Felicia Phillips, Founder The PinkPreneur Network & MogulCon
Vivid Talk™ Radio Co-Host, wellness coach, and entrepreneur, Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin, shares her childhood dream, its REALization through her startup wellness center, REAL Weight Loss + Wellness, and some inspiring client transformations.
18 BUSINESS | MOGUL FELICIA PHILLIPS on her entrepreneurial influences, her first six figures, and what she has learned along the way to share with other women–especially the lessons of a recent near-death experience
20 VIVID TALK™ RADIO GUIDE | A weekly coaching conversation with visionary guests to help you get vision for every area of life
22 PROFILE | SKIN CARE CHEF YOLANDA OWENS pulled a “Dave Chappelle” and declined an offer from Macy’s on a matter of integrity
31 GIFTS | Set yourself up for success, and get along with everyone. There are many tools to assess and gain insight into your personality, strengths, and instinctive responses.
34 PURPOSE | PHOTOGRAPHER RON WITHERSPOON picked up a camera and found his purpose early in life.
36 STYLE | FASHION BLOGGER ABISOLA IKEGWUONU delights with her sense of style as she navigates the world with her global perspective.
32 DESIGN | LIFESTYLE COACH KATHERINE JORDAN lets us in on the story behind her growing design empire and provides some tips for your space
43 CONTENT | ILLUSTRATOR & COMIC BOOK ARTIST MARCUS WILLIAMS is changing the world with his art, teaching history with “Tuskegee Heirs”, and inspiring kids with his own unique content
44 PUBLISHING | AUTHOR SONNY HILL is finding her way through Christian Romance.
45 POETRY | POET GWENDOLYN FAYE is using her words to start a #caringrevolution
46 LEARNING | COMING 2018 Vivid Content Lab, Learning for Life, online courses that will make you an expert at creating and promoting your content, writing your vision, nurturing relationships, and more
49 COLLABORATION | CONNECTOR MONIQUE WILSON reveals the secret to developing passion and profitable relationships
50 TRAINING | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RACHEL DAVIS shares her vision for the #next20 years as The Edge celebrates its 20th Anniversary of training Georgia’s entrepreneurs.
7 VIVID TALK: A Letter From the Editor
53 Marketplace
58 Find Your Favorites
Look for these icons for additional content on Vivid Talk™ Radio and Vivid Magazine Online: MORE AT VIVIDTALKRADIO.COM
MORE AT VIVIDMAG.ONLINE
47 TECHNOLOGY | NATASHA COZART gives us 5 secrets to leveraging the power of reality marketing for strategic growth
SUBMIT
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CONNECT in social media–follow, like, share @vividbrands
Ihave always been a sucker for an idea. My brain goes to work immediately. When I spot the slightest glimmer of potential, I am drawn like a moth to a flame. I am simply compelled and undaunted by the enormity of the task, and my ambitions are equal opportunity. They do not just serve me. I will go just as hard, if not harder, for someone else’s brainchild. It is part of my DNA, and that brings us to Vivid Brands and the premiere issue of Vivid Magazine to cultivate the visionary lifestyle.
My first business was in direct sales cosmetics during my senior year of college at Drake University. I sold color-coded makeup, did image consulting and built teams off and on for over 21 years. That is when I became a serial entrepreneur. While I was leveraging my graphic design degree into a marketing communications career, I was flexing my entrepreneurial muscles, and it hurt.
It was hard, but that never stopped me. I thought that the next project could be the big deal that would set me free. Now, I know that I needed all that so-called failure to become myself. My business reflects who I am. It is not a destination or a transaction. I have been building my brand over a lifetime. I needed the time and every experience to become my own ambassador.
When I looked at other business publications and resources, I did not see one that dealt specifically with that process. Vivid Magazine’s genre is “Entrepreneur Lifestyle”, a hybrid. We celebrate success, but it could come wrapped in the trauma of failure, delay, disappointment. We are utilizing technology to cultivate this visionary lifestyle with interactive content that provides insight on how to start, scale, and thrive in business and in life in spite of fear, pressure, and failure (there is that word again). We want to help you get vision for every area of life.
So, in our premiere issue, we are thrilled to partner with Felicia Phillips and The PINKpreneur Network to be the official publication for MogulCon. The Guide to MogulCon will give you all the information you need. You will read our story in “Introducing Vivid Brands” and learn about the current and future platforms that we are launching.
Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin has survived that infamous first-year of startup. Since the experts put the failure rate for new businesses at between 50% an 90% in the first five years, she is beating the odds, and we are celebrating the #REALResults of her clients (I am one of them) as she shares some of her angst around the decision to venture out on her own.
In addition to an idea, I am even more inspired by revelatory conversations. My guest on a recent Vivid Talk™ Radio episode was illustrator and comic book artist, Marcus Williams, who I have known for over 13 years. Imagine my shock and awe when he told me, “I never once heard you say to your ideas, ‘You are not possible.’” He was inspired by watching my process, and I am inspired by him and visionaries like you.
Let’s make it vivid,
Gwen Witherspoon, MBA Editor-in-Chief
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Latezes Bridges
PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Bahiyyih Steen, Jacinta Gibbs
ART & PHOTO
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Gwendolyn Faye
PHOTO EDITOR Ron Witherspoon
BEAUTY
MAKEUP ARTIST Dee the Makeup Artist
MAKEUP ARTIST Yolanda Parrish
WARDROBE STYLIST Casey Williams
HAIR STYLIST Alycia Moorman
CONTRIBUTORS
PROFILE MANAGER Shoresh Seldon
Virginia Holland-Davis
Felicia Phillips, The PINKpreneur Network
Katherine Jordan, The Savvy ID
Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin, M.D., REAL Weight Loss + Wellness
Monique LaRue
Rachel Davis, The Edge
Natasha Cozart
VIVIDMAG.ONLINE
ASSOCIATE EDITOR, BEAUTY & HAIR Neema Ali
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Peyton Wright
CONTENT PRODUCERS Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin, Katherine Jordan, Abisola Ikegwuonu
VIDEOGRAPHER Ricardo Wilson, Black Jewelz Entertainment
ADAM RED
CHIEF VISIONARY OFFICER Gwen Witherspoon
SENIOR DIRECTOR Ron Witherspoon
DIRECTOR, SALES & MARKETING Patricia Beaman
Vivid Magazine by Adam Red 3085 E Shadowlawn Avenue, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30305
404.919.1319, ext. 703 | visionaries@vividmag.online
Friday, November 3
8:30am Welcome to MogulCon 2017 Felicia Phillips & Twanda Black
9:00am Experience Innovation. Ignite Inspiration with Kai Tech. J. Pate
9:30am Branding for the 21st Century Mogul Audria Richmond
10:15am Operations + Strategy = Success T. Renee Smith
10:45am Mastering Your Inner Mogul (Master Class) Felicia Phillips
11:30am Mogul Marketing & Strategy for Your Empire Sonja Crystal Williams
1:30 pm The Hundred Million Dollar Empire Karmetria Burton, Sidd Burton
2:00 pm A Close Call: Overcoming the NOs When Selling Valarie r. Brooks
2:30pm PR & Media for Your Empire Nicole Henderson
3:00pm The Mogul’s Marketplace: Taking Your Product to Market Felicia Phillips & Alexandria Alli
6:00pm The Pink Carpet (Awards Pre-Function)
7:00pm The Mogul Awards
April Parker Jones
April Parker Jones stars in the Oprah Winfrey Network’s (OWN) prime time soap opera, “If Loving You Is Wrong”. Jones also stared in “Scandal”, “How To Get Away With Murder”, “Spider-Man 3”, “NCIS”, “ER” and many other film and television series.
