What if I told you to throw your whole vision board away? Too drastic? Perhaps. But what if I said that taking a step away from your vision board—for just a moment—could ultimately lead you to reaching your goals this year?
Such is the advice of Morgan Ondree, founder and lead web designer at Wild Powerful Design Studio. “I want you to take your vision board and put it away,” she shared in her now-viral video. “Don’t look at it again until you do this.” As a TikTok creator and branding specialist, Morgan is in the business of getting individuals to rebrand their lives like a business.
Still, you may be asking yourself, what could possibly make you step away from the vision board that you spent hours curating and perfecting? The answer can be found in a writing practice known as scripting.
Scripting is a manifestation technique that combines visualization with writing out your dreams and desires as if you already have them. “This is ‘who’ you are as a person,” Morgan explains. The method involves you drafting the life of your dreams, verbatim, in the present tense in order to obtain and attract the change you want to see in your life.
Derived from neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), the visualization approach implies that our thought processes and behaviors influence how we think and the physical results we get. Meaning, in order to become the person you want to be, you must first think and adopt the traits of what that person would embody.
@morgan.ondree Stop wasting your time and ur mamas magazines #scripting #manifestation #rebrand
Back in 2020, amid the enduring time of quarantine, Morgan was in the middle of an identity crisis. After running a skincare brand for six years only to have it put on hold due to supply chain issues caused by the pandemic, Morgan found it difficult to show up for her business and felt lost. “COVID hit and we were in lockdown; I damn near went crazy,” she tells xoNecole. “Something about being forced to really look into who you are, no distractions from your bad habits, can either make or break you, and at the time it was breaking me.”
This period turned Morgan inward, as she began to attend therapy in an effort to get back connected to herself and gain clarity on her next chapter. “After one of my sessions, my therapist and I talked about creating an alter ego to align with whom I wanted to be, and I started this process of rebranding.”
While she was navigating feelings of being depressed, lost, and confused, she decided she would make a complete 360 and close her business, teach herself web design, and follow her true passion by opening her web and branding design firm, Wild Powerful Design Studio. “I started to find love in my work again. I started to feel naturally confident, show up online, and talk about the process of branding. I decided I was going to treat my life as I would a brand and create brand guidelines. These are very clear, concise, and easy-to-follow guides on how a brand communicates, what they believe, and the visuals.”
The key to finding her passions and unlocking her best, 'rebranded-self,' as she explains in her TikTok, was that she, “had a set intention and identity shift attached to her goals.” According to Morgan, in order to begin your rebrand, you must first evaluate what you’re doing that's not getting you to the place that you want to be. “I'm going to be really honest with you; I was creating excuses, allowing the fear of what other people will think to stop me from executing some of my best ideas,” she shares. “So I wrote these things down and decided they’d be things I would no longer do.”
@morgan.ondree Switch it up on em #personalrebrand @Jacklyn Sweet #brandingtips
Getting clear about the identity of the future version of yourself you want to become, is essential to ultimately becoming it. Ask yourself, what does that person (you) do? What are their habits? Their values? Their routine? Visualize it, script it, and begin to incorporate those traits into your daily being. “In the scripting process, you write about your highest and best future self as if it is in the present,” Morgan explains. “This can be hard to do when you are feeling low, so one amazing thing that I learned from my therapist was that your affirmations need to align with what you're doing physically.”
"In the scripting process, you write about your highest and best future self as if it is in the present.”
According to Morgan, it’s important to create affirmations that resonate with where you are until you’re in a space where they reflect who you want to be. “I would say to myself, ‘I am getting stronger every day.’ Then right after that, I would do my morning workout telling myself that I am strong while carrying out the behavior that tells my brain, ‘Oh, you are this.’”
Believing is truly the key to achieving all that you’re destined for. And once you shift your mindset, Morgan shares that’s when it’s time to script your way into your new life. To help you get started, Morgan has supplied a step-by-step guide to script your way into your newly rebranded life!
Step 1: Decide.
“Decide that you will be different. You need to actually be willing to commit to the promise you are about to make to yourself.”
Step 2: Write out your script.
