Divine by Design: The Joy of Being Creative
I am everything I think I am and more.
I’m Happiest Making Dreams Come True
If I apply the Red String Theory to my own life, I always find myself back in a place of helping other dreams come true. Yes, much like a fairy godmother. We go together real bad.
Even when the string gets tangled or I think “Well, that didn’t go as planned”, I look back on my life and I’ve been able to speak life into the dreamers. Sometimes even helping them become doers while also feeling inspired to stretch and do more.
Let’s just do a quick recap of my life’s work online:
Became a photographer at the age of 19 capturing senior portraits, engagements, weddings, and my mom’s garden.
Became a brand ambassador (also see: walking billboard) for my friends’ brands and ventures cause why not?
Became a founder by age 22 of a mental health hub and blog, Dream On Youth, run by college students for college students to talk about the causes and dreams that moved us while giving others a safe space to heal. It quickly evolved into something much bigger.
Did so much for the free just to help people out and increase brand visibility: social media management, website design, user-generated (also see: organic) content creation, copywriting, consulting, moderating, etc.
I’ve done a lot more than I think I can remember at this moment, but that alone is more than enough. I’m in a space where I want to make my own dreams come true.
That’s why I’m very happy to announce that I’m a part of the Black Media Guild and the team over at Pariah Magazine.
Black Media Guild: Where Black Stories, Run the Show
Think of Black Media Guild as your favorite auntie and uncle’s house where you get to be yourself, explore, and have honest conversations, but you know better than to act a fool. Like your cousins are real cool but you also heard their parents don’t play because they need them to be safe and thriving, okay??
BMG is that supportive, empowering community designed to amplify the voices of Black creators and our content. We aim to champion innovation, cultural excellence, and representation across all platforms.
In December 2024, we all got added to a group chat on a particular social media app thanks to BMG President, or “The People’s President”, as we call her, Amber or Ms. Kenni. If you know you know!
She hand-selected each of us to be a part of BMG—think: founding members, filled us in on the why, coordinated our first virtual get-together and, from there, we decided we wanted to make history together.
On our first call, I took notes to record upcoming launches, goals, niches, expertise, passions, tips, and the mention of getting our first-ever Black History Month programming together.
Look, 9 times out of the 10, I am the one who is going to volunteer to do the boring but necessary work cause I love it.
I love administrative tasks like organizing, coordinating backend operations, and ensuring communication is thorough, along with my follow-up strategy. Probably as much as I love capturing content for people doing the work who don’t have a team but absolutely deserve their flowers and the spotlight then sharing said content with them.
Like, lemme amplify your content in the ways I can and how I genuinely resonate with it and speak life into your dreams and well-being.
Lemme connect the dots for y’all in a document and take a load off of trying to remember everything cause content isn’t my bag or my dream in the same way.
Yes, I’m saying that knowingly being a part of this group. The Year of Audacity in the Name of Good, am I right?
I am honored to be a part of BMG in the ways I am called to be. I don’t need to be a part of every initiative. I want to be active in my role and support our members.
Back to this programming tho…
What started as a call to make Black History Month content all about Black joy became I Love the 90’s in Black and when I tell you, this has been the most fun thing to watch unfold episode-by-episode. I’m not saying I recorded content for Episode 3 today but…*giggles*
Yes, it’s an ode to the original show that dropped in the early 2000s but FUBU and I just had to be a part of it! Plus, Imma always gonna be about us, showing up for us, and showing out for us.
The first two episodes are out now plus 7 YouTube shorts and trust me, stay tuned cause we’re just getting started!
Pariah: Uncommon by Design
It’s been less than two weeks, 13 days exactly, and you could not convince me that this creative team was not divinely orchestrated. All of us are multi-hyphenates, visionaries, kingdom creatives, and about uplifting the community.
If you already checked out our Instagram, you know Pariah at the foundational level is a magazine.
If you know Jaret, Brenton, Tasia, or me in real life, you know that it’s already going to be so much bigger than that. Think: multiverse and the possibility of infinite timelines.
One day, I’m sure we’ll tell the story of how this version of Pariah came to be but, for now, you can support by buying the first two issues and even support Blue Shades Publishing by purchasing any of their authors’ books through the website.
This unfolding is about to be beautiful.
My Dreams Are Connected to the Dreams of Others
I bet you’re wondering where my dreams are in all of that. Oh, they’re in there!
I can’t disclose every little detail, but I’m writing my first book (not my last) in a way that excites me—Praise God for that and a special shoutout to Jaret—and the BMG members are helping me get over my fear of being back on YouTube creating long-form content slowly but surely.
While these dreams are connected to both of these communities, they aren’t the only ones I’m cooking up. Just watch for context clues and Easter eggs!