Jasmine Burke stars as Dr. Christie Johnson in the Bounce TV prime time soap opera, “Saints & Sinners”. She began her acting career appearing in films “Daddy’s Little Girls”, “The Secret Life of Bees”, “Mississippi Damned” and “Drumline: A New Beat”.
At MogulCon 2017, we are thrilled to will honor a true Mogul, Janice Bryant Howroyd. Businesswoman, entrepreneur, educator, ambassador, author, mentor and Presidential Special Appointee, Janice Bryant Howroyd is the founder and chief executive officer of The Act •1 Group, a global leader providing customized cutting edge solutions in the human resources industry. The Act •1 Group is a multi-billion dollar (USD) award-winning, international Talent and Talent Technology enterprise with multiple divisions, each servicing unique areas of employment and providing talent management solutions.
MogulCon 2017 honors multi-faceted attorney, author and television personality, Lauren Lake. This Mogul has a limitless approach to life. Currently, Lake serves as judge on the nationally syndicated half hour daily courtroom show, Lauren Lake’s Paternity Court and a panelist on Centric TV’s “Queen Boss”, a platform for AfricanAmerican female entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses for start-up capital. In addition to transforming lives, Lauren also enjoys bringing new life to living spaces. She served as host and designer on HGTV’s Spice Up My Kitchen and was the HGTV Showdown Champion for two consecutive years.
Alisa Kirk is the Area Director with the Clayton State University SBDC and an honoree at MogulCon17. Alisa’s background includes experience working with the federal and state governments and small and large businesses in management, budgeting, and database management. At the SBDC, Alisa works to help businesses grow and improve their financial health. She has been an invited speaker at numerous state, regional, and local events on topics including persuasive communication, videos for business, and marketing technology. Alisa serves on several economic development task forces and advisory boards.
MogulCon 2017 has the pleasure of honoring Vickie Irwin, Manager of Supplier Diversity & Development with Georgia Power. Vickie leads a team of five supplier development professionals. During her tenure at Georgia Power, she has held the positions of Supplier Development Project Manager and Supplier Development Consultant. Vickie is involved in all aspects of supplier diversity and is also Georgia Power’s Small Business Liaison Officer. She is a board member of the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council (GMSDC), co-chair of the GMSDC Supplier Diversity Leadership Council, Georgia Hispanic Construction Association Advisory Board, Global Paint for Charity, Georgia Society of CPAs, American Association of Blacks in Energy, and Project Management Institute-Atlanta Chapter.
Saturday, November 4
9:00am The Morning Cup Felicia Phillips
9:30am Sales Solutions: Capturing, Converting and Keeping Clients Krishna Kurup, Felicia Phillips
10:30am Advancing the Front Lines: How to Build Your Dream Team
Dr. Saundra Wall Williams
11:00am Women Building Their Empires Panel: Tracy Carson, Chrystal-Lynn El, Katherine Jordan, Sabrina Lowery
1:00pm Certified Woman Owned Maria Peck
1:30pm Dating & Relationships Stacii Jae Johnson
2:30pm Mastering Neworking
Dr. Tiffany Lowe-Payne
3:00pm The Expert’s Roundtable Moderator: Felicia Phillips, Bernadette Harris
Dr. Tiffany Lowe- Payne
6:00pm Tony Gaskins Meet & Greet | The Pink Carpet (Awards Pre-Function) Cheryl Scott
7:00pm Tony Gaskins Live at MogulCon!
Tony A. Gaskins Jr. is a husband of nine years, father of two boys, author, celebrity life coach, and intercontinental speaker. It’s been an interesting journey.
Tony built his brand from scratch. At 22, he became an author. At 23, he became a husband and father. At 25, he started his first company, Soul Writers LLC. At 25, he also got himself on globally televised shows to tell a portion of his story. Tony decided to turn his pain into purpose and live a life of service. Raised in the church and being the son of a pastor, there was something about service that stuck with Tony.
Tony made his fair share of mistakes like most young men from areas like where he grew up. Many of his childhood friends are serving life sentences in prison. Although Tony was introduced to the street life between the ages of 18–23, he finally found his way. At 23, he allowed love to change his life. His wife was unwilling to be with a man who would not live up to his full potential. That tough love pushed Tony to be more and to do more.
As his own agent, publicist, and manager, Tony began to build a blueprint that he teaches to thousands of students today. A self-taught master of service, Tony teaches as he learns. He first became known for his love and relationship advice. This wasn’t a popular topic for a man to be so passionate about, but it was organic for Tony because love transformed him. He spoke from the heart on love and relationships and it helped him amass millions of followers online. After a few years in that space he also began to teach on business and entrepreneurship. Tony owns five companies with countless streams of income, so business and entrepreneurship were a natural progression.
Tony became an author, life coach, and speaker by combining all of his passions. In 2015, Tony began working with an NBA team as the team life coach. Tony also became the life coach for several college teams. His message comes from his mess. He believes that we all are coaches because we’ve all learned lessons that can help someone else. Operating in his gifts also took him around the world as a highly sought- after speaker. Tony has spoken in two other continents and over 10 different countries and counting. Tony was able to accomplish these feats by the tender age of 31.
He does not believe in boxes. “Don’t put me in a box until I’m going in the ground,” he says. He covers a wide range of topics in the areas of life, love, and business. He has written several books on those subjects with his latest work being “The Dream Chaser” published by Wiley and available everywhere books are sold.
The PINKpreneur Network understands that there is no cookie-cutter formula for success. We know that in order to be successful, you need resources and relationships.
According to American Express’ report on female entrepreneurship, as of 2016, it is estimated that there are now 11.3 million womenowned businesses in the United States, employing nearly 9 million people and generating over $1.6 trillion in revenues.
This means that now more than ever, women need to be able to access the necessary vehicles in order for us to not only be successful, but to be profitable. We hope that you will lock arms with us as we work to provide a valuable platform for women to connect, collaborate, and even find their next joint venture or co-founder here in The PINKpreneur Network.
All members will get access to our private Facebook page and email alerts on upcoming training, events, and opportunities through our global partnerships.
pinkpreneurnetwork.com/memberships
BECOME A MEMBER OF ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING ORGANIZATIONS FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS TODAY!Seated left to right: Lady LaDonna, Yolanda Lewis, Patryce Pittman-Moore, Nicole Henderson, Kimberly Singleton, Carla Jones and Crystal Davis.
Cierra Minnifield, Nailah Fitzgerald. Standing left to right: Chrystal-Lynn El, Tracy Carson, Kenyata Woods, Kay Kirkman, Founder: Felicia Phillips,
Entrepreneurship is in my DNA. I was raised with five uncles and my father, who were all entrepreneurs. However, my great grandmother was the first woman that I saw in a leadership capacity in the community. She had multiple businesses. She owned real estate, and she took the time to talk to me about being a visionary and how to follow my dreams, and how to manage money. She did not just talk about it, she actually invested in me. She took me to the bank, opened an account, and put five hundred dollars in it. She believed in me, and I needed to know that. The foundation for my success was laid.
I left home at 17 years old to attend Georgia State University. I worked two jobs, and one was for a credit card company. One day, I decided that I did not want to work like that anymore. No one in my family was doing it. I did not want to do it. The credit card company owner closed his business, and when he did that, I took all of his books–his library on the industry. I read everything from cover-to-cover, and I used that knowledge to start my own business at the age of 18. By 19, I was making six figures with that business.
It has been 27 years, and I have never regretted a day of it. Has it all been great? Absolutely not. I tell people that you can quit every day and wake up in the morning and start over. For most entrepreneurs, no two days are the same. Every day you are learning and growing. You are becoming more of an expert at what your passion is and what you do well for others. That vision begins to evolve. You meet new people, and new doors open. I love visionaries.
