This is a powerful year of love for the world. With so many changes and transformations happening on a global scale, this year we are focused on the roots and support systems that ground us through it all. In numerology, 2022 is a 6 Universal Year, a number representative of love, support, service, and balance. Relationships are at the forefront of many people's lives this year.
Jupiter is also making its every-decade transit in Pisces now, a water sign based in the emotional world and the transcendent experience of love, and right now, it's all about moving beyond ego, and into unconditional love and the higher heart. If the past few years have taught us anything, it is that love is all we have at the end of the day.
Aries
Cosmpolitan UK
Love for you this year, Aries is about transcending any boundaries, limitations, and emotional patterning from the past that doesn’t serve you now. With Jupiter moving through your house of the unknown, spirituality, endings, loss, healing, and renewal for a large part of the year, you are experiencing a transformation on all levels of life this year, including love. Your ruling planet Mars goes retrograde at the end of the year, from October 30 to January 1, 2023. This is when you are learning more about your passion and direction in love.
Being your resilient, free-spirited self, you are able to overcome anything that comes your way with passion and grace. Love wants to move to new levels in 2022, and you are creating space for your peace, your future, and the love and redemption that are coming in for you now, Aries.
Taurus
Cosmopolitan UK
Love is where a lot of passion is this year, Taurus, and also where a lot of the activity is in your life. With the North Node moving through your sign, your ruling planet Venus in retrograde at the beginning of the year, and the eclipses of the year moving through your house of love, relationships are renewing for you. You are finding the balance between self and others, and you're understanding more of the relationship dynamics in your life, what works for you, and what doesn’t. There is a lunar eclipse on May 16 and a solar eclipse on October 25, transiting your house of love. This is when you will see turning points within your relationships.
It’s all or nothing for you right now, and your love is claiming its space. Find your ground through the different changes and transitions you are moving through this year, and trust the love that is blooming for you this year, Taurus.
Gemini
Cosmpolitan UK
You're strongly focused on your career and the new paths you are taking there Gemini. When it comes to love, you are looking for what aligns with the goals you are seeing through right now. There are peak moments of activity for you when it comes to love this year and these times are the supermoon in Sagittarius on June 14, when Venus enters Gemini from June 22 to July 17, and when Mars goes retrograde in your sign from October 30 to January 1, 2023.
Love this year is about lifting yourself up from any patterns you’ve felt stuck in here, and aligning with the compassion within you. Speaking with others about how you are feeling, getting trusting advice, and listening to the intuition of your soul are key for you when it comes to love this year, Gemini.
Cancer
Cosmopolitan UK
You are learning the most when it comes to your partnerships, devotion, and stability in love this year, Cancer. With Saturn moving through your house of intimacy in 2022, love for you is about the bonds that are forming and have formed, about which structures and dynamics here have been serving your relationships, and which ones are being released now. Healing is prevalent within your emotional world this year, and you are unfolding within new chapters of love. Venus is in Cancer from July 17 to August 11, and this is when you are especially seeing some new beginnings in love.
This year is about emotional renewal and transformation, and about love because it is your birthright. Strings that have been attached are losing their strength, while bonds and commitments that allow you to be, love, and connect are strengthening for you this year.
Leo
2022 is stabilizing the blessings you saw in love in 2021. With Saturn moving through your house of love and partnerships over the past few years, you have been on a deep and, at times, challenging experience of love. Saturn is finishing its last full year here, and this year you also have Jupiter in your 8th house making sure you receive your due blessings within your commitments while you continue to build your new foundations in love.
There is a coming together happening for you this year where everything you’ve learned over the past few years is giving you the clarity on which relationships have truly been there with you through it all, how much you have grown personally, and within your connections in life. There is a supermoon in your house of love on August 11, and things are coming to fruition for you in love this summer, Leo.
Virgo
This is your year of love, Virgo. With Jupiter moving through your house of love and partnership this year, the North Node transiting your house of romance, and two eclipses in your 5th house this year, 2022 is a year of new beginnings and manifesting your dreams in love. This year is all about your courage of love, and your commitment to the seeds you have been planting here. Life is reflecting everything that you feel within. The more you stay in your confidence, remember how worthy you are, and allow love to be, the more effortless your experience will be this year. There is support, love, and connection around you, and although you love to do it all yourself, you don’t have to do it alone this year, Virgo. Love is showing up.
Libra
Love for you this year is about figuring out what makes you happy, Libra. With your ruling planet Venus being in Retrograde as the year starts out, you are entering 2022 doing some reflecting. This year is about the different cycles you have been through within your relationships, and about coming together with what you want for yourself now. Saturn is moving through your house of romance this year and you are addressing any blockages or challenges that have been preventing you from feeling loved and secure.
