Edition
29 June 1st June 30th
2010
in a city rich in shades, here is a COLOR that includes all...
Featured: Bravo’s Shear Genius Winner
Dee Adames
&
Top Chef’s
Josie Smith-Malave
Sheila Johnson
Renaissance Woman
Plus: Networking Through
the Grape Vine
Introducing
The Painted Man
30 Years Later
the Word is Still Out
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Contents
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JUNE 2010
B e nc h m a r k s
5 PFLAG: Straight for Equality
10 The Word is Out: Groundbreaking Documentary Celebrates 30 Years
B u s i n e ss
6 Dee&Co.: Dee Adames Still Styling After Winning Bravo’s Shear Genius
8 Global Soul Chef: See What Josie SmithMalave has Cooked Up Since Top Chef
Feature
12 Sheila Johnson: BET Founder, Washington Mystics Owner and Salamander Hospitality CEO on Being the Brand
E n t e rta i n m e n t
15 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal: Each Summer Montreal is the Jazz Capital of the World 22 The Painted Man: Desmond William’s Comical Look at Being a Mixed-Race Family
go getter
aka Anthony, Verizon Wireless
I’m proud to work for a company that’s on top of its game – it gives me the ability I need to grow my career. [ Here you get to see just how far you can take it – and I have the total rewards to prove it. ]
L i f e st y l e
16 Bergamot Restaurant Review: The New Must-Dine for Progressive American Cuisine 18 Networking Through the Grape Vine: Twitter Tastings and the Online Wine Scene 20 Pure Fiji Beauty Review: Secrets from the South Pacific
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Welcome
From the P U B LISHER
D
In a city rich in shades here is a color that includes all…
ear Friends, As a person whose job it is to promote others, I was especially honored to be recently inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers and with a group filled with such amazing women.¶ At the event, the words of Sylvia Ferrell-Jones, president and CEO of the YWCA resonated with me. While speaking of their mission, “Elimating Racism, Empowering Women, ” she advised us to expand our circles. How symbiotic to hear those words, my remarks included the words “invest in others.” This issue of Color Magazine transcends various circles. Each professional featured has gone beyond their “status quo,” pursued more and entered a new pinnacle of their careers.¶ As exciting as it was to get recognized, I am even more excited to promote the speakers at our Inaugural Women of Color Leadership and Empowerment Forum. These outstanding panelists will discuss cultural sensitivities, forks in the road and how they have persevered. And of course it all wouldn’t be possible without the support and investment of our sponsors.
Color Magazine is the premier all-inclusive monthly magazine that highlights and promotes professionals of color. 4 Copley Place | Suite 120 Boston, MA 02116 (617) 266.6961 sales@colormagazineusa.com Publisher
Josefina Bonilla
josefina@colormagazineusa.com Editor
Michael Chin
michael@colormagazineusa.com Chief Operating Officer
Lisette Garcia
lisette@colormagazineusa.com INTERN
Rossemary Calderon Efi Mavambu Advisory Committee
Greg Almieda Ferdinand Alvaro, Jr. Daren Bascome Mark Conrad Kim Dukes-Rivers Beverly Edgehill Yvonne Garcia Digna Gerena Kimberly Y. Jones Samson Lee Brenda Mckenzie Juan Carlos Morales Oswald Mondejar William Moran Nereida Perez Russel Pergament Carol Sanchez John Sims Eduardo Tobon Leverett Wing
Enjoy! Josefina
C O N TRI B UTI N G W RITERS
Publisher
Color Media Group, LLC
Joanne M. Choi is a freelance journalist and also contributes to Asian Boston. She is a HR analyst at Mass General Hospital and her passion is staying up-to-date on people and society. Aaron A. Arzu is a Le Cordon Bleutrained culinarian. A recovering lawyer, Aaron now spends his time arguing over the perfect spice blends instead of legal briefs.
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MAGAZINE June 2010
Ada Gonzalez is a Jungian Analyst in training at the C.G. Jung Institute. The focus of her work is on cross-cultural issues and psychological trauma for individuals, couples and families. She has a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Trond Arne Undheim is an entrepreneur, speaker and author. He lives between Boston and London, speaks six languages and has a Ph.D. in sociology. He writes frequently on wine and society.
Distribution
GateHouse Media
Desmond Williams is a freelance writer and JUNO magazine columnist. He lives in Brooklyn, NY, is half of a mixed-race couple and father to a rambunctious, comedic and inquisitive kindergartner. Desmond is currently working on a graphic novel, The Painted Man.
benchmarks
Straight For Equality PFLAG program is bringing everyone in corporate America out By Michelle McKenzie
O
n the surface, corporate America is making great strides in instituting inclusive policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.¶ In 2010, 305 of 590 companies rated by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC) scored 100 on its Corporate Equality Index, which measures all policies responsible for LGBT issues at many of the biggest companies in the U.S., a jump from just 13 in 2002 and from 260 a year ago.¶ Yet, according to an HRC “Degrees of Equality” report, 51 percent of LGBT workers hide that identity at work, and among 18-to24-year-olds, only 5 percent are out, compared with 20 percent among older workers.¶
“There have been huge gains and progress in corporate policy, but that doesn’t mean that corporate culture has changed,” said Jean-Marie Navetta, the Director of Equality Partnerships and Communications for Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). “Culture change follows policy change.” Changing that culture is at the heart of PFLAG’s Straight for Equality training programs to address issues and start to break down barriers straight allies face. A national non-profit organization for those persons (allies) who want to move forward equality for gay people, PFLAG National comprises 350 chapters and affiliates. In more than 35 years, it has grown from being a support group for straight family members to an education and advocacy resource for anyone who wants to simply be more comfortable with LGBT issues or help move the cause of equality forward. Straight for Equality in the Workplace, said Navetta, is PFLAG’s most popular and most requested program. Since its inception in 2007, about 30,000 workers have been through the training at 35 major companies in the U.S., several of which earned that 100 rating on the Corporate Equality Index. What sets Straight for Equality apart is a lowkey, small-steps approach to addressing a controversial issue. “There are a lot of challenges around this issue,” said Navetta, who was in Kalamazoo, Mich., where she was leading a training program there and in Illinois via webinar. “When you talk about LGBT issues, there’s a lot of squirming. The approach can’t just be ‘get over it.’ … It’s not fair to expect an ally to embrace this right away, wrap himself in a rainbow flag and go marching through the office. “We know you’ve got to give people space. We say come hang out a while, learn more. We let people know they don’t have to jump right in.
