Moves Magazine Forum 2021

li fest yle fo r cit y w o m e n

"Shampoo"

Dark Horse watch out for the quiet ones

Bubbly by any other name

Statue

No Heart of Stone

Free at last It's all in your M i n d

a n dy b i e r s a c k

The Wonder Of You

‘

patience, pain and perserverance

Dakota Gorman

Just watch this space!!

CLICK ON ARROW

That’s Beautiful

Crown Brilliant Collection

The Art of Sparkle Exclusively at

Alaska • Antigua • Aruba • Bahamas • Barbados • Belize • Bermuda • Cabo San Lucas • Costa Maya Cozumel • Curaçao • Dominican Republic • Grand Cayman • Grand Turk • Honduras • Jamaica • Key West Orlando • Puerto Rico • Puer to Vallarta • St. Kitts • St. Lucia • St. Maarten • St. Thomas • Tortola

Y D AN profile

B

S R E I

Singer/Songwriter/Musician/Actor/Novelist and founder of Black Veil Brides is ‘one of the 50 greatest rock stars in the world today’* Music has been everything.

Everything. Like more-than-half-his-life everything. Biersack founded Brides in Cincinnati at the tender age of 14 in 2006.

The past 15 years has brought much underground success for Biersack and Brides so he finds it refreshing to see new fans discover the band, as well as other underground acts.

“It’s a fun thing for people to discover and find these bands and artists that maybe they didn’t know about and then you find this huge bevvy of information and history and fandom.

The viability of so many bands that are my peers and artists that I came up with have such incredibly vast and you know, not just from a release perspective but who they are and the personalities and all this stuff, there’s just so much out there that people don’t know about and it’s always fun when people discover kind of our corner of the world.”

Our corner of the world. By that corner he means making something with two hands, no autotune, no special

006

K AC effects, no mixing. Since Biersack was a child, he was only interested in staying inside and working on making things and creating stuff. “I’ve just always been a very detail oriented person. I like the specificity, I like breaking stuff down, I like being able to find ways to again, create--take something that resides up here and make it out there. And I think that in order to do that you have to be willing to put in that extra level of specificity and observation and create things that are detail oriented.”

Growing up, Biersack loved movies and comic books and music and anything that had all this stuff that he could dive deep into and find out about what makes these artists tick. When we talk over Zoom, behind him are storyboards, his creativity at work, always churning and always lit up. Biersack works on a pilot light, ready at the flick of a match. “I used to obsess over the director’s commentary and all the behind-the-scenes special features on movies. It’s a terrible expression I suppose, but how the sausage is made, all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. And that has always been a huge motivating factor for me to like: if I don’t know about something, to learn about it and be able to, if not master it, put my best foot forward and be involved in it.”

A first glance at BVB, I immediately thought of Motley Crue, the 1980’s Sunset Stripbased rock band from Cali that was clad in black leather and eyeliner. But Biersack has a David Bowie-like mystique about him, how he’s able to transform himself and morph with time, a compliment he takes very seriously. “When it comes to somebody who creates and is just such a prolific artist, whether it’s the Ziggy Stardust era, Thin White Duke era, there are very few things that stand the test of time like that, the art that he created.”

The journey. Biersack started so young and really started touring at 18. He was doing regional touring and on the road while the average age of everybody around him was mid-twenties to early-thirties. “I think you put on airs and you try to assimilate and you try to make yourself into something. And along that path, there’s that self discovery where you’re figuring out, beneath all these layers and things that you’re kind of building up for yourself, who are you at your core?

I’ve always considered myself extremely fortunate that through the last ten plus years I’ve had the opportunity to kind of grow and evolve and the audience has come with me and propped me up and put me in the position to do that.”

That position led Biersack to the lead role in Paradise City, an Amazon Prime series that follows the life of a rockstar and the characters he encounters. The series stars Biersack, Bella Thorne, Drea DeMatteo of Sopranos fame, the late Cameron Boyce, and others, and debuted in March.

A rockstar dipping toes into acting? How cliche. But when a producer went to Ohio to do some scouting saw his unique look and told him to give acting a try and go to California. So Biersack went to LA in 2005 and booked a few things; random parts like a PSA for the Montana Meth Project, which was directed by Tony Kaye, who directed American History X; the goth kid in an AT&T commercial. After that month spent in LA,

“... parroting back for test purposes or just getting through it, that’s not education, that’s not information, that’s just a party trick... ”

Biersack returned home with his mom to pursue music full force and put the acting on the back burner. It wasn’t until 10 years later in 2015 that director Ash Avildsen, who directs Paradise City, went to him and said he was writing a film and he had me in mind to be the lead.”

While talking with Biersack, I can tell he has a well-rounded view of the world. The way he articulates his answers and grasp on any topic thrown at him, Biersack came from a home that was always questioning things and always on top of current affairs. Although he was a high school drop-out for a music career, his sharp wit and intelligence comes through in conversation.

“I would attribute anything that I have when it comes to intellectual pursuits down to my family. My parents, both my mom and dad, are extremely intelligent people and never treated me like a little kid. Even when I was a kid, the conversations in my house were always about what was actually happening in the world and that fed an interest for me to kind of learn things and the reality was that I’m very fortunate,” insists Biersack.

“My grandmother was a chemist, my grandfather was Ivy League educated. But the pursuit of knowledge wasn’t about traditional structured education. I always buck at the idea of the traditional schooling system. I have had arguments with friends that are teachers and I try to advocate for people. Yes, school is important, yes getting an education is important, but if you’re not interested in learning something for yourself, the things that are being parroted to you and the facts that you’re learning for a short period of time, that you are then parroting back for test purposes or just getting through it, that’s not education, that’s not information, that’s just a party trick.”

But today’s youth’s pursuit of knowledge is growing at such a rapid pace the more information is readily available. In essence, the more access to that info the more accepting we are of seeing that there’s more than one way to live your life, more means of what education is acceptable, and that this structure we live in has more than one way to live. “The reality is that the more informed people are, and the younger they are when they have information and access to information, the less the ridiculous kind of structure that’s in place where there’s only one means of education, there’s only one means of viable life, there’s only one means of getting through to the next level of kind of information or enlightenment. Those things [the structure of society] start to crumble and that creates, I believe, a society where we’re all more informed, we’re all more interesting, we’re all more willing to have conversations,” says Beirsack. “ There’s always growing pains *Kerang Magazine

to any huge revolution, like an intellectual revolution where people are more able to gather data and information on a constant basis. There’s gonna be growing pains because you go through the shift in the culture but I think that anybody that doesn’t look at the reality of someone who’s extremely young having access to all these things that will make them, and give them the tools to succeed and have a viable life more early on in their life...

“Like anything there are downsides to the level of connectivity we have and the expectation of connectivity and the expectation of perfection because people are seeing all of these kinds of overblown images of how we’re meant to be and how we should look, think and act. But I think that what we’ve seen in recent situations, as recently as last summer, where the ability of people to kind of get together and to fight for just causes and create positive world changes, so far outweighs the negative.”

The future. Having just released a book in December 2020 called They Don’t Need to Understand: Stories of Hope, Fear, Family, Life, and Never Giving In (Rare Bird Books, 2020), and just wrapping up the next BVB studio album earlier this year, it’s safe to say that Biersack is living his dream. “There’s a Springsteen song called ‘Working on a Dream’ and it’s one of my anthems in my life because I feel like these dreams have levels. You go through experiential things and you get something that you think was the absolute peak and then you go well, what’s next? And so you’re always working on these dreams forever, and if you’re lucky you get to keep going to the next rung and the next rung.” courtesy of Rugolo Entertainment.

contents

Dakota Gorman photography:

contents 006 profile andy biersack 014 masthead thanks to all 018 cheers 020 contributors who does it 026 dish statue 030 rant the wonder of you 036 profile maz jobani 040 rewind isolation blues

Your perspective and experiences will make us stronger. If you have dreams of a career in aviation, the U.S. Air Force has a place for you. Whether it’s becoming a Pilot, Combat Systems Officer, Air Battle Manager or a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Pilot, you can become a professional in the world’s greatest Air Force. Come join our team, we’re waiting for you.

To learn more, visit airforce.com.

©2021 Paid for by the U.S. Air Force. All rights reserved.

YOUR HISTORY WILL BUILD OUR FUTURE

contents

contents 022 feature dark horse 034 feature chains 044 profile cameron boyce foundation 048 cover story dakota gorman 057

feature forum 2021

065 power women 2020 072

profile c j lana perry

Andy Biersack courtesy of Rugolo Entertainment

wempe.com

mamoonah ellison PUBLISHER

richard ellison

EDITOR IN CHIEF

nicky black

ART DIRECTOR

phil rowe, assoc. editor pete barrett, ass. production editor elle green event content editor marie butler asst. editor sarah joan roston editorial asst. wendy wright, graphic design fabienne riccoboni editorial chesley turner, bill smyth, zoë stagg, angie palmer, colleen haggerty, rebecca mackey features liz watson, dora oliver, elsie cleveland art department carolina alzate, richard peters sarah jeffries web & tech support katherine kohanowski, james johnson, pr & events evelyn galarza, monty reynolds admin office managers susan north, jessica mcginley office assistants anna johns, jo bell, jen parke social media verónica franco londoño, melina sidou, photography tony gale, nathan heyward, jehanzeb hussain, pablo mesa,maksim axelrod sales marty ann robertson YES Sales Consultants, L.L.C. contributors: Tony Gale, Patrick Fraser, Sean Gleason, David Goddard, David Yeo, Elizabeth Messina, Jaka Vinsek, , Stephen Busken, Linzzie Morgan, Mathieu Young, Tiziano Lugli, Jeff Lipsky, Bo Poulsen, Anna Shagalov, Kristin Herrera, Ryan Hall, Brooklin Rosenstock, David Edwards, Stewart, Chris Shanahan, Shanna Fisher, Dean Burnett, Paul Bloom, Nancy Isenberg, Carol Anderson, Timothy Snyder, Tomass, Laura Mareno, Matt Dunston, Jennifer Rocholl, Matt Monath, Emily Barnes, Orlando Behar, Paster, Ejaz, Callan Stokes, , David Sheff, Willam Davis, Chesley Turner, , Elle Morris, Celia Vargas, Zoe Stagg, Nathan Heyward, Frances Rossini, Sophia Fox-Sowell, Melissa Farley, , Matt Stubbs, Samantha Kelly, Zoe Stagg, Zee Krstic, Fiona Hill, Michael David Adams special thanks: US Army, US Air Force, Mary Kay Vrba, Sarah Lee, Halstead, Monika Borja, Sisley James Valenti, Megan Mattson, Netflix, Aflac, Brian Meier, Corcoran, Rogers and Cowan, Paula Bissonette, Discovery Channel, Kasey Kitchen, David Dormann, Marla Farrell, Maria Candida, Dan Pearce, Pandora Weldon, Zach Rosenfield, Bryna Rifkin & Narrative team, Claire Timmons, NEON, Melody Korenbrot, Chris Mazzilli, Ashley Sloan, Splashlight, Harold Widden, Sue Choi, Fiskars, Michelle Caspers, Landsend, Think Dutchess, D’Arcy Brito, Sophie Taleghani, Becktive, Michelle Richards, Katie Feldman, Turner Networks, Audrey Adlam, Discovery Networks, Stan Rosenfield, Cindy Barraga, WW Norton, Harper Collins, Eve Sadoff, Joseph Anayati, Studio 60, Electric Pony Studios, Shelter PR, Platinum Properties, Lisa Cera, Alison Garman, Carri McClure, Penguin Books, Sonia Lee, The Wall Group, Tracey Mattingly, Robin Bouchet Benet, Tyler Albright, Susan Patricola, Rosemary Mercedes, Mia Santiago, Delaney D’Amore, Platinum Properties, Jillian @ Exclusive Artists, Mindy Saad, Wendy Iles, Criterion Group, Weiss Artists, The Wall Group, Giant Artists, David Stanwell, Solo Artists, The Rex Agency, Bective, Magnet Agency, Exclusive Artists, Artmix Beauty, Starworks Artists, Darin Barnes, Stephanie Gonzalez, Warner Bros Pictures, Next Models Paris, Uncle Tom Cobberly, WWRD, Crabtree & Evelyn New York Moves Magazine p.o. box 4097 lexington ave., new york, ny, 10163 ph: 212.396.2394 all contents © 2020 New York Moves Magazine reproduction without permission is prohibited.