Love gets more serious with Saturn moving through this area of your chart and you are taking care of the environment around you right now. There is a sacred convergence occurring for you this year, as love manifests. Venus will be in Libra from September 29 to October 23, and this is a good time to set intentions in love.
Scorpio
You are dancing to the beat of love this year, Scorpio. This year brings with it profound changes within love and an acceptance of the unconditional support that is there for you. You are being moved by love in 2022, and are seeing your own personal revelations and becoming in the process like the ever-evolving Scorpio you are. With the North Node officially in Taurus and moving through your house of love this year, partnership awareness is what this transit brings for you.
The different balance dynamics, needs of your partner, or needs of a relationship, in general, are highlighted for you this year as any unresolved karmic issues are looked at and healed. With Jupiter moving through your 5th house of romance, the universe is blessing you with the true gifts of partnership this year--and that’s the pure joy, pleasure, and light that it brings.
Sagittarius
Your passion is leading you forward in love this year, Sagittarius. You’ve never been afraid to stand on your own, and this is why so many are so enticed with you. In 2022 you are paving your own paths in love and defining what foundations and commitments support what you are trying to grow here. It’s about quality over quantity right now, and emotional stability and security are where your heart is this year. You are taking care of your inner world, creating art with your passions, and letting love fall into place. Venus enters Sagittarius from November 16 to December 9, and you are ending the year on a high note in love. As you stand tall in your being, you attract all to you, and 2022 is about self-love, intimacy, and being your fierce self, Sag.
Capricorn
Love brings with it a breath of fresh air for you this year, Capricorn. You love a good success moment and this year you are seeing those within your relationships and commitments. There is a pinnacle moment on your journey of love being reached this year, and you are finding yourself in the right place at the right time. With Venus Retrograde in your sign at the start of 2022, you had a special key given to you and this key was the acknowledgment of what’s been below the surface for you in love that needed to be addressed, as well as clarity on your relationship to self-love and how you keep this eternal flame burning.
You are communicating more of your need and wants in love this year, and seeing a nice reciprocation and flow within your relationships because of this. Focus on where you want to spend your time and energy this year, and rise Capricorn.
Aquarius
You have been on a journey of self since 2020 when Saturn first entered your sign. With 2022 being the last full year of Saturn transits through your beloved sign, this year is your epiphany year, and your year where you receive more of the blessings from the growth--and at times tough decisions--you’ve had to make when it comes to love. You’ve learned how to put yourself first more and make decisions that reflect the intentions of your heart, and this year you are seeing more of your intentions in love manifest for you.
You have self-clarity like no other this year and it’s leading you to the places you need to be in love. You are nurturing your world, your intentions, and your heart, and allowing space for those who support that and are on the same page in 2022, Aquarius.
Pisces
With your Jupiter transit, a once-every-decade transit of luck happening this year, you can be sure this extra juju is going to be flowing through your romantic world as well. Love this year is about moving beyond fear, beyond the unknown, and into your magic. There are opportunities on the other side of doubt, and you are releasing and moving forward this year, Pisces. With Saturn moving through your 12th house this year, you are continuing this cycle you have been in when it comes to emotional healing and spiritual reflection, and are finding ways to let more people in your bubble this year.
2022 is all about shining your heart light and allowing love to transcendent any beliefs, stigmas, or fears, and be just what it is, love. You are worthy of love, and you always have been Pisces, claim it this year.
Featured image by Getty Images
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So, we handpicked one hundred It Girls who embody that palpable It Factor moving through us as young Black women, the kind of motion lighting up the world both IRL and across the internet.
It Girl 100 became xoNecole’s most successful program, with the hashtag organically reaching more than forty million impressions on Instagram in just twenty-four hours. Yes, it caught on like wildfire because we celebrated some of the most brilliant and influential GenZennial women of color setting trends and shaping culture. But more than that, it resonated because the women we celebrated felt seen.
Many were already known in their industries for keeping this generation fly and lit, but rarely received recognition or flowers. It Girl 100 became a safe space to be uplifted, and for us as Black women to bask in what felt like an era of our brilliance, beauty, and boundless influence on full display.
And then, almost overnight, it was as if the rug was pulled from under us as Black women, as the It Girls of the world.
Our much-needed, much-deserved season of ease and soft living quickly metamorphosed into a time of self-preservation and survival. Our motion and economic progression seemed strategically slowed, our light under siege.
The air feels heavier now. The headlines colder. Our Black girl magic is being picked apart and politicized for simply existing.
With that climate shift, as we prepare to launch our second annual It Girl 100 honoree list, our team has had to dig deep on the purpose and intention behind this year’s list. Knowing the spirit of It Girl 100 is about motion, sauce, strides, and progression, how do we celebrate amid uncertainty and collective grief when the juice feels like it is being squeezed out of us?
