Summer is the season of travel. Whether it’s a trip with your girls, a baecation, a special time with family, or a beloved solo trip – this is many people’s favorite time to run down their PTO and enjoy some much-needed R&R. However, life has taught me that to truly enjoy your time, the getaway itself is not enough. Planning is essential. For example, I like to know the deets about where I’m staying.
There’s no “we’re not even going to be at the hotel” vibes for me - the location matters, and I want to see reviews. Also, I think it’s helpful to have a few pre-planned activities to ensure you make the most of the time. Finally, one of the most important elements is travel. How are we getting around?
There is nothing worse than feeling forced to rent a car at the last minute or attempting to use public transportation only to get lost in the middle of nowhere. (Yes, I’m speaking from experience). That’s why I personally appreciate rideshare apps.
However, unfortunately, the dangers of these platforms are getting more and more severe. I’ve personally been in cars where men have asked about my views on dating, politics, and more- only to drop me at my house 10 minutes later – talk about awkward. I’ve also heard more startling stories where friends felt so uncomfortable that they hopped out of a car to avoid potentially dangerous situations.
Personal testimonies like this are why I was so excited to learn about HERide, a woman-owned, Black-owned rideshare service based in Atlanta, GA. Check out xoNecole’s conversation with the founders, Jillian Anderson and DeVynne Starks, below to learn more about their business, ongoing strides in the tech community, and why you need to add HERide to your travel hacks list ASAP.
Jillian Anderson (L) and DeVynne Starks (R).
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xoNecole: Let’s start at the beginning. Can you tell me a little bit about yourselves?
Jillian Anderson: From a young age, I've been deeply involved in sports, earning scholarships for basketball and volleyball at Albany State University. My passion for competition and resilience was further honed during my time playing professional basketball in Morocco, where, unfortunately, an injury brought me back to the U.S. Throughout my journey, I've always been drawn to technology and entrepreneurship. Starting with selling candy bars in grade school, I later founded a successful fashion brand called BEA$T during my college years.
My background in computer science and my entrepreneurial spirit laid the foundation for HERide. The challenges I faced as a tech founder are nothing compared to the determination and drive instilled in me through sports and entrepreneurship. These experiences have shaped me into the competitor I am today within the tech industry, where I continue to push boundaries and innovate for HERide's mission.
DeVynne Starks: Growing up around entrepreneurs, I quickly understood both the hard work that entrepreneurship requires and the freedom that it offers. After earning my Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from Albany State University, where Jillian served as my RA and we first connected, I pursued a Master's Degree from USC Annenberg in Communication Management with a focus on Public Relations.
My career path led me to establish Cultiv8PR, a boutique agency specializing in PR, social media, and content creation. We've worked with diverse brands across various industries, always prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion in our strategies. I'm passionate about storytelling and have a knack for finding unique narratives that resonate and cut through the noise.
In 2022, Jillian approached me to co-found HERide, recognizing my dedication to client success and my commitment to driving impactful change. Together, we've grown HERide into what it is today, leveraging our combined strengths in technology, entrepreneurship, and communications to make transportation safer and more inclusive for everyone.
xoN: What made you start HerRide?
Jillian: As the CTO and founder of HERide, my journey began from a deeply personal place. During my time as a rideshare driver for Uber and Lyft, I consistently heard from women about their concerns and fears surrounding safety when riding with male drivers. Women would share stories of relief when they saw a female driver approaching or even canceling rides until a woman arrived. Some would go as far as asking to be dropped off at a nearby location if a female driver was unavailable.
These experiences opened my eyes to a significant gap in the ridesharing industry—a lack of options that prioritized women's safety and comfort. In 2019, I founded HERide with a clear mission: to provide a safer and more inclusive ridesharing experience for women. We launched our app in 2020 on both Google PlayStore and the Apple App Store, and in 2022, with the addition of my co-founder DeVynne Starks as our CMCO, we began offering live rides.
HERide is about more than just providing convenient transportation. It's about challenging the status quo and advocating for meaningful changes in ridesharing safety regulations. Women's voices had been silenced, and their needs overlooked for far too long. We made it our priority to give women the option to choose a female driver if that makes them feel safer and more comfortable.