What I know, however, is that visionaries are not always the ones to carry the vision out. Yet, when they have the vision, there is something special about that. When you are granted a vision, when you are blessed to have vision, that is a sign specifically to you. There is something great in that because that means that you have a talent or a gift that only you can use to make this vision come to fruition.
People have ideas, but we have to learn the difference between a vision and an idea. What I have realized is how you start is not always how you finish because there is a journey in entrepreneurship. When I first started out, success looked one way. Then, as I became a wife and a mother, I grew from being a young lady into a woman. There is a difference. Success begins to look differently.
I have been blessed to run multi-million dollar businesses and to help others run and build their businesses as a Master Business Coach. I am committed to the entrepreneur because I believe that when you are given that vision, you are given the talent to go along with it. But here is what I learned about me. I am a vessel to help you along the way, and we all need that–like my great grandmother did for me.
When we look at people who have achieved mass success, and if you look at their journey, they always had someone who is an expert who helped them get to that next level. I think so many people miss that in the age of the Internet because we think, “I can Google it. I’ll figure it out,” but you end up costing
yourself more money and taking a lot of extra time to get there. I absolutely love what I do working with women entrepreneurs. I enjoy helping them to lay a solid foundation that they can build on for many years of success that leads them to a legacy.
With all of that as an introduction, I have another message that I want you to walk away with. If we do not have the physical, mental, and spiritual capacity–as leaders and visionaries–to carry out the vision, we will not be a true representation of God. I shared a health scare that was a near-death experience for me from earlier this year on Vivid Talk™ Radio, and I tell the back story in a blog post on vividtalkradio.com. You can listen to and read in their entirety.
Here I want to tell you that I made a decision in my hospital bed. I spent a week in the Intensive Care Unit. If I never heard the Holy Spirit, if I never knew what God has for me, he set me right on top of my purpose. He made me sit there and think about it. He said, “I’m entrusting you with a vision. But I can’t even communicate with you because your temple is sick, and I cannot live in it.” I think what we miss as visionaries and leaders is where the vision came from. We miss that in order for us to get to the level of success that God has planned for us, we have to take care of ourselves.
God was asking me, “Can I trust you? I’ve given you the warning. I need to see that you’re adhering to it.” So, I’ve made a decision. The Bible says that God worked for six days, and on the seventh day, he rested. I find it interesting that he put that in the same chapter as the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). If it was that important, wouldn’t that mean that you should be doing that too? God places a high level of importance on rest because we are judged by the fruit that we bear.
I am going to rest. I am going to take care of my temple. I am going to make the changes that I need to make so that I can be pleasing to God, and he can help me carry out the vision. I want to hear him and do and live in my purpose. When God drops you on top of your pain, there lies your purpose, and that has changed my life.
Make the distinction between “a” vision and God’s vision. Proverbs 29: 18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” It is talking about the revealed knowledge of God. What is he revealing to you about him, about you, about the life that you should be giving yourself to? What has he put you on this earth to do? Go hard after that. Part of it is owning businesses and having the wealth to invest in each other and in the kingdom, but you have to be clear about where your vision is coming from.
I want to encourage you to shut everything off for just one day. That day needs to be your day of rest. You need to completely unplug. Hear some birds chirping, be one with yourself so that you can think. Give yourself priority. In that quiet moment, so much can be revealed to you, but if you do not take the time to be still, you will never hear the promise. You will never hear the next step. You will never understand where the open door is coming from.
Vivid Talk™ Radio is a weekly coaching conversation by Host and Better Life Coach, Gwen Witherspoon and featured CoHosts. This radio podcast is designed to help entrepreneurs get vision for every area of life. It started in 2013, and after only five weeks became a featured Blogtalk Radio Show.
Vivid Talk™ Radio is back with all new episodes. Guests are entrepreneurs, thinkers, and influencers at every stage of business who share their visionary lifestyle stories.
TITLE: YOU CAN BE SCARED, BUT KEEP MOVING. DO IT AFRAID.
GUEST: Playwright & Entrepreneur, Gabrielle Haywood
HOST: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
TITLE: VISIONARY PROFILE
GUEST: Illustrator & Comic Artist, Marcus Williams
HOST: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
Marcus sees art as the most efficient means to challenge stereotypes and solve real-world issues with creativity. He shares how he is leveraging a successful 17-year freelance career into developing his own content, including how he overcomes the personal and business challenges–including divorce, single parenting, and family relationships.
TITLE: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE HUSTLE & THE STRUGGLE
HOSTS: Gwen Witherspoon & Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin
TIME: 30 minutes
In preparation for the re-launch of Vivid Talk™ Radio, this special prelude features an impromptu conversation between Gwen and Dr. Jada. They share how the visionary can overcome the trauma of failure to turn their internal struggles into a hustle that serves many.
TITLE: DR. JADA TELLS THE ASTONISHING TRUTH ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS
GUEST: Wellness Coach, Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin
HOSTS: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
She studied theatre and writing at Emerson College in Boston, and after being encouraged to write a play many years later, she then cast a full production which she appropriately titled, “The Journey”. Now, she is embarking on a totally new entrepreneurial endeavor–a line of swimwear born out of her desire for a capri length swimsuit that is fashionable, colorful, and stylish.
TITLE: 4 KEYS TO THE CONTINUAL GROWTH OF YOUR VISION
GUEST: Visionary, Dr. Myles Munroe
HOST: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
Are you interested in how to fill the gap between the conception of your vision and the big picture you see on the horizon? Gwen, with the help of Dr. Munroe, will share four practical keys that will fill the wisdom gap. (Excerpts of Dr. Munroe Used By Permission of Munroe Global)
After embarking on her own weight loss journey with Dr. Jada as her guide, Gwen wants to drill down on the myths that were busted for her and what it is taking to get to her 40 pound weight loss goal. As a bariatric and hormone therapy specialist, Dr. Jada will break down all the hot topics and a few other burning questions.
TITLE: YOU CAN’T JUST KNOW YOUR CRAFT. YOU HAVE TO BE YOUR CRAFT
GUEST: Professor Shelli Frazier Trotman Scott
HOST: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
With a breadth of experience in public school and university education, she shares her vision to effectively prepare teachers to impact the lives of the students they will encounter in their careers. As a Flip Productivity™ client, Michelle also provides insight on how she uses her Flip Book to produce more.
TITLE: INSPIRING PARENTS TO GET A VISION FOR A CHANGE
GUEST: Sanya Whittaker Gragg
HOST: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
Getting a vision for every area of life may mean getting a vision to make a change in the culture. And Ms. Gragg is giving parents a powerful tool for having “the talk” with their young black boys about the best practices for dealing with police.
TITLE: GOOD GRIEF! WHAT THE VISIONARY CAN LEARN FROM LOSS
GUEST: Grief Counselor, Stacey Loper
HOST: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
We know that the death of a loved one can leave us shaken for decades, but the loss of a business–a deferred dream–can be just as devastating in ways that may not be apparent. Stacey shares openly about her own journey and the strategies she uses to help her clients move beyond words to a new outlook on life.
TITLE: FAILURE-PROOF YOUR VISION WITH FAITH & AWARENESS
GUEST: Social Entrepreneur, Marje Etheridge
HOST: Gwen Witherspoon
TIME: 30 minutes
Motivated by her brother’s tragic death and the influence of negative media images, Marje shares how she connects with billionaires, millionaires, and people from all cultures and walks of life to help kids dream. She is the founder of BACKSACK International, an organization that partners with major corporations to provide young people with entrepreneurial training.
“I love Vivid Talk™ Radio! I get specific takeaways from each guest. It’s not, ‘You’re the first one across the finish line,’ or ‘They’re perfectly successful.’ They’re in the laboratory developing.”