ISSN 1553-8710

www.newyorkmoves.com Application to mail Periodicals postage rates is pending at New York, N.Y. and additional mailing offices. Send address changes to New York Moves, P.O. Box 4097 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y. 10163.

New York Moves assumes no responsibility for content, text or artwork of advertisements other than those promoting New York Moves, placed in the magazine. The opinions and viewpoints of the contributors do not necessarily represent the opinions and viewpoints of New York Moves, L.L.C.

cheers

Of all the exclusives enjoyed by the monied sects over the years then released to the hoi polloi, champagne has to be amongst their greatest gifts. ( Tongue firmly in cheek you understand.)

For this we might just forgive them a couple of their multitudinous sins.

(Er, NO!)

by Michelle Buffardi photography by Naoya Fujishiro *shampoo - uk slang for champagne

018

SHAMPOO* Many fine creations were invented quite by accident: potato chips, the slinky, penicillin, and the microwave. Champagne, too, is on this list of elite, serendipitous inventions.

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of France – 90 minutes northeast of Paris. The French are so protective of the bubbly beverage’s namesake, that sparkling wines produced outside of the region can only be called just that; they cannot be labeled “Champagne” as outlined in the Treaty of Madrid and reiterated in the Treaty of Versailles. Here in the US, we recognize such exclusivity, but laws in many states allow for the use of the term “champagne” on labels in some cases.

Popular belief is that the French monk Dom Perignon invented champagne in the 1600s, but the credit justly goes to an English scientist, Christopher Merret, who added sugar to his wine, which resulted in a second, inbottle fermentation process and the consequentially famous fizz. Dom Perignon was responsible, however, for developing many advances in the production of the beverage, such as blending different grapes, using stronger bottles to prevent breakage, and holding the cork in place with a wire cage to withstand the fermentation pressure.

Now a coveted celebratory cocktail, champagne wasn’t always so fancy. Referred to as “the devil’s wine” or “mad wine,” effervescence in one’s brew was a sign of poor wine-making. Eventually, the bubbles were embraced and grew to be a sign of luxury, aristocracy, and nobility, thanks to clever marketing, still in place today. In the 19th century, champagne producers began to market their brew to women, since French wines were, prior to the bubbles, associated with masculinity; the drink was also came to be associated with celebrations and good luck.

The process of making champagne, should you wish to attempt it at home or be a more informed imbiber of the stuff, is called Method Champenoise. The most important part is the grapes, and no, champagne grapes are not involved. Champagne is a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The first two are black grapes, the latter is white.

A bottle of still wine (cuvee) made from these grapes is blended, and to it, a dose of sugar solution and yeast, known as liqueur de triage is added, and the bottled sealed with a cap resembling a beer bottle cap.

Next, the winemaker waits 1–3 years for the yeast to ferment the added sugar, creating more alcohol and, most importantly, carbon dioxide, which is responsible for the bubbles. After this second fermentation, lees (dead yeast cells) are left in the bottle and must be removed in a step called riddling.

This involves the winemaker (or machine, if at a large facility) making a series of quarterturns to the bottle over a period of 8 weeks (8 days by machine) so that a horizontallyplaced bottle ends up in a vertical one and the lees settle in the neck of the bottle. In the next step, dégorgement, the bottle neck is dipped in freezing brine to create a frozen plug of wine, containing the dead yeast cells, the cap is popped, and the plug, complete with lees, flies out.

Finally, the bottle is topped off with a dosage consisting of sweetish wine and sometimes brandy, and then the whole mix is sealed with a cork, a wire capsule and foil.

See why it’s so expensive? A lot of it is in the preparation.

When buying a bottle, you’ll notice five different types of champagne: Extra Brut (Brut Sauvage), which is totally dry; Brut, which is standard and dry; Extra Dry – don’t be confused, this is actually medium-dry; Sec – which is slightly sweet; Demi – Sec, a fairly sweet blend; and Doux, the sweetest. Personal preference reigns, but most champagne connoisseurs favor a brut champagne.

Another distinction still is found in the vintage. Non-Vintage (NV on a label) accounts for 85 to 90% of all champagne produced and it is less expensive than those produced in a Vintage year.

It’s composed of several different vintages, rather than from a single harvest. Each year, all champagne producers must set aside at least 20 percent of their wine for use in future non-Vintage champagne. Contrarily, Vintage champagne is made only from grapes harvested during a specific year. They only make vintage champagne during years where the grapes had exceptional growing seasons and it is aged longer than nonvintage champagne – at least 3 years, often longer. One very recent trend, made popular just in the last year or so, is Grower Champagne, also referred to as artisinal champagne. These are wines made by local winemakers who grow their own grapes, as opposed to large champagne houses that purchase their grapes from as many as 80 different vineyards.

Grower Champagne can be identified by the initials RM on the label, and has been embraced because quality is higher thanks to the expertise of the winemakers, and since the grower-producers don’t have the marketing budgets of bigger houses like Moet, the wines are less expensive.

The good news is that you can have champagne taste on a beer-budget. Many a good bottle can be had for less than $50, however; Andy Besch at West Side Wine in NYC likes champagnes from the following estates: Camille Saves, Christian Etienne, Falmet, Pierre Gimmonet, Pierre Peters, Chatogne-Taillet, Gaston-Chiquet, and Jean Milan.

Tough economic times may have us celebrating with bubbles less often, but there’s no excuse for bottle-opening ignorance— anyone with any budget can and should master the art of opening. The trick to maintaining the integrity of the champagne (as well as your own) is to avoid “popping” the cork. You want, instead, to produce a sigh or whisper as you release the cork, referred to as “le soupir amoueux,” or “loving whisper.”

To do so, start with a bottle of chilled champagne (7–9 degrees Celsius, 15–20 minutes in an ice bucket filled with ice and a bit of water should do) and score and remove the foil around the base of the wire cage. Then carefully loosen and untwist the bottom of the cage – some choose to remove it, some do not; you may want to keep it intact to ensure that the cork doesn’t fly out. Then, wrap the bottle’s neck with a towel, hold the bottle at a 45 degree angle away from guests, and gently twist the bottle, not the cork. Rely on this method for a 100% bottle-opening success rate... with no injuries or broken glasses.

For a more dramatic presentation, you may consider opening your bottle using a saber, a method that should be reserved for special occasions or those highly trained in fencing.

It’s also important that you serve your champagne in flutes – tall, narrow-necked glasses created for champagne. Do not use widebrimmed glasses or plastic Dixie cups, even in a pinch; this will cause the drink to quickly lose flavor and effervescence. Also noteworthy is the killer buzz champagne is known to induce. Scientific reason indicates that alcohol is more rapidly absorbed when mixed with carbonation, so a giddy state of inebriation can sneak up on you, even at brunch.

O

contributors

t r i b tO rs

TONY GALE is an award wining NYC based photographer, in addition to working with Moves he shoots for a variety of editorial, corporate and advertising clients. He is a Sony Artisan of Imagery, a Manfrotto Ambassador, an X-Rite Coloratti and the APA National President. For fun and work he travels and has been to all 50 states and all over the world.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, STORM SANTOS has been a creative his entire life. He was a touring musician with a band as a guitarist before graduating with a degree in Cinematography and TV/ Film. His degree naturally transitioned into a passion for photography. Storm frequently shoots celebrity editorials.

ROBERT ASCROFT’s work is crafted and precise with an innate sensibility to capture an intimate moment. His work appears in Print, Web, Billboards and on Television across the globe. His celebrity clientele reads as the who’s who of today’s leading Actors, Actresses, Politicians, Musicians, Athletes and Public Figures. A native New Yorker, Robert now divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.

Entrepreneur, innovator, businesswoman, editor and publisher - MOONAH ELLISON brings the same enthusiasm and dynamic energy to all her projects. From a UK based million dollar sales and marketing corporation to an influential fashion & lifestyle magazine in New York City to a successful national event company in the USA involving major players (amongst others Susan Sarandon, Robin Wright, Robert DeNiro, Kerry Washington, Ivanka Trump, Arianna Huffington and media partners MTV, Univision, CBS, ABC, CNN, NBC), Moonah has built success on top of success.

She is married and lives in Manhattan.

Longtime contributor CHESLEY TURNER has interviewed a number of our Power Women (Susan Sarandon, Arianna Huffington, Robin Wright), and was delighted by the ebullience of the PW2019 Gala MC, Sukanya Krishnan. Chesley lives in Philadelphia and is the new Director at the National Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia; she’s the first woman to hold the job.

JOIN THE HEALTH CARE TEAM THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE. As an officer on the U.S. Army or Army Reserve health care team, you’ll work with top medical professionals, new technologies and techniques. You’ll use highly developed skills to solve unique challenges, and have access to a comprehensive network of specialists and experts who are focused on patient care. With invaluable opportunities like participating in humanitarian missions, leadership development and competitive benefit packages, a career in Army Medicine will make a difference in the lives of Soldiers and your own.

Learn about the many ways you can serve in Army Medicine by calling Sergeant 1st Class Glenn Poor at (347) 931-8177 or visit healthcare.goarmy.com/AVQ3

©2021. Paid for by the United States Army. All rights reserved.

feature

by Susan Cain

Dark Horse

Brit expression : a person who has interesting qualities or abilities that most people do not know about; a previously unknown and unexpected winner in horse racing; a quiet and unassuming person who exhibits true grit unexpectedly.

I had always imagined Rosa Parks as a stately woman with a bold temperament, someone who could easily stand up to a busload of glowering passengers. But when she died in 2005 at the age of ninety-two, the flood of obituaries recalled her as soft-spoken, sweet, and small in stature. They said she was “timid and shy” but had “the courage of a lion.” They were full of phrases like “radical humility” and “quiet fortitude.” What does it mean to be quiet and have fortitude? These descriptions asked implicitly. How could you be shy and courageous?