Our vision is to be disruptors in the industry, not only by offering convenience but also by integrating cutting-edge technology to enhance safety measures. We are committed to transforming the ridesharing landscape, ensuring that everyone, regardless of gender, feels secure during their journey. HERide is not just a service; it's a movement toward greater safety and equality in transportation.
xoN: Have you dealt with pressure to open the platform to men? How do you combat that?
DeVynne: While our primary focus is on providing a safe and inclusive platform for women and non-binary individuals, we also welcome everyone to use our services. Our decision to prioritize these groups stems from a critical need to address long-standing issues of safety and comfort that have been overlooked in the ridesharing industry for far too long.
From the outset, we designed HERide to answer the urgent call from women and non-binary individuals who often felt unsafe or uncomfortable during ridesharing experiences. Our commitment to safety is evident in the technology we've implemented, such as piloting biometric features and our rigorous 1:1 driver onboarding process.
While many men have been supportive of our mission, we understand there may be questions about why we choose to prioritize specific demographics. We ask those who question this decision to consider the urgency and importance of feeling safe during transportation. If you were in a situation where your safety felt compromised, wouldn't you want a service that prioritizes your well-being?
It's important to note that by prioritizing women and non-binary individuals, we aim to improve safety standards for everyone. Our ultimate goal is to transform the entire ridesharing landscape by advocating for better safety measures that benefit all passengers. We believe that everyone deserves safe and secure transportation, and HERide is committed to making that a reality for everyone who uses our platform.
It's important to note that by prioritizing women and non-binary individuals, we aim to improve safety standards for everyone. Our ultimate goal is to transform the entire ridesharing landscape by advocating for better safety measures that benefit all passengers. We believe that everyone deserves safe and secure transportation, and HERide is committed to making that a reality for everyone who uses our platform.
xoN: Do you have any plans to expand, can you walk me through your process to scale the business?
Jillian: Expanding HERide to other major cities is definitely part of our vision for growth. Currently, we are focused on scaling our operations in Atlanta, Georgia, where our goal is to onboard 1,000 drivers who each complete 10 rides per week. Achieving this milestone will ensure that we have a robust and reliable service in place before expanding further.
To support this expansion, we are actively raising funds with a target of $1.5 million. These funds will be crucial in enhancing our technology, expanding our marketing efforts, and establishing a strong operational base in Atlanta.
Once we've successfully met our driver and ride targets in Atlanta and secured the necessary funding, we plan to identify and evaluate potential new cities for expansion. Our expansion strategy will involve careful market analysis, assessing demand, regulatory considerations, and establishing local partnerships to ensure a smooth and successful launch.
Ultimately, our goal is to replicate the success we've achieved in Atlanta by offering safe, reliable, and inclusive ridesharing services to more cities across the country. We're excited about the future growth of HERide and the opportunity to make a positive impact on transportation safety and accessibility for all.
xoN: It's a big deal to be the first Black-owned rideshare company to partner with Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta. What does that mean to you, and how did you advocate for yourself – particularly when it came to the signage?
DeVynne: Being the first Black-owned rideshare company to partner with Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta is a monumental achievement for HERide, and it means everything to us. Jillian and I have always seen ourselves as disruptors, driven to challenge the status quo and create meaningful change. Our journey to secure this partnership was both challenging and rewarding.
Jillian: The process to become approved as a rideshare service at the airport was rigorous and took nearly a year. We had to ensure that our systems seamlessly integrated with the airport's infrastructure and diligently followed up on all required paperwork. On September 13, 2023, when the airport officially announced our partnership, it marked a significant milestone not only for HERide but also for our commitment to providing inclusive and secure travel experiences for all passengers.
DeVynne: One of the key challenges we faced was advocating for ourselves to receive directional signage within the airport. After months of persistent advocacy, in February 2024, we successfully secured signage that significantly increased visibility and traffic to the HERide app. This advocacy effort didn't just benefit us; it also paved the way for another emerging rideshare company to receive signage, demonstrating our commitment to opening doors for others in the tech industry.
Jillian: In a tech world where gatekeeping is prevalent, DeVynne and I believe in breaking down barriers and empowering other tech founders, especially those from underrepresented communities.
