Money Talks is an xoNecole series where we talk candidly to real women about how they spend money, their relationship with money, and how they get it.
Kris Christian began her career as a Wall Street analyst in New York City in 2009. She soon fell in love with the creative marketing side of business and transitioned into full-time entrepreneurship. Kris took the leap of faith to begin FAME Enterprises, an integrated marketing agency offering premium, full-service marketing and production services and specializing in multicultural audiences. Within three years, Kris built FAME into a seven-figure agency, working in partnership with blue chip brands such as BMW of North America, Forbes8, Nielsen, Bumble and Time, Inc. In 2017, Kris wanted to tap into her passion for coffee and created Chicago French Press (CFP). Being a lifelong coffee enthusiast, Kris founded CFP as a way to provide others with freshly roasted coffee beans flavored with natural ingredients to achieve the sweetened taste she enjoyed.
When you decide to become an entrepreneur, you first focus on making money. But what you learn along the way, is the power in tapping into your value, that is the true reward. Kris believes that everyone is valuable and when you invest in your ideas, you bring more than money in the bank. You bring wealth into your life. Entrepreneurship is not easy. It takes hard work, discipline, and an understanding that you cannot do it alone. So according to Kris, it is important that while being an entrepreneur, you must have the right people in your corner to support you along your journey. With over 10 years as a full-time entrepreneur, Kris is very adamant on empowering others to create wealth for themselves by sharing her story and encouraging others to start investing in their dreams which will allow them to sustain a life of prosperity.
In this installment of "Money Talks", xoNecole spoke with Kris about how community, staying humble, investing in your ideas and passions are the keys to maximizing your value into multiple streams of income.
xoNecole: What do you define as “wealth” vs “success”?
Kris Christian: I think that wealth is the total value you're able to create and sustain. Value can be defined in monetary ways, through resources, and how you leave your mark in the world. When you are born into this world, everyone has value. But when you build on your value by creating assets, utilizing networks, and leveraging accessible resources, that is wealth. Now with success, success can be whatever you create it to be. Success can mean you are a great mother or just being a great human being. Anyone can be successful because it's how you expand on what's important to you.
"When you are born into this world, everyone has value. But when you build on your value by creating assets, utilizing networks, and leveraging accessible resources, that is wealth."
Courtesy of Kris Christian
What’s the lowest you’ve ever felt when it comes to your finances?
Early on when I became an entrepreneur, I had a good amount of money saved starting off. I worked on Wall Street and coming out of that, I was used to living a certain lifestyle. Slowly but surely, the money started to decrease (laughs). I think it was year two [into becoming an entrepreneur], and all of my savings were gone. I remember I opened up the refrigerator and there wasn't any food left. I checked my bank account and it was -672 dollars. I thought to myself, 'Wow I can't even afford a sandwich.'
I told myself never again will I allow myself to get to the point. So from that day on, I started being more strategic with my spending habits, changed my perspective on money, and started planning for my future. I even enrolled myself into classes to get my credit score up, to pay down my debt and to live a more frugal lifestyle.
Would you consider yourself a spender or a saver? How did you train yourself to save money?
When I started saving more, I would save in small amounts. I also created a separate account that when I would get paid, 20 percent would be sent to this account that I never touched. As I started to see my savings grow into thousands of dollars, I would then invest in things that retained value. I don't believe in sitting on a ton of money. I believe in making your money work for you. I do have my rainy day fund, but I also would rather use the money I have and invest in assets where extra money can be generated with minimal effort.
"When I started saving more, I would save in small amounts. I also created a separate account that when I would get paid, 20 percent would be sent to this account that I never touched. As I started to see my savings grow into thousands of dollars, I would then invest in things that retained value."
Courtesy of Kris Christian
What are some unhealthy habits or unhealthy mindsets about money that you had to let go of to truly prosper?
I have learned to be a very frugal person. I know that I am a foodie, so you would catch the old me eating out almost every single day. But now I put myself on a budget to only eat out two days a week and hold myself accountable on days I have to cook. I also minimized things like frivolous spending on clothes and jewelry, that are only for show. A lot of us do these things for other people and I had to get out of that mindset.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned through being a business owner and running multiple businesses?
My biggest lesson has been "the know-it-all, knows nothing". You have to be humble when you are running a business or multiple businesses. When I was younger, I told myself that I could teach myself everything and I didn't need a mentor. You think everything you need to know, you can just Google it (laughs). But thinking that way was absolutely ridiculous, because there is always someone who can teach you something. So I make it a priority to always surround myself with people that know more than me. It's about having community and having that support to pour into you and your business. Nowadays, if I am the smartest person in the room, I am in the wrong room.
What is the worst money-related/business-related decision you’ve ever made?
One mistake I made was that when I started off as an entrepreneur, I wanted to be "seen" as successful. I wanted to look the part. I remember going and purchasing my first office space in the middle of downtown Chicago. I didn't have any clients to come to the space, mind you (laughs). I then hired an employee and contractors, with again, no clients! (laughs) I did all of this just to impress other people.
One thing I think society has messed us up with when it comes to entrepreneurship, is that you have to show the world you made it before you actually have the clientele, the case studies, etc. But that's what I did and that is the type of stuff that really hurts you in the long run.
Courtesy of Kris Christian
What were some of the early challenges that came with collaborating with a business partner?
When you collaborate with a business partner, there needs to be a lot of trust. The partnership also has to be mutually beneficial to both people. The biggest challenge I have experienced has been the difference in work ethic. I still have not met someone who can match my work ethic equally. I will wake up at 5 a.m. and go to sleep at 2 a.m. Not to say that that's how you should do things, but it's that level of commitment that is needed to establish a successful business. Both people have to be able to put in the same amount of time and effort.
What’s the best advice that you’ve received about finance during your first year of entrepreneurship?
If you are looking to become a serial entrepreneur, you can do it all, but you cannot do it all at once. If you want to have multiple businesses, they have to go hand in hand. They have to feed into each other or you will get serious burnout doing everything on your own. It is also important to understand the cycles of your businesses as well. For example, my businesses are all about lifestyle and creating experiences.
My event productions were really heavy in the summertime. Chicago French Press' peak season is in the fall and winter. In the beginning of the year, when people are looking more into marketing campaigns with their businesses, that's where FAME Production Group comes into play. So knowing the cycles of your business and being intentional on maximizing each of them at the right time throughout the year is key.
What is the money mantra you swear by?
I don't make money, I create wealth. My business is my canvas and I am the artist, creator and owner of my legacy." I believe my greatest investment is in my ideas which are abundant. Cultivating and shaping those ideas into products, services, platforms and real estate that help others, while also solving problems is how I create value. The return of that investment becomes streams of income and fruitful assets that generate wealth for future generations.
To learn more about Kris Christian, you can follow her on Instagram here.
Featured image courtesy of Kris Christian
RELATED
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.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Featured image courtesy of Lisa-Gaye Shakespeare
Originally published on February 6, 2023