The May FitChick Challenge

I swore that I'd never ever get involved in any online "challenges".  There are a LOT of them.  You've got Cinnamon Challenges, Hair Growth Challenges, Instagram Daily Pic Challenges, Salad Challenges, you name it and there's a "challenge" for it.   So when I got an email from my fellow blogging colleague @4cHairChick about another "challenge" I won't lie, I rolled my eyes.   But then I actually took the time to read what she was proposing and by the time I got done reading I was ALL in.
Welcome to The May FitChick Challenge!
...this is not your typical fitness challenge. There is no weightloss goal, there are no excercise goals, and there are no diet goals. This challenge is different. This challenge is not about the moment, tomorrow or even this month. This challenge is about our quality of life, our future, and our ability to make an impact. ~@4cHairChick

For the entire month of May, I the SistahChick, promise to make small adjustments everyday in an effort to begin to improve my emotional, mental and physical health.

Because I like this idea so much, I even took things a step further by volunteering to be a "Fit Chick Ambassador" along with @4ChairChick and 3 other bloggers!  Together we will cheer you on and motivate YOU as we also improve ourselves during this challenge.  Meet each Fit Chick Ambassador, follow us all on twitter and "like" our facebook pages for motivation, inspiration and updates!

Me!

Twitter: @TheSistahChick

Facebook:  The SistahChick & Our Natural Kids

Our Host!

Twitter: @4CHairChick

FaceBook: 4C Natural Hair Chicks

Curlfriend!

Twitter: @TheCocoNatural

Facebook:  Natural Hair Freedom

Curlfriend!

Twitter: @NaturalHairAds

Facebook:  Natural Hair in the Media

The hardest part about setting any goal is simply getting started. Join Us on this challenge and kick start your healthy lifestyle!!  You can join by visiting my sistahfriends page May FitChick Challenge.

Don't forget to "like" each of our pages!

Happy May!

Fro Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2013 - Bloggers, Brands & Brunch

Bloggers, Brands & Brunch is an event that is a part of Fro Fashion Week.  It brings together bloggers/vloggers who are at the top of their game in the Social Networking industry with up and coming bloggers who are just getting started or who are interested in knowing more about building their brands.  This year's Guest Speaker was none other than the fabulous Chary Jay.  Chary Jay is a You Tube all star who showcases her gorgeous face and natural tresses through her VERY popular YouTube Channel 160Days2Lose2.  Chary Jay has over 50k subscribers and has it all figured out when it comes to building your brand and growing your audience.  The setting for this brunch was the spacious Twisted Oaks restaurant located in the lobby of the Marriott Perimeter Center where the rest of the Fro Fashion Week festivities were being held.

@VarietyCurls

@CocoaReport & @NaturalHairintheMedia

Kinky Hair Affair

Fro Fashion Week CEO and Blogger's Brands & Brunch host Ms. Tarin Boone introduces us to the guest speaker, Chary Jay.





Here are a few of the key points that Chary Jay touched on during her keynote address:

Make sure that you are fresh!

There are so many bloggers and vloggers out there.  Be sure that you presenting something unique and new.

Be honest!

Make sure that you are honest from the beginning and that you come across that way in your vids and posts

Collaborate with others!

Whether its other You Tubers or other Bloggers collaboration is a good way to stay fresh and promote your brand

Have Fun!

Remember to have fun doing what you do.  Don't take yourself too seriously

Chary Jay gave many other tips of the trade and also advice.

Chary Jay

Some of the Brands that were in the house were Curls Unleashed and JessiCurl.  There were many of Atlanta's top bloggers there as well.  Bringing them all together for this brunch was genius.

You Tuber Black Onyx was there representing her Alikay Naturals Product line.

I learned so much from Chary Jay and really had a great time socializing and networking.  Fro Fashion Week has many components.  Blogger's Brands & Brunch is one of my favorites.

Click Here for the entire Fro Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2013 recap.
Click Here to see all of the pics from Bloggers, Brands & Brunch

Have you ever attended Fro Fashion Week?  If so, what was your favorite part?