– J. Roberts, Vivid Insider
by Shoresh Seldon
Yolanda Owens is the owner and founder of IWI Farm-to-Skin Spa, an oasis tucked away in downtown Atlanta’s Historic Castleberry Hill art district. She has made a name for herself as The Skin Care Chef, crafting her IWI Fresh Beauty and Skin Care using fresh produce from scratch to the delight of all who enter. Her Skin Farming innovation has its literal roots in the value of food and of green living that was instilled in her early. She describes her grandmother as the home remedy queen who, she recalls, never purchased over the counter medications. This is where Yolanda gets her inspiration.
Though she wanted to study dance, her family pushed her to pursue a degree in math and engineering. Like many grandmothers, Yolanda’s grandmother sent her care packages to college–only hers were boxes full of greens. She became known for her facials using fresh foods, and other students sought her out. She received her degree and landed her first Job was engineering. However, her corporate career was cut short by a layoff. “What now,” she wondered. It came down to two choices–honor the soul that loved to create, or step back into the employment line. She chose to launch IWI Fresh. “IWI” stands for “It is What It is”, no added chemicals or preservatives. If the label says it is a carrot, it is a carrot.
You could even say that integrity is its main ingredient, so much so that Yolanda and her products caught the attention of Macy’s. They wanted to take IWI Fresh products nationwide, but Yolanda declined their offer because it would require a departure from her most core value. A natural product could not survive the transport and warehousing without additives. Though many others would have jumped at the chance and made the adjustment, Yolanda called it “an easy decision”. Soon after, Whole Foods made a smaller, though better-suited offer that enabled her to sell her farm fresh products at the Ponce City Market location.
Yolanda’s vision comes to life from the moment you walk through the plant-lined entry way. In every direction you are greeted by a scensory experience that makes you want to come back for more–from complimentary green tea to the body scrub bar to her uncanny ability to make everyone feel like her best friend.
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The root of Vivid Brands is found in Habakkuk 2: 2 in the Bible. It says, “Write the vision, and make it plain...” There was a moment many years ago when I realized that the vision does not become plain just because you write it down once. Making it plain is a process. So, I created the V.I.V.I.D.™ Model for growth and development. It is an acronym that stands for Vision, Identity, Voice, Information, and Development. Simply put, it is a methodology that walks you through a series of questions. Your answers will help to make your vision plain–or vivid. It does not stop with the first round of answers. It looks like this: 1) Re-ask yourself some fundamental questions, 2) Write those answers down, 3) Identify patterns, 4) Start over, and 5) Your vision will become clearer. Plain. Vivid. Think about it. A vivid vision is one that others can run with. As entrepreneurs, our biggest challenge is helping others see what we see. A visionary by definition is “a person with original ideas about what the future will or could be like”. Most people cannot see into the future. That is why a vision has to be written down. It has to be defined in terms that others can understand. Habakkuk 2: 2 goes on to say, “...That he may run who reads it.” I like that The Living Bible translation of the same verse says, “Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others.”
Another foundation stone for Vivid Brands is Proverbs 29: 18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” This principle is the reason for our mission to help you get vision for area of life: your inside, your outside, and your surroundings. We need vision for everything. As an entrepreneur, I realized that having vision for my businesses or for an idea was a no-brainer. However, an honest assessment helped me see where other areas of my life were perishing because I was not applying the same principle to my family, my relationships, my health. I often ask the question, “What would make your life better?” That is the area where you need vision. I have been using the V.I.V.I.D.™ Model in my coaching and in my branding agency for about seven years now, and after over 30 years as a serial entrepreneur, I can say definitively that vision is the one thing that always kept me going when everything around me appeared to be falling apart.
In 2013, I started Vivid Talk™ Radio with my former business partner. When our business relationship ended, I was not sure if I wanted to start the show again solo or find another co-host. So, it sat on the back burner for four years. As the social networks started going LIVE, I was enamored with the idea of converting the radio podcast into a live streaming video show, Vivid Talk™ LIVE. This is where Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin comes in. We met in The Blossom Network, a women’s group started by a mutual friend. She had just launched REAL Weight Loss + Wellness, and I had just completed my first Vivid Party. She approached me about hosting a Vivid Party at her new location as part of a weekend of events. Life happened, but the weekend did not. Then, she told me that she wanted to host a first anniversary celebration in October where she would highlight the weight loss successes
Gwen Witherspoon, MBA
Dr. Jada Moore-Ruffin, M.D. & Katherine Jordan
What’s the big picture?
Who do you think you are?
What’s your core message?
What do you need to know?
Who do you need to become?
of her clients. We had so much going on, it did not seem like that was going to happen either.
A couple of months later, Dr. Jada called me and said, “I want a booth at the Atlanta Women’s Expo. Do you know anyone who would be interested in going in on it with me?” Well, I had met Katherine Jordan at a PINKpreneur Network event, and ever since I had been wanting to introduce her to Dr. Jada anyway, so that she could stage a room in her new office space. It was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, as they say.
In our first meeting, we needed to decide on one brand that we could present together while highlighting each of our unique skill sets. I suggested defining ourselves as coaches, and Dr. Jada thought that we could brand ourselves under the nonexistent Vivid Talk™ LIVE show. My suggestion was that we all needed books, and I gave everyone an assignment to have theirs done in 30 days. Before we left, we all had out titles and subtitles defined. We decided that we would conduct a weekly virtual meeting to keep each other accountable. We formed our own Mastermind, and we were off!
We paid the Expo deposit to secure our spot. We started our weekly meetings. All was well, except just before the 30-day deadline Dr. Jada announced, “I can’t write a book right now, but we should do a magazine. I can definitely do an article.” What she did not know was that if I am going to do a magazine, I am going to do a magazine. She also did not understand my love for editorial design or that my husband and I had discussed developing a magazine at one time. We were ready.
All of that happened between February and March. In April, Jada’s husband lost his job, and mine fell off a ladder and broke four vertebrae in his back, and later we discovered that Katherine’s husband had lost his job as well. I was determined to continue because now all those ideas I had been working on needed to start producing. The first big
step toward creating a unified brand for the Expo was getting promotional photos taken. Since my husband’s recovery from his fall was just beginning, I reached out to Skyy Wonders after being a model in her 40 Plus Wonders Calendar to do the photography. She did not hesitate.
of Vivid Magazine at vividmag.online. Our core team returned, and we left with an even greater confidence that we were on the right track. We had MogulCon in our view as the next milestone, and we had to be ready.
Remember Dr. Jada’s event to showcase her clients? I did not forget. It was the perfect opportunity to create a before and after editorial spread that could serve as a Vivid Magazine feature, while also serving as the prelude to her anniversary celebration. The only thing is I was in a slump mentally, emotionally, and financially. Nothing had really changed. I was dealing with exactly the same challenges. It was just taking its toll. I was tired, and everyone around me had their own issues to deal with. I felt alone. The difference was that I did not have the luxury of being able to cry in my milk for long. My husband was on the mend, and he had started working again. Since we are both selfemployed, there is no check if we do not go after it. If he was taking his pain pills and getting it done, I could not (with my perfect health) give myself anymore excuses.
That brings us to 30 days before the Expo. Our weekly meetings had fallen by the wayside. The Expo could not be cancelled, so we agreed to forge ahead, only there would be no magazine, no live streaming show, and no radio show. I decided that instead of replacing the radio show with the video program, we would keep the radio because it was the only thing that had actually existed. We used the Atlanta Women’s Expo as an opportunity to “release” Vivid Brands, meet visionary women, and test our idea. Set up was that Friday, and the show was Saturday and Sunday. By Sunday at 3:00 pm, we were finally getting our groove–two hours before it ended.