As we wrestled with that question, we were reminded that this tension isn’t new. Black women have always had to find joy in the midst of struggle, to create light even in the darkest corners. We have carried the weight of scrutiny for generations, expected to be strong, to serve, to smile through the sting. But this moment feels different. It feels deeply personal.
We are living at the intersection of liberation and backlash. We are learning to take off our capes, to say no when we are tired, to embrace softness without apology.
And somehow, the world has found new ways to punish us for it.
In lifestyle, women like Kayla Nicole and Ayesha Curry have been ridiculed for daring to choose themselves. Tracee Ellis Ross was labeled bitter for speaking her truth about love. Meghan Markle, still, cannot breathe without critique.
In politics, Kamala Harris, Letitia James, and Jasmine Crockett are dragged through the mud for standing tall in rooms not built for them.
In sports, Angel Reese, Coco Gauff, and Taylor Townsend have been reminded that even excellence will not shield you from racism or judgment.
In business, visionaries like Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye and Melissa Butler are fighting to keep their dreams alive in an economy that too often forgets us first.
Even our icons, Beyoncé, Serena, and SZA, have faced criticism simply for evolving beyond the boxes society tried to keep them in.
From everyday women to cultural phenoms, the pattern is the same. Our light is being tested.
And yet, somehow, through it all, we are still showing up as that girl, and that deserves to be celebrated.
Because while the world debates our worth, we keep raising our value. And that proof is all around us.
This year alone, Naomi Osaka returned from motherhood and mental health challenges to reach the semifinals of the US Open. A’ja Wilson claimed another MVP, reminding us that beauty and dominance can coexist. Brandy and Monica are snatching our edges on tour. Kahlana Barfield Brown sold out her new line in the face of a retailer that had been canceled. And Melissa Butler’s company, The Lip Bar, is projecting a forty percent surge in sales.
We are no longer defining strength by how much pain we can endure. We are defining it by the unbreakable light we continue to radiate.
We are the women walking our daily steps and also continuing to run solid businesses. We are growing in love, taking solo trips, laughing until it hurts, raising babies and ideas, drinking our green juice, and praying our peace back into existence.
We are rediscovering the joy of rest and realizing that softness is not weakness, it is strategy.
And through it all, we continue to lift one another. Emma Grede is creating seats at the table. Valeisha Butterfield has started a fund for jobless Black women. Arian Simone is leading in media with fearless conviction. We are pouring into each other in ways the world rarely sees but always feels.
So yes, we are in the midst of societal warfare. Yes, we are being tested. Yes, we are facing economic strain, political targeting, and public scrutiny. But even war cannot dim a light that is divinely ours.
And we are still shining.
And we are still softening.
And we are still creating.
And we are still It.
That is the quiet magic of Black womanhood, our ability to hold both truth and triumph in the same breath, to say yes, and to life’s contradictions.
It is no coincidence that this year, as SheaMoisture embraces the message “Yes, And,” they stand beside us as partners in celebrating this class of It Girls. Because that phrase, those two simple words, capture the very essence of this moment.
Yes, we are tired. And we are still rising.
Yes, we are questioned. And we are the answer.
Yes, we are bruised. And we are still beautiful.
This year’s It Girl 100 is more than a list. It is a love letter to every Black woman who dares to live out loud in a world that would rather she whisper. This year’s class is living proof of “Yes, And,” women who are finding ways to thrive and to heal, to build and to rest, to lead and to love, all at once.
It is proof that our joy is not naive, our success not accidental. It is the reminder that our light has never needed permission.
So without further ado, we celebrate the It Girl 100 Class of 2025–2026.
We celebrate the millions of us who keep doing it with grace, grit, and glory.
Because despite it all, we still shine.
Because we are still her.
Because we are still IT, girl.
Meet all 100 women shaping culture in the It Girl 100 Class of 2025. View the complete list of honorees here.
Featured image by xoStaff
Then there were those who gave up their zip code altogether and found a permanent home in the skies. After years spent recruiting students for a university, Lisa-Gaye Shakespeare became a full-time travel influencer and founded her travel company, Shakespeare Agency. And she's not alone.
These stories mirror the experiences of women across the world. For millions, the pandemic induced a seismic shift in priorities and desires. Corporate careers that were once hailed as the ultimate “I made it” moment in one's career were pushed to the back burner as women quit their jobs in search of a more self-fulfilling purpose.
xoNecole spoke to these three Black women who used the pandemic as a springboard to make their wildest dreams a reality, the lessons they learned, and posed the question of whether they’ll ever return to cubicle life.
Answers have been edited for context and length.
xoNecole: How did the pandemic lead to you leaving the cubicle?
