Yara Shahidi is simply stunning! And underneath all those luscious curls, is a beautiful mind and a girl on her grind!
The 15-year-old actress who plays the popular older sister "Zoey Johnson," on ABC's Black-Ish, has been making rounds in the industry for years now, but it's only recently that she's found herself on our faves radar.
Although on TV she acts as the somewhat self-absorbed "Zoey," Yara herself is everything but. The teen star, who in real life enjoys math and science, is extremely grounded and all about making the right moves. According to her shoot with Teen Vogue, Yara recently teamed up with DoSomething.org and 3M to become the face of 'Science Sleuth," a text-message style game and app that encourages teens to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). According to Yara:
"Science, math, and technology, to me, are the cornerstones of potential advancement. New discoveries, cures for diseases, and ways to help our world feel more like a community all happen because of these areas.I want young people to know that our communities need us to keep learning and contributing so that we can help solve crises like world hunger and disease."
Well said! Check out 7 interesting things on Yara below!
1. She just recently did a college tour of Harvard... and she's only 15!
Beauty and brains! Even though the actress has a pretty demanding career, that hasn't stopped her from prioritizing. The teen star, who doesn't even have a license to drive yet (although she admits she is the "queen" of jet-skiing), is currently enrolled online in a total of five Advanced Placement classes at Dwight School in New York City.
Just recently, she revealed to Teen Vogue that she's in the middle of touring colleges, with both Brown and Harvard being at the top of her list!
"I actually just visited Harvard, and I spent the day with [writer and professor] Jamaica Kincaid and some other professors, and it was incredible. It's such a cool campus too, and at first it seems so unattainable, but it had such a good community feel. I'm also looking at Brown. Tracee [Ellis Ross], my TV mother, got her honorary doctorate from there, which was very cool!"
2. Culture Representation is Everything- No "Poor-Trayals!"
Even as a teen, Yara understands the importance of image and cultural representation. The 15-year-old, whose mother is African-American and her father Iranian, Huffington Post last month that she turned down many roles before Black-Ish in order to steer clear of any negative stereotypes or poor portrayals of Black people.
"Before Black-ish, I got offered a couple roles that were just, you know, they just didn't portray black people very well, teenagers very well, me very well [or] anything like that, so I ended up turning them down. But Black-ish was perfect and timely. It was kind of what America needed at the time. It's great that there are actors of color that are working and doing a brilliant job, but it's still important to have a positive image or role model."
3. Speaking of Family-- She Got Her Start in Hollywood Thanks to Her Actress Mom!
Yara got her start in the business at a fairly early age. At only six months old, baby Yara was featured in an ad for insurance. And as a kid star, she's had her share of TV and movie roles (Butter, Imagine That, Salt, Alex Cross, etc.) However, Yara's introduction to Hollywood was by way of her actress mom.
Yara's mother, Keri, is a successful commercial actress, and her father, Afshin, was singer Prince's longtime photographer. Yara's younger brothers are also set to be up next on TV:
"I have two younger brothers — 12 and 7 — and they're fantastic. My 12-year-old brother, Sayeed, is going to be starring in a new show called Uncle Buck on ABC.. And my 7-year-old brother is going to be on a new show called American Crime Story. He'll be playing Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s son!"
Nice!
4. Her Cousin is Rapper Nasir Jones
Yara's mother Keri and Nas are first cousins, making Yara and Nas second cousins. The rapper is constantly spotted showing love to his little cuz on Instagram, and Yara and Nas' daughter Destiny are really good friends as well, with the actress recently modeling for Destiny's Lipmatic Lipgloss line. Yara revealed :
"My momma grew up with [Nas]. He got his genealogy done at Harvard and Henry Louis Gates Jr. did his entire family background. I was a flower girl at his wedding."
5. She's a Black Belt in Karate Who is Obsessed with Crime Fighting
Aside from being a Comic book fan-girl (Yara admits she keeps up with everything Marvel), the teen says that if she wasn't an actress, she'd be fighting crime-- in real life!
"I'm a detective show junkie. Law & Order SVU or Criminal Intent are two of my favorites. I just met Pablo Schreiber, who had a two season arc on Law & Order, and I was so excited I had no words. I'm pretty sure I freaked him out. We were at an Emmys event, and my mother had to tell him that I'm an actress, too, and not just some weird fan. If I couldn't act, I'd want to run the CIA or FBI."
6. Her style icon is Kerry Washington
Which totally makes sense seeing as to how Yara played "Young Kerry" in Season 2 of Scandal! The stylish teen said she's in love with Kerry's more classic fashion, and is also not afraid to get daring in the dude's section at "Brooks Brothers."
"Kerry Washington is definitely a style icon of mine, she's pretty fabulous.I also love Brooks Brothers, it's one of my favorite stores. I always shop in the boys' section. One of my favorite outfits was a Brooks Brothers pantsuit with oxford heels, so I like mixing and matching like that. I wear oxfords for everything through, they're my favorite style of footwear."
7. She Speaks Farsi!
As mentioned before Yara is half-Iranian and grew up speaking Farsi fluently. However, she may need to brush up on it just a bit!
"I'm half-Iranian, I can understand Farsi, and I used to be able to read and write it too. I'm starting up classes this year in school so I can be fluent again."
Bonus:
Yara recently shot with Teen Vogue for an amazing #HairGoals shoot. Check out the photos in our gallery, as well as an important hair tip on how she maintains her healthy hair:
“Protective hair styles. I try not to put heat on it until it comes to event or work. My hair is a bun most times, wash and goes with deep conditionars and twist-outs is my favorite style… and after a long day I put my hair in a 'pineapple' bun at the end of the day and my twist out will last for 5 days. Pineapples work!"
Noted!
RELATED
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
Feature image courtesy
The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image courtesy
