Pop culture, politics, travel, entrepreneurship, motherhood and following your goals? Yup, I've got A LOT to say.
Check out the latest from my blog:
Please Stop Asking Ava DuVernay Why ‘Queen Sugar’ Has All-Female Directors
It’s no secret, award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay is a champion for women in Hollywood. After beginning her career as a publicist, DuVernay stepped behind the camera to tell narratives we rarely see on screen. After becoming the first Black woman to take home the...
read more
Push Yourself, Then Push Yourself Some More
Last week, the first week into my layoff, I set a somewhat big (arbitrary) goal: I wanted to make $1000 in a week. Now $1000 isn't BIG money, some folks make that in a matter of hours. But $1000 is a nice chunk of change, and it felt like a solid number for my first...
read more
Hello, Have We Met? I’m a Badass
Earlier this year I spoke at the largest women's conference in California. As I sat on the stage, amid a sea of corporate titans and tech mavens, I was asked to introduce myself. Instead of launching into my usual spiel--writer, editor, blah blah blah--I hit the...
read more
From FOMO to a Seat at the Table
I rang in 2016 on a dance floor. The night was epic, but the good vibes were short lived. I entered the year feeling stuck and wondering if being a freelancer in Los Angeles, 3000 miles from the epicenter of the publishing world, was sustainable. For five years I'd...
read more
How Nas Reminded Me My Work Is Necessary AF
I told myself not to fangirl. I've interviewed a lot of celebrities over the years, so it's something I've told myself over and over again. When I interviewed Oprah I tried not to appear too in awe or say anything dumb...cuz Oprah. When I interviewed Idris Elba I...
read more
Mo’ Money, Different Problems
I've been solidly middle class for the last five months, thanks to the job. It's been so long since I've been here, that honestly, I was expecting it to feel a lot better. After all, I'm making more money than half the country, and after years of tap dancing along the...
read more
Welp, That Escalated Quickly
It seems like only yesterday that I left the freelancing world for a full-time gig at a publication, and in that brief time, so much has happened. I wrote my first cover story for my new job, I had an exclusive interview with embattled actor Nate Parker, I was...
read more
So, I’m No Longer A Freelance Writer
Six summers ago I'd just celebrated my birthday in NYC, I was closing out my fourth year as a middle school English teacher, and as they say in Philly, I was feeling some type of way. On the outside, my life looked pretty good--I traveled during breaks, I had a "good"...
read more
Age Is a Terrible Timeline
I had an epiphany the other day. I was driving home after covering the last keynote session at this year's Online News Association conference, and as usual, a thought just wouldn't leave my brain. Maybe you can relate. You're driving, or washing dishes, or in the...
read more
Drake Flawlessly Breaks Down the Goal of Every (Good) Writer
I was slow to join the crowd of Drake fans. I haven't been down since his early mixtapes, can't quote any of his songs word-for-word, and don't even own an album. But over the last few years I've watched as he's quickly rose to dominate the music industry...
read more
On Feeling Torn About Writing What You Want & Still Being Taken Seriously
I've been struggling for a while, trying to reconcile all the parts of myself in my writing. After all, I'm a Gemini, and what that means is my tastes are varied, as is the writing I do. On any given day I'm writing/tweeting about structural racism, or silly rap...
read more
What Does Success Look Like to You?
Yesterday, I posed a question on Facebook I've been considering a lot lately: How do you define success? This usually happens whenever people congratulate me on my success, or say they're proud of my success, or just use the term in relation to me or my work. To be...
read more