Parks herself seemed aware of this paradox, calling her autobiography Quiet Strength – a title that challenges us to question our assumptions. Why shouldn’t quiet be strong? And what else can quiet do that we don’t give it credit for?

Our lives are shaped as profoundly by personality as by gender or race. And the singly most important aspect of personality – the “north and south of temperament,” as one scientist puts it – is where we fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum.

Our place on this continuum influences our choice of friends and mates, and how we make conversation, resolve differences, and show love. It affects the careers we choose and whether or not we succeed in them. It governs how likely we are to exercise, commit adultery, function well without sleep, learn from our mistakes, place big bets in the stock market, delay gratification, be a good leader, and ask “what if.” It’s reflected in our brain pathways, neurotransmitters, and remote corners of our nervous systems. Today, introversion and extroversion are two of the most exhaustively researched subjects in personality psychology, arousing the curiosity of hundreds of scientists.

These researchers have made exciting discoveries aided by the latest technology, but they’re part of a long and storied tradition. Poets and philosophers have been thinking about introverts and extroverts since the dawn of recored time.

Both personalities appear in the Bible and in the writings of Greek and Roman physicians, and some evolutionary psychologists say that the history of these types reaches back

even farther than that: the animal kingdom also boasts “introverts” and “extroverts,” as we’ll see, from fruit flies to pumpkinseed fish to rhesus monkeys. As with other complementary pairings – masculinity and femininity, East and West, liberal and conservative – humanity would be unrecognizable, and vastly diminished, without both personality styles.

Take the partnership of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. A formidable orator refusing to give up his seat on a segregated bus wouldn’t have had the same effect as a modest woman who’d clearly prefer to keep silent but for the exigencies of the situation. And Parks didn’t have the stuff to thrill a crowd if she’d tried to stand up and announce that she had a dream. But with King’s help she didn’t have to.

Yet today we make room for a remarkably narrow range of personality styles. We’re told that to be great is to be bold; to be happy is to be sociable. We see ourselves as a nation of extroverts – which means that we’ve lost sight of who we really are. Depending on which study you consult, one third to one half of Americans are introverts – in other words, one out of every two or three people you know. (Given that the United States is among the most extroverted of nations, the number must be at least as high in other parts of the world.) If you’re not an introvert yourself, you are surely raising, managing, married to, or coupled with one.

If these statistics surprise you, that’s probably because so many people pretend to be extroverts. Closet introverts pass undetected on playgrounds, in high school locker rooms, and in the corridors of corporate America. Some fool even themselves, until some life event – a layoff, an empty nest, an inheritance that frees them to spend time as they like – jolts them into taking stock of their true natures. You have only to raise the subject of this book with your friends and acquaintances to find that the most unlikely people consider themselves introverts.

It makes sense that so many introverts hide even from themselves. We live with a value system that I call the Extrovert Ideal – the omnipresent belief that the ideal self is gregarious, alpha, and comfortable in the spotlight. The archetypal extrovert prefers action to contemplation, risk- taking to heedtaking, certainty to doubt. He favors quick decisions, even at the risk of being wrong. She works well in teams and socializes in groups. We like to think that we value individuality, but all too often we admire one type of individual – the kind who’s comfortable “putting himself out there.” Sure, we al-

low technologically gifted loners who launch companies in garages to have any personality they please, but they are the exceptions, not the rule, and our tolerance extends mainly to those who get fabulously wealthy or hold the promise of doing so.

Introversion – along with its cousins sensitivity, seriousness, and shyness – is now a second – class personality trait, somewhere between a disappointment and a pathology. Introverts living under the Extrovert Ideal are like women in a man’s world, discounted because of a trait that goes to the core of who they are. Extroversion is an enormously appealing personality style, but we’ve turned it into an oppressive standard to which most of us feel we must conform.

The Extrovert Ideal has been documented in many studies, though this research has never been grouped under a single name. Talkative people, for example, are rated as smarter, better-looking, more interesting, and more desirable as friends. Velocity of speech counts as well as volume: we rank fast talkers as more competent and likable than slow ones. The same dynamics apply in groups, where research shows that the voluble are considered smarter than the reticent – even though there’s zero correlation between the gift of gab and good ideas. Even the word introvert is stigmatized – one informal study, by psychologist Laurie Helgoe, found that introverts described their own physical appearance in vivid language ( “green-blue eyes,” “exotic,” “high cheekbones”), but when asked to describe generic introverts they drew a bland and distasteful picture (“ungainly,” “neutral colors,” “skin problems”).

But we make a grave mistake to embrace the Extrovert Ideal so unthinkingly. Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions – from the theory of evolution to van Gogh’s sunflowers to the personal computer – came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune in to their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there. Without introverts, the world would be devoid of: the theory of gravity, the theory of relativity, W.B. Yeats’ The Second Coming, Chopin’s nocturnes, Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, Peter Pan, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, The Cat in the Hat, Charlie Brown, Schindler’s List, E.T., and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Google, Harry Potter.

As the science journalist Winifred Gallagher writes: “The glory of the disposition that stops to consider stimuli rather than rushing to engage with them is its long association with intellectual and artistic achievement. Neither e=mc^2 or Paradise Lost was dashed off by a party animal.” Even in less obviously introverted occupations, like finance, politics, and activism, some of the greatest leaps forward were made by introverts; figures like Eleanor Roosevelt, Al Gore, Warren Buffett, Gandhi – and Rosa Parks – achieved what they did, not in spite of, but because of their introversion.

Excerpt taken from QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain (Crown, 2012)

023

rant

man made

I am a statue.

Stoic and silent. Perfectly poised, standing ageless atop a loaded pedestal.

I am waiting. Waiting to be touched, not felt. Seen, not stared at.

I am objectified by the masses.

Immobilized, I am frozen in time by the artist who created me. Trapped by the museum who curates me. And judged by the audience who pays to bask in my muted presence.

I am a still performer, constantly on display. I long to hide.

As a woman, I am not a person per se, more like a figure of speech. I’m just a common phrase that everyone tosses around and misuses, but no one seems to understand. “The Average Joe.” Except, I’m not Joe. I’m nameless.

Voiceless. My face and mind are of little consequence, as it is my body that gets torn to pieces; as if there is no soul beneath the stone.

I wasn’t always perfect.

I started as we all do, a blank slab of marble; anxiously anticipating my destiny to be carved into reality. Who would I be?

Would I be small and petite? Or would I would be tall and powerful? Would I gaze upon the proletariat or waste away in a collector’s cupboard? Man or woman?

God or mortal?

It was painful relief to be formed. Sweet delicious agony, coming into being.

Awoken after so long a slumber.

A tortured artist, his behavior was erratic.

Sometimes I was not what he wanted.

Other times, I fulfilled his every desire. I was all he hoped for and more. I often disappointed him one moment and the next completed his very soul. I was everything. His masterpiece, and the bane of his existence.

After the hammer came the chisel.

Hammer pounds. Chisel sculpts.

Hammer is the force that frees the mold. Chisel is the instrument that brings it to life.

The male gaze is a fickle specimen. Men are able to dictate the identity of women, simply by looking at us. In their eyes, we do not see a mirror.

There is no truth in the eyes of men.

Like a thunderous summer storm, I became a woman gradually, then suddenly. I will forever be cast in a veil, a mold of how society sees me, an object, instead of a proper reflection of who I truly am.

Throughout it all, I was still. Helpless and vulnerable. I could not cry out in frustration, or exalt in pain. I could only absorb the blows he gave me, without question, comment, or complaint.

I would never have a voice.

The Creator finally came to me, He tempered my anxiety with tools. My devoted master, his touch was firm.

Delicate, yet deliberate.

After all, I am a woman.

He hammered me.

Sophia Fox-Sowell

I am only stone.

027

The Art of Sparkle

Exclusively at

Alaska • Antigua • Aruba • Bahamas • Barbados • Belize • Bermuda • Cabo San Lucas • Costa Maya Cozumel • Curaçao • Dominican Republic • Grand Cayman • Grand Turk • Honduras • Jamaica • Key West Orlando • Puerto Rico • Puerto Vallarta • St. Kitts • St. Lucia • St. Maarten • St. Thomas • Tortola

That’s Beautiful

Couture Collection

dish

THE WONDER OF YOU!

What is this life if, full of care, We don’t have time to stand and stare? *

by Brian Roberts illustration by Alexandra Young Whenever I walk around my parents home on Long Island, I’m constantly reminded of my mother’s anger; unhappiness abounds in the form of “projects” around the house that were never fully completed: a silverware drawer that falls out at you when you open it; a screen door that has a broken latch; a bathroom window that uses a metal rod for a handle; or the crème de la crème of all “projects,” the ceiling fan that has not yet made its way to the, uh, ceiling. I sometimes think my father leaves these things broken out of spite, so sick of the nagging that he must therefore plant his own bombs of contention. Now you might think I grew up on the set of Sanford & Son, and that my last name is Foxx, but that’s not the case. Aside from the ceiling fan, these small nuances are not apparent to the naked eye – it’s only when you go to use one of the above that you have a problem. I have seen this as commonplace in relationships, and writing for a women’s magazine, I can tell you firsthand that men are lazy, inconsiderate, and 90% of the time, think just about themselves. Women let this happen in relationships, but that is another story all together. I’m here to talk about getting things done right away. It’s a constant weight that women put on men’s shoulders and although sometimes it is warranted, a lot of times it is not. And women need to back off just a tad.

Okay, I get it. Women want things done right… right now… this second… yesterday… last week. But just because I get it doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. I talk to you now as a recently married man. There are things that take place between a husband and wife, let alone man and woman, that I think are unfair and highly irrational. Never living with my wife before marriage, I am in what you call “the adjustment period,” the stage of a marriage or relationship where you are getting to know the daily habits of your spouse or partner. And I can tell you firsthand that a number of things I do are not done fast enough. I sometimes find myself scratching my head at my very own slowness.