We are incredibly grateful for our partnership with the airport and excited about the future. Moving forward, we aim to replicate this success in other major cities that share our values of inclusivity and innovation in transportation. This partnership not only strengthens HERide's presence but also inspires us to continue pushing boundaries and creating opportunities for others in the tech particularly the ridesharing industry.
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During the Los Angeles tour stop, which spanned three dates on May 21, May 23, with the finale on May 24, xoNecole had the opportunity to test out the glosses included in this soft launch, as SZA revealed in a statement that "this is just the start of other lip products, including plans to launch stains, liners, and creams all inspired by SZA's “infamous layered lip combinations.”
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So, what is included in the first Not Beauty launch?
The current Not Beauty products available are lip glosses that come in three shades: In the Flesh, Strawberry Jelly, and Quartz.
During my visit to the first LA Not Beauty pop-up activation, I not only had the chance to purchase all three glosses but also took a peek inside the blow-up log tent. Inside, fans got to experience SZA’s love for nature and her fascination with bugs, which are prominently featured in her performances for this tour. At one point, she even had human preying mantis prancing across the stage y'all.
There were blow-up photos of the beauty that is SZA for fans (myself included) to take photos, but in wooden-like tree trunks were a deeper dive into some of the ingredients featured in her products and their benefits.
For example, the glosses feature Hi-Shine Lip Jelly and Shea Butter as key ingredients and some of the listed benefits included are:
- Shea Butter - “A powerhouse ingredient, offering both functional and nourishing benefits.”
- Hi-Shine Lip Jelly (featured in the In the Flesh shade) - “Formula glides on with perfect adhesion to the lips without stickiness).
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What are in the products?
Featured in an orange package, with images of a bug and flower on the side, the back of the box reads: “It’s NOT BEAUTY, it just works. Developed by Solána “SZA” Rowe.
As someone who never leaves home without a good lip gloss, I loved how compact the wood panel packaging is. Perfect to slip into my purse, or in the case of the show at SoFi Stadium, into my pocket when I’m not carrying a bag.
Because I’m a sucker for a good black and brown lip liner and clear gloss combo, I decided to wear the Quartz flavor on night one of the Grand National Tour LA stop, and it did not disappoint. I’ll admit, it’s light weight feel made me nervous because it felt like there was nothing on my lips. However, when I checked my lips in my compact mirror several times throughout the night, I was shocked to find that my gloss was still intact. I only reapplied once out of the habit of looking cute and applying my gloss, but not necessity.
Here are some of the ingredients featured, but not limited to, in the Quartz flavor.
- Polyisoubutene
- Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea)Butter
- Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil
- Mentha Piperita (Peppermint) Oil
- Tocopherol
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Lip prep
I’m a simple girl who loves to stay true to her roots. So ahead of the show, I stopped by a local Inglewood Beauty Supply store and grabbed a Black and Brown shade lip pencil for just under $2 a piece.
Shading the outline of my lips with the black pencil first, I used the brown to lightly fill the inside of my lips before applying my Quartz Not Beauty shade gloss.
How to apply
There’s truly no right or wrong way to apply lip gloss (in my opinion), with this being a brush applicator sort of product, I simply untwisted the top and swiped the gloss around my top and bottom lip generously.
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Results
Again, my Not Beauty Quartz product stayed on my lips from the start of the show, which began with a fire DJ set from LA’s very own, Mustard, to the conclusion when Kendrick and SZA reunited on stage to send us home to their duet, “luther,” featured on the rapper's GNX album.
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xoMAN started as an Instagram Live series and is now a full-cast production, with Walker as the host. Initially, she was skeptical about joining as the new host of xoMan. Not because she doesn’t have the chops to thrive in the role, but because coming in on something that wasn’t her original idea initially seemed daunting for the media personality.
However, since she loves a challenge, the CockTales: Dirty Discussionspodcast host embraced the task with an open heart and mind.
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“I was like, this is a cool concept, so I’m so glad that they decided to turn it into a podcast,” Walker tells xoNecole. “It’s been interesting to take somebody else’s idea and try to turn it into a thing, put it together, and bring it to fruition. I am anxious, nervous, and all things, but above all, I’m excited.”
When xoNecole's managing editor Sheriden Garrett approached Walker to take on the position, it felt like fate. She had previously attempted to get Garrett on her CockTales platform about six or seven years ago due to her expertise in the love and relationship space.
