Letter From the Editor

Greetings,

Gosh, where do I begin? I’m writing this as we celebrate our 11th anniversary. We finally got some operating funds, y’all, and it’s like a whole new world of business! I can laugh and smile and write captions about how good life is because, for once, life is finally good. Amid our many blessings, SwagHer Magazine has landed its biggest client to date and, I can say I make a living off what I do, and it’s the truth.

I don’t think I’ve ever written you all without having any worries. It’s a strange feeling. It’s almost like I’ve waited so long I don’t know how to feel. Initially, I was scared. I was afraid things were too good to be true. I had grown accustomed to struggle. I didn’t know anything existed outside of it.

Remember I started this magazine as a former teen mom and stripper, still slightly fresh out of community college with no corporate world experience. Remember I’ve written to you all from the many houses and shitholes I’ve lived in, the many McDonald’s I practically lived out of, and the many relationships I’d endured just to have time and a place to run this business. If we are indeed the sum of our experiences, I didn’t feel worthy. Not in the beginning.

The thought that hard work had finally paid off didn’t enter my mind because I did not think that way- or at least I used to not think that way, because, at one point, I wondered how could I take you guys any further when we didn’t appear to be moving.

We go hard behind the marginalized communities because we were a part of it!

But who knew that from the concrete, a flower would grow?

However, It’s going to be interesting to watch us grow. It’s like we are finally at the same starting point as everyone else and not so far behind that it looks like it will be impossible to catch up. They leveled the playing field! And we are growing, we’ve hired a social media cousin and a junior communications manager, and we are working to shake things up!

So in this issue, we simply intended to have fun and take it easy while still tackling some complex subjects. We hope you enjoy this issue. If you are here and you’ve been here, thank you for being on this journey with us. If you are new here, welcome. Now let’s go!

Peace and blessings, From Fancy w/ Love

Super Bowl and Grammys Choreographer Makes Musical Debut By: Patrice Rivers

Award-winning choreographer and creative director Charm LaDonna was born and raised in Compton, CA. Besides the likes of dancing and tapping into what she does best, LaDonna is also a music artist that is currently signed to Epic Records. Her EP ‘LaDonna,’ a self-titled EP, is available now on all streaming platforms. This superstar has worked with today’s top celebrities such as Meghan Trainor, Kendrick Lamar, Selena Gomez, The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, and many more! LaDonna who recently choreographed the Superbowl halftime show for The Weeknd and the Grammys for Dua Lipa.

Patrice: What is your SwagHer? What makes Charm LaDonna, Charm LaDonna?

LaDonna: I am true to myself and do not focus on what people think. I am creative, and I float at a higher vibration; that is my superpower.

Patrice: Tell us more about being a choreographer. How did you get started with that? Was that a passion you always had?

LaDonna: I have been dancing since I was noticeably young, like three years old. I was always focused. It is my

Ebony OH has been called “The Midwife of the Mindset” because of her years of experience, expertise, and her Women’s Empowerment Network that created a global impact. Her strong desire to empower and lead other aspiring entrepreneurs led Ebony to launch her new movement, Millionaire Mindset Coaching, which has become an accredited coaching business with entrepreneurial clientele from all over the world. This has led her to devote her entire venture to help other entrepreneurs take their businesses to scale.

Ebony hosts entrepreneurial and empowerment retreats and events for individuals seeking to change lives, combining her innovative business success strategies with advice for personal growth for a successful millionaire mindset. She is a new voice being heard across the globe of transparency, faith, power, prestige, and class while living her life daily to empower women, men, and youth across the globe to destroy generational curses of poverty and lack.

May 2018, Ebony OH presented The First Annual I Conceive Women’s Empowerment Weekend. “I Conceive” a two-day empowerment event encouraging women that have suffered child loss and childbirth trauma to believe again in MIRACLES after sharing her story of PROMISE after 12 miscarriages and 14 losses. Ebony OH used this impactful platform to ignite healing, hope, and faith with the launch of her first book entitled Three Times A Lady, “THE WOMAN, HER BUSINESS, HER GOD.”

The recent sale of her multi-million dollar mental health facility to Eastside Medical Center’s top supervising physician has catapulted her life’s goal as a 7-figure earner. Forevermore, Ebony OH is a trendsetter and someone who will continue to make a tremendous impact in the lives of others. She is a giver, a leader, an inspiration, and she is Three Times A Lady; a woman who believes in sowing upward in the direction that she’s trying to grow. She’s a “SEED STRATEGIST” and she believes wholeheartedly that IT CAN’T RUN OUT.

Stacy Sloane By: Christina Woodard

Stacy Sloane is a daytime accountant and full-time wanderlust. She is originally from Boston but birthed her company, where she currently resides in New York City.

She derives her creativity and passions from inexplicably beautiful life events and memorable experiences. She takes with her the knowledge from her travels and pours them into her work. She has always been a maker, a true creative, a nurturer, and a caretaker.

Now, she is a giver of light.

In 2020, Stacy presented Solstvce, an apothecary of sorts that was seven years in the making. You will find deityinspired candles in ornate vessels, conversation starters, soaps, scrubs, and gold jewelry on her website. She understands adornment and the act of making yourself and your home more attractive. Stacy’s goal was to instill happiness, filled with gifts, aromatics, light, and warmth. In her words, it’s what we all deserve.

Christina: What is your SwagHer? What makes Stacy, Stacy?

Stacy: It’s definitely my style. I was a brand before I even started one. I have a knack for putting pieces together; whether it’s fashion or home décor, I know how to make affordable items look expensive.

Christina: Have you always wanted to be an accountant? If not, what else did you want to be?

Stacy: Omg, no. I had dreams of being a corporate lawyer and wearing designer two-piece pencil skirt suits. I left college early to take care of my grandmother, and when she passed, I decided not to go back to school. I landed a job at a private investment management firm and acquired a mentor. She taught me how to read financials and kickstarted my career path.

Black Media Honors Honoree:

The Mothers of the Movement

Sybrina Fulton (Trayvon Martin) Congresswoman Lucia McBath (Jordan Davis) Gwen Carr (Eric Garner) Geneva Reed-Veal (Sandra Bland) Maria Hamilton (Dontre Hamilton) Cleopatra Cowley Pendleton (Hadiya Pendleton)

Mothers of the Movement is a group of women whose African American children have been killed by police officers or by gun violence.[1] Members of the group have appeared on various television shows, at award ceremonies, and political events to share their experiences of losing a son or daughter to police violence and advocate for political change.

The Mothers of the Movement started as a result of the 2013 acquittal of George Zimmerman after he fatally shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin. The women have attended many conventions to spread awareness of the crisis that is police brutality in the United States. They use their grief to rally involvement in communities and highlight the injustice they’ve endured with the loss of their children’s lives. They also talk about life after loss, the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance), and how to move forward after a traumatic event.