Jean-Marie Navetta
more people. We also leave room to laugh.” With the success of Straight for Equality in the Workplace program, PFLAG has this year introduced The HRC Corporate the Straight for Equality in Equality Index and Healthcare guide, developed Degrees of Equality Report are available with input from healthcare at www.hrc.org providers from a number of fields as a toolkit to help better serve LGBT patients. It will be presented at the American Medical Association’s summer meeting to address healthcare competencies. “One goal with the healthcare piece was that it was not just for MDs, but for a broad range of health care providers: nurse practitioners, psychologists, physical therapists,” Navetta said, noting that one healthcare provider was stunned when she was asked by a transitioning transgender patient about how to put on pantyhose. An example from the healthcare guide is about the importance of gynecologists establishing the sexual identity of patients, before asking about using birth control. “When you put little things like that on their radar, it goes a long way for the patient and establishing trust,” Navetta said. She recalled her first training session, at a company in New Jersey, which she still calls her best experience. After the seminar, a “big, macho guy pulled me aside and said, ‘I really didn’t want to be here today. I’m the guy who tells the gay joke at the office. I don’t want to be that guy anymore.’ “I really do think that when you have a fresh way to reframe an issue, we can put ourselves in a new place.” Information about Straight for Equality, the Guide to Being a Straight Ally and the Healthcare Guide is available at www.pflag.org
Maybe they just dip a toe in the water at first.” It’s as simple, she said, as thinking about the words you use, such as using “partner” instead of, or in addition to, “spouse” or teaching someone how to object when a derogatory remark or joke is made. “During training, people can listen to me. They can listen to a mom and her daughter who’s a lesbian. We say ‘You don’t have to be into (being an ally) right now, but here are some things you can do to get more comfortable with the issue. “A lot of people say to me in training ‘A lot of people will say I’m gay if I (speak up and) say something,’ so we’ve acknowledged barriers like that,” Navetta continued. “One of the first things I say when I do training is ‘It’s OK for you to not agree with me today.’ That opens doors to a lot
www.colormagazineusa.com June 2010
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Business
The D&Co Experience
L
By Mimi Gonzalez
esbian hair is usually the punch line to a joke that starts with mullet and ends with crew cut. It’s rarely the winner of a competition pitting hairdressers and stylists from the country’s top salons against each other. Dee Adames matched wits with every salon stereotype from gay-male-catty-fabulousness to bitchy-sister-back-stabbing and won Bravo’s Shear Genius in 2008.¶ Reality television stars stand out because of an alchemy of fluid personality and leather-tough skin. Dee’s talent, tenacity and artist’s instinct for color and design were among the secret weapons she brought to the show. Being its first, out lesbian only added another tint to the fashionable winner. She’s been out since high school and called it a “combination of obvious” on Shear Genius.¶
photos (Storm Foster)
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MAGAZINE June 2010
“I made it a point to give my signature; wore tights a lot, mentioned a girlfriend, said things to make it obvious I was gay. I just am who I am.” And who she is, is a woman on a mission to give good hair to her clients both through her salon and through training other stylists to do the same. Dee threatens to not even cut a “faux hawk” because “it’s already a decade old.” That doesn’t mean she won’t give a customer what they want. Most people come into her shop and say, “Do what you want to do.” She begins educating her clients in the mirror during their consultation. The first five minutes reveal her clients’ goals for their hair, what their limitations are in length and color and who referred them. “Color and cut is what I do best,” she said. “Color enhances the cut.” An alumna of Miami’s International Fine Arts College, she speaks fondly of her relationship to the palette. “I paint with hair color. Everything stems from primary colors – red, blue, yellow – mix, match, blend, highlight. There are so many things to do with color to create a masterpiece.” Some of which are paintings at her new salon, D&Co, on Collins Avenue in Miami’s South Beach. She’s working on a full collection to match the design and décor the way her current hair color mirrors it in red and black. Dee, raised in San Antonio by a single parent she lovingly calls “her home girl,” has come a long way from the projects where she grew up and “rolled Chicano style.” She learned the value of hard work from her mother’s example. The desire for security and to provide for her Mom were two driving factors in applying to the show. She said her mother has “been my hero, my best friend. When I came out, like any other parent she had concerns but they were short lived. She definitely accepts me for who I am.” Her mother was her date on the show’s finale when Dee won. Shear Genius has allowed her to establish D&Co in her new high-rent neighborhood, “winning the show catapulted me” – to a second-floor spot across the beach inviting clients to feel like they’re in somebody’s apartment. Upon arriving, guests are seated in a living room area and offered wine, coffee or tea. They fill out an information page, are introduced to their stylist then move to a design station. Guests are ushered to a shampoo lounge and receive a “shampoo experience” including a scalp massage and a shoulder rub. Men receive a “tea tree experience” and warm towel. Considering the rapport between hairstylist and client, it almost sounds therapeutic. Dee agreed, “There are things you’ll tell your stylist not your
partner. It’s a personal service. You’re touching someone’s head, where their thoughts come from.” Another innovation is the color bar. It’s been moved from the stylist station and there are no mirrors. Clients sit at the bar and witness the chemical magic of color mixing. Her professional formula’s results are continuity and loyalty. Some of Dee’s clients have been with her for eleven years, following her from her beginnings in Coconut Grove when she was fresh out of beauty school. “My business point of view is to do hair with love and passion. I’ve never been driven by power and ego. I love what I do. I don’t work a day in my life. I create art.” And she creates opportunity for the members of her team, starting with an apprenticeship program that identifies new hires fresh out of beauty school as Rising Stars. They’re responsible for the shampoo experience, blowdrying and some haircutting. They progress to Assistant Hair Artist through Advanced Hair Artist then arrive at Master Stylist; one of the two on staff being her first boss from her very first salon job. Everyone on the D&Co team takes his or her turn doing Dee’s hair. Mentoring new stylists echoes Dee’s professional experience. Hairstylist Linda Martens and her daughter Sherry were the Miami distributors for Paul Mitchell where Dee did graphic design. They were the first to encourage her to combine her artistic vision with the ever-changing canvas of an individual’s hair. Dee created a freestyle cutting approach to hair combining wet cutting with dry cutting techniques. During the Miami Pride “cut-athon” her booth raised $1,300 the day of the event. Cut-a-thons are a part of her salon’s culture of giving back. Her first one raised over $2,000 in a day for Haiti earthquake relief. She is collecting hair as part of the gulf oil spill effort through www.matteroftrust.org. Between running her new salon, training new stylists, donating her time and opening the new D&Co Academy, she also works the international beauty show circuit. She’s usually on the main stage as spokesperson for Hattori Hanzo Shears; the company creating Dee’s own line. These days, Dee is “super busy” but has found a way to balance her many efforts with a run or a swim at the beach she’s now so close to. During the interview while walking along that beach, in a bathing suit and shorts, she’s interrupted by a passerby. “I just got the best compliment ever. ‘You’re beautifully handsome and you’ve got gorgeous hair.’ I pointed her to the salon.”