Randi: I was becoming stagnant. I was working in mortgage and banking but I felt like my personality was too big for that job! From there, I transitioned to radio but was laid off during the pandemic. That’s what made me go full throttle with entrepreneurship.
Gabrielle: I moved around a lot for work. Five times over a span of seven years. I knew I needed a break because I had experienced so much. So, I just quit one day. Effective immediately. I didn’t know what I was going to do, I just knew I needed a break and to just regroup.
Lisa-Gaye: I was working in recruiting at a university and my dream job just kind of fell into my lap! But, I never got to fully enjoy it before the world shut down in March [2020] and I was laid off. On top of that, I was stuck in Miami because Jamaica had closed its borders due to the pandemic before I was able to return.
Randi O
xoN: Tell us about your journey after leaving Corporate America.
Randi: I do it all now! I have a podcast, I’m an on-air talent, I act, and I own a public relations company that focuses on social media engagement. It’s all from my network. When you go out and start a business, you can’t just say, “Okay I’m done with Corporate America,” and “Let me do my own thing.” If you don’t build community, if you don’t build a network it's going to be very hard to sustain.
Gabrielle: I realized in New York, there was not a lot to do for Black lesbians and queer folks. We don’t really have dedicated bars and spaces so I started doing events and it took off. I started focusing on my brand, Raw Honey. I opened a co-working space, and I was able to host an NYC Pride event in front of 100,000 people. I hit the ground running with Raw Honey. My events were all women coming to find community and come together with other lesbians and queer folks. I found my purpose in that.
Lisa-Gaye: After being laid off, I wrote out all of my passions and that’s how I came up with [my company] Shakespeare Agency. It was all of the things that I loved to do under one umbrella. The pandemic pulled that out of me. I had a very large social media following, so I pitched to hotels that I would feature them on my blog and social media. This reignited my passion for travel. I took the rest of the year to refocus my brand to focus solely on being a content creator within the travel space.
Gabrielle
xoN: What have you learned about yourself during your time as an entrepreneur?
Randi: [I learned] the importance of my network and community that I created. When I was laid off I was still keeping those relationships with people that I used to work with. So it was easy for me to transition into social media management and I didn’t have to start from scratch.
Gabrielle: The biggest thing I learned about myself was my own personal identity as a Black lesbian and how much I had assimilated into straight and corporate culture and not being myself. Now, I feel comfortable and confident being my authentic self. Now, I'm not sacrificing anything else for my career. I have a full life. I have friends. I have a social life. And when you are happy and have a full quality of life, I feel like [I] can have more longevity in my career.
Lisa-Gaye: [I'm doing] the best that I've ever done. The discipline that I’m building within myself. Nobody is saying, ‘Oh you have to be at work at this time.’ There’s no boss saying, ‘Why are you late?’ But, if I’m laying in bed at 10 a.m. then it's me saying [to myself], 'Okay, Lisa, get up, it's time for you to start working!’ That’s all on me.
xoNecole: What mistakes do you want to help people avoid when leaving Corporate America?
Randi: You have to learn about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship. You have a fast season and a slow season and I started to learn that when you're self-employed the latter season hits hard. Don't get caught up on the lows, just keep going and don't stop. I’m glad I did.
Gabrielle: I think everyone should quit their job and just figure it out for a second. You will discover so much about yourself when you take a second to just focus on you. Your skill set will always be there. You can’t be afraid of what will happen when you bet on yourself.
Lisa-Gaye: When it comes to being an influencer the field is saturated and a lot of people suffer from imposter syndrome. There is nothing wrong with being an imposter but find out how to make it yours, how to make it better. If you go to the store, you see 10 million different brands of bread! But you are choosing the brand that you like because you like that particular flavor.
So be an imposter, but be the best imposter of yourself and add your own flair, your own flavor. Make the better bread. The bread that you want.
Lisa-Gaye Shakespeare
xoNecole: Will you ever return to your 9 to 5?
Randi: I wouldn’t go back to Corporate America. But I don’t mind working under someone. A lot of people try to get into this business saying, “I can't work under anyone.” That’s not necessarily the reason to start a business because you're always going to answer to somebody. Clients, brands, there’s always someone else involved.
Gabrielle: I went back! I really needed a break and I gave myself that. But, I realized I’m a corporate girl, [and] I enjoy the work that I do. I’m good at it and I really missed that side of myself. I have different sides of me and my whole identity is not Raw Honey or my queerness. A big side of me is business and that’s why I love having my career. Now I feel like my best self.
Lisa-Gaye: I really don’t. For right now, I love working for myself. It's gratifying, it's challenging, it's exciting. It’s a big deal for me to say I own my own business. That I am my own boss, and I'm a Black woman doing it.
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Featured image courtesy of Lisa-Gaye Shakespeare
Originally published on February 6, 2023