The months after the Expo were spent finishing everything that could not happen before we showed up at the Georgia World Congress Center and creating a strategy for rolling out each of the Vivid Brands by the end of the year. Vivid Talk™ Radio relaunched in July. Felicia Phillips invited us to her Atlanta Small Business Expo for Women in August. We did a soft launch of the online version
I had a little talk with Jesus. I looked at the upcoming MogulCon deadline, and photo shoot was in order. There was one week to pull it together. That is it. Again, the power of vision was on display. Everyone I called, every professional I needed said, “Yes.” That furniture store in my neighborhood that I had been driving by for five years–I finally went in to introduce myself. The owner made the store available for the shoot. Whenever something fell through, or I did not know how to solve a problem, the solution appeared. It was not magic. It was not by chance. It was because of vision. I had a revelation from God about who I am, what I am called to do, and I started with what was in my hand, what I already had. Unfortunately, I have to learn this lesson over and over with every project, but the takeaway every time is that God is not obligated to show you the next step until you take the first one. So, we finished the #REALResults shoot with makeup artists, a hair stylist, a full collection of clothing to choose from as wardrobe, and video interviews in two locations.
The fact that you are holding the Premiere Issue of Vivid Magazine in your hand is a testimony to the power of vision. We could have done less, and everyone would have understood. “My husband broke his back,” would probably be an acceptable excuse for just about any unfulfilled promise. However, faith is not required for what you know you can do. It is imperative when you need to create
“...God is not obligated to show you the next step until you take the first one.”
a future that you cannot see with your physical eyes. We are cultivating the visionary lifestyle. When we say that, we are not speaking in hypotheticals. We are living and breathing this thing day in and day out. If we offer advice, no matter our stage of business, we are speaking by experience. We are not just talking about our ideas. We are taking action. We are truly calling all visionaries. Just as Dr. Jada, Katherine, and I decided to create our own Mastermind, we are developing content and events and forming partnerships with corporations, non-profits, and anyone interested in inspiring and empowering visionaries to dream bigger, take action, and change lives, starting with their own. And when we talk about getting vision for every area of life, it is not just a slogan. We are getting up every day and going to bed every night guided by a future informed by a higher calling–a greater purpose than profits and losses. We are visionaries.
We live in a world of constant testing, whether it is for our job, school, or medical/health update. There is no way to get around it. When President Barack Obama was being considered for the Democratic nomination in 2008, it was widely reported that he underwent multiple assessments, including personality tests to determine how he would lead and react to sensitive issues such as racism.
Assessments help us personally and corporately by analyzing our personality type, how and what types of people we get along with, whether we will stick with a job or project, how we will perform in specific situations, our socio-economic-religious views, and whether we should pursue certain activities, among other things.
There are all sorts of assessments that are purposespecific. Gallup Organization offers many types of assessments for use by its clients and uses those same ones for internal purposes to vet and promote its employees. One such assessment tool the company uses and markets to other organizations is Strengths Finders™, now known as CliftonStrengths. Other popular personality assessments include the Meyers-Briggs Gifts Differing; DiSC®, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and more consumer-based free ones such as 123test.com that
includes IQ tests, career, personality, work value and other assessments.
Assessments are not only used in secular circles. Many faith-based groups such as churches, seminaries, and religious-owned organizations use assessments to ascertain faith, gift-specific values, leadership, spiritual life evaluation, personality, promotion candidacy or job specific placement, and other. SpiritualGiftstest.com is a free assessment that anyone in a faith-based environment can use to discover information, such as dominate service, administrative or leadership gifts. Spiritual Life Inventory maps out significant occurrences in a person’s life that has impacted faith decisions.
There are tons of assessments for just about everything under the sun. Assessments are important because they become gauges that are necessary to our development process, learning, and relationships. Life coaches use assessments to help clients move forward or to accomplish specific goals or tasks. Gallup uses a ‘right-fit’ assessment to determine whether any employee will stick to the requested job regardless of talent.
At the end of the day, assessments are all good in learning about ourselves–who we are, who we may become and whether goals are being met.
Lifestyle Coach. Founder. Wife. Mom.
“Surround yourself with the things that inspire you to be great.”
– Katherine Jordan
It is hard to give up a steady paycheck. Some might say “a bird in the hand is more than two in the bush.” However, successful entrepreneurs know that the path to independence is to open up the hand and stop being tight-fisted. So, that is exactly what Katherine Jordan did, but it took a couple of tries.
Katherine Jordon initially founded Savvy Interior Design, or The Savvy ID for short, in 2004. She admits that at the time she was not as serious as she needed to be for the business to take root. She still relied on the corporate check she had been depending on for years. Also, going from play to pay did not seem real. That aside, she could not ignore the passion she had for design. Her innate, personal style was constantly being noticed by those around her. It was nothing for her to consult with them about their design challenges. Later rather than sooner she realized that perhaps she could make a living as a professional design consultant.
The advent of HGTV and its design shows gave Katherine the ‘halo’ moment she needed to draft her exit strategy from corporate. It took years before she leaped. Jordan admits that sometimes she got in her own way–just over-thinking the move. Fortunately, she had grown a small ‘faith circle’ of friends that spoke life into her whenever she needed a push. In addition to her faith-circle, prayer and moral support from her family has given her a firm foundation to withstand the inevitable challenges that came her way.
Katherine says that though she knew she had a passion and gift for design, she did not process the possibility that her personal passion could be translated nto a sustainable living. Her steady diet of HGTV and all the people–even service providers stopping by–who gushed over her home design and reflecting on the principles that brought her corporate success to convince her to take the leap.
In a recent interview with Gwen Witherspoon of Vivid Talk™ Radio, she said she used to feel badly about starting so late, stopping, and not doing so well at first. Then, she realized that none of that is important. She learned to stop looking around and comparing her situation to others. She recognized the futility of that since no two starts or paths are the same. It took giving birth to her daughter to make her decide that she really wanted to be committed to her business. That baby girl gave her a different perspective on making a living and making a life. Spending time with her family and building a business was no longer an either-or proposition. It was just a matter of setting boundaries and priorities.
Though there have been struggles, Katherine says that she has no regrets. She is garnering respect from struggle, as well as success. She has finally found peace with the attention she has garnered from her personal passion that is now a professional must-have for others. One of her biggest lessons is that it is not important when you start or how you start. Just start.
LISTEN AT VIVIDTALKRADIO.COM
Of course, Katherine believes you can’t afford not to, and we think she has a point–several great points, actually. (Listen to her complete interview on Vivid Talk Radio for more.):
• Designing your space is important because what you see dictates how you feel.
• A space that reflects your personality feeds you and gives you energy to keep working and building your vision.
• A designed space is part of the visionary process, and it helps you thrive and soar.
• You have options when working with a professional. Get their advice on a space plan in a consultation, shop and organize yourself, or get the full service.
• If you have a limited budget, start by incorporating accessories.
• Include color. The right ones will elicit greater productivity
• Do not underestimate the power of scents. Cinnamon improves focus. Peppermint lifts your mood. Lavendar helps you unwind after a hard day.
• Eliminate clutter. Are you hoarding paper? Short on storage? There is a hidden cost. You lose time (which translates to money) searching for things. You lose money rebuying what you already have, but cannot find.
• Surround yourself with things that make you feel peace and joy.
“Your space should rise up to meet you when you walk through the door.”
@ronwitherspoon
@ronwitherspoon7
@ronwitherspoon
s an artist and photographer, Ron Witherspoon is constantly pulled in multiple directions. The artist in him wants to educate, motivate and touch the spirit of his audience, while the pure photographer wants to document life as he sees it and excite.