Business
Global Soul Chef The
C
Josie By Mimi Gonzalez
hef Josie Smith-Malave is fulfilling a prediction she made to her father as a teenager. “My name Josie is going to be just like Madonna.” Her father, a man fond of playing Tony Robbins and Zig Ziggler tapes during dinner, told her something that’s stayed with her ever since, “Only you can stop yourself.”¶ Since appearing on Bravo’s Top Chef in 2006, this entrepreneur has been spinning too many plates to consider stopping.¶ Last year, she was executive sous chef for the New York Yankees, “But once you’ve won the world-series, what else is there?” she asked herself. She’s stocked her inventory of answers with an interactive social-networking website, event producing, a take-out concept, a television concept, teaching classes, giving cooking demonstrations and is even working on a film with a former Sundance winner.¶
She offers three-day classes to adults and a one-day class for kids called “Playing with your food” helping them to understand “where their food comes from; not being afraid of it.” She hopes to impart to younger diners the idea of “opening the ‘fridge, instead of going to the corner for a burger,” admitting “Even though I might like the BK burger, it’s not good for you…it’s over-processed food.” An old friend (she was a New York club kid with) is now her new partner in two ventures: the DinnerSocialLife website and event producing. Their first collaboration, for a TiVO party at the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Plaza, combined his twenty years as a former night-life impresario with Josie’s talents and contacts bringing fruition to their shared vision. Among her New York clients and friends, Josie is the source for dinner reservations, they then expect to be dazzled by her expertise at ordering. A fine dining experience among models, athletes, jewelry makers, financiers and stunt people usually turns into a request for afterdinner drinks. Josie makes the call among her many contacts then escorts her guests and clients 8
MAGAZINE June 2010
to the V.I.P. rooms at clubs. She reached a turning point when she realized, “Wait, there’s a business behind this. The Chef Josie Culinary Tour.” Taking it further than having to personally host each tour, the website will allow people who set up their own profile to access Josie’s culinary calendar. And her picks will include recipes and discounts on hotels, travel, movies, theater and clubs. “I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life. Now it’s time to go into business for myself. I don’t feel the food culture is getting out of me everything they could if I stay in the back of the kitchen.” Citing her age of 35 as the beginning of another cycle of seven, she feels she’s become an official adult now by realizing she must take advantage of her resources now. She tells young chefs, “When you get into this industry, know what you want. Until you know, you roam aimlessly.” She described her attention span as “that of a gnat. I’m constantly moving, creating.” And while Josie’s enjoyed helming startups and designing restaurants, creating new menus and hiring new staff, “After a year of that, it dies down, it’s monotonous,” she said so she changes her game. “This is the year for me. My projects have been simmering for years…the meat’s so tender and ready to fall off the bone. I can always go back to cooking…but I have to give myself that go, the confidence to believe in myself.” This is the year Josie will “Turn the fire up. This year is all about plating.” Since “food is the common denominator,” the site will be the connector that serves to bring people together. Through the kitchen doors of restaurants and corporate clients, or standing behind demonstration tables or in front of cameras, Josie’s been serving her talents to ever-increasing numbers of audience. Continued on Page 23
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benchmarks
The Word is Still Out Groundbreaking gay/lesbian documentary celebrates 30th anniversary By John Black
T
hirty-nine years ago, a group of amateur filmmakers in San Francisco set out to make a documentary about gay life in America. Their plan was simple: Interview as many people as they could about their lives; what it was like to grow up gay; what it was like to come out to family and friends and, through the film, the world; and finally, what they think life will be like for them, and for other members of the gay community, as the years The Mariposa Group started out with only a half progress.¶ “We had no idea how important the film would become,” said Lucy dozen subjects to be interviewed, but as the stories grew Massie Phenix, one of six filmmakers calling themselves The Mariposa Film Group – and as word got out about this exciting new film group who made Word is Out: Stories from Some of Our Lives (other members included that was giving gay people a platform to speak from – the Peter Adair, Nancy Adair, Andrew Brown, Rob Epstein and Veronica Selver). “At the numbers grew. They ended up interviewing 140 people and featuring 26 in the final film. time we just knew there were stories in the gay community that weren’t being told, “Editing the film was the roughest part of the entire but that needed to be told. It was a very exciting time, and it’s just as exciting all project because we didn’t want to leave anyone out. these years later to think people are still watching the movie and finding something Every story was important,” Phenix said. “But you have to remember that we were shooting on film and it was they can identify with from these wonderful people. It’s thrilling.”¶
very expensive, so we did a lot of pre-interviews with people before deciding on the ones we wanted to actually film. Still, I think the film could be five hours long instead of two hours and still be interesting to watch.” One of the reasons for the timelessness of the stories, Phenix said, was the balance of age and exWord Is Out: perience that the subjects Stories of brought to the piece. Some Some of Our Lives DVD of the subjects are young people in their 20s who, is available direct from when the film was being www.wordisoutmovie. made, were active in the com or by calling fledgling gay rights move(800) 603-1104. ment gaining a foothold in America at the time. Some The Mariposa Film Group: Peter of them are a few decades Adair, Nancy Adair, older and tell stories about Andrew Brown, being beaten by police and Rob Epstein, Lucy Massie Phenix, sent to mental institutions Veronica Selver. because when they were in their 20s being gay was illegal and considered to be a disease. “They are all heroes to me,” Phenix said of the people who told their stories in Word is Out. “It’s important that the really politically involved people are there because it’s important to fight for your rights, but the fact there are people in the film who sat down in front of our cameras to talk publicly about being gay for the first time in their lives knowing that was how their family and friends would find out simply amazes me.”
