told me about the importance of being a minority and advocating for yourself, keeping the “receipts”, the necessity of having black friends and a strong inner circle, and suddenly, we ended up on the topic of finding love. And then she said it… “Marry someone black.” Little did she know that those three words were unbelievably timely, and in a way, confirmation of something that had already been on my mind. For several months. I’m enjo...

Frustrations. Disappointments. Traumas.  In time, they can all pile up and negatively take a toll on you to the point where you don’t feel like your normal self anymore.  And eventually, they can all lead to depression.  Depression can hit anyone. Even seemingly positive and put together people, who appear they’re doing just fine on the outside.  For some, it doesn’t take much for it to kick in. For others, it can be a whole list of things and one of the most important things is recognizing when things have felt or seemed  off  for a long time, and then deciding to seek help.  I’ve had seasons where I’ve struggled with depression to the point where I didn’t want to get out of bed, be around anyone, and didn’t care much about how I looked when I left home. Other times I’d just cry, sleep for a long time, isolate myself, stop eating or overeat depending on how I felt at the time, allow my emotions to take over, and stay angry and c...

Sometimes I feel sorry for non-single people. Which may be odd, considering many couples (especially married ones) often seem to feel sorry for singles.  Being single comes with a lot of freedom that serious couples and married people don’t have, which I’ve noticed not a lot of single people I’ve met and known are often aware of or taking full advantage of. I’ve also noticed that I have yet to meet too many single young women who are happily single and moving through life without being obsessed or worried about settling down, meanwhile, I see the opportunities in this space. If you’re single you can pretty much do what you want with your time, money and resources, work on yourself, and figure out what you want the rest of your life to look like: with or without a significant other in the picture. Everything may not turn out exactly as planned, but you’re still the CEO of your life.  Should you ever begin feeling unsettled while single, or anxious, worried, o...

Being a teenager can be hard. Show’s like Netflix’s  13 Reasons Why  reminds me just how much I don’t miss the sometimes complicated and emotionally tumultuous time of being a teenager. The series is now in its third season and if you’re not familiar with the show, it begins with the story of a young, bright, and beautiful teenager named Hannah Baker, with a promising future, whose life was tragically cut short after she committed suicide after being bullied, assaulted, and ostracized by her peers. Before her death, she records her story and her interactions with her peers, via cassette tapes, with each tape leaving clues and startling and sometimes heartbreaking revelations about everything she has gone through and different troubling situations that a number of her peers have been involved in and stayed silent about. Though controversial, it’s hard to ignore the impact the series has left on the culture and the spotlight it’s exposed on the sometimes harsh rea...