It's yet another winning moment for black girls around the world, because it's law that when one of us wins, we all win.
Black girl magic remained the anthem over the weekend when Olympic-hopeful Maame Biney solidified her position as an athlete to watch. Maame has found her true purpose in life as a speedskater. And although she was once told that she could no longer figure skate because she skated too fast, Maame became the first black woman to be added to U.S. Olympic speedskating team!
In doing so, she has also become the second black person to qualify, following in the footsteps of Shani Davis who qualified for the Winter Games back in 2002.
The 17-year-old Ghana native is yet another reminder that black girls really are the future. Girl can move!
During this past weekend's speedskating trials, Maame conquered two victorious 500-meter rounds. But with every win, comes a fail. The teenager saw the saw the humor in it though, and laughed the whole time. She told ESPN about the hilarious moment following her historic win:
"When I realized that made the Olympic team, I started cheering like crazy, and then I made my epic fall."
Fortunately, she was able to get back up again:
"I can't believe it, aww geez. It's a really good feeling, but it has to set in first because it takes me a while. I'm like, 'Holy cow.'"
Her black girl joy is contagious and her skill is undeniable.
Although more of a metaphor, an arsenal of people are in Maame's corner, rooting for her success this winter. This includes her coaches, John-Henry Krueger and J.R. Celski, and a proud father. In fact, her dad's motto is: "Kick some hiney Biney!"
And that's exactly what she did.
We are all rooting for you, Maame! Congratulations on this incredible milestone and your success moving forward.
Watch Maame do her thing below.
- Maame Biney, 17, is first black woman to make Olympic ... ›
- 17-Year-Old Maame Biney Becomes First Black Girl to Make U.S. ... ›
- Maame Biney is first black woman to make Olympic speedskating team ›
- Teenager Maame Biney makes history as first female African ... ›
- Maame Biney Becomes First African-American Woman To Make ... ›
- Olympics: Maame Biney becomes first black woman to qualify for ... ›
- Maame Biney qualifies for U.S. Olympic short track team | NBC Sports ›
- Maame Biney, J.R. Celski make U.S. Olympic short track team | NBC ... ›
- Reston's Maame Biney becomes 1st black woman to make U.S. ... ›
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"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."
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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.
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