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MAGAZINE June 2010
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Sheila Johnson
RenaissancE
WOMAN
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MAGAZINE june 2010
S
Sheila Johnson may be best known for co-founding Black Entertainment Television (BET). Or perhaps for becoming the first African American woman to hold a major stake in three professional sports teams (Washington Mystics, Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards). Today, she is known as the CEO and Founder of Salamander Hospitality, which is a group of high-end hotels, resorts, spas and a PGA Tour golf course. Add conductor, movie producer and philanthropist to the list, and it starts to become clear that she is best described as someone who does everything – and more than any one of her endeavors, she is her own brand.
CM: How do you go from being a professional, classically-trained musician to one of the most successful businesspeople in the country? SJ: That’s an easy one to answer. I just really believe that the arts give you the foundation to be able to do anything in life. I was a classically trained violinist and also played the piano. There are certain skills that were instilled in me from which I was able to form a strong foundation to start businesses. Even with doctors, those who participate in the arts also become great doctors. I don’t know whether it involves a certain type of brain or not, but I just really believe that the arts give anybody a strong foundation for whatever they want to pursue. CM: Can you point to something specific in the business world and say, training for the piano or violin really helped me here? SJ: Music helps me to focus. It helps me to listen, so I have good communication skills. It helps me to take responsibilities that other people wouldn’t want to take. It gives me the confidence to be able to stand in front of people to perform. All those skills are very pertinent to being a successful businessperson. CM: You own a WNBA team, the Washington Mystics. Was it a dream you had, to own a professional sports team, or was it more of a business decision? SJ: It was more of a business decision. I go way back way before Title IX. I’ve always loved sports. I was a cheerleader, it was the best that I could do at the time. Women’s basketball games were never even on the radar screen back then. When the WNBA came into existence, I had a chance to be a sports team owner. But I also wanted to buy into an NBA team and an NHL team and had the privilege of being part of a larger vision, to be a partner and owner of three sports teams. I tend to dream big and I get very excited about it, but my heart and soul is with my WNBA team. CM: You are the only female majority owner of a WNBA team. Do you think that is something that will change or needs to change? SJ: I think it needs to change. I really do not believe that the NBA owners want to continue to hold onto the WNBA teams. I may be right or may be wrong, but I’m starting to see a trend here where owners are starting to slough off WNBA teams. So that is why you are starting to see more changes in ownership. You see it with the [Los Angeles] Sparks. You see it up in Seattle, in Atlanta and Chicago. So you are starting to see independently owned WNBA teams. It’s the first time, I think in the history of sports, that women are getting the chance of ownership. CM: What drew you in a different direction, to found Salamander Hospitality? SJ: As a founding partner of BET, the entertainment business and the hotel business are basically the same. Even though we were TV media, the hotel industry is the same entity, in that we are there to entertain people. I just found it to be a natural progression of being able to remain in contact with people, entertain them and also to be able to find new and creative ways in which to grow a business based on my experience with television. Being able to bring in actors, authors to do book readings, is something that’s going to continue to grow my business and bring people to my hotel. So there’s sort of this thin line between the hospitality business and the media business but they all can be connected together.
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CM: You recently spoke out against the direction BET is headed right now, what were your concerns? SJ: Fortunately or unfortunately, I wasn’t just centering BET out, I was really focusing on the entire medium of television. I think that the bar has lowered so far to the point where we are not seeing really good quality programming, as far as what young people are watching. We are now getting into an era where our young people are very sexualized and through no fault of their own, they are watching it every day, they see it on the soaps, they see it on BET, on MTV, in movies, on cable and on the regular networks. What we’re not doing is showing them alternative programming, something that is healthier, something that can talk about safe sex. If you’re going to put this programming on, and these eyeballs and still-forming brains are watching all of this, it is not good, not healthy. Fortunately or unfortunately, you’ve got a lot of young people who are literally bringing themselves up. They have younger parents, who are working, who are not giving the right communications or education – talking to them about the alternatives of what is right and what is wrong. So if they are inundated with these sexualized messages, they are going to believe them, and they do through no fault of their own. The reason why I brought it up, and I’ve got a documentary out called The Other City, about the increase of the HIV virus. We are seeing an incredible increase especially in young men 13 to 29 years old and African American women from 25 to 39. And I’m sure its even going younger and younger. Because the message is out there that you can have sex and you don’t need to protect yourself. The statistics are out there, that if we don’t start talking to our young people again and communicating to them about safe sex, then we will start to see epidemic numbers of STDs.
come a time when I get totally frustrated and say, ‘I am going shut this division down, because I just cannot find the right people to run it.’ If I didn’t have the right people on board I couldn’t do what I’m doing. CM: Who do you go to when you need support or advice? SJ: I have lot people in my life that I can compartmentalize. If it’s an issue of a business decision, I know certain people within my circle that can give me some alternative suggestions. I have a wide range of experts that I have surrounded myself with, who I know are there for me, who have got my back. Anywhere from lawyers to business people, to educators to event planners, it can be anybody. And I can go to any of these people when I need advice. CM: How do you choose where you direct your philanthropic efforts? SJ: I have a very insightful right-hand person who is really my chief of staff and we work together on the foundation. We do our homework. First of all, I don’t look at any organization unless it is in my vision of what I am interested in. And if it doesn’t even fall into that, those usually get the rejection letter or end up in the trash. They are the ones that fall in line with my vision of how I want to move the needle and change things. I look at them and I do a proper investigation, interview the people and make a decision from there. Anyone who is a philanthropist or has a foundation should never give money away up front. You want to make that organization earn the grant that you are giving them. So if it’s a million dollar grant, you may want to spread it over five years. There’s a contract involved and they have to follow that contract to the letter. In other words, I remain at the wheel. There’s a philosophy, I remember reading in a book called Shogun, it says, ‘Don’t be mad at your money.’ So you’re not just throwing money away. If the organization is not following the stipulation in the contract, they don’t get the rest of the money.