His commercial clients appreciate the push-pull of the artist and how it affects their finished photography product. His art collectors are drawn to the mental, social, and sometimes emotional challenge that is an original Ron Witherspoon photo-centered work of art. Witherspoon grew up in a multicultural community in San Francisco, California. He began his photography career as a street photographer in the vision and spirit of photographers Roy DeCarava, Robert Doisneau and Adger Cowans. Ron discovered these iconic photographers as he researched and explored photography, and he felt a kinship with the spirit of their works and aspires to their greatness. He went on to earn an undergraduate arts degree in radio, television, and journalism from San Francisco State University.
Ron said, “I did not have a clear vision as to where I was going with my photography when I started out, other than to read every book I could find on photography and keep learning and creating images that drew me into them.” Although Witherspoon had decorated his home with his black
and white images, it was not until a photographer friend asked him to be in an art exhibit in New York that he consciously began to focus in on his fine art works.
His work has included photography instructor, television cameraman, marketing and sales director, training director, director of public information for a non-profit, and a six-year tour of duty as a U.S. Army Photojournalist. It was in that role that he traveled three continents creating pictures and writing stories about American service members for the Third U.S. Army Headquarters, 81st ARMCOM Wildcat Magazine, Army Times and military post newspapers. After all of that, Witherspoon completed his Master of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Photography and Digital Imaging from Georgia State University School of Art & Design.
Ron has spent the past 14 years post graduate school working as a commercial photographer creating marketing, public relations, advertising and editorial images. At the same time he has been developing a body of fine art and is working on a new series of images for a photography art show in late 2018 with the Atlanta-based art group, Nuance.
Ron says that he lives a charmed life as an artist and photographer, which has allowed him to use all his skills, training and motivation to help his clients brand, market and promote their organizations.
“I have found my purpose with a camera. I am living and loving my life as a photographer!”
– Ron WitherspoonWitherspoon’s early education gave him a deeply rooted foundation and desire to explore a world vision through photography. Shown here with his kindergarten class.
Abi Ikegwuonu, founder of “A Thread of Style”, is a fashion stylist who works with women in corporate, entertainment, and every woman who wants a transformation of their clothing style, and their lives. She grew up in Nigeria, the daughter of a diplomat. In Nigerian culture in general and especially in her home, her parents taught her by example to stand out. She comes from a long line of fashion-conscious individuals. Even her father had a dynamic flare. They lived by what she calls the Rachel Zoe model, “Be able to walk in a room, and let your clothes tell who you are.”
She has lived in Israel, Switzerland, Ohio, and has now made Atlanta home. Her Instagram followers and clients get a taste of fashion from this world view. Fashion has always brought her joy, even at a young age, but as a child she was very shy and did not fit in with the “in crowd”. As a result, she began to “enjoy fashion from the background”, paying close attention to how people carried themselves and watching how they dressed. Their confidence was on parade, and those covert observations sparked something in Abi.
She searched for ways to add flare to her school uniforms–a different stitch to a pocket or hem on her skirt would transform the ordinary. One day while working in human resources, her day job, her senior manager came in and told her she would be laying people off that day. That was a revelatory moment. Abi asked herself, “What if in 30 days, I didn’t have my job!?” She started working on her vision immediately, thinking about what made her happy. She tried her hand at styling people for free, and one of her clients asked her to figure out how much she would charge for this service. That is exactly what she did, and the rest is history. Influenced by sProject Runway and Stacy London, Abi Ikegwuonu is now a visionary sharing her thread of style with other women of vision.
Once upon a time there was a girl from Memphis, Tennessee who attended a little known urban high school tucked away on the South side. She had an encounter with a young mother who was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. This girl took to this frail soul. Her after school and weekend hours were consumed with rubbing salve on her tattered skin after chemotherapy treatments and spoon feeding her canned broth, hoping that she would keep a few swallows down. That experience would be the very thing that inspired this chubby brown skinned girl to defy the odds and embrace a very different vision of her future. That little girl was me.
Fast forward more than twenty years and that cautiously ambitious girl, had become a successful family physician. Yet, I saw another vision. That vision would take me away from the safety net of working as a medical director at an Atlanta community health center to launching my own medical weight loss and wellness center in North Atlanta. It was really a natural next step because as a primary care specialist, I had always practiced wellness-based principles. I looked at each individual patient in the context of every way that they live, work, and play. It was that approach that allowed me to make the greatest impact in treating the whole patient not just the illness or disease they were facing.
My interest in a wellness center and obesity medicine stems from having worked in weight management early in my career I never forgot the rewarding feeling of helping people who struggled with their weight to get their lives back. I completed a fellowship in Health Policy and Leadership, and I received special training and Board Certification in Medical Bariatrics to address the growing epidemic of obesity, not just in our country and in the black community, but worldwide.
That vision got clouded by loan denials, financial setbacks, and uncertainties. I mean, who leaves the security of a leadership position, a steady paycheck, and strong career connections to start a brand new business on literally just a wing and a prayer? Okay. Many prayers. I remember thinking, “You have a kid going to college, two more to go, and new home mortgage payments to make.” I second, third, and fiftieth-guessed my decision to move forward with the plan that I felt sure was conspired by the Creator. My humanness
said, “This is a bad idea.” My spirit said, “Now, or never.” Thankfully, my husband of almost twenty years could see the entrepreneurial flame flickering inside of me and encouraged me to follow my dreams.
There have been and are many days when I wonder if I will be able to stand under the pressure. The war within me rages. Do I quit now and cut my losses? My work day turns to night as I rush to pick up the kids with only a glimmer of the vision in my memory. Even when it seemed to disappear completely, I would think, “If I could just make it to one year.”
I am thrilled to declare, “We made it!” As we celebrate the one year anniversary of REAL Weight Loss + Wellness, I made it. The vision made it, and I have learned the importance of having a big picture in front of you–something
bigger than yourself and beyond what you can accomplish on your own. Whenever I wanted to give up, I looked at my team that was counting on me for their livelihoods. I squeezed my husband tighter and remembered that he believed in me. I realize that even in the darkest moments, I am a visionary–so much so that I continue to innovate and dream and open my big mouth, even through tears.
When my friend, Vivid Magazine Editor-InChief and Vivid Talk™ Radio Co-Host, Gwen Witherspoon, is within earshot, she will most definitely remind me of what I said. Earlier this year, I shared with her that I wanted to host a celebration honoring the successful weight loss stories of my clients for our first anniversary. She never let it go. And when I thought that I was getting out of an assignment to write a book, I came up with the bright idea to do a magazine instead (because writing “one” article would be so much easier). Yeah. Right. From one book to a full magazine, to Vivid Brands. Whew! Gwen is a visionary too.
It pays to have a vision in front of you and visionaries around, behind, beside, and with you. My first year solo has required them all. However, the brightest light in front me has been my clients. They are the realization of my vision–their progress, their journeys, their stories. That is what has kept me going. In addition to collaborating in our visionary lifestyles, Gwen is also a #REALResults success story. She, the people you will see on the next pages, and so many others have received nutritional coaching on customized weight loss programs. From this day forward, they are REAL Weight Loss + Wellness Alumni. They represent the meaning of our name. REAL is an acronym for Renew. Empower. Achieve. Live. We are making weight loss simple and sustainable by getting to the root cause and boosting metabolism. We will be doing it for many years to come.
READ MORE AT VIVIDMAG.ONLINE
Even when [the vision] seemed to disappear completely, I would think, “If I could just make it to one year.”
#REALResults Over 30 Pounds
“I was spending quite a bit for medication and not really feeling 100%. For the first time, I felt this was something that was going to work for me. My motivation level went up with each pound I lost.”