“Rule of thumb: be clear. In my process, I like to script the overall ‘themes’ of my life: the physical, spiritual, emotional, career, friendship, etc. Then I write it down [in detail] who I am in those categories.”
“At the end of doing all of that, I like to have a quick summary sentence; you can refer back to this when you're feeling lost along the new journey. If your behavior or circumstances doesn't align with who you are, let it go.”
Step 3: The grace period.
“Start to implement habits that help you be the person you scripted about. That could be waking up an hour earlier or checking on your mom more; during this time you're going to give yourself grace to mess up and that's okay. You're learning something new, it's not easy to just get rid of bad habits in an instant. During this period, you're learning how to fail and keep going.”
Step 4: Create your digital vision board.
“Everyone knows how to do this already, but I personally like to create my vision board in Pinterest. I title [each section] by the themes of my script, and I save quotes and images that align with what I see in my brain.”
Step 5: Get ready for launch day.
“At this point, you've worked really hard to set the foundation for the rest of your life, so it's time to celebrate. I picked my birthday [as my launch day] because I like to make a big deal out of it—but this can be any day you like. This is not something you have to share with others, it can be a celebration of you and this new journey that you've committed to.”
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Aley Arion is a writer and digital storyteller from the South, currently living in sunny Los Angeles. Her site, yagirlaley.com, serves as a digital diary to document personal essays, cultural commentary, and her insights into the Black Millennial experience. Follow her at @yagirlaley on all platforms!
Exclusive: Melanie Fiona On Making High-Vibrational Music & Saying Yes To Partnership
Melanie Fiona is back! After taking a little more than a decade-long hiatus, she has officially made her return to music and blessed us with two singles, “Say Yes” and “I Choose You.” While both singles are very different from each other, they both reflect who she is today and the type of music she wants to make. In our conversation, the mom of two expressed what she learned during her time away.
“It's interesting, even when I said it is like coming back, I don't ever feel like I really left because I was always still performing. I've still been public. It's not like I went into being this recluse person or version of myself, but the thing that I really learned in this process is that I think things take time,” Melanie says in a xoNecole exclusive.
“I think often we're so caught up in it, being on the timing of demand or popularity, or, like, striking while the iron is hot and the thing that I've learned is that everything is on God's time. That's it. Every time I thought I would have been ready, or, like, things were taking too long, I had to reship some things, personally, professionally, in my life. I also gave myself permission to make a living, not just make a living, but make a life for myself.”
Making a life for herself included getting married to Grammy-nominated songwriter Jared Cotter, starting a family, and embracing new landscapes, such as podcasting as a co-host of The Mama’s Den podcast. She also began doing more spiritual work and self-care practices like meditation, sound healing, Reiki, acupuncture, and boundary setting, which allowed her to get in touch with her inner voice.
“I wasn't putting out music, and I wasn't experiencing a number one record, but I was being a number one mom,” she says.
“I was experiencing things that were allowing me to heal and get in touch with myself so that I could make new music from a space of joy and freedom, and excitement again because I definitely feel like I did lose some excitement because of just politics and industry and what it can do to your mental health and even your physical health. So giving myself the space to really just say, ‘Hey, it's okay. Everything's right on time.’”
The joy and excitement are felt in one of two new singles, “I Choose You,” which is more of a lovers rock vibe, a tribute to Melanie’s Caribbean roots. While the Grammy award-winner is known for ballads like “It Kills Me” and “Fool For You,” she is becoming more intentional about the music she makes, calling it high-vibrational music. She says her music is a “reflection of my life,” as it captures every facet, from hanging out with friends to riding around in her car.
“Say Yes” has the classic R&B vibe Melanie is known for. However, both songs are inspired by her relationship. Melanie and Jared got married in December 2020, and the Toronto-bred artist dished on their relationship. Fun fact: he is featured in the “Say Yes” music video.
“When we first started dating, I had come into that relationship post a lot of self-work. I had gotten out of a long-term relationship, I had a year and a half to date and be by myself and do a lot of work on myself alone. And when we met, I remember feeling like this has to be my person because I feel it,” she says.
“And so when we went into that relationship, and we started dating, I was very clear. I was like, I know what I want. I'm very clear on what I need, and I'm not going to withhold my truth about myself in this process because of pride or fear of rejection. I know you love me, but I'm coming with my heart in my hand to let you know that if we're gonna get there, we have to put fear aside and say yes. So that was kind of like my open letter to him, which is why the video is us having a conversation.”