“Everything I do is behind the brand.”
CM: What makes you want to do, what seems like, everything? SJ: Well the opportunities come my way. It gets me out of bed in the morning. [Laughs.] Honestly, I wouldn’t take on anything I didn’t think I could handle. What you have to understand is that everything I do – even though my day job, the hospitality business, is the core – these pieces of the puzzle do fit into what my core business is. Owning teams attracts publicity, it attracts people to my hotel. They say, ‘Oh yea that’s Sheila Johnson she also has a golf course down at Innisbrook. She’s really for women’s sports and into sports in general.’ So that really helps my business. Making movies, I am able to do previews at my hotel, and get my name out as well. It’s the branding issue. Everything I do is behind the brand. It’s about what’s going to help grow the brand and help bring different kinds of eyeballs. CM: Was there ever a point where you felt like you took on too much and you doubted that doing all these things was a good idea? SJ: The only time I really doubt myself is when my employees, whom I have hired to make this work, start to panic or feel as if they can’t do it. Or they can’t see the bolder vision or they’re not problem solvers. That’s when I panic and I have to take them and say, ‘Look, I hired you to do this job, to solve the problems. I pay you a lot of money to do it, let’s make it work.’ I get frustrated when they start throwing up their hands, because that’s not what I hired them to do. And then there may
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MAGAZINE june 2010
CM: So you treat it just like a business endeavor? SJ: It is a business endeavor. You just don’t give it away then feel good about it. I will say that about 75 percent of the organizations I have given money to, in 20-20 hindsight, I shouldn’t have given them any money and I have pulled back money for them. Because I have not been happy with the outcome and the way the money has been used. CM: What do you hope your legacy will be? SJ: I would like people to remember me as a smart businesswoman, who really cared about community, about self-preservation for all people and that I had a generous and kind heart. CM: Your legacy is still being written of course. What can we expect from you going forward? SJ: To continue to grow the company. The whole country and the world is in tough times right now. I hope to continue to grow the country so that I am there to persevere. I want to continue on with my team hoping to win a championship some day. As far as my film career, I would like to continue to make films that inspire people, that ignite passion and send a message. And I just want to continue to be able to help people.
entertainment
The Jazz Capital of the World:
Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
M
By John Black
The 2010 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal takes place June 25 through July 6. For more information, visit www. montrealjazzfest.com.
Montreal has been the summertime jazz capital of the world for the past 31 years as the city opens its arms to music lovers for the annual Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. Fans of the festival – who number well into the millions when you add up the attendance for the past three decades – will tell you that while “jazz” may be in the title, the festival organizers pride themselves on presenting a wide variety of musical acts designed to make sure
that there’s something for everyone to enjoy during the event. “Of course, we love jazz music, but it’s just as important to step back and look at the different styles of music that have been influenced by jazz, be it rock and blues or world music,” said Laurent Saulnier, vice president of programming for the Festival. “We have visitors who don’t make plans for the festival until the schedule comes out so they can make sure they see the specific artists that they are interested in, and then we have those people who make their plans as soon as they know the dates of the festival because they know that even if they can’t get tickets to see a particular indoor show, they’ll be able to find great music to listen to just walking through the plaza for all the outdoor concerts.” This year’s lineup is as eclectic as any the festival
has ever put together, with acts ranging from world-renowned jazz musicians like Keith Jarrett and David Sanborn to pop music acts like Cindi Lauper and Lionel Ritchie. Although it wasn’t intentional, the 2010 jazz festival line-up also serves as kind of a master class in African American music and the musicians who helped create it over the years, from the hardcore funk of George Clinton to the classic soul of Ben E. King to the pop of Joan Armatrading to the smooth sounds of George Benson, who will be performing a tribute to the legendary crooner Nat King Cole. “You can pick out performers and come up with an idea like that, but we didn’t ever think of it when we were putting the lineup together,” Saulnier said. “We really are color blind when it comes to scheduling the acts. Of course jazz originated as
Black music, but we don’t care what color you are as long as you have talent and an honest passion for the music you perform.” One African American performer who will be singled out by the festival this year is legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, whose career will be celebrated in a special pair of concerts, as well as with the North American premiere of a multi-media retrospective called “We Want Miles: Miles Davis vs. Jazz.” The multi-media exhibition is divided into eight thematic
and chronological periods of the musician, from his early days in St, Louis to his final days as a global icon of sound. The concerts honoring Miles and his music encompass two of the man’s most influential recordings: Bitches Brew Revisited with Vernon Reid, Graham Haynes, DJ Logic, Lonnie Plaxico, James Hurt, JT Lewis, Adam Rudolph and Antoine Roney (June 25); and renowned Montreal musician Ron Di Lauro presenting Porgy and Bess as performed by Miles Davis (June 30).