Now it may sound like I am picking on women, and I’m not. Without women, men would be lost, sitting, waiting, and wishing for things to *Willism Henry Davies

happen. It’s just that men do things a lot slower and really do not have a timeframe. Exhibit A: Bringing Shirts to the Dry Cleaners. I have 25 shirts. Maybe a little more than the average NYC guy, but 25 nonetheless. If I have four of them in the hamper, why should I bring them right away? Wouldn’t it be logical to wait another week and bring, say, 12 of them at one time? I don’t need to be told five times to bring shirts I will not be wearing for another two weeks. Exhibit B: Putting Your Clothes Away. This one is very interesting. Before I go to bed, I lay out my clothes, very neatly, on the dining room chair. Now, considering I am the first one up and those clothes will disappear onto my body, I do not see the need to put them away and take them out of the closet again when I wake up. The clothes are not hurting anyone by resting on that chair… no one sees them but me! Exhibit C: Washing the Dishes. I have come to realize my lot in life is as a dishwasher when it comes to eating meals within the confines of our studio apartment. I happily take on that role. It’s just that when I do them for 20 minutes and leave a dish and fork in the sink, walk away for a second to, oh, go to the bathroom or do something else you requested, I do not need to be reminded that I forgot to finish the rest of the utensils. I know about them. Give me a second. I’m just putting together the IKEA table you bought and my hands are occupied… at the moment. Exhibit D: Cleaning the Air Conditioning Vent. I know it takes two minutes. But it was at the end of the season, maybe one or two possible AC days left, and it started to get a small smell of mildew. It will be fall in a week… you can’t smell the AC when it is not on anymore. Exhibit E: Taking Out the Garbage. This one is a two-person job because of our apartment situation. A garbage shoot is very easy to walk to and it’s about 30 steps from my front door. It’s just the amount of garbage one can throw out in a day that is perplexing. My wife is very clean, very tidy, and the sight of any garbage in the garbage can is enough to warrant a trip down the hallway. I say, fill it up. There is no need to make five trips in an a evening when you know you will make one at the end of the night. It is my estimation that maggots form after three days… not three hours.

A long time ago, I learned from a recently married college buddy a cardinal rule when it comes to marriage; a term a man must remember in order to have a long and successful relationship: Preventative Yelling.

This is when a man thinks one step ahead, countering her every move.

Sort of like Bobby Fischer. You must strike the Queen before she becomes deadly. The Recycled stuff? Done. A clean area? Did that already.

Hanging the mirror in the bathroom? Where have you been? Sometimes I slack off a little and I get caught. And I realize I must get better, more focused. But like my dad, Redd, I’m sometimes not that sly.

031

The chains of your Skyway

by Odelia Bitton

Ah, my friends from the prison, they ask unto me “How good, how good does it feel to be free?”

And I answer them most mysteriously “Are birds free from the chains of the skyway?”*

What a bother it was. Deadly, even. In the heat, its starch went soft, and it stuck to my skin. In the winter, it preserved the cold.

It hid me like full-body armor; it exposed me like a stuttered word. Though I hated it, though I desperately wanted to shed my high school uniform at every moment I donned it, I could never rid myself of its cumbersome layers, even years after I should have been free from them.

Many relate independence to freedom and both to a lack of external controls. But that’s just the beginning of it. The party isn’t over until the beer stains the carpet. The uniform isn’t cast away until I wrestle the shadows left in its wake.

Each holiday, the party begins just as the shadows converge.

And they aren’t always friendly ghosts. Some of them re-visit you in the flesh, like crabby Aunt Marsha whose laser-sharp sneers pulverize the doves flying around you. Others come in the form of murky memory bubbles knotted to your tender heartstrings. “Don’t play the harp,” your forehead reads. “These strings hurt!”

Suddenly, like a silent plague, your world is blanketed with nostalgia. Old feelings and passions are back and graced with a vengeance. We’re not talking about the good old guests of yore who knew how to make their presence unfelt. Nay, we’re talking about guests who’ll have you violently scrambling to make an impossible version of eggs, and have you searching for a quilt thick enough to muffle their intrusive sounds.

You thought you were ready.

Well, we’ve all been duped.

Though we learned how to handle the rough stuff like increasing rent, burly bosses, and the bad breakups, it takes something like little Sammy’s wafflehead comment to topple the small but effortful structure otherwise known as “my new life.”

In circumstances like this, he’s more than just my little brother. He’s the collective voice of challenge (irrespective of gender, of course). Unpredictable and annoyingly persistent little Sammy can lift a facade with a puny pre-pubescent breath of air. There, the wiring’s exposed.

Sammy is not the undoing, though. He’s the blessing in disguise. You couldn’t find a more pure blessing (granted, it’s a heavily concealed one) if you were to dig into the globe’s recesses. You won’t find your greatest challenge – and resultant strength – four thousand miles away on the tranquil Cote d’Azur or in the bustling city a train stop away. You might have to deal with bad sunburn, or panhandle to feed the hungry meter, but, shucks, you won’t find Sammy peeking out from the alleyway with a verbal slingshot in hand. There’s only one place, one context which will truly make you stronger if it doesn’t kill you. La bella famiglia.

Welcome home.

But, when we make the choice to part from our parents, we draw a line between the past and present.

Somewhere along the years, our concept of ‘home’ became distorted. It came somewhere between our first date, our first car and our first year in college. In essence, freedom came piece by piece. It was once defined by our ability

to choose, but now it’s become much more – our responsibility to choose.We need and want to sing loud and make sure the world hears. It isn’t yet that strong voice of independence – but a voice that’s still crackly with lyrics still being pieced together. But tangible elements of independence are there: the little light fixture in your new living room, the morning jog through the park and the good taste a winning argument leaves on your tongue.

Yet, our first few tastes of freedom are only temporarily satisfying. Packing our bags to leave our home, are small steps we all inevitably have to take, in one way or another. But eventually, for some, physical independence becomes nothing more than a daily routine. We begin to fight a war with monotony, when we should be searching for the rock-solid base of emotional and mental independence. We’re pushed to go beyond the confines of comfort zones and borrowed habitats because we won’t find freedom at any fixed destination. For a self-made nest to be mobile, it needs to withstand time and changing circumstances – and be bettered by it.

We are constantly striving for a taste of physical, mental or emotional independence, but what we need to realize is that we will never ultimately achieve them all. We don’t earn independence by making mundane societal strides. But we take a larger leap toward it when we realize our home is actually in our mind and heart. Upon this realization, we establish an internal system of influence, the most objective of its kind.

* Words by Bob Dylan

035

profile

I happen to catch actor/comedian Maz Jabroni when he has a cold. Or I think it’s a cold. You can never tell nowadays. You can’t even have a cold without feeling like you’ve got coronavirus. But a year into the Western World’s most deadly pandemic ever, I finally feel a little calm, a little at ease, like we’re getting somewhere and making progress with the Biden Administration. And Maz feels it too.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen under the Biden administration, but I’m happy to be able to wake up in the morning and not have to be worried about a bunch of unnecessary tweets about Rosie O’Donnell, and little Rocket Man [North Korea’s Kim Jong Un], and whatever it is and actually have to like worry about real things,” says the IranianAmerican Jobrani. “So you wake up and you go, we have Global Warming, and you’re like yes! Let’s talk about it or you know we have a pandemic. Thank god we can talk about the pandemic! So it’s nice, it’s nice.”

You’ve seen Maz Jobrani before, his face all too familiar in the comedy world. He was part of the “Axis of Evil” comedy group in 2005. The tour featured four Middle Eastern comedians and came about after President George W. Bush gave a speech in which he designated Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the “axis of evil” during the United States’ War on Terror following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The group was given a Comedy Central Special and profiled by media outlets like CNN, NPR and The New York Times. Jobrani has appeared in films like The Interpreter (2005) with Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn, Friday After Next (2002) opposite Ice Cube and Chris Tucker, and Dragonfly (2002) with Kevin Costner. You can catch him nowadays on his podcast, Back to School with Maz Jobrani, where “professors, experts and successful people from all walks of life come in to educate Maz on a variety of subjects while Maz and his team make the lessons funny.” You can find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. His new standup comedy special Pandemic Warrior is now available for streaming on PeacockTV.

R B O J AZ

I AN

a torm S S : r e g raph Photo

ntos

I

I r ea lly for Iran. is

what the s ol u

“... i don’t k n ow

ou nt

its future...” has freedom in

In retrospect for Jobrani, Trump was “a way for people to say I have racist thoughts and I don’t have to say them because the president is saying them for me. And I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever heard. What do you mean it’s the greatest thing that he is saying what’s on his mind? That doesn’t mean that that’s what he’s saying on his mind isn’t necessarily a good thing. He’s saying a lot of bad things. But a lot of his supporters loved him because he was saying what’s on his mind.

He’s not a politician. He’s an outsider. So I remember hearing my mom say he’s interesting ‘says what’s on his mind.’ And I was like, ‘You’re falling for this crap?’”

ec

ry

“I’m sitting there going, ‘Wait a minute we live in America,’ where you’re supposed to make fun of your leaders! Whether it’s Donald Trump, or Joe Biden, or Barack Obama, or George W. Bush, it doesn’t matter who it is.

We are a Western country that is supposed to encourage us to be critical of our leaders.

And we are not those totalitarian states you see in the Middle East or in Asian countries or in some other places in the world. And where did we lose ourselves?”

th dom.T hat

Before Trump was president, Jobrani would perform a few innocuous Trump jokes about his hair, or his reality show The Apprentice, and people would chuckle and life would go on. But as soon as Trump started using racist and misogynistic rhetoric, suddenly his voters/ fans took offense to jokes about him as if you were making fun of their mother or grandmother.

t

i on

fr ee

“As comedians, I think our job is to say what we mean, that’s the whole point, that you have to have a point of view,” insists Jobrani. “ Hopefully you don’t have any boundaries. The boundary that I do have for myself I would say I try as a comedian to never punch down. I try not to make fun of people who let’s say have physical disabilities or actual mental disabilities. I try to be the champion of those people.

And I try to punch up. And that’s why under Trump I got in trouble a lot, because I would try and punch up and his followers became highly sensitive.”

t’s

profile

t hope i jus

Photographer: Storm Santos Stylist: Lauren Taylor Groomer: Andy Mickaelian

Relentlessly touring, Maz’s resume includes multiple standup comedy specials like Immigrant filmed at the Kennedy Center and is a Netflix Original, as well as solo specials on Showtime: Brown And Friendly, I Come In Peace, and I’m Not A Terrorist, But I’ve Played One On TV which was also a 2015 Los Angeles Times best-seller.

Jobrani left Iran when he was six in late 1978 and still calls himself Iranian-American, having his heart with the people of Iran. He only went back once in the late ‘90s. His father had moved back, before he passed away, and he visited him. “I felt for the people because the people are good. The people are welcoming. It’s a great culture. It’s a great group, it’s a great country, the people, itself. And yet they are oppressed under this regime. And it’s a totalitarian state. It’s a state that oppressed women, LGBTQ, bisexuals, a lot of the young people lack opportunity. So my heart goes out to them.”

Jobrani cites 2009 as a year in which he thought real change was coming to Iran.

Ahmadinejad was accused of voter fraud and the Iranian people thought that was going to be it, there would be change, but it didn’t happen and then in the recent past we’ve seen certain protests but it’s such a complicated situation. “I don’t know what the best solution is. I personally thought that the Iran nuclear deal that Obama had was a good steal. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good in that I thought it would bring the Iranian regime into the fold with the rest of the world, at least financially and economically, and it would give us some clout by saying “Look, this is what it could look like, your economy could start to grow, if you don’t violate a lot of these laws.

“So here we are under Biden and my heart just breaks for the people of Iran,” says Jobrani. “I really feel like one thing that Trump did with his travel ban was, again heartbreaking, because a lot of the young people in Iran were suffering under the regime and then at least before the travel ban, were able to come to the United States to study to better their lives. All of a sudden they couldn’t come because of that either so at least Biden has lifted that and we’ll see how it goes into implementation. But yeah, I don’t know what the solu-

tion is for Iran. I really just hope that the country has freedom in its future.”