Melanie also shares that saying yes to her partner has empowered her in many ways, including motherhood and showing up for herself. Her new EP, also titled Say Yes, will be available at the top of 2025.
Check out the full interview below.
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Entertaining Like Ayesha Curry: Expert Advice For Holidays Done Right
Be prepared to wow the crowd.
It’s officially the holiday season, which means parties and gatherings galore. Between Friendsgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve celebrations, many of us are preparing to host loved ones in our homes one or two times between now and the end of the year. No matter the occasion or season, hosting for family and friends is a labor of love. But we can also agree that entertaining can be overwhelming, especially for first-time hosts.
As a seasoned host and entertainer, Ayesha Curry knows something about creating a memorable event for loved ones. Whether preparing for an intimate dinner with your immediate family or hosting a larger crowd, your guests will think you are a pro this holiday season with her tips on everything from welcoming guests to setting a beautiful table.
Q: What is your top tip for hosting?
Ayesha Curry:Part of being a great host is spending time with your guests, which means you can’t be stuck in the kitchen. Prep is key! I usually serve wine with the meal, but a cocktail or mocktail is a great way to greet guests. I prep the garnish the night before and batch the drink just before guests arrive. When the party begins, I pull everything out of the fridge and am ready to serve.
Writer Note: If you would like to offer non-alcoholic beverages for your sober or sober-curious guests, I love Saint Viviana Cab. It maintains full-body cabernet and flavor; no one will ever guess it’s alcohol-free. You can easily create a signature mocktail using Bittermilk’s Smoked Honey Whiskey Sour mix.
Q: Do you suggest any prep for serving or cooking?
AC:I lay out all my serving dishes and utensils the night before with little post-it notes saying what goes where. That way, I’m not digging around for anything. For more elaborate menus, I lay out quarter sheet pans and label them with tape according to the dish. I prep and measure everything for each recipe and then load each sheet pan with everything needed to make the dish. I wrap each tray in saran or foil, stack them, and place them in the fridge. Pull out the sheet pan you need when cooking, and everything is ready. It’s something I learned at the restaurant that saves so much time.
Q: What’s one item that should always be on a dinner party menu?
AC: Bread or roll with butter is excellent for holding guests over if the kitchen is delayed.
Q: What’s one non-menu item you should always have on hand?
AC: For a non-menu item, wine!
Q: How do you decide on a theme or menu for a gathering?
AC: It all starts with the occasion and the guest list. If it’s a group that doesn’t know each other very well, I may get more elaborate with the theme to help break the ice. For a group of friends or family who don’t get to see each other very often, I usually keep it simple so the evening can be all about catching up. A great playlist, good wine, and a family-style menu are all you need.
Q: Should attendees be expected to bring a gift?
AC: If I’m hosting, I’m not expecting gifts. The gift is taking time to come over and enjoy a meal with me! But bringing something to enjoy at the gathering, like a bottle of wine, is always appreciated.
Q: What are three affordable gifts that guests can give a host?
AC:A bag of excellent coffee is a beautiful gift for a host. Sweet July’s House Blend Coffee is sourced from all-female co-ops, so it’s a gift I love to give to the women in my life. Whether it’s being served after dinner or just for the host to enjoy on their own, you can’t go wrong with a bag of high-end coffee.
Fresh flowers are great if you have a host who likes total control over the food and beverage menu. Go for something neutral in color that can work with any décor.
The Sweet July Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar set is my go-to host gift. Bottled in Napa, it’s a gift any foodie will appreciate - and use!
Q: What are some creative tablescape or decor ideas that you love?
AC: I like to keep my dinnerware neutral and classic (like this ceramic collection in nutmeg) and infuse color and texture through linens. For centerpieces, I want to use what I have in my yard. If it’s summer, it might be flowers or greenery, but interesting branches can also look architectural in tall, clear vases next to tapered candles in the colder months. There’s no need to spend a ton of money on flowers.
With Ayesha’s tips, you can create a holiday gathering that your family and friends will cherish forever.
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