www.colormagazineusa.com June 2010
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Lifestyle
Bergamot The new “must-dine” for Progressive American cuisine By Aaron A. Arzu
D
uring the recent economic slump many restaurants closed or changed formats to unexciting but financially stable steakhouses. A sure sign of the impending turnaround of the local economy is the opening of new and adventurous dining spots. Stepping into the shoes (both literally and figuratively) of relocated local fave EVOO, chef Keith Pooler’s new eatery, Bergamot, aims to serve his brand of ethnic New American food to foodies looking for the sumptuous local fare he perfected at Harvard Square’s Harvest.¶ Upon first blush, Bergamot has a casual, but cool vibe. As you enter the restaurant, you are greeted by warm earth tones and a cool, contemporary décor. The interior is sophisticated, with low-level lighting, artwork from noted local artists and smooth mood music; in fact, the dining room has anechoic tile, which provides a hushed and intimate setting for couples or small dinner parties. At the rear of the restaurant, a small bar holds sway, and the de rigueur open kitchen showcases the culinary theater. The service is attentive, and the servers are knowledgeable, polished and comfortable making suggestions, without being pushy or intrusive. One classy touch is that even when a single glass of wine is served (I tried the 2008 Terre Dorées Beaujolais Blanc), the server presents the bottle and provides a tasting of the wine before he completes the service, as is normally done for bottle service. These details enhance the dining experience and turn first time diners into repeat customers. Chef Keith Poller (left) with Servio Garcia 16
MAGAZINE June 2010
In fact, if there is one drawback to the ambience, it is that the indirect lighting is too indirect. Were I not seated near the front window, with the light from the street signs pouring onto my table, I would not have been able to discern the elaborate plating and presentation of my meal. That is a shame, as the presentation of the dishes is impressive and enticing; if that hoary old chestnut that “First, you eat with your eyes” holds any water (personally, I eat with my mouth, it tastes better that way), then your eyes will be sated. I started with a trio of appetizers; the pea green salad with English peas, pea shoots, Berkshire ham and a panko-crusted fried egg was bright and Bergamot verdant; the sweetlocated at 118 Beaness of the peas was con Street, Someroffset by a sharply ville, MA 02143. For reservations call acidic truffle vinai617-576-7700, or grette; it challenged check out their webthe palate, but didn’t site at www.bergamotrestaurant.com. overwhelm the dish; the crunch of the egg provided a needed textural contrast that, like most good dishes, left me wanting more. Continuing on the theme of presenting multiple versions of the same ingredient, the “Duck, Duck, Duck” salad highlighted the “it” protein of the moment, duck, as a confit, prosciutto and a crackling. Served over delightfully bitter frisée and shaved mil ovejas cheese, each style of duck had a wonderful flavor and textural addition to the dish, although I would have preferred the duck crackling, as a bacon imitator, to be served warm. Finally, the pan-roasted quail was technically well-executed, but the secret hit of the dish was the sweet grape compote in the jus – it elevated the dish from good to great, and, as uncouth as it was, I used the fresh baked sunflower bread to sop up every delightful drop. The entrees were as elegantly plated, but one clearly outshone the other. Chef Pooler’s tendency to prepare the main ingredient in multiple ways backfired in the pork tenderloin with chicharrones. Continued on Page 23
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Lifestyle
Trond’s Picks Geyser Peak BIN 8 Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley (2002, $100, 91/100)
Tasted in Geyser’s reserve tasting room, BIN 8, it was a phenomenal wine experience for its intense complexity and Parkeresque style. This single varietal wine is smooth on the nose with concentrated black berries and Belgian chocolate and cedar. The palate gives the possibility to taste the unique leadpencil quality of some French wines. The tannins seem powerful and promising for the long term yet smoothly restrained.
Bandol Domaine de La Bastide Blanche Blanc (2007, $28, 88/100)
One of the very best producers of the Mediterranean, La Bastide Blanche is based in Bandol, Provence and owned by Louis Bronzo, a member of the INAO, the French board that governs wine laws and regions. Briefly aged (five months) in stainless steel, complex, aromatic and flavorful, this wine will stand up to lots of different food such as fish or cheese or simply as an aperitif. I tasted ripe apple, pear, dried roses and aromatic spices.
Olivier Riviere Gabacho Rioja Spain (2008, $22, 89/100)
Having tried Olivier’s wine at a Chambers Street Wines tasting in New York a few weeks ago, I asked him whether I was correct to consider the Gabacho “densely red in color, fresh and refined yet wild-tasting and untamed, slightly like the juicy bloodiness a rare filet mignon.” His answer: “Perfect for me.” Altitude is vital to Rivière; his Tempranillo vines reside at 1,000 meters altitude, the cool nights keep acidity in the grapes, creating fresher wines than most in the region.
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Olivier Riviere's vineyard in Rioja Spai
Networking through the Grape Vine By Trond Arne Undheim
ust in case you haven’t tried it yet, the hottest thing in wine right now is global, simultaneous tastings on Twitter, the micro blogging site. You simply pick a wine, advertise a hash tag and a time, and see what happens. The result is that expert, old Europeans with traditional commentary no longer dictate people’s opinion or consumption. The trend in social media is that we only trust our peers. By one estimate, as much as 62 percent of content consumed by those born in 1980 or later is created by someone they know. Now, no matter who you are, you rule, or rather, your friends, peers and idols do.
Krushed Grapes, the sexy solo debut album of Hanif-Jamiyl aka “CabCabernet” brings hip hop and R&B to the topic of wine and a bit beyond, given that “krushed grapes” might be a metaphor, too. Sadat X of the alternative hip hop group Brand Nubian issues two or three wine videos a week. What is happening here? Theda Sandiford, a social networking professional who consults celebrities in using social media for branding, explained enthusiastically, “Hip hop and wine is the new thing.” Supernodes, Sandiford’s New York City multicultural wine and technology gig is tapping into the trend, “Regular wine events are snobby. If you don’t already know your grapes and regions, you may have to wait to get on a list. Supernodes events are different. People just show up.” She also admitted, “I met my boyfriend on Cork’d.” In the Californian Bay area, for the third year in a row,
Les Tso, of Aggregate Productions, a veteran in the beverage industry, puts on a wine tasting for young Asian professionals and their friends through the online grapevine. Targeting local Asian American community groups, Tso typically ends up with more than 400 attendees. He attributes the wine surge among Asians to many things: the demystification of wine, edgy marketing and the adoption of a more Western lifestyle. However, “what amplifies the trend,” Tso said, “is the Asian affinity for food, especially as the confidence grows that Asian food can stand up to wine.” The growth of wine-inspired webbing, blogging and social networking is staggering. Top wine bloggers specialize in their niche. Burghound is the best on wines from Burgundy. Dr. Vino preaches the political economy of wine. Gary V’s WineLibraryTV is a daily video blog for the young and hip consumer
The Online Wine Scene Here is a small selection of sites where you can let wine guide you to people or vice versa.
