Everything You Need To Know About ElevateHER Shop
Every day, Black women elevate the world. We are trendsetters and visionaries; the shapeshifters that lead by virtue of presence alone. In a world that sells our identities for consumption, we remind everyone that joy is our birthright and the grace we carry will always be authentic. Our existence is not a social experiment but a crafted emblem of perfection. And for that, we deserve everything good this world has to offer.
With that, xoNecole created the ElevateHER Shop, a here-to-stay online marketplace. For Black women, by Black women. While there are multiple places to shop Black online, which we champion, #ElevateHER provides a way for consumers to directly support small Black Women-Owned businesses! Just in time for Juneteenth, we aim to celebrate not just our joy but our ancestors and kick summer off the right way.
We're launching our first curated iteration "Summertime Joy" to celebrate everything we are and everything we aspire to be. ElevateHER will continue to grow and have iterations reflecting other seasons and life events relevant to us all. We got the range. Everything from beauty (Summertime Fine) to home decor (Dope Abodes), personal development and entertainment (Booked & Boujie) to food and wellness (Guilt-Free Pleasures) to personal style (Here to Slay)—we've got it.
To complement our ElevateHER Shop launch, we're celebrating non-stop with a slew of immersive moments for our audience to share in the Joy. See below for interactive ways to share in the joy and uplift womenpreneurs of color:
Custom AR filter
Wondering what Black-owned product to shop next? No worries, our Instagram AR Filter has you covered! Our filter scrolls through dozens of fabulous products from the ElevateHER Shop randomly landing on a different product each time. So what are you waiting on? Try it out on the @xoNecole Instagram page here and don't forget to tag @xonecole and use #ElevateHER so we can repost you!
Joy Gifting
xoNecole welcomed 50 influential queens to the sunshine season with a special delivery that radiated Black Girl Joy. They were delivered a delicious array of Black-owned summertime joy with a candle on behalf of Collins House Global and the finest of wine made with love by the McBride Sisters. Not to mention stunning floral arrangements from Barbara's Flowers, The Petal Effect and Lemiga Events.
Instagram Guides
We curated 5 user-friendly Instagram Guides that each serve to represent products from every shopping category in the ElevateHER Shop: beauty, style, home, books and wellness. We shared some of our favorites amongst favorites that are worth investing the coins in this summer and beyond, for Black women by Black women.
Editorial Series: Black Woman Owned
This Marketplace was curated not only to shop and support these founders, but also to discover. We've been fortunate enough to get insight into the lives of Black women entrepreneurs who are featured in our shop. Explore the Black Woman-Owned editorial section on the shop homepage to learn more about the brains behind the businesses + brands. These stories are meant to inspire and be of motivation.
The journey of Black entrepreneurship is difficult for many but when we share information while being unafraid to share our stories, we are capable of accomplishing everything we set our minds to! ElevateHER soars by shining a light, a special one, for all of us.
ElevateHER 100
We created Instagrammable graphics for our 100 womenpreneurs who were featured in their audiences to celebrate this notable moment and encourage their followers to bask in the joy.
ElevateHER is for the current and future. To our Summertime Joys and beyond: we will always elevate.
Click here to experience the ElevateHER Shop.
Featured image designed by Kyra James
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ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Wellness And Spiritual Coach Koya Webb On Taking Up Space As A Black Woman In Yoga
There are some misconceptions about yoga and people who practice it, such as it's only for people who are flexible, thin, and/ or considered elite. However, none of those things are true, and Koya Webb is the perfect example. Koya is an international holistic health and wellness coach and yoga instructor who represents much of what yoga can do for others by allowing it to manifest in herself. The former track athlete began practicing yoga after a sports injury that affected her not only physically but mentally. As she was trying to push through the pain with yoga, she was facing another obstacle: isolation. There weren't many others who looked like her in her classes, so she felt alone.
She reflects on that tough moment in an exclusive interview with xoNecole. "When I started, it wasn't that many of us in there, and it was painful, to be honest. I couldn't touch my toes. No one looked like me. I was mentally hurt. I felt like I was gonna get my scholarship taken away. I felt hopeless," she tells us. I felt like I didn't belong there. This is not for me, and I could barely breathe, and I just wanted to cry."
However, her yoga instructor was very encouraging and helped her through her practice. "And the teacher came to me and she was just like, just breathe with me. And she just took this deep inhale, exhale, and I felt the Holy Spirit like in my body— that I identify as spirit which is full body chills. And that's how I knew I was in the right place."
"And the teacher came to me and she was just like, just breathe with me. And she just took this deep inhale, exhale, and I felt the Holy Spirit like in my body— that I identify as spirit which is full body chills. And that's how I knew I was in the right place."
She continues, "So, even throughout the pain and throughout the stiffness in my body, and even though I felt like I didn't fit in, I didn't belong. I just did it anyway, and I cried through the pain. I breathed through the pain, and after a year, I completely healed my body, strengthen my mind, and I came back to win the conference championship in the heptathlon and was ranked 13th in the nation."
But like many of us have done, Koya fell back into old habits, such as not taking care of herself and stopping yoga altogether, which resulted in another injury. This time, however, when she returned to yoga, she stuck with it and got certified as a yoga teacher. From there, she created her own online certification to encourage more Black people to teach holistic health and yoga. As a Black woman in the wellness space, Koya was in the minority and had to do some soul-searching to effectively make a change.
"It was really hard because I experienced a lot of microaggressions that I had just normalized. And I had to normalize it just to be safe, and I didn't realize I was doing it at that time. I really realized a lot during the pandemic. When I started reading like Caste, and I started going deeper into my own journey of, like, life and what does it mean to be a Black woman? You know, and what does it mean to be a leader? You know, because I would just say yes to people who would reached out to me," she says.
"I got very far in my career and then I realized it's time for me to reach out to people that are afraid to reach out. Until I start focusing on other Black women and reaching out and saying, 'Hey, let's do this.' You know, and I think that was a really pivotal point because I feel like a lot of times because we've experienced so much trauma, we're just afraid. We've been hurt so much. We're just afraid and not just the the people that don't look like us but even each other."
It was really hard because I experienced a lot of microaggressions that I had just normalized. And I had to normalize it just to be safe, and I didn't realize I was doing it at that time. I really realized a lot during the pandemic. When I started reading like Caste, and I started going deeper into my own journey of like, life and what does it mean to be a Black woman? You know, and what does it mean to be a leader?
Through her many efforts, Koya has become well known throughout the wellness community with her yoga classes, coaching, podcast, The Lifestyle Design podcast, and events like the Mind, Body + Sol Retreat. She also has a new book coming out focusing on lifestyle design, which she describes as intentionally incorporating wellness in every aspect of your life. Koya also uses her social media to motivate others to live a life of joy, love, and wellness. While she promotes positivity through her work, she also wants others to know that they, too, can start on their holistic journey by adding these simple yoga principles.
"I feel like just waking up and breathing, just mindful breath. You know, of course we're breathing all the time, but like, deep inhale, deep exhale like 10 deep inhalations and exhalations when they wake up and then just some gentle stretches in bed," she says.
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Feature image courtesy