“I was like, wait, y’all listen to the show? And you want me to host a show where I’m only talking to men? And I’m listening to them and not giving them a hard time? I say that because sometimes I feel like, on my show, I may come off like I don’t even like men," she says.
"I love men, but it can be frustrating sometimes on that platform, social media, and other places when they continue to regurgitate the same rhetoric about what I like to call Twitter topics, like constantly talking about who’s paying as a man, as a woman. You should do this. You should do that…It’s been cool hearing the stories with the men we’ve spoken to so far at xoMAN, hearing these stories, and hearing them let their guards down.”
A Howard graduate, Walker almost didn’t enter the world of media after listening to advice from elders who said she would make a great lawyer because she loves to debate topics and sometimes argue (haha).
"It’s been cool hearing the stories with the men we’ve spoken to so far at xoMAN, hearing these stories, and hearing them let their guards down.”
After traveling to the nation’s capital to study political science, Walker soon discovered that her only motivation for becoming an attorney was the potential income and witnessing how boss women like Erika Alexander’s Maxine Shaw character on Living Single would look in their suits as career women.
“I realized that this was for real,” she says, studying law at Howard. “This is a lot of work, and when you think about what you do, I was like, this is not a performance, and I just wanted to talk. I wasn’t trying to defend anyone.”
A visit to a fair showcasing the different organizations on Howard’s campus, combined with her affinity for celebrity gossip and entertainment news, ultimately led Walker to explore a radio career. Soon, she auditioned for a show and landed the gig. By the spring semester, she was on the radio, ultimately leading her to switch her major to journalism with a concentration in broadcast news.
Soon after earning her degree in the field, Walker decided she didn’t want to do anything related to hard news. Instead, she became involved in lifestyle content. She used her friends' love of hearing her stories to motivate her to get into podcasting.
The rest is, as they say, history.
“Before podcasts became what they are, I was in a living room with a microphone before ultimately moving to a studio and refining the show. I loved it and knew people were listening because I monitored the analytics and everything," she explains.
"When we decided to do a live show, the show sold out in two weeks, and I was so nervous. I was like, 'Are we ready? Are we gonna be able to sell out this venue?' We didn’t have any sponsorship. We were still independent and had to front the money for everything.”
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“When they sold out in two weeks, not only did I price my tickets too low, but I thought, wow, we’ve got something. I was like, people spent money to hear me and my co-host talking about our shitty love lives. This is wild, all from an idea in my head. It made me feel like I was on the right path and encouraged me to stop doubting myself. I have imposter syndrome," she reveals.
"Even to this day, I’m constantly biased. But it’s like, if not me, then who? And, like, why not me? If people can do it with way less and way more. I’ve been trying to encourage myself and other people to eliminate the doubt that we have in ourselves so we can do whatever it is we want to do. I love it. No matter how many sleepless nights I have, I will continue to have bags under my eyes until the end of time because I’m enjoying it.”
"I have imposter syndrome. Even to this day, I’m constantly biased. But it’s like, if not me, then who? And, like, why not me? If people can do it with way less and way more. I’ve been trying to encourage myself and other people to eliminate the doubt that we have in ourselves so we can do whatever it is we want to do."
In between garnering a strong social media presence for her work as a podcast host, lifestyle influencer, and beyond, Walker has managed to use her many gifts and talents, like cooking, and most importantly, giving a strong opinion about the things she does (or doesn’t) believe in to carve out a lane of her own.
As she embarks on this chapter as the host of xoMAN, where she has already spoken with actors Devale Ellis and Skyh Black and Dear Future Wifey podcast host Laterras R. Whitfield, Walker hopes that it encourages people, especially women, to look at their male counterparts from a different perspective.
“I hope that anyone listening can listen to the first few episodes, hear how different each man is, and learn to let down whatever preconceived notions you have about me or a specific man, whoever it is in your life," she says. "Just listen, talk to them, ask them how they feel, and listen with an open mind, without thinking that you already know what the answer is.”
“I just hope that people learn to, again, not put people in boxes and make the other person, whoever it is, men specifically for this show, but sit down and talk with an open mind and listen to understand, not to respond. Help someone feel safe.”
xoMAN officially launches on Tuesday, June. 17.
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