l Cork’d:corkd.com l Grapestories:www.grapestories.com l Krushed Grapes:krushedgrapes.com l Open Bottles:www.openbottles.com l Tastewine:tastevine.com l VinCellar:vincellar.com l ViniVino:www.vinivino.com l Winelog:www.winelog.net l Vinorati:www.vinorati.com l Vinesugar:www.vinesugar.com l Wine2:www.winetwo.net l Snooth:www.snooth.com l Supernodes:supernodes.ning.com l Twitter taste live:www.tastelive.com l
MAGAZINE June 2010
crowd. Even the established wine critics, such as Robert Parker, Steve Tanzer and Jancis Robinson, rely on blogs and websites beefed up by constant Twitter feeds. Indeed, many of the 279 British-based Masters of Wine have wine blogs. One hundred thousand affluent wine geeks use Cellartracker or VinCellar to catalogue their collection among 17 million plus bottles with well over a million wine reviews. Google has more than 175 million entries for the keyword “wine.” On the social web side of things, the wine industry uses the Wine 2.0 site, while younger urban professionals use SavorEachGlass, and the newbies use Tastewine, to discover their likings. In time, they graduate to sites like Bottletalk, Cork’d or Winelog. Social wine shoppers might use Snooth. Wine-Searcher, another useful tool, provides price lists from 17,272 wine-stores across the world. Even if you simply buy wines from Wine.com, you are part of the internet wine culture. Needless to say, each site has quirks and none of them substitute for your local wine shop or the recommendations of friends. That being said, your local wine shop and your wine-drinking friends are also online so the liquid net is everywhere. Social networking bypassed online porn traffic this year, a sure sign regular folks are taking over the net. Over the next few years the world wine web market will consolidate. Grapedates, for instance, already seems to have folded, although WineLover’s Match is still alive. Already, people are tired of logging into dozens of sites, and, I suspect, will start vacating them in scores. Those that offer the most value will remain. I, for instance, reckon I will stay with only one online community but haven’t yet decided which. In the end, the best sites try to mirror, or create, lifestyle communities. As wine tastings are exploding in cities like Boston, New York and San Francisco, multicultural, urban professionals – Asian and African Americans and Hispanics from the internet generation – are leading the way to the new palate. Nowadays, it seems self-evident: it is the combination of face-to-face and online meetups that excites people. Wine is particularly suited since it has the characteristic of being both a very physical and a very social activity. Even as people want to share their wine stories online, they are even more excited at the prospect of enjoying wine with someone. Hence, the continued draw of wine bars. With the internet’s social networks, wine talk is no longer the unique property of an elite group of Europeans: multicultural wine lovers everywhere are catching up. We want our voice to count; we trust our friends more than the experts.
Boston Medical Center is proud to support Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. As a central component of the greater Boston area, our commitment to serving individuals with various cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds is an essential part of who we are at Boston Medical Center. We know that by bringing together differences — a rich variety of traditions and viewpoints — we can remain truly engaged in providing the utmost service to our community. In fact, we offer our patient population on-site, person-to-person interpretation services in more than 30 languages, 24-hours-a-day. This same commitment to diversity encompasses our careers. Within our strong, all-inclusive workforce, you have the opportunity to discover the full potential of your own personal and professional strengths. You belong with the best. At Boston Medical Center (BMC), you can join a team of individuals who don’t simply strive for excellence – they set the standard for it. Visit our website to discover opportunities and enjoy an exceptional career at BMC – The Exceptional Choice: www.bmc.org/hr/taleo
True diversity knows no exceptions: EOE.
Lifestyle
Review:
Pure Fiji Beauty Products By Joanne Choi
T
l Mana’ia Shower Gel, 12 oz. $28.00
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he mention of “Fiji” conjures up certain images: pristine waters, clear blue skies, blissful living and some effortlessly attractive inhabitants. Bear with me no matter how ludicrous this get. What about women with long flowing hair, tanned skin and swaying skirts happily smiling and gathering nuts from dilo trees to make into a passed-down-for-
lM ana’ia Body Lotion, 12 oz. $30.00
MAGAZINE June 2010
generations beauty concoction? Pure Fiji products attempt to package the ancient secrets of the South Pacific in convenient bottles and, after trying them, it’s great to have a little bit of Fijian magic on my side! What beauty products try to do, viscerally, for the user is evoke a fantasy via scent and make the user feel uber sexy/chosen. A tall
l Mana’ia Body Oil, 12oz $31.95
l Purifying Cleanser, 9oz $35.95
order, but Pure Fiji delivers. The body butter and coconut sugar rub ultimately feel like a mini spa treatment. Right away, the sugar rub’s coconut scent smelled like summer and signaled “vacation” in my brain. The rub was gentle and came with a little plastic scoop. After my hot shower, it felt like a layer of pressed coconut oil was deep in my skin while the added body butter gently sealed it in. I preferred the Hydrating Body Lotion instead of the body butter in the mornings because the pump bottle was easier than opening the body butter jar. I used the
l Coconut Body Butter, 8oz $35.95
facial cleanser for a week and the gentle, creamy cleanser washed away the day’s sweat, pollution, and make-up. Products from the men’s line were also tested by three willing males. The married tester loved the Body Oil for its “refreshing and rejuvenating smell… [like] sunshine on a tropical beach,” plus, it reportedly had a positive effect in the bedroom. The shower gel and body lotion were tested by the two bachelors. One tester wasn’t so fond of the overall scent, which he found too much like cologne, but the second tester excitedly noted, “The smell is strong but it smells good. I think I might have found my new scent to drive all the women insane.” Not that I am particularly faithful to any brand as I love variety, but this is my lotion du jour. The virgin coconut oil has antioxidants and contains vitamins A, C, and E, which my skin will undoubtedly appreciate as the summer weather does its damage. The oil is cold pressed by villagers and locally grown. Furthermore, Pure Fiji products are not tested on animals, all the bottles are recyclable and their business practices emphasize giving back to the community, respecting the environment, and helping to preserve the Fijian way of life.
l Coconut Hydrating Body Lotion, 12 oz$33.95
l Coconut Sugar Rub, 15.5oz $43.95
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Enjoy excellent wines and exquisite cuisine as you explore this island paradise. Vacation 'via the vine' with Divas Uncorked!