Atlanta Tastemaker Magazine's 1st Annual B. FAB Awards

B. FAB stands for Bloggers in Fashion & Beauty.  The B. FAB Awards Brunch brought to you by Atlanta Tastemaker Magazine was a celebration of Atlanta's top bloggers who have made amazing contributions to the fashion and beauty industry. (from the flyer)  And OH what a celebration it was!  Held inside the beautifully grungy Ambient Studio, Atlanta's urban warehouse district was the perfect contrasting backdrop for this trendy, upscale affair.

I love blogging.  I love natural hair.  I love my sisters.  I love Atlanta.  This was the place to be for me.  Guests were invited to network and mingle during the buffet style brunch.

with my curlfriends
Julia of TruChatOnline.com and Nikka Shae of OhNikka.com

Most of the nominees are people that I already know and love.  It was great to see them be honored.  Its not easy being a blogger/vlogger and putting yourself out there for the world to critique.  Much respect for them all.

Best Blogger Nominees
Lexi & Arkeedah

Best Vlogger Nominee
Mae aka Natural Chica

Best Vlogger Nominees
Kiki & Farrah of Mahogany Knots

Atlanta's natural hair community really embraced this event.  

After all natural hair has been become synonymous with Fashion and Beauty.  

Fan Favorite Nominee & Winner
Tarin Boone
CEO of Naturally Me Media (Fro Fashion Week)

The mellow sounds of a live band is what every event needs in my opinion.

The coolest thing ever was Social Box!  Social Box is a unique Photo & Video booth that allows the event host to document what the guests are experiencing and thinking during the event!

Check me out inside the Social Box!





The awards portion was very organized and well executed.  Guests were seated comfortably and treated to gift bags.

Between the presentation of the nominees and the announcement of the winners there was a fashion show.  The models rocked the runway!

Best vlogger nominee and winner
Kela of Naturally Kela

I had a wonderful time at this event and will definitely attend again.  Kudos to Atlanta Tastemaker Magazine for doing something different and putting on such an awesome upscale gathering.  Congratulations to all of the nominees and especially to the winners.  Events like these are why I love Atlanta.

To see more pictures CLICK HERE

What types of events do you like to attend in your area?

The 1st Annual Beauty Empowerment Panel at Spelman College

I had the pleasure of attending the 1st Annual Beauty Empowerment Panel at Spelman this week.  The event was outstanding.  Presented by Design Essentials Natural, the topic was Black Hair in the Media.  On the panel were a bevvy of natural hair advocates including professional stylists, a radio personality, popular bloggers, you tubers and beauty entrepreneurs.

from the flyer:   Featured Panelists and attendees will discuss how the representation of black hair impacts pop culture and self esteem, including the acceptance and non acceptance of natural hair...

Upon entering Cosby Auditorium, each guest was treated to a light snack catered by Chic Fil A.  We also received samples from the Design Essentials Naturals line and information.

Moderated by Design Essentials Director of Marketing, Tracey Gibson, the dialogue was open and I loved that.

The Panelists:  Kiki of Mahoganyknots(YouTube), Deshonica Kerrie (Salon Owner),
Curlbox CEO Myleik Teele, Linda, Ripoll (Jet), Ebony Steele (Ricky Smiley Show)
Kim Walker (Journalist), Jamila Robinson (AJC)

 

Right out of the gate each panel member was asked who their influences were as children regarding hair and beauty. Most of the panelists said they were influenced by their mothers and grandmothers initially.  As they grew older the influence became TV personalities and/or celebrities. MTV, Solid Gold, Janet Jackson, Vanessa Huxtable, and Diana Ross were all mentioned as early influences.

My takeaway:  as a community we need to make sure that we are nurturing the self esteem of our youth and make DOUBLE sure that we provide positive images to influence them!

