Roll Call! 12 Women Entrepreneurs To Keep On Your Radar In 2020
While #BlackGirlMagic may be trending on social platforms, we as Black women know that our magic has been around for centuries. Being recognized as a powerful Black woman in today's society is growing to become the norm in comparison to how far we've come, but we have so far to go. Women of color, specifically Black women, are running nearly half of all registered women-owned businesses and unfortunately, according to Forbes, less than 4% of Black women entrepreneurs make it to the million-dollar mark. These women below are changing the narrative.
With Women's History Month coming to a close, we cannot let the month go by without recognizing Black women entrepreneurs who are out here doing their thing, especially while Miss Rona is in town. From public speakers to world-renowned yoga instructors, check out this list below of xoNecole-approved badass Black women to watch this year:
Maura Chanz
Have you caught Yara Shahidi's IG TV series, "Unguided"? If you have, then you've met Maura Chanz and have already witnessed her creative genius. This Los Angeles-based rising creative initially took a leap of faith after graduating from Spelman College and jumping into the industry as the apprentice of Black Lightning creator Mara Brock Akil. Maura is also the owner of TRIBE, which is a community garnered specifically for women of color seeking fellowship amongst our sisters.
Alechia Reese
International speaker, creative brand strategist, world traveler - what doesn't this woman do? Alechia Reese, author of Eating Elephants: Winning Life One Bite At A Time, is a survivor of domestic violence and makes it her mission to connect dope women around the world with her passion for communication, entrepreneurship and leadership. Catch her on the move and speaking at widely recognized conferences and brands from BlogHER to Microsoft and moderating the Imara Retreat, an annual women's retreat in Africa to build and connect Black women.
Trinity Mouzon Wofford
When you're the brains and beauty behind a beauty brand, when do you have the time to be a columnist for Inc. and keep the aesthetic flowing perfectly on your Instagram feed? We don't know how, but Trinity does it. As the owner of Golde, Wofford has been recognized in INC Magazine's "2019 Female Founder 100" list and Forbes' "30 Under 30". Need we say more?
Raynell Steward
You may recognize her as YouTube sensation Supa Cent, but she's making headlines in the beauty world for the creation of The Crayon Case. Awarded at the BET Social Awards for Social Hustle, CEO Raynell Steward has been flexing her entrepreneurship brain by using her social presence to entrepreneurship and philanthropy. Within one hour, Steward successfully sold $1.37M worth of beauty products in 2019. That's what we call a boss.
Sukie Jefferson
Sukie Jefferson is the lead operator and founder behind Sukie's Candle Co, exotically scented premium soy wax candles - made fresh to order and individually hand-poured. Jefferson's products have been recognized in GQ, Black Enterprise and Vogue UK, and should definitely be a Black woman brand to add to your household.
Dana Chanel
Remember those encouraging notifications you would get every morning from the Sprinkle of Jesus app? Yeah, that's Dana Chanel's doing, but she's been doing a whole lot more since then. After creating the number one Christian mobile app in the world, Dana has shifted her focus to developing generational wealth through family businesses with her latest venture, Jumping Jack Tax, a platform created by herself and husband Prince Donnell as a means to provide a virtual tax preparer. Aside from being relationship goals with her bae, Dana Chanel has truly embodied being a boss babe by creating a space for other women entrepreneurs and keeping true to your faith while building a business.
Lalah Delia
"If you walked away from a toxic, negative, abusive, one-sided, dead-end low vibrational relationship or friendship — you won." The words spoken by bestselling author of Vibrate Higher Daily: Live Your PowerLalah Delia drops gems throughout her book about moving forward and being in-tune with yourself spiritually and mentally. Delia is also the founder of Vibrate Higher Daily, a vibrational based-living online community and mentoring program through women empowerment.
Jessica Jones & Wendy Lopez
These two women are bold, beautiful and Black registered dietician nutritionists, and Jessica Jones and Wendy Lopez are on a mission to help women of color learn to eat intuitively through a "healthy plant-powered diet". By putting their health first by encouraging women to maintain healthy nutrition through their joint venture Food Heaven Made Easy, Jessica and Wendy have created an accessible community and multimedia platform for people who want to create culturally relevant plant-based meals, but aren't quite ready to take the full leap as of yet.
