Follow Your Intuition

FYI x BET Awards

Yep, that’s right! This Texas girl made her way back to Cali! If you’ve followed me this past weekend you know I was Los Angeles attending the BET Experience and the award show!

It was definitely a family affair, there were activities to do for the whole family! You had the celebrity basketball game, fashion shows, vendors, food trucks, and of course music!

I really enjoyed Genius Talk with guests Issa Rae from the HBO hit show Insecure and the legendary music group New Edition. This segment was to shine a light on how they’ve overcome obstacles and how they’ve maintained their success.

For those who are interested attending, the BET Experience was free! The only thing you have to do is get your wristbands with the BET Experience App and activate them before you attend!

What were your favorite red carpet looks?! We have Cardi B slaying in this red Givenchy suit and Jimmy Cho shoes!

Letoya Luckett looked absolutely amazing is this floral gown with an extended train.

Congratulations to Remy Ma for winning Best Female Rapper! Now don’t get me wrong I love me some Nicki Minaj, but it’s ok, there's enough room for ALL of the female rappers to win!

I LOVE Bruno Mars so being able to see him without paying his high ass ticket price was a win in my book! Lol

Congratulations for Chance the Rapper for being the youngest to ever receive a BET Humanitarian Award!

I’m a 90’s music fanatic so seeing Xscape and New Edition perform live was like my inner kid dream come true! It was also an unforgettable moment when BET’s New Edition Story cast came out to perform to everyone’s favorite NE song “If It Isn’t Love”! #EPIC

So I made my national television debut at the award show lol. Totally unexpected but worth all the shenanigans that I endured before the show!

At that moment sitting in the audience, Bryshere Gray from Empire sitting in front of me, Amber Rose sitting behind me, over to the left was Khalid, Jessie Smollett, and Remy Ma, I realized that the hard work that I’m pouring into my brand is paying off! I’m definitely not where I want to be but thinking where I’ve come from when I first started my blog, the transition has been nothing short of amazing!

Every person that has read a blog post, shared it, liked a post, you all encourage me to keep going. Thank you.

Professional photos from BET.COM

4:08 PM
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Savon Luxe

Vacation time is finally here! (insert raise hand emoji here) When you’re getting ready for vacation what are two things you’re trying to figure out? What are you wearing and how you’re going to wear your hair? This blog post I’m going to give you the 411 about Savon Luxe, a luxury hair company, and the woman behind it!

Samantha Woodside is no stranger when it comes to virgin hair. She mentions that her obsession with hair in college led her to start her own virgin hair company. Read her interview below on how she’s dominating the hair industry!

How are you running a successful business in such an oversaturated market?

Well, what’s for you is for you. I believe in true quality and creating a trustworthy relationship with customers. Branding is also important because that is what's going to separate you from other companies.

What are some of the methods that you use to get you product out there?

Of course social media and automatic email. We actually communicate with our customers. When they comment on our pictures on Instagram, we respond.

How do you know when it’s a good time to add a product or another service?

I knew that it was time for me to add shampoo and conditioner when my customers started asking me what products to use on our virgin hair. I no longer wanted to send them to others brands. I want to become a one-stop shop.

What motivates you to keep going?

Honestly, my clients. Every good review and returning customer make me believe that I’m doing something right. I have clients with Alopecia and cancer patients, it makes me grateful to know that I’ making women feel beautiful.

What can we expect to see from Savon Luxe in 5 years?

A full-service salon, an affiliate program for salons and individuals who want to sell the hair, more collaborations with well-known hair stylists, and digital campaigns. Our customers live visuals!

What are some of the lessons that you have learned in running a business?

One lesson that I've learned is that you have to be patient and be determined.

Being an entrepreneur, there are those days where you feel restless and not inspired. What is a quote or song, puts you back into beast mode?

Anything from Young Jeezy! Jezzy will put me in that hustle spirit! lol

What I've learned about the "virgin hair" industry is that you have to do you research and actually check out the reviews and website. PLEASE go check out Savon Luxe FAQ page! She is truly educating what's real and what's not on the quality of virgin hair. Plus, her branding is so on point! I absolutely love the colors and the quality of the website and photography!

What I like about posting different brands are the owners and the stories behind it. What each owner that I’ve spoken with have in common is that they are all passionate about what they do. Samantha has a great personality and I can see that translating into her business. We wish her continued success!

Be sure to visit the Savon Luxe website and Instagram @savonluxe! Her branding is so on point! I absolutely love the colors and the quality of the website and photography!