Wine+Food Festival
For tickets and travel Color Magazine PUBLICATIONinformation, go to WO # 123997 IO # 581952 www.DivasUncorked.com
August 12-15, 2010 x 4.75 SIZE 3.5” SCREEN Martha’s Vineyard cmyk NOTES
entertainment
THE PAINTED MAN IN: PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT”
CREATED AND WRITTEN BY DESMOND WILLIAMS
When we’re as well as we can be,
WHO WILL BE YOUR NEXT
then life is better for us all.
GENERATION EXECUTIVE?
Session begins July 11, 2010.
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MAGAZINE June 2010
C o m m u n i c a t i o n s
Multicultural Marketing/Public Relations/Event Management
A good start for healthy conversation!
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Continued From Page 8
“So many people are intimidated by the kitchen,” she says, then shares her own fear. “What scares me to death: people with dull knives. First thing they teach you in culinary school is sharpen your knives. Can’t be an all-star without a sharp knife.” This Kitchen Queen is not only working with the sharpest and most effective tools, she’s juggling them. A technique she learned early on from a childhood in Miami she referes to as her “humble beginnings.’ Beginnings that taught Josie to build her empires with the “people who love and support me,” saying no one supports her more than her mother who taught her to cook. “Mom is my heart and my soul. She’s phenomenal. I’ll (go back home) and ask her to make rabo - oxtail with big butter beans - I crave that.” Her father had his own lessons to impart in kitchen fearlessness. He had custody of her and her siblings and his initial specialty was Spam, tomatoes and rice. “He’s from Georgia. We wouldn’t eat it. We’d call Mom, crying ‘Dad is making us eat tomatoes and rice!’ He’d alternate it with something he learned in the Navy called S.O.S.: toasted, buttered, white bread with a milky mixture of meat on top. By comparison, it was delicious!” Her grandfather was an American G.I. from Georgia who met her grandmother in the Philippines in World War II. Josie thinks her mother must have had a talk with her father because he came home one day with a Filipino cookbook to “find his way back to his roots.” Every day her father would return home from
Continued From Page 16
While the presentation was attractive, the pork itself was relatively bland, and a searingly hot fava puree dominated the flavor profile of the dish to its detriment; furthermore, while the tenderloin was prepared correctly, the chicharrones were chewy, rather than crispy. If not for the unfortunately spicy puree, the star of the dish would have been the shiso-glazed seared eggplant – I could not stop eating it, and it blended immaculately with the tenderloin. On the other hand, the pan-seared halibut had a fantasticly crisp sear, with a buttery, flaky texture that was complemented by the sweetness of the leeks and carrots; the citrus herb beurre blanc sauce converted this American dish into one that could have been served in any of the city’s finer French establishments, a tribute to the classical technique and skill of Pooler. Finally, the dessert course was pretty, and gone
work at 5:30, wash his face, pick a recipe, and his children would become his sous chefs. But he never aimed for “the yummy tasty pretty dishes, he wanted the squid ink pasta – why dad why?” After making his way through those, he finally arrived at poultry and hit on a family favorite: adobo chicken stewed in a vinegar-based sauce with black pepper. That was his “home run, he cooked it all the time.” From such a diverse culinary palette, Josie ably identifies trends in cooking and blends them into dishes she makes her own. She says all cultures maintain certain foods as a part of their cultural claim on the gastronomic landscape, but in the end, it’s all marketing “new ways to sell old things.” Citing Scotch bonnet and habanero peppers are the same thing just as leafed cilantro and coriander seeds come from the same plant. When asked if she identifies as Latina or Asian or “Chino-Latino,” she laughed and claimed, “All three and then some. I’m a USDA prime piece of Puerto Rican Italian Filipino.” She claims all of her ethnic genetics by labeling herself a “PRIF.” “Being a multiculti girl from a multiculti city, I’ve eaten many different foods.” When she aims to recreate them, “I want to tap into the soul of a country, culture, cuisine through aroma, texture, taste.” And while she’s French-classically trained, it shows up mainly as technique mixed with green market sustainable farming. Her childhood, her professional career as a chef, educator and world traveler have seasoned her with so many influences she calls her brand of food “Global Soul.” Then claims, “Regardless of what I’m cooking, I put soul in it, love in it…it’s no longer a secret: love is the secret ingredient.”
far too quickly. As they were out of their signature dessert, “That Grapefruit Dessert” (a frothy concoction of grapefruit, sabayon, sorbet, and a white chocolate Madeleine), I experimented with the Guajillo Chile Chocolate pavé (think a salted caramel and a roll of chocolate frosting) and the Meyer lemon pudding cake; I found the pavé to be a little heavy, but bona fide choco-philes will delight in it. On the other hand, the pudding cake, a seasonal special, needs to find a spot on the regular menu immediately; it was served with a coconut sorbet that accented the citrus-sweetness of the Meyer lemon, and made the dessert the perfect capper to the meal. Bergamot is a worthy successor to the culinary legacy left by EVOO, and for the most part, Pooler’s aspirations to be the new “must dine” for New American hit the mark; his purveyors are local, his food is impeccable, and his wine list is formidable. Bergamot fits the bill for a clean, elegant and satisfying dining experience.
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A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE WITHIN ONE COMPANY Are you interested in adding your unique value to a global leader that embraces diversity and inclusion? At State Street, one of the leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, we are firmly committed to having a diverse workforce. What we value most about our more than 27,000 employees worldwide are the qualities that make them unique — their experiences, interests and capabilities. State Street offers competitive salaries, generous benefits, entry- and advanced-level positions, paid internships, work/life balance, employee networks and volunteer opportunities. APPLY ONLINE today at www.statestreet.com/careers. Click Job Opportunities and then select your location.
Are you ready to add value? State Street is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. Š2010 STATE STREET CORPORATION. 10-HRO03580510