Autumn Myers
At just the age of 25, the former BuzzFeed social strategist is making a name for herself in the media industry with the launch of The Queen Sessions, a motivational content platform to uplift women of color with interviews, blog posts and more. Autumn Myers is also the digital media lead for Black-owned brand, America Hates US, where she served as the lead writer and touched upon topics of culture, entertainment and politics. Recently, The Queens Sessions released their own affirmation journal perfect during the quarantine to keep your dreams and visions manifested.
Leticia Hunt
Mommy-to-be Leticia Hunt is the creator of FOREH, an accessories brand that uplifts Black culture with HBCU-inspired pieces and tactical vests. Inspired by her own experience as a military veteran, the Tuskegee University graduate also serves as a podcast host for 2 Shots & Talk, a children's book author, a stylist and creative director. She emulates her own mission that with the right balance, you can truly do it all.
Shontay Lundy
Just in time for drop tops and summer sun, if Rona ever lets us out of our houses, Shontay Lundy has created the ultimate product for Black women. Black Girl Sunscreen is a product that every melanated queen should be carrying in her bag to protect our skin from harmful rays and avoiding that annoying while residue that other products that aren't made for us may leave. Finally, a skincare brand that caters exactly to our needs during the hot, unbearable summertime heat.
Codie Elaine Oliver
The importance of positive Black narratives in film and television cannot be stressed enough, and Texas-bred producer Codie Elaine Oliver has taken responsibility for showcasing Black love in an affirmative love on her show, Black Love which showed on Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network, now available for streaming on Facebook Watch. Nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Director in a Television Movie, this film creative is one to watch as she navigates motherhood, Hollywood and developing content that creates the appropriate narrative for #BlackLoveMatters.
Featured image via Lalah Delia/Instagram
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This Black Woman-Owned Creative Agency Shows Us The Art Of Rebranding
Rebranding is an intricate process and very important to the success of businesses that want to change. However, before a business owner makes this decision, they should determine whether it's a rebrand or an evolution.
That's where people like Lola Adewuya come in. Lola is the founder and CEO of The Brand Doula, a brand development studio with a multidisciplinary approach to branding, social media, marketing, and design.
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"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."
Feature image courtesy
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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There's nothing like coming home after a stressful day of work (or, for my WFH peeps, shutting your laptop until tomorrow) and relaxing for the evening. However, what should be relaxing may actually be stressing you out even more. A recent survey reported that 41% of adults worldwide are stressed out, so the experts at Northerner conducted research to determine post-work activities that could be contributing to stress.
Below is a list of counterproductive evening habits to be aware of.
Screen Time
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In this day and age, many of us are all culprits of endlessly scrolling on our phones. However, the light from our phones can disrupt our natural internal clock, which can cause problems with sleeping. It can also cause physical problems like headaches/migraines and pain in the neck, shoulder, and back. If you're looking for a way to wind down for the evening, try reading, journaling, or even cooking.
After-Work Coffee
An after-work coffee sounds like a vibe, but it could also do you more harm than good. Studies show that caffeine can last up to 12 hours, which can affect your sleep. It can also mimic anxiety, causing headaches, restlessness, and sweating. If you want a boost of energy post-work, try a power nap or a brisk 10-minute walk instead.
Too Much Sitting
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Sitting all day comes with a lot of health issues, including obesity, heart disease, and even cancer. So if you work a job where you sit down for eight or more hours a day and then you come home and do the same thing, you can be putting yourself at risk for the aforementioned health concerns. A few ways to combat that is to set a timer to get up and walk around your home every 30 minutes, have a quick dance party while your chicken is in the oven, or even watch TV standing up.
Snacking
It's so easy to fall into snacking, especially when you don't plan ahead. Cooking after a long day can be a stressful task, but snacking is not the way to go. Typically, when people snack, it's usually full of salt and/or sugar, which isn't good for your health, so if you don't want to cook a meal and want to avoid snacking, meal prep.
Problem Solving In Bed
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Sometimes, when we get ready for bed, we start thinking about all the work we have to do the next day—the meetings, the errands we need to run, and events. We may also begin to remember things that we may have forgotten to do for the day, but here's some advice. Don't give in to the urge to complete them when you're supposed to be resting.
Instead, jot down those ideas and tasks. That way, you can rest peacefully knowing that you won't forget the things you need to take care of tomorrow..
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