From leaving a country in political turmoil in the late 70s to arriving in the Bay area in search of a new opportunity, Jobrani’s life is not short of inspiration and drive.

He started acting when he was 12 doing musicals in junior high school. At the age of 10 he fell in love with comedy, with Eddie Murphy specifically, and wanted to be like him, memorizing his self-titled standup tape, Eddie Murphy, before Murphy’s hit show Delirious would blow up the comedy world in 1983. He would listen to those tapes and his parents kept saying “you got to be a lawyer, a doctor, an engineer,” kept pushing him in that direction. But he continued to pursue it and by his mid-20’s he was doing commercials here and there and guesting on sitcoms like Malcom in the Middle with Bryan Cranston pre-Breaking Bad fame. In between Jobrani would work a day job and do stand-up at night, auditions. It wasn’t until he did the Axis of Evil Comedy Tour in 2005 that the decent money started rolling in.

“...NO BOUND ARIES...”

“That’s when my standup started paying for my acting career. So it was, they’ve always complimented each other. I’m always open to more and more acting. Doing that movie with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, the Sydney Pollack movie The Interpreter, was amazing, an 80 million dollar movie and I got to live in New York for a few months. I got to play a secret service agent!” Jobrani laughs.

But he does see the West “normalizing” their view of Middle Eastern people as well as people with an Indian background. He’s done two TEDTalks that were based around the idea of being a comedian with a Middle Eastern background, and how his hope is that the world, especially the West, will start seeing them differently.

“And I think it’s happening in general,” Jobrani insists. “I think we’ve got guys like Ramy Youssef and others who are doing shows.

Even Mindy Kaling, who’s not Middle Eastern, but has an Indian background. I think the world is starting to, or moreso the West is starting to see us in a more normalized way.

So to see that happening is fantastic.”

If Jobrani was ever going to give another motivational speech (TEDTalk anyone?) he would talk to people about finding their passion and going for it. It took him a while fighting his parents to let him be who he wants to be but he remained adament and his passion won. When he got a chance to give the commencement speech at UC Berkeley, one of the things he said was all anyone needs to know: 039

Billie Eilish:

Music MOVES FORUM

She was the most streamed Spotify artist of 2020, and it’s safe to say Billie Eilish is still carrying us through the pandemic. Eilish was at the top of Spotify streams for a female artist without releasing an album for the entire year.

Instead, she released three songs, “Therefore I am,” “No Time to Die,” and “My Future.”

On Tik Tok, “Therefore I am” is the anthem for empowerment with thousands of videos declaring, “Stop, get my pretty name out of your mouth…” She and her brother/creative partner, Finneas, continue to make music together, 16 songs so far. So, as the pandemic continues, does their reign in music. r

FROM THE VOID

Britney Spears:

The queen of pop is back, but her introduction to the Gen Z generation is not without controversy. Britney Spears ruled the charts from the late ‘90s to the early 2000s with her insane dance and singing ability. What came with the talent was massive scrutiny and personal problems. The New York Times’ release of its documentary, Framing Britney Spears, takes a close look at the pop star’s meteoric rise and the downfall that led to her controversial conservatorship. Known for her beauty and sexual image at the peak of her success, her unfair and misogynistic treatment by the media has rallied new and old fans to her defense.

Travis Scott:

Olivia Rodrigo: The pandemic revitalized this Disney star. Rodrigo, who acts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on Disney+, broke Spotify’s record for most streams of a song in a single week with her debut single, “Driver’s License.” Partially about her Disney co-star Joshua Bassett, 20, falling for former Disney Channel star Sabrina Carpenter. Who doesn’t love a good pandemic drama? At only 17 years old, Rodrigo’s hit single is currently the most-played song on Apple Music worldwide. It hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and broke the record for most Spotify streams of a song in a single week: 65,873,080.

With multiple hits and endorsements, Travis Scott’s year in quarantine was unlike the rest of the world. His sneaker drop with Nike was one of the most coveted finds of 2020 —if you were able to get your hands on it. His collaboration with Fortnite to perform a nine-minute long virtual concert earned him millions. He also participated in McDonald’s first celebrity collaboration since Michael Jordan in 1992, with his own burger and value meal. The rapper has since released a capsule of pandemic items that include hand sanitizer and face masks. Scott has shown us that even in a world without concerts, you can make the most of the situation.

Dua Lipa: According to Rolling Stone, she’s the breakout star of the pandemic era. As the pandemic wore on, she promoted a new album, Future Nostalgia, mostly indoors and even from an Airbnb sofa. The album became the soundtrack of quarantine dance parties during the week of its debut. Lipa became the most listened-to female artist on Spotify. She was nominated for six Grammys, including Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance. No surprise, her superb production, and powerhouse vocals gave us all of the energy we needed to get through the long year.

The Weeknd:

The Weeknd was literally the king of the pandemic. His hit, “Blinding Lights,” was the most-streamed song on Spotify with 1.6 billion plays. The Weeknd also has the most monthly listeners on Spotify by a male artist. With these numbers in mind, everyone was stunned that he was lacking had not a single grammy nomination in 2021. There has never been a more significant Grammy snub. One big win for him was snagging the halftime performance at the Super Bowl. Even though his smash album After Hours was both a critical and commercial success, those achievements are apparently not a factor in Grammy nominations.

J Balvin

J Balvin took the world by storm as a reggaeton star and global phenomenon.

He started making music at 14, and by 2018 he secured Spotify’s top spot with the Most Monthly Listeners Globally, crushing Drake’s long-held record with over 48.1 million monthly listeners. With musical influences that range in Hip Hop, R&B, bachata, reggae, and champeta, the Colombian-born musician has won the world over with his infectious hits. As the world continues in lockdown, Balvin, unfortunately, contracted CoronaVirus, which shows that even the most prominent global sensation is not immune to the virus.

Ariana Grande : In 2020 Ariana Grande became the first female artist with 3.5 billion Spotify streams on three separate albums. She was already having success during the pandemic, so when she announced that she was releasing her new album, Positions, during the pandemic, the world rejoiced. Suffering through the repetition and dullness of quarantine, we were ready for the queen’s new music. Grande made the entire album during the pandemic in just a few months. Within two weeks of the album’s surprise release, Positions is estimated to have earned her over $2 million via Spotify streams alone.

©2016 Timex Group USA, Inc. TIMEX, TRUE SINCE 1854 TIMEX, WEEKENDER, WEAR IT WELL and INDIGLO are registered trademarks of Timex Group B.V. and its subsidiaries in the US and other countries.

WEEK ENDER ® FAIRFIELD Seize the moment with the Weekender® Fairfield. Classic minimalist cool with an easy-to-switch, slip-thru band so you can customize your look at a moment’s notice.

W e A r I t W e L l ®.

yOu kNoW tHiS wIlL nEvEr hApPeN aGaIn.

INDIGLO night-light ®

timex.com

profile

It’s our turn, let’s not disappoint, let’s go out and do what we need to do to try and get our message across... We have all of this shit... and that’s fine but at the end of the day what are we doing to actually help other people?”

These are Cameron’s pull quotes from the magazine story. Would you say they accurately reflect his persona?

I think that Cameron was aware that his generation is being left with a mess to clean up, but he also believed that his generation is up to the task. He would make it clear that he would walk the walk and add some incentive and sweat equity. Cameron was all about caring and giving to others. He was keenly aware of the impact of kindness, positivity, and encouragement.

How did Cameron become involved in activism and humanitarianism?

Cameron’s mom is a social worker who works with people experiencing homelessness. His grandmother was one of the Clinton 12, the first black students to integrate a high school in the south. His great grandfather came from Russia (Lithuania) as a young teenager because they were persecuted as jews. He was always exposed to people who are disenfranchised and oppressed. It was something about humanity that did not make sense to him, so he knew he had a voice and a platform for positive change.

How would he bridge today’s chasm between the extremes? On gun control for instance?

We are pretty sure he would be using his voice and partnering with agencies that have the potential for real change. He would speak to young adults and let them know there are so many alternatives to negativity and violence.

Cameron Boyce

Do you see evidence of his amazing energy and positivity having a lasting effect on his fans? Is that his greatest achievement We hope that his greatest achievement will be finding a cure for epilepsy. However, his positive and loveable energy definitely rubbed off on his fans. We hear from many of them that he changed their life. His work here on earth has had a ripple effect that we hope will last forever. We are working hard to ensure that many of his goals/wishes come to fruition.

Do you believe some of today’s seemingly intractable problems will ease once the younger generation take the reins?

Simply put-YES. However, we are also realistic that people are a product of their environments and there are still many hateful environments. Vic and I hope that people become mixed enough to one day not have a means to feel superior or threatened by others who look different.

Cameron was all about “No Labels”. He wished people would not ask or care about other people’s race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion. It shouldn’t matter...we are all human and it is important to love and unite as a people.

What is your hope for the future of the Cameron Boyce Foundation?

Our hope is that we cure epilepsy, and positively impact many young people by giving them lots of creative outlets by encouraging peace, unity, empathy, and humanity.

044

THE CAMERON BOYCE FOUNDATION honors his legacy by reducing gun violence and curing epilepsy through digital campaigns, programmatic partnerships and financial support. “We believe that all young people should be empowered to change the world.”

Co-founders , Cameron’s parents Victor and Libby Boyce, open up about their son, his powerful voice and their hopes that his legacy will live on and grow.

www.lilithparis.com

a t o k a D n a m r o G cover

a ll th r e e in il a t e d r o f e y e n A kee c ip li n e s is d d o o w ly l o H r e of h a m at t e r t s u j ’ t s Li ‘A e h t s make u read o y r e b m e m e r . e o f t im it h e r e fir st! re m an og ra ph y: De an Fo ot ph n so li El h

By M oo na The first thing I noticed about writer/director/actor Dakota Gorman were her eyes; hypnotic, mesmerizing, wise and profoundly interesting. There’s a definite edge which she credits to her growing up in a California family that didn’t have boundaries; an upbringing that allowed Gorman to approach everything in her life with a raised eyebrow, a healthy dose of skepticism, and a question always at the forefront of any conversation.

She grew up in Santa Monica and was embedded in the surf and skate culture there, a certain kind of vibe that has a very raw feel to it as well--nothing’s really polished, everyone’s just who they are.

This free spirit has lead Gorman to her directorial debut, All About Sex, a film that follows the lives of twentysomething females as they navigate adult life; well, their adult sex lives, a modern-day Sex and the City.

Gorman credits a lot of her male friends

with giving her an inside view of how men look at sex and how they approach it. “Likewise a lot of my female friends tend to have a more masculine energy to them so it’s not like this precious thing,” admits Gorman. “It’s like this is exactly what I’m experiencing and I just personally gravitated to the humor of how kind of flippant they were when they were talking about it [sex]. And it was just like okay this happened to me. Has this happened to you? And I think just the genuineness made me crack up. So I really wanted to put something out there that other people have to be feeling too so let’s open the dialogue about it.”