– Oliver Hines
“I wanted to lose weight because I was aching all over. I didn’t want to buy more size 18s. My blood pressure had gone up, and my A1C had gotten worse. My favorite thing about working with REAL is the support. Every time I came in, they were so excited and cheering with me.”
– Adrienne Mims
#REALResults 45 Pounds
#REALResults 40 Pounds
“A year ago, I was walking with a cane, and I weighed 215 pounds. On my own, it took me 12 months to lose 4 pounds. After I lost my first 15 pounds at REAL, I did not need the cane anymore!”
– Monica LaFleur-Wicker
“My time at REAL gave me confidence. I was made to feel special. I received the VIP treatment the entire time. Very customized. I’m ready for my wedding next year!
– Barbara Jones
#REALResults 26 Pounds
Right out of high school, independent illustrator and comic artist, Marcus Williams found himself with a temporary freelance assignment at Cartoon Network. He was thrilled to be drawing The Powerpuff Girls. Though he continued to work, he realized, “After working as a freelance illustrator for 17 years, everything from Cartoon Network, comic books, comic art, and even business cards, with all the illustrations that I’ve done, I came up empty-handed asking, ‘What do I have to sell for myself?’” It was obvious he needed to create a product of his own. He travels to elementary schools and comic book events. He left his early ComicCon appearances feeling that he was the representation of what was possible for young, black comic fans and their families. It was clear that he was a rare commodity and that there is room for a new message.
Marcus, aka Marcus the Visual, recently spoke with Gwen Witherspoon, Host of Vivid Talk™ Radio. He shared that as a young artist, he was just trying to get work, get the money for it, and pay his bills. At one point, however, it shifted to, “What legacy am I going to leave?” Once he became a single father of two, he started to feel the weight of the responsibility to do more. He is finally came to terms with his art and his presence as a black illustrator in the art field. Now, he is on a mission to show young black kids heroic representations of themselves–capable, powerful, and strong characterizations.
Comic illustration can be quite lucrative with the right medium, subject, and content, commanding upwards of thousands of dollars per book project, according to Sean Jordan, founder of Army Ant Publishing. Williams encourages parents to not give up on the profession as a viable vocation for their children, and that there is an obvious shortage of black role models for them.
Marcus co-authored and illustrated a book with his business partner, Greg Burnham, highlighting black characters. Currently, the pair has a successful comic book on the market entitled “Tuskegee Heirs”. A Kickstarter campaign (the goal was $10,000, but they raised $74,000) laid the foundation for the project’s success. The goal, Williams says, is to tell stories of black heroes without any stereotypical associations seen in most comic art featuring black characters.
A constant complaint he hears from parents, he says, is inappropriate, overly sexualized images and language, though it is in a comic book. He wants to change that image and keep certain content age-appropriate.
Tuskegee Heirs: Flames of Destiny” is a new futuristic sci-fi action-adventure comic book series set 80 years into the future. It follows a squadron of young, gifted aviators, who are forced to become Earth’s last line of defense against a menacing race of artificially intelligent villains bent on destroying civilization. Trained at the legendary Moton Field, by Colonel Mars (our own fictional descendant of the Tuskegee Airmen), these five teens and their crew embody strong moral ethics and team strategies used by the Red Tails themselves to overcome their problems. Follow along as our team travels the globe in an effort to save civilization, exposing little known history and geography along the way. Also, there are giant robots!
Always interested in art, Williams has had to learn not only how to market his art, but how to treat his art as a business, not just a creative outlet. This he has learned through personal observations and by talking with veteran illustrators and artists.
There is still a shortage of minority representation, particularly at comic fests and conferences, and he is humbled to be considered a role model for his art form. He continues to use introspection and observation as motivation to drive his art forward.
by Shoresh Seldon
Sonny Hill truly lives up to her name. Her smile literally lights up the room. Perhaps it is her ability to see beauty everywhere. That is a skill she learned as a child. She is the author of three Christian Romance novels, a poet, and a lover of the beauty of language. As she allowed the love of beautiful things to flow into her love for beautiful language, she started writing.
Another source for that light is that she sees herself first as a child of God. During study times, she got a revelation that God is the ultimate romance writer and that the Bible is a romance novel. It became her primary influence, and its characters became her muses. She studied the detail in each of the Bible stories–like the building of the temple of Solomon–and used that intricate language in her novels.
In her books, she tells stories that portray men in the light of God and his image as strong and secure. Her writing allows you to drift off to a place of vision. As I sat across from her, it was evident that she is a powerhouse in a small frame. The way her words and stories fell from her lips was like watching images hit the page as they left her mouth.
I warned her that we were about to dig deeper to find the truth about her story, and we both laughed. And she laughs with her whole self. As a poet, Sonny loved how words flowed, but was told that poetry books did not sell. So, she started writing novels. She took on the challenge of weaving poetic language into her characters’ stories of hidden, inner struggle. She was all too familiar with the concept since it took her almost eight years to complete the first book as she worked through her own issues. She was full of questions. “Is this journey worth it?” “What if only one book sells?” “How do I overcome being an introvert to sell and market my book?”
Through all of that turmoil, God gave her exactly what she needed to bring forth what is now a series of romance novels. It took resisting the urge to compare herself with writers she admired, applying herself to learn how to publish, market, and share her gift openly.
We left with three keys she has learned on her journey:
1) do not despise small beginnings, 2) the visionary process can be compared to a woman in child birth, and 3) keep pushing through the pain even when the process seems to be long, even if you have to put your project down for the time being, just pick it up, and start again.
Poetry has long been used as a tool of activists for political commentary and to give voice to revolutions. Since Gwendolyn Faye’s poetry is about her life of love, she decided that it is time to start a revolution of caring. There is so much hate and division in our nation and world. It is so easy to get sucked in and start defending your position–even easier to demonize the “other side”. But when did we pick sides? Why do we insist on elevating ourselves above each other?
She wrote her first collection of poetry, “The Fine Art of Caring” as an ode to the loves that she has been blessed with. The title gave her the idea. What if she could inspire others? What if we started practicing the fine art of caring? It is a special assignment for the givers, the lovers, and the unyielding believers. Let the poets lead the way! She plans to flood the air with beauty, pleasure and sweetness by seeking out and promoting all the evidence she can find. And she wants to inspire others to do the same.
You can join in! Look for examples of caring, and share them with others. You can even get your #caringrevolution swag to declare your allegiance to the Caring Revolution.
Poet Gwendolyn Faye is using her voice to start a caring revolution. It’s a fine art.
Since the days of MTV’s “The Real World”, reality television has been all the rave. From documentaries to game and competition shows to structured reality, cultural influence thrives on these outrageous personalities demonstrating behaviors that most people could only dream of being able to perform.
Garnering billions of viewers, and dominating the entertainment industry, reality television has become one of the greatest influence engines to have ever existed, subsequently drawing the attention of international mass marketing giants. Results such as instant celebrity stardom, political influence, and cultural pacesetting are the targets of corporate giants such as Sprint, Coke, or Amazon. How can small businesses with anorexic marketing budgets compete for the heart and soul of their target audience and still remain true to their core values? I am going to share three secrets you can use to frame your marketing strategy using the reality genre as your technology for calculated growth.
Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room:
Here’s what I mean by that. True reality television is not broadcast LIVE. Although some of the content genuinely results from spontaneous interaction between characters behaving off-script, the overall plot is generally pre-scripted, and recorded with certain crafted liberties without deviating from the overall theme or mood of the show.
This approach is sheer marketing genius because it gives the audience the look and feel of raw character interaction, the “reality,” while keeping a hand on the pulse of the conversation.
Starting with the end in mind, we know that every sales process is driven by an emotional decision. People buy because they feel. Ask yourself this question. What do you want your audience to feel as a result of interacting with your product or brand? How will you provoke them to experience those feelings?