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BOSS up, or get BOSSED around

9:15 AM
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The Resort Life

beach

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Dinner For Winners Houston

branding

10:41 AM
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FYI Wardrobe Debate

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! Today’s post is a discussion I had with my coworkers about dressing age appropriate. For my “day job”, I work in a public setting, so we see all types of people. There was a lady who had come into our office who had to be in her late 50’s with some shorts and a tank top that showed some cleavage, bleached blonde hair, and she was almost as tanned as our President Agent Orange. But to say the least she didn’t look bad for her age!

Two of my coworkers thought that someone her age shouldn’t be wearing anything like that. While my other coworker and myself thought that as long as your body still looks decent, it doesn’t matter what you wear! BUT there is a time and place for certain outfits!

These 40 and 50-year-old women are giving us 20 and 30-year-old women a run for our money! If you’re keeping up with the style blogs and influencers you’ll see that age is not reflecting their style! To be honest, I’ve seen older women pull off crop tops better than teenagers! LOL

Wardrobe for teenagers is a different discussion. Only because so many different factors can take place if a child is dressed appropriately. You’ll have to take into consideration on how they’re being raised and their demographic.

A well-known teen that get a lot of backlash because of how she dresses in Skai Jackson. Believe it or not, this young lady is 15. I think because she looks so much younger than what she is everyone always attacks her for her makeup and the way she dresses.

A lot of times fashion is contradicting, we say develop your own style and preach about individuality but then judge people for not looking like you and being outside the box. With that being said I do believe that you can be over 40, 50 and 60 and dress how you want. Dressing in crop tops, fitted skirts, and low cut tops can be done in good taste. And as long as there are Spanx, anything is possible! Lol Check out my examples below!

Marjorie Harvey, 51

Vanessa Bell-Calloway, 60

Iris Apfel, 95

Slay at any age, or do you feel like women should dress more conservative because of their age? What are your thoughts on women over 40 wardrobe?

*Remember that everyone is entitled to their own opinion!*

9:04 PM
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Sisters In Power Dallas

Last weekend I got a chance to attend the Sisters in Power conference in Dallas featuring a great panel that consisted of fan favorites like Housewives of Atlanta Cynthia Bailey and award winning actress Kyla Pratt.

Sisters in Power is an empowering organization that works to bring together women via a tour of different events across the nation.The tour successfully made its debut in Houston, Texas in November 2016. The organization’s events tackled a myriad of hot-button topics including politics, relationships, and gender equality. SIP established a partnership with Celebs Give Back to give women in shelters an opportunity to attend the tour and meet the panelist. The previous panelist has featured Tami Roman, Elise Neal, Toya Wright, and various influencers.

Sisters In Power Tour-Dallas kicked off with a red carpet pre-show hosted by DeDe McGuire followed by a soiree. Prior to the start of the panel discussion, guest enjoyed shopping with awesome vendors and music from the DJ of the evening, DJ Four Point Ohhh. Panelist included HIV/AIDS Educator Kecia J., TV & Radio Personality JJ Simmons, Deya Direct, and as mentioned before, reality star and model Cynthia Bailey, and actress Kyla Pratt.

Attendees also had the opportunity to meet the visionaries behind the Sisters In Power Tour which are the ladies of the Push Thru Team.

So let’s fast forward past the meet and greets and press coverage, it’s time to get to the real conversations with the panel guest!

Everyone had their typical “reality show” questions for Cynthia, but it was great to hear unfamiliar stories from the others ladies on topics like signs when to leave an abusive relationship, to having self-love and believing in yourself!

Julian JJ Simmons shared her story about changing career paths. She's known for giving "the tea" on the radio about celebrities but she states that she was no longer interested in that and didn't care! She wants to focus on what's more important like mentoring our youth and has started her own mentor program.

Everyone had questions about where Kyla Pratt have gone off to all these years! Just because she hasn't been in front of the camera doesn't mean she hasn't been working. She now has a family of her own with two beautiful little girls, she's working on her own production company, and getting back to acting.

Another popular question during the panel was how she was able to stay out of trouble being that most child stars turn out to be self-destructive in their late teens and 20's? Her answer was that her mom did not play, and still don't, when it came to disciplining her and her 4 younger siblings! Also, most times child actors are forced into the limelight by their parents, she states that her mom always made sure that she wasn't pressured and that this was what she wanted to do.

Want to know when and where is the next stop?! Follow Sister In Power on Instagram @sisinpower and check out their website www.sisinpower.com

I enjoy attending events that are made to uplift women and not just networking but create a sisterhood. Well organized and purposeful event! I can’t wait to attend the next one!

Professional Photos by RedBaby Photography
Instagram @redbaby5

JL