Acting, directing, writing. Gorman has the three coveted traits that Hollywood insiders crave. You’ve seen her in the television series Teen Wolf and Criminal Minds. As for directing, maybe the next Greta Gerwig? We’ll see. For now it’s encouraging to hear due to the simple fact that Gerwig happens to be a huge inspiration for Gorman. “It’s so uplifting and such a confidence boost. She’s so

049

real. She’s so quirky and she utilizes that. And she kind of has a spectrum of stuff that she does between her acting like in Frances Ha and her being able to direct something like Little Woman,” insists Gorman. “Makes me feel like all these years of just mental turmoil are kind of worth it and paying off and you know it’s nice to hear you’re young and upand-coming but this has been so embedded in me since before I was even 18 and it feels like it’s already a lifelong journey.

“I love the dichotomy of life. I don’t think there’s a categorization of anything. I think that everything is a spectrum. Everything is nuanced and circumstantial. And I think that humor and trauma kind of coexist together, always, even in the hardest moments. And you know I haven’t always had the easiest time in life but I found a way to use humor to like navigate it. And so I think that I draw myself to projects that I get that same sense from so that it’s not just strictly comedy or drama.”

While Gorman celebrates the release of All About Sex, she’s currently in pre-production on her next directing project, Late Bloomers, written by Sam Kozé and Gary Alan Wright. A story about a group of teenage friends diagnosed with cancer whose rebellious behavior spirals out of control. Gorman sets the tone with humor and the dynamic between different people.

“When you strip away the kind of veneer we put on to present ourselves this way to the world. When you’re dying, do you care about that stuff the same way? Or are you just laying out all on the line? And I think that’s where your personality really shines. And in the

“...I l o dich ve the o t of li omy fe... ”

script that Sam and Gary wrote, they just really brought these extreme personalities and I’ve had so much fun digging even deeper into them and really seeing the recklessness and maybe that’s because there’s was like a kind of a reckless element to how I grew up so I identify that as well.

It’s just funny to see people finding their way in dealing with anger and love and laughing and crying and it just felt very dynamic to me.”

As Late Bloomers prepares to go into pre-production, Gorman is also working as the writer on a Syrian-War Drama, Broadcast, with Grant Cramer attached to direct. With Broadcast, Gorman wanted to stay away from vilifying another country, a constant thread she found ran deep in American films and their storytelling. We have more in common with one another and Gorman wanted that reflected in the final cut. “It almost feels like a separate world. Specifically with American cinema, we’ve tended to create this divide with the Middle East and a lot of times like to villainize them.

I would watch these documentaries, and found there are more similarities than dissimilarities. I wanted to really explore what brings it together to make it feel more at home. I wanted to bring the script to people that may not speak the same language, but [when watching] feel this person reminds me of my best friend. They dress the same way, they listen to the same music and yet there are cultural differences.”

a s ’ e r e h t k hin t t ’ n g. o n d i I h . t . . “ y n a of n o i t a z i r o g categ n i h t y r e v at e I think th m...” u is a spectr

xxx

Photographer: Dean Foreman Makeup: Kim Konsler Wardrobe: Deanna Zaccari

“... I am capable of changing... ...We’re all more powerful than we think we are... ” One difference for everyone that doesn’t care what culture you are a part of is Covid. The worldwide pandemic of 2020, still raging around the globe, spared no expense at disrupting lives, making everyone readjust to a new norm. People were thrust into a self-reflection and for Gorman, that comes with battling depression and anxiety. “As horrible as Covid has been for a lot of people, I think there was also a great opportunity that forced people to stop and reevaluate. And as far as the depression stuff, my experience with that is tough personally and when I am in a really depressive space it’s hard for me not to feel like everything is out of my control. Like I can’t do anything about this. I’m waking up apathetic or sad and like what am I supposed to do? Or the situation is just shitty, I don’t know how to make it better. And you’re kind of just vacant.”

During quarantine, Gorman forced herself to use this time to change her perspective on things and it has been extremely helpful for her. Exercise, meditation, hydrate, sleep. “Covid for me was a big wake up call. I don’t need to be doing anything, it’s my choice. It may feel like my back is up against the wall, if I’m unhappy, I am capable of changing. We’re all more powerful than we think we are. It’s usually like mental gymnastics we have to do to convince ourselves and I think the hardest part of getting out of depression is feeling like lying to yourself at first. Like I’m telling myself, ‘I’m confident and I am feeling good and things are looking better’ even though I don’t feel it.

And then it really is the consistency that snaps you out of it.”

One way Gorman snaps out of it is by volunteering. She just started working with Water Drop LA, a volunteer-run community organization whose goal is to provide clean water and other necessities to communities facing water inaccessibility. They distribute 2,000+ gallons of water to LA’s Skid Row each week as well as providing water to partner organizations across Southern California. Gorman is fascinated that a group of USC students thought up the organization whale sitting in class. “How cool is that that you’re in a class that’s making you ask questions and then putting action behind it. That’s really beautiful and it’s crazy.”

w

MEET MOXY MOXY TIMES SQUARE An energetic alternative to the typical hotel experience, where affordable rates don’t mean sacrificing style or comfort. 612 bedrooms are cleverly designed to adapt to modern traveler’s changing needs and immersive social spaces are built for co-working and play, encouraging visitors and locals to intermingle.

MOXYTIMESSQUARE.COM 485 7 TH AVE, NEW YORK

MOXY CHELSEA Refined yet playful, hand-crafted yet modern, the 349room Moxy Chelsea blends botanically-inspired design with Italian romance—the Flower District’s new secret garden. Rising 35 stories high, Moxy Chelsea packs in all the amenities with none of the price tag.

MOXYCHELSEA.COM 105 WEST 28 TH ST, NEW YORK

MOXY EAST VILLAGE Located on East 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues, directly across from the legendary concert venue Webster Hall, Moxy East Village features 286 design-driven bedrooms, co-working spaces, and techsavvy amenities, as well as lively restaurants, bars, and cultural programming – all at an affordable price.

MOXYEASTVILLAGE.COM 112 EAST 11TH ST, NEW YORK MAGIC HOUR ROOFTOP AT MOXY TIMES SQUARE

THE CONSERVATORY AT MOXY CHELSEA

CATHÉDRALE – FRENCH MEDITERRANEAN RESTAURANT AT MOXY EAST VILLAGE

Moves Forum 2021...

moves forum 2021

on the various ways we can maximize potential and best infuence and improve the current and future role of women

LIVE STREAMING 04 | 22 | 2021 WATCH NOW AT https://movesforum.com/ KEYNOTE

MODERATORS

Nancy Zimpher

SUNY Chancellor Emeritus

Nancy L. Zimpher is an American educator, state university leader, and former Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY). Prior to her service at SUNY, Zimpher was a dean and professor of education at Ohio State University (where she had earned her bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees); then

Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee between 1998 and 2003; and President of the University of Cincinnati from 2003 through May 2009.

Zimpher was the first woman to serve as Chancellor of SUNY, UWM’s first woman chancellor, and UC’s first female president. To read the full bio, click here.

Moonah Ellison Publisher Moonah Ellison is an entrepreneur, business professional, experienced magazine executive and woman—the perfect mix for publisher of New York Moves, the lifestyle magazine for the City career woman. Combine her limitless energy with a dynamic personality and you get the driving force behind the magazin. From building her own million dollar

sales and marketing corporation in the UK, through developing a major government information magazine and website (including involvement with Tony Blair’s Cabinet Office) to starting a totally innovative Interactive Television Marketing Corporation in the US, Ellison has built success on top of success. To read the full bio, click here.

Maya Eaglin Digital Reporter, Stay Tuned NBC Maya Eaglin is a digital reporter for Stay Tuned, NBC’s news brand for Generation Z available on Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Previously, Eaglin was a news associate at NBC News where she worked on production for The Rachel Maddow Show and in the control room for Meet The Press Daily. She has also interned for NPR, NBC-WRC4 in Washington and

NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Eaglin has received two Hearst Awards for her reporting in college, along with several recognitions from the Broadcast Education Association, Online Pacemaker and College Media Association. Originally from the Washington DC area, Eaglin holds a degree in journalism from Elon University in North Carolina. To read the full bio, click here.

Mariana Atencio TV Host, Author, Viral Speaker & Co-Founder GoLike.

Mariana Atencio is an award–winning journalist, best-selling author and viral speaker, as well as the co-founder of GoLike, a premium multimedia production company specializing in motivational storytelling. Her TEDx Talk on authenticity, “What Makes You Special?”, is one of the Top 10 most-watched on YouTube and translated into 13 languages. Her

book, Perfectly You, was an Amazon Best Seller and selected by Audible and AppleBooks. A former national TV host for NBC and Univision, and expert on resilience & diversity, she has been the keynote at the United Nations ‘Girl Up’ Summit, the LinkedIn annual conference alongside speakers like Michelle Obama. To read the full bio, click here.

PANELIST

moves forum 2021

Emily Burnett Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of BurnettWhite & Case Emily Burnett is the Founder, CEO and Creative Director of BURNETT, the female owned and operated luxury women’s fashion label in New York City. Since its launch in 2018, BURNETT has participated in New York Fashion Week and is carried by top retailers such as Neiman Marcus and Moda Operandi. BURNETT has partnered with UNICEF’s Girls Education Program as well as numerous other foundations to support women’s initiatives worldwide. She graduated with high honors from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Fashion Design and a BA in Cultural and Media Studies. Her designs have been featured in numerous publications including Vogue, WWD, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair and W Magazine. To read the full bio, click here.

Capitalism & Social Fairness

Charisse Evans V.P. Employee Relations Charisse Evans is Vice President of Employee Relations at Delta Airlines. Under her leadership, the Employee Relations Center of Excellence works to ensure the airline’s policies and procedures are fair, transparent and consistent. She is also the company’s executive sponsor of SHE, Delta’s employee business resource group for women. Most recently as V.P., Customer Experience Integration, Evans was responsible for leading a multi-functional strategy for over 40,000 employees with a focus on driving a consistently great experience for customers. Evans also served as V.P., Reservation Sales and Customer Care for Delta, responsible for 10 customer engagement centers in four countries, staffed by 6,000 employees who handle an average of 32 million calls and 3 million social media contacts per year.

To read the full bio, click here.

Lt Col. Whitney Jensen United States Army, New York City Recruiting Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Whitney O. Jensen a Gilroy, California, native, enlisted into the U.S. Army Reserve on the Army’s Birthday in 1996. A graduate of the University of South Alabama, she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Military Police Corps in 1999. She is currently the battalion commander for the New York City Recruiting Battalion. Previous key assignments include platoon leader, 21st Military Police Company (Airborne), Ft. Bragg; commander, 529th Military Police Company (Honor Guard) Heidelberg Germany; battalion S3 and executive officer, 504th Military Police Battalion, Ft. Lewis; and commander of the 502D Military Police Battalion (CID) at Ft. Campbell. To read the full bio, click here.