Spike Lee's movie, School Daze, was discussed. "Are the themes in the movie still relevant?".  "Have you seen it and how did it affect you?"  Most agreed that skin tone is STILL a major issue in the Black community and that the issues in the movie are still relevant.  I remember seeing the movie when it first came out (1988) as a young college student taking a Black Film in America class at Indiana University.  I was BLOWN away by it.  To me it was such an accurate depiction of what was happening on campus at THAT time. And here we are 25 years later...  

Of course you cannot discuss black hair in today's media without touching on the Gabby Douglas situation where "Black twitter" decided to focus on the hairstyle of the Olympic history making athlete instead of her God blessed athletic talent.  All panelists agreed that was a pretty ridiculous thing to do.  Shame on you "Black twitter"!  The moderator asked this..."Is there too much emphasis placed on hair in the Black community?"  What do you think?

There were several more great questions posed and each panelist gave open and honest opinions.  They were knowledgeable and often shared personal details about their own hair journeys. The audience was filled with mostly Spelman students, bloggers and other natural hair advocates like Fro Fashion Week CEO, Tarin Boone.

Students were also given the opportunity to ask questions.

It ended with a meet and greet with the panelists.  I could tell that the students really appreciated this event.  They were so eager and happy to get up close and personal with the panelists.  I believe that each person on the panel brought something different to the conversation and the young ladies really appreciated them being there.

Ebony Steele of The Rickey Smiley morning show
posing with a student/fan

Deshonica Kerrie sharing useful information

Curlbox CEO Myleik Teele 

Kiki of MahoganyKnots with a student whose hair she admired

I even ran into my cousin, Shawn Dowdell, who was the photographer for this event!

Thank you Design Essentials for putting together such a diverse panel of ladies who were willing to share a little bit of themselves with youth who are not only continuing their education but doing so at one of America's oldest historically Black colleges for women.  It was an honor to be there and a pleasure to see your affect on these girls.

How do you feel about Black hair in the media today?  What are some of the issues that you are facing a Black woman with natural hair? Who influenced you?  Let's keep the conversation going!!

Hair Dish with Jane Carter

Hey!  I heard that Jane Carter would be at Whole Foods discussing natural hair and doing product demos!!!  Every single time I have run into to Jane Carter she has always been super nice.  It was awesome to see her outside of a hair show with an intimate audience of people interested in her products.  Along with Tress Talk, Jane told us  all about her products and demonstrated them for us.

Since we are already fans of the Jane Carter line, we were happy to receive these cute little samples!

Our favorite Jane Carter products are the Nourish and Shine and the Revitalizing Leave In Conditioner Spray.

I really appreciate brands that are willing to get up close and personal with their customers.  It is definitely a deciding factor for me of whether I continue to invest in their product or not.

Little Chick, Jane Carter, The SistahChick

One of the things that Jane stressed the most during this candid discussion was that everyone has different and unique hair textures.  We should each learn what works for our hair!

What is your favorite Jane Carter product?

For more pics of this event ~~> Hair Dish w/Jane Carter

Natural Beauty at Georgia State University

I had the pleasure of visiting Georgia State University last week along with Naturally Me! Media/Tarin Boone to meet and greet with some of the beautiful naturals that go there.  We had a great time hanging out in the "quad"!  It was awesome to see just how many naturals there are at Georgia State. From High Puffs, to Locs, to FroHawks, we saw it ALL!  The young ladies were all eager to talk to us, take photos and uber excited about receiving their Curl Unleashed goodie bags for their participation.  Here are some of the cool styles that we saw.

locs

Wash N Go

Twists into a Bun

Puff

Fro w/bow

Fly Fro

locs

city twists

Fro Hawk

Anytime that I can be involved with young people who are working to continue their education and better themselves is a good time, no matter the capacity.  I am proud of all of these young sistahs and wish them much success in school and in life whether I know them or not.

for MORE pics click here The Natural Beauties of Georgia State University

Next stop Clark Atlanta University 3/28/2013 from 4p - 6 p!  Hope to see you there!

What hairstyles were you rocking while you were in college!?