Boss Babes Link Up! xoNecole's ElevateHER Is Coming To ATL This August
For decades, Atlanta has been hailed as one of the most centralized meccas of Black culture, entertainment, and business. For the first time ever, on Saturday, August 3rd, xoNecole is bringing a one of a kind retail and entrepreneurship utopia to the city that will take your magic to the next level.
Join our tribe along with hundreds of other boss women just like you for xoNecole's ElevateHER Crawl, which will feature a number of your favorite influencers, surprise guest speakers, and a whole gang of local vendors for a special shopping experience that is uniquely curated by the xo Team.
When Necole Kane, founder and CEO of xoNecole, moved back to Atlanta last year, she had one mission: to create a hub for women of color to flourish and thrive and we just linked up with Toyota Corolla to do exactly that in a celebration of women in business that you won't forget.
This multi-experience event will allow you to interact with more than 30 local female-owned vendors, participate in creative DIY workshops, develop business connections and network with bomb boss babes from all over the country. And let's not forget, xoNecole always comes through with the goodie bags jam-packed with products you'll love from other black-owned businesses!
What You Can Expect
Shop
The real shop till you drop experience. Over 30 local ATL businesses as well as a few of our brand favs like The Lip Bar, Posh Candle Co, and The Honey Pot are joining us for our first ever interactive shopping experience. Enjoy the beautifully curated selection of all your favorite online brands, boutiques, artists, beauticians, and much more.
Create
Get ready to bring your inner creative out to play. We'll be hosting some exciting DIY workshops throughout the day presented by some of our special brand partners. Get your cameras out and come ready to capture some envy worthy social content at our social stage and step into our IG moments around the venue.
Elevate
When we fill a room with black girl magic – anything is possible. Expect to make new friends run into old friends, find your new favorite brands, and potentially make that next business connection that manifests into a billion dollar idea. Hear from our speakers who have launched brands and sold out shelves of their products while overcoming some lifespan's most challenging obstacles.
We hope to make our first ever ElevateHER Market a day to remember. Black women are leading the way in entrepreneurship and starting new businesses daily. This will be a day of celebration, toasting to our own hustles and making space to network and take our next ideas even further than we've ever imagined.
Early bird general admission tickets are available for purchase now! Click here to grab your ticket and secure your spot for the big day.
If you want to elevate your experience with VIP early access, grab a VIP ticket for you and your homegirls and get all the perks. You'll have an hour of exclusive shopping, a gift bag of goodies from our brand partners and more!
If you're dying to know how you, too, can get in on bringing this vision of Black Girl Magic to life by showcasing your own products and services, no worries, sis. We got you.
Here's how you can get involved with this year's ElevateHER market right now:
Join Us As A Vendor
Push your product to hundreds of live customers and get feedback in real time by applying to be a vendor at this year's market! Approved vendors will receive exclusive promotion on our social media pages.
Get ready to sip & shop til' you drop on the first Saturday in August with our tribe of business-owning boss babes and stay tuned for more information on how you can get in on the action first!
Let's elevate together, sis! Cop your early bird tickets here.
Featured image by Getty Images.
Taylor "Pretty" Honore is a spiritually centered and equally provocative rapper from Baton Rouge, Louisiana with a love for people and storytelling. You can probably find me planting herbs in your local community garden, blasting "Back That Thang Up" from my mini speaker. Let's get to know each other: @prettyhonore.
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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Sheila Rashid's Androgynous Approach To Unisex Clothing Is A Lesson In Embracing Individuality
The ItGirl 100 List is a celebration of 100 Black women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table.
For Sheila Rashid, it all started with some free-hand drawings and a few strokes of paint.
The Chicago-based clothing designer and creative director of Sheila Rashid Brand recalls using her spare time in high school to hand paint designs on t-shirts and distressed hoodies, distributing them to classmates as walking billboards for her art.
Rashid sought to pursue fashion design at Columbia College in Chicago but eventually took the self-taught route to build upon her knack for crafting one-of-a-kind, androgynous pieces.
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Thanks to the mentorship of local designers taking her under their wings, Rashid was able to gain valuable experience in putting together collections and creating patterns; equipping her with them with the necessary skills to pursue her own collections.
After two years of living in New York, Rashid returned home to the Chi and uncovered the unique flair she could offer the city. “I moved to New York after that because I wanted to be in the fashion capital world,” she tells xoNecole. “That's when I really got a leg up. I found myself when I moved back to Chicago after moving to New York.”
For the Midwest native, inspiration comes from her time around creative peers and the city’s notorious winters — known to be a main character in many Chicagoans stories. “It's a different perspective and mindset when I'm making stuff because of the weather here,” she explains. “When we get summer, it’s ‘Summertime Chi’ — it's amazing. It's beautiful. Still, I find myself always making clothes that cater to the winter.”
"I moved to New York after that because I wanted to be in the fashion capital world. That's when I really got a leg up. I found myself when I moved back to Chicago after moving to New York.”
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Many designers have a signature aesthetic or theme in their creations. In Rashid’s design story, dancing between the lines of femininity and masculinity is how she’s been able to distinguish herself within the industry. Her androgynous clothing has garnered the eye of celebrities like Zendaya, Chance the Rapper, WNBA star Sydney Colson, and more — showing her range and approach to designs with inclusivity in mind.
“I think I do reflect my own style,” she says. “When I do make pieces, I'm very tomboyish, androgynous. My work is unisex because I feel like everybody can wear it. I cater to everybody and that's how I try to approach my clothes.” From denim to overalls, and color-drenched outerwear, Rashid has mastered the structure of statement pieces that tell a story.
“Each collection, I never know what's going to be the thing I'm going to focus on. I try to reflect my own style and have fun with the storytelling,” she shares. “I look at it more like it's my art in this small way of expressing myself, so it's not that calculated.”
"My work is unisex because I feel like everybody can wear it. I cater to everybody and that's how I try to approach my clothes."
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Still, if you were able to add up all the moments within Rashid’s 20-year career in design, one theme that has multiplied her into becoming an “ItGirl” is her confidence to take up space within the fashion industry as a queer, Black woman. “Being an ItGirl is about being yourself, loving what you do, finding your niche, and mastering that,” she says.
No matter where you are on your ItGirl journey, Rashid says to always remain persistent and never hesitate to share your art with the world. “Don’t give up. Even if it's something small, finish it and don't be afraid to put it out,” she says, “It's about tackling your own fear of feeling like you have to please everybody, but just please yourself, and that's good enough.”
To learn more about the ItGirl 100 List, view the full list here.
Featured image Courtesy