Cinema, Science & S T E A M: ‘Sci-Fi Conundrum Aicha Sharif Dean of Rocket Club Aicha Sharif is the Dean of Rocket Club, the awardwinning, global entrepreneurship, coding, and robotics academy for kids aged 7 to 14. Sharif’s passion for her work started as a child when she worked on her family’s farm in Morocco. She was the first female in her family to go to high school and eventually paid her way through college in England. She is Six Sigma and Hashin Kanri Certified and holds an MBA in Project Management and an MA in International Business from the London Business School. Sharif has also been an executive at companies like Inhabitr and 3M and is an active volunteer with the Arman Roy Foundation. To read the full bio, click here.

Dakota Gorman Actor, Writer & Director Actor/director and current Moves cover Dakota Gorman makes her directorial debut in the Gravitas Ventures film, All About Sex, a generational film that follows the lives of three mid-20’s friends caught in the grip of quarterlife crises as they meander through the messy, embarrassing and confusing pitfalls that come with “adulting.” In addition to All About Sex, Gorman

had produced the feature script for the horror/thriller, Aftermath. She is currently in pre-production, partnering once again with Nicole Rio of Salt & Light Films, to direct the screenplay, Late Bloomers, written by Sam Kozé & Gary Alan Wright. Gorman’s acting credits include the shows Teen Wolf and Criminal Minds. To read the full bio, click here.

Lt. Col Annie Driscoll Commander of Air Force Recruiting Services Detachment 1 Lt. Col. Annie Kathleen Driscoll is the Commander, Headquarters Air Force Recruiting Service, Detachment 1 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. As Commander, she leads a 500+ member Aviation Inspiration Mentorship team who inform, influence, and inspire future Airmen to deliver twenty-first century airpower. She manages the Air Forces $5.2M Rated Diversity

Improvement campaign portfolio and leads the only Air Force branded solo flight academy targeted at increasing flight exposure and opportunity for underrepresented youth and is responsible for inspiring youth and identifying potential recruits. In June 2021, Lt. Col. Driscoll will take command of the 368th Recruiting Squadron at Hill AFB in Utah. To read the full bio, click here

Melanie Hubert Actor Writer Melanie Hubert is a Canadian actress and writer and trained at the prestigious Armstrong Acting Studios in Toronto, Actors Imagination Studio, and The Second City. Writing under the mentorship of Oscar-nominated writer Robin Swicord (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Matilda, Memoirs Of A Geisha), Hubert

is in the process of working on a screenplay that will see her real life struggles and triumphs brought to life on film. She also hosts a weekly podcast namely “This Blonde Can Talk” on which she discusses her passions such as football, sports entertainment, film, and pop culture. To read the full bio, click here.

moves forum 2021

Invest in YOU:

Networking | Finance | Entrepreneurship

Billie Simmons Co-founder of Daylight Billie Simmons (she/her) is the co-founder of Daylight, the first and only digital banking platform designed for and by the LGBT+ community. Previously, Simmons founded a startup to help trans and non-binary people access safe services. Her background is in marketing and software

engineering at fintech-focused companies such as Techstars and Anthemis Group. She regularly speaks on LGBT+ initiatives in mental health and technology and has spoken at, amongst others, Google, WeWork and Computer World Weekly. To read the full bio, click here.

MSgt Michele L. H. Corning

Sarah Lee CEO of Think Dutchess Sarah Lee is the Chief Executive Officer of Think Dutchess, where she oversees the economic development programs for Dutchess County, New York. She has led the organization on impactful work, including recognition from the International Economic Development Council for their entrepreneurship program and marketing efforts. Lee currently serves on the New York State Economic Develop-

ment Council (NYSEDC) Board and is the Chairwoman of the organization’s Annual Conference. Ms. Lee also serves on the Dutchess County Tourism Board, the Small Business Advisory Council for NY Congressman Antonio Delgado, and the Women’s Leadership Alliance Executive Committee of the Dutchess Regional Chamber of Commerce. To read the full bio, click here.

Officer Accessions Flight Chief, Training, Standardization and Operations United States Air Force Master Sergeant Michele L. H. Corning is an Officer Accessions Flight Chief, Training and Standardization for 318 Recruiting Squadron, in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. She directly oversees officer accessions operations, support, and training for the squadron and is responsible for implementing and developing curriculum for flight chiefs and recruiters. She administers Squadron, Group, AFRS, Air

Staff-Level waivers and exceptions to policy to ensure the accuracy of documentation for the skilled team of 79 recruiters and support personnel for a 1.2 millionsquare-mile area encompassing 21 states, the District of Columbia and Europe. Prior to her current assignment she was assigned as a Health Professions Flight Chief for the 348th RCS in Clearfield, Utah.

To read the full bio, click here.

Kacy Duke Celebrity Trainer, Fitness & Lifestyle Kacy Duke is a renowned fitness consultant and celebrity personal trainer/life coach, who’s been called New York City’s “best trainer” for her sculpting and lean line-creating methods. She is the founding Creative Director of Equinox Fitness Clubs and her on-camera appearances include Today, The Rachael Ray Show, Good Morning America

Health, CBS Morning News, Good Housekeeping TV and countless local news programs. She has also served as a spokesperson for Dove, Kellogg’s, and Nike and is the author of The Show It Love Workout. Additionally, Duke recently released The Kacy Duke Diaries, a series of webisodes dedicated to the art of health fitness.

To read the full bio, click here.

2021: The Challenges

of Social Change & Tolerant Values

Deborah Rosado Shaw Trusted Advisor, Strategist, Coach Before establishing the Rosado Shaw Group, LLC. in 2004, Deborah Rosado Shaw started and grew a multimillion-dollar international merchandising company with customers like Costco, Walmart, and The Walt Disney Company. Most recently, she was PepsiCo’s SVP, Chief Global Diversity & Engagement, serving 260,000 associates in 200 countries and territories. She established what has been deemed their “most successful women’s leadership initiative to date” and founded the company’s Global Transformational Leadership Program. She also spearheaded the strategy for the Global Women’s Initiative, which includes a $100 million dollar commitment from PepsiCo to impact 12.5 million women and girls around the world. To read the full bio, click here.

SFC Patricia Morgan U.S. Army Healthcare Recruiter Army Sergeant First Class Patricia Morgan was born in St. Ann, Jamaica WI and migrated to the United States at age 13. She attended high school in Rochester, New York before joining the U.S. Army in January 1999. Upon graduation, Morgan then attended Advance Individual Training at Redstone Arsenal, AL for Military Occupational Specialty training Ammunition Specialist. She was later assigned to the Ft. Lee, VA where she separated from active duty. SFC Morgan later rejoined the National Guard before moving to Germany and has served over seven years in the Army Reserve in various units as a Human Resources Specialist.

She has been serving as an Army Recruiter and a Healthcare Recruiter since 2013. To read the full bio, click here.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

Thank you to our partners for sponsoring this event

Will you help us? unicefusa.org/wontstop

Power Women 2020

W

PW

moves power women...

... lead by example, are accommodating and flexible by nature, yet strong and immovable on points of principle; always determined but always aware of circumstance.

0 2 0 2 065

Power Women 2020

W

“...WOMEN WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE in our lives, specially in these challenging times, and provide inspiration for generations to come...”

Thank you to our partners for sponsoring this event

CLIC PLAY

TO CHECK OUR 2020 GALA VIRTUAL PREVIEW

Power Women 2020

W

PW2020

Emanne Beasha “...My mom had always played opera arias for us when we were little. And when I was seven - she asked me to learn the chorus of “con te partiro” as a birthday present for her... ”

1. You’re a youth ambassador for Feed The Children. What made you passionate about this specific cause?

I have one very close friend - I’ve known her my whole life but when she was little she had a very hard life.

2. It must be difficult to achieve your dreams in a global pandemic. How have you been handling the isolation?

At the beginning it was really hard but I stayed busy with my brothers and new music and school and Netflix.

3. How does it feel to be a voice both to an American and Arab audience?

I feel really lucky that I was able to experience both shows. I think my message is the same for both, enjoy my performances and have a little escape from the real world.

5. Where do you hope to be in 5 years?

I hope to be with my family living happily - I don’t mind where. And for my singing I hope I have learned a lot about music theory, mastered guitar and piano, written many songs and taught my voice every genre and perfect my Italian for opera.

7. What’s the thing that you enjoyed most about competing on AGT? My favorite thing was getting to know Simon Cowell. He was so kind and cool.

8. How has your family handled your success so far?

My family has been awesome. I could never have done it without them. My mom is always by my side and my dad worked so hard to keep my career running smoothly.

9. What advice have for others your age to achieve their dreams.

Just stay positive. It’s a lot of work and ups and downs but you have to be optimistic and enjoy the long journey.

10. Who is your biggest inspiration?

Maria Callas. She is the best singer ever. It was her emotion and soul that she put into her performances that made them the best performances and most heart breaking.

11. What made you passionate about opera music in the beginning?

My mom had always played opera arias for us when we were little.

And when I was seven - she asked me to learn the chorus of “con te partiro” as a birthday present for her.

13. You’ve traveled much more than most people your age. Where is your favorite place?

My favorite place would have to be Sri Lanka, riding in tuktuks and surfing and exploring.

Leah Bommena Leah Bonnema is a comedian who has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Hard Read, a romance novel book club on Chris Gethard Presents as well as regular guest spots on the Moves Power Women Annual Gala. She is the co-host of popular podcast Were You Raised By Wolves?!

Leah hails from rural Maine and celebrates Christmas all year long. For more information please go to LeahBonnema.com and follow her on Instagram @LeahBonnema.

When delightfully disheveled detective novelist Mae Robards receives a message from her parents that they’re going to close the x-country ski center in New Hampshire she decides to pack up her life in LA and move home to help keep the family business afloat.

Mae wonders if she’s making a big mistake as she starts her December drive cross country with her dog Scarpetta. Her latest novel is already past due and there’s a new editor who dislikes Mae’s unconventional style of writing. Mae is fully away of how like the plot of a Christmas movie the current circumstances of her life seem to be and can’t help but laugh when her Jeep breaks down and a handsome stranger shows up with a tow. Could this be a Christmas romance? (Why yes, yes it is!) With the help of her friends, family and a little spirit of the season, can Mae make it all work or has she taken on more than she can handle in The Holiday Breakdown?!