These are the questions you should have in mind as you generate your marketing strategy, construct your content, or record your videos. Also consider how you would answer these questions. How do your social media images impact your customer’s emotional interaction with your brand? How does your video playlist build anticipation for critical climax? Will your audience cry, laugh, be surprised, or feel a nudge toward social justice?
Bottom li, you must incorporate all five senses into your reality marketing strategy as the technology that pulls your customer’s heartstrings toward your end goal. This leads us to developing content that segues toward our goal.
Transparency is the way people get to know, like, and trust you so they can ultimately do business with you. Business deals are not made between companies, as much as they are agreements between people who trust one another. It does not matter if your company has a beautiful logo and website, or if your brand has the most bling. Your customers will only do business with someone they know, like, and trust, hence the utilization of mascot personification in most corporate marketing strategies. Chick-fil-A has the cows,
GEICO has the gecko lizard, and ADT has Ving Rhames. Now ask yourself, who is your mascot?
Once you determine your mascot, you must then address your customer’s problem and show how your mascot solves that problem. This is where transparency comes in. Every person‘s life is filled with conflict and challenges. Your customer is looking for someone to help fix the problem, resolve the conflict, and overcome the challenges.
Naturally, you are in business because you want the customer client to choose you. Transparency shows your customer that you do indeed understand where they are, you identify with the problems at hand, because you yourself have also climbed this exact mountain and were successful. You want to reassure your customer that they are not limited by the overwhelming size of their mountain.
This is where your catalyst becomes important. All reality programs incorporate a catalyst, something that seems insurmountable, but is eventually overcome. Whether it’s an argumentative relationship, a betrayal and break up, or a strenuous obstacle course, you must add a dash of your secret dramatic sauce.
This is how you script or crafting your reality. As a business owner, you know the problem you want to solve. You must show your customer that you can indeed solve their problem, and entertain them in the process.
Many marketing strategists will advise their clients not to be salesy. They say you should only give clues that merely hint at your desired outcome. They say you should leave multiple subliminal messages that will eventually open the door to your sales funnel, and statistically produce a client after a minimal percentage of encounters. The major problem with this process is, it does not work anymore, times have changed.
We live in a generation where attention deficit has become the new norm. Effective marketing to this generation cannot be passive, but must be directive. Just like a parent with toddlers, you must give clear, concise instructions with time-sensitive deadlines and immediate rewards.
There comes a point in time during your marketing execution where you need to simply tell your customer to stop beating around the bush, and go for the home run. Use phrases such as, “Pick up your phone, and dial this number to order now.” Therein lies the power of home shopping networks such as QVC.
It may not seem like there is a place for this type of direct marketing in the mixture of a reality construct, but for many of our attention challenged customers, it is imperative. Bluntly speaking, some people are just plain lazy.
They want their problem fixed and their solution to be resolved, but they actually just want someone else to do it for them. That’s why you have to take your sales game to the next level and go for the ask.
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Our specialties include:
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When I was a child, I remember my mother shooing me out of a living room full of adults because I was intent on interacting with them instead of playing outside with the other kids. My mother was not that far off when she said, “My child can talk. She just wants to be in the mix all the time”. I just wanted to connect. I loved listening to the adults talk and then inserting myself, awkwardly, into their conversations. I was passionate about connecting and connect I did.
Bringing people and resources together has been something that I have done characteristically as an adult as well. Over the years, I have had many friends and colleagues prophetically speak the words “you are connector” over me, and they most often fell on deaf ears. It has taken my entire adult life to hear and embrace my worth as a passionate and purposeful connector. Now, I am on a mission.
In my book, “Cultivating Critical Connections”, I discuss a 3-step process that helps people develop a conscious approach to establishing genuine relationships. I also call them profitable relationships.
Cultivate: Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the stuff that builds relationships that are sustainable over the long haul. It is not enough anymore to step into a board room or networking event without your intentions being set before you go. You have to define why you are in the presence of this ecosystem of men and
women You have got to create a vision for your intentions (Where is your heart in all of this?) This is where you nurture your ground.
Critical: The critical component of this process is finding the mutually beneficial agreement among those you are working so tirelessly to connect with. What are you and I bringing to the table? Does this connection help us grow? Will we flatline over the next few months or years? I can almost guarantee if your connection is not mutually beneficial and the critical reasoning why a connection should work is not recognized from the jump–then it is not critical.
Connections: Playing big and opening myself to this process in sequence has really afforded me long-standing critical connections that I value and have been the catalyst for the connector I am today. I am living who I am in my professional work and personally, and I absolutely love it. However, I know that it is not the nature of most to function this way, so I ha ve been mindful about how I can help people create the same successes when they make connections. Keeping your critical connections in tact is probably the most laborious because it is here you will exert much of your energy. It takes consistency and a varied approach to staying connected. With social media at the forefront of how most millennials want to stay in the loop to how your seasoned executives want to go for a coffee or play a round of golf. It is really a conscious game, an ongoing process of change and flexibility. Some will fall off the radar because you are not critical anymore to them or them to you. At the end of the day, it is about having a passion and purpose for creating profitable relationships. If you remain mindful about who and why you are connecting with someone, you will almost always win in your connections.
As I was driving to work with a crushing migraine, the fourth one in a month since I started a job I really was not suited for, I asked God to give me peace and direction. I walked in that day and gave my two week’s notice. I quit. I made a decision to find the work I was meant to do. I scaled back all of my expenses, and I did temporary jobs to cover my bills. Then, I spent the next six months looking for an opportunity to work with people to help them figure out their passion and purpose through entrepreneurship. We all have, at some point, run into the wall that lets us know it is time to change direction.
I changed direction and found my purpose helping people find their path to business. I started doing this in 1996, and I am currently the Executive Director of The Edge, Georgia’s largest most impactful Women’s Business Center serving clients in over 36 counties since 2004. Our name is an acronym that defines our mission to Empower and Develop Georgia’s Entrepreneurs. In 2018, we will celebrate our 20th Year Anniversary. In that time we have assisted over 3,400 Georgians launch, sustain, and grow a micro or small business enterprise.
We are poised to make our next 20 years even more impactful. Next year we will introduce one of our #next20 initiatives–The Edge Collective. It is a community of entrepreneurs, corporate partners, funders, and volunteers to provide coaching, collaboration, and connection. No matter your size or stage of business, The Edge can help.
Come in for a free consultation and strategy session to identify your starting position or pivot point if you are already in business. We offer workshops, networking, and resources through strategic partnerships and access to information to assist in your development as an entrepreneur. We serve women entrepreneurs through our Women’s Business Center sponsored in part by The Small Business Administration. We also assist veterans and individuals who are transitioning because of unemployment or retirement. We have partnered with the International Coaching Federation through our PEARL (Purposeful, Engaged And Resilient Leader) Academy and the HIT (Higher Intentional Thought) Initiative, a mastermind group of entrepreneurs focused on high achievement and major pivots to provide business leadership development training and life coaching.
Read more about our history and our future on the following pages. Then, give us a call!
770.694.6593
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ON THE COVER Get vision for every area of life: Your inside, your outside, and your surroundings. Vivid Magazine exists because three enterprising coaches came together to start the conversation about the challenges, triumphs, and advice they have experienced as they live this visionary lifestyle. Photography: Skyy Wonders Photography. Makeup: Ashley Rian.
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Page 47 Natasha Cozart: For more tips and strategies on marketing using modern technology, visitnatashacozart.com.
Page 49 Monique LaRue, Cultivate Critical Connections: 3 Steps for Creating Genuine Relationships for Individuals, businesses and nonprofits; For a free consultation or to book Monique LaRue, visit cultivatecriticalconnections. com and moniquelarue.com
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