Power Women 2020

W

PW2020

“...I learned very early on to be really sensitive to other people’s feelings around them, because it’s a defense mechanism... ”

Lillie L emon is now all abo Kinder ut the Creatu m ess a Eric Ro res, an g e. T h we form d e duo, ally ma reflect Lillie Le they’re na de the their e m e co m on and c v han ge o ar tists. mes fr e thing b o Now, th lution and c hangin arly 2021 to etter th m that desir ey h o p throug e to b e g priori an wh e to m e h their t y. We c ti at we a e m k s e want to dress th u a h ave b o m e s o m e e many sic and use th a clear statem s that we be mo e e n as vorced give o re e nt social eir platf a socithan ju and th u to geth issues orm to st thes ings w tionally of toda er, lovin rselves . We The tw ad e ere la w y b in my g . ant to the gro els o h a ve e a ch o househ really, really to be b e hum up hop ther.” W always their so m ess y old. I le re es to a a a cultura it ha d a un d – a n ll h y s the reb e sensitiv ddress around l s unique light, m trasted randin e to o arned ver y e mo issues them, approa stor y to ystems and elodic with d g , arly on th e o b r f oppre Like, I ch to e synth arker, h s p c th h cal dic e a o u e o w ir s p e it ’s a c ase a need to le’s fee pop tu audien ssive ard ho defens ne co lings ce s . life -affi k can ac dedica tomy of Lillie - hitting lyrics e mec rming t, beca now how pe ted fan . T he m n A L hanism s e m w o u o e p s b n quic base fo e le lo e u H ow e v . a th w s a g ire in e u r kly attra gs in th p at a n ly wait feeling r thropy er, des y minu for the e h o us c so I , we a sage o pite the the Montere that th te ir first e re give y- base ted a com f .” succes K c In ere wa in o uld jus der Cre keepin alb db n a sm e. s, both natelys so m succes t g with atures, all taste um, Lycan acquire of them and. relea O n Novemb ething sg the me Lillie u er 24, s o d missin e fo to f d y sw u e s Lillie Le rew, they be c e n t a h h 2020 , s this u d pe a in a g. A s th s t n c in n is re gan to g e mon ju d to l le Kin ible se the em ak of th nfor tu ey the society realize s t w asn their g n otiona e albu called Color der Creature ir ch th and wri ’t enco oals. E l turmo se of empath m to c s blind, anged te mpass at the name ric say il y p which o a a th o n m ignant e dire d strug s e. T h o ing eno s, “The has n o ne lyrics. gles of ugh th neakugh fo Lillie L M ea nw t b een ction of their was wo ver really wo e r y e m h h ave ile, Eri rked fo group, on mo co m e s lost at rking le c grew with a r us in niker, th from th s a w as a the firs mothe up surr e ex ten ll . T hat uniq eir sound ver y, p s and less an Lillie a t r who d p n ro o s u la iv d ld le e bably 2 and it fe ce, is e s e E s r c to r . ic o b s a n g p o u n d e d by A n ll ro n a d a d then li u th b 017, po t lt like th r o n y in e r o music r a g rofessio ti w s et proc the cre o mal ed there h liti e time nally a ess – ju ucation o also picke ative jo n b et ween proces for cha cally intense n d an d st a flo urney. in d s is like u nge.” time iff p Lillie a m erent in music. w.

T here a “b ee lso ad out, w strume usic led him His forr tap” – A s Eric puts ded, “Y c hile oth re to n h a ve b a ts ti p it v a ick up someti , their eb nd style o u kn o er tim casion ee m a ny mes , it w, the s , b ut a es , it ’s quickly ottleneck. W ally, th ing, cu n really stres g ush e s lso cre last fo hile his ere’s a a slow develo sful fo tr ying lturally ated a u r te b p r re a , a ing, it to trickle. years chnica nd fixin people as the d brew a ing up li z e the ar ti l skills w underd O cok a lo g goo d is who a or pou th stic sid o g . Pe ere r, but k sure to and t weakin felt like emselves to e as we ng time for ople are re livg – an eep the wo co m e they co Eric to ll . d o “[ o rl p en someth Lea r n in ut. d in w uldn’t b a lot o ays tha f p us h b T houg ing g fo r m efore. t they n ote s , h they A n d na a ack, an like the make s turally, b ut h o lly], I’m li ke, d so it munic Lillie L u th fe w do ‘O h , I a s re e te a e emon ls y that an re to s ’s w re , c c a n p la [I ] p lay “S h a o ile cre ll o th at llabora monik works d y th e th ating ’s er was y tense. I felt te w o e mes n b it a impor ta I wanted to e h n th e d com L music, n e n’t spe il s a g e? ’” li ly k e s in s p ea k ri .” ic nt to m c d . s , T a o L k w h , he il f in is li h to m e g ile Eric div e.” y ‘co m that m to – typicall produc ore. It in g o u y are a p ision of labor B e o w as t’ s A n d so th ro – th th duct o Lillie a e mu eir spe h o o ds , in the f their nd Eric cialties sulated growin middle on b ec b ’s a , c s ra to k g in th g ries are u p. rounds am e K o the na e togeth inder C f a pandem and ch r per fec er, goo me, Kinder C ic tly enc reature Lillie a ildreature ds a n d ap s. A s L , Lillie Lem thing b ttribute s . T h ey b illie say e s a tt d trauma her em er and s a cam e li k s, “The e tic chil , s o tr to ti o o n c n a l so ger tha reate s dh o o d this ve ng ome n ever. . Sh e r y toug Listen says, “I writing to a to Colo h grow went th rb ing ph T lind on ub e M as e. M ro usic, P u gh y paren andora Spotify, Apple Follow ts got an Music, them diYou on the d more. gram, ir web and Fa ceboo site, Yo k. uTube, Insta -

SISLEY-PARIS BOUTIQUE • 343 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014 • 343Bleecker@Sisley.fr

profile

CJ LANA PERR

By Moonah Ellison Photographer: Robert Ascroft “Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of entertaining stadiums,” says CJ “Lana” Perry, professional wrestler, performer, model, singer, actress, well, everything really! I caught up with Perry via Zoom before her Wrestlemania appearance in April where she was fighting for the Women’s Tag Titles.

Her life has taken her down so many different paths: professional ballet, to acting, to commercial dancing, to wrestling.

Perry still can’t wrap her head around it. Here she is, a ballerina that was dainty and elegant, and now in this space of professional wrestling for the biggest and brightest wrestling ring there is, the WWE, which is very masculine. But being an advocate for feminism in a male-dominated sport, Perry highlights the diversity in professional wrestling and how the athletes - especially female - come from all walks of life.

“The people come here from all different types of backgrounds,” gushes Perry. “We are professional athletes, some of the best athletes in the world like Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair. These crazy athletes that have been in the Olympics, but we also have people like me that are former ballerinas, models, really athletic and we’re able to learn how to wrestle. I think that being a WWE superstar, you can find your own path.”

picked that started in 2012. There was a Diva search (now called Superstars) and having this huge try out all over the world looking for dancers, models, actresses, professional athletes that they could turn into professional wrestlers. They took 12 out of thousands of girls and put them through a month-long camp teaching the basic 101 of professional wrestling. Five were signed and Perry was one of them, getting the call that she made it on her birthday. What a gift.

Like when she’s in the ring, Perry strives to empower women to fight and grab that opportunity when it presents itself. “I encourage women all over the world that feel like their voice might not be heard and even if they feel like they’re not being heard, I hear you. Many of us hear you and we have to encourage one another to not give up. Because man, it is a marathon. A lot of times we’ll [women] take five steps forward, and then we take four back. But we’re still moving forward and we have to find a silver lining. Because if we don’t find the silver lining then we just give up and will never make change.

“And I think that’s that’s what it’s all about.

Fighting for inclusion, fighting for diversity, fighting for more representation. Every single gender, race, sexual orientation, religion. We just have to come together and be more loving and be more kind to each other and understand that we really, really need more representation in everything.”

To be selected to wrestle for the WWE is a process.

One can only imagine how many try out and are lucky enough to get picked, signed, and perform regularly. It’s a grueling sport but the rewards are endless. It was a six month process for Perry to be 073

LAN xxx

Perry was born in Florida and spent years of her childhood in Latvia, her father was a missionary. Her love for ballet would be evident, attending the Riga Choreography School (the ballet school of the Latvian National Opera) and dancing with the Latvian National Ballet when she was 14. Three years later, Perry would return to the United States and dance in New York City at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, and Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. College at Florida State and modeling would follow and then a relocation to LA to break into show business.Perry credits her time in Latvia with shaping her into the woman she is today. She has not been back in ten years. “Latvia is really what defined me to be honest. It taught me discipline, it taught me resiliency, it taught me the importance of inclusion. I grew up as American in the former Soviet Union and so I was the minority. I was bullied a lot and discriminated a lot because I was American. They did not like Americans so I have a very different point of view on life because of that. And I think that’s partly why I do fight so much for equality because of probably not feeling included while growing up in those defining years.”

Given Perry’s fast-paced lifestyle, the pandemic has brought mental health to the forefront. Covid has given many of us a time to reflect on ourselves and Perry is no exception.

The emotional toll quarantine has produced is paramount. “I felt like before the pandemic I was just go, go, go, go, go, nonstop, nonstop, nonstop. And I never had a moment to reflect on my own health. My own mental health, my own emotional health. And then all of a sudden, I had all this time to do that.

And it’s been a lot of work. It’s been hard but I just encourage everyone to do that. I encourage everyone to focus on their mental and emotional health as much as their physical health because you know that is vital.”

Perry stars in the recently-released sci-fi film Cosmic Sin with Bruce Willis. The film is set in

2524, four hundred years after humans started colonizing outer planets. Perry is part of a team of soldiers sent to thwart an alien attack on a remote planet. Frank Grillo also stars.

Her role was originally cast for a man but was changed to female after Perry’s audition. “My character is a badass. She is a sniper. She’s the best sniper in the galaxy. Coming from a ballerina to play the best sniper in the galaxy?

That’s pretty awesome.”

But seeing women in many different roles that would otherwise be predominantly men? Yes, absolutely. If the media and society show a woman as president then little girls will see that image and think it’s normal.

We need more of that. “Oh it’s normal for me to become a CEO. Oh it’s normal for me to be a Prime Minister, a director, a producer, anything, a sniper! You could do it all just like men do it. Like why can’t we do it all?!? And I think more and more if we have these roles for women that represent different areas of life, it’s going to show women that they can do anything. I think that’s the importance of inclusion and the importance of representation for everyone.”

So if you happen to be interested in professional wrestling, Perry has some sure-fire advice. “It’s like a marathon. Do not lose hope.

Keep running it. Also, train. Train as much as possible in the ring. Train, go work out, take acting classes. I can’t emphasize how important acting classes are for your training. Even speech classes! Be prepared to speak to people. Because it’s all about confidence as well.

And so those are a couple, just a couple, of the things that would really help. Take some gymnastics so you can flip.”With a new budding acting career, stardom in the WWE, and a platform to encourage other women to reach for the stars, Perry credits her parents as the people who played the biggest role in

her life. “They are so inspiring. My father has taught me to always chase my dreams. My mother has taught me to always be kind and loving, and first and foremost is to be kind to people and love people. That’s the most important thing over career accolades. Over any accolades is to be kind and love one another and to give. And my father has always encouraged me to chase my dreams and what it means to be a woman. My biggest advocate for what it means to redefine what it means to be a woman was my father. He always encouraged me that I could do it all.

I could be a mother if I want, I could be a wife, I could be president, I could go to Mars.

He always taught me the sky’s the limit. My dad is getting his Masters right now and my mom just got her PhD and they’re both 64 years old.”

It’s never too late.

NA “... Like why can’t we do it all?!? ... it’s going to show women that they can do anything... ”