Tag: Entrepreneurship

Atlanta /

Atlanta To Host It’s First Prom for Entrepreneurs: The R.J. Pierce Law Group presents The First Trademark Soirée

On Aug. 30, 2019, Attorney Rosezena J. Pierce, and her company R.J. Pierce Law Group, P.C. will be hosting the First Trademark Soiree. The Objective for the Trademark Soirée is to allow attendees a chance to celebrate their victories as Entrepreneurs in business in a formal setting. This event will be an Entrepreneur’s Prom for small business owners with a Classic Red Carpet, Black Tie Affair, Cocktail Reception, fine dining and a fireside chat with established CEOs. Doors open at 6:30 pm and the Soirée begins at 7 pm.

CEO, Monique Rodriquez, and COO, Melvin Rodriquez of Mielle Organics will be our special Keynote Speakers. They have built a multi-million dollar brand and have a story to share with every entrepreneur of humble beginnings and how they are still prospering through the Grace of God.

R.J. Pierce Law Group, P.C. has hit 500 (Now over 600) trademarks and is celebrating with other Bizpreneurs. We will also crown a Trademark King & Queen in our award ceremony and dance the night away. Grab your tickets now because this one of a kind Black Tie Affair will sell out.

Link in bio to grab your tickets HERE.

For Sponsorship Opportunities and Media request please contact Publicist, Milan Mobley at info@umanagementpr.com

Celebrity /

McDonald’s Black & Positively Golden Experience at 25th Essence Festival: Uplift and Inspire Entrepreneurs

McDonald’s Black & Positively Golden movement was lit at the 25th Essence Festival! The (em)power-packed weekend was full of activities to uplift and inspire up-and-coming entrepreneurs everywhere. With appearances by actress/businesswoman La La Anthony, entertainer Luke James, reality television stars Cynthia Bailey, Tamar Braxton and Trina Braxton, vocal powerhouses Jazmine Sullivan and Kierra Sheard, the always-suave actor/host Terrence J and more, some of the culture’s brightest stars came out to support the Black & Positively Golden movement, which celebrates Black excellence through empowerment, entrepreneurship and education.

BLACK & POSITIVELY GOLDEN WELCOME BREAKFAST: McDonald’s kicked off the explosive weekend with an exclusive Black & Positively Golden Welcome Breakfast. The intimate event was hosted by McDonald’s Head of Cultural Engagement and Experiences Lizette Williams — the spearhead behind the brand’s largest African American-focused campaign in 16 years — and New Orleans franchisee Henry Coaxum.

WE SHINE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PANEL: Actress and self-made businesswoman La La Anthony moderated McDonald’s We Shine Entrepreneurship Panel before a crowd of thousands. She interviewed rising moguls, Dana Chanel (Sprinkle of Jesus, Founder), Nicole Walters (The Monetized Life, Founder & CEO) and Jewel Burks-Solomon (Part Pic, Founder), alongside McDonald’s franchisees Jade Colin and Tanya Hill-Holliday. At 29, Colin is McDonald’s youngest owner/operator, while Hill-Holliday is the brand’s first female owner/operator in Philadelphia.

EMPOWERING MUSIC PERFORMANCES: R&B songstress Jazmine Sullivan brought down the house Saturday with some of her classics. Gospel music vocalist/actress Kierra Sheard left it all on the stage Sunday afternoon. Thousands of fans gathered at the Black & Positively Golden Booth for both performances to rock out to some of their favorite tunes.

BLACK & POSITIVELY GOLDEN LATE NIGHT PARTY: After a long day of empowerment, McDonald’s hosted it’s Black & Positively Golden Late Night Party — the official Essence After Party. Celebs, such as actor/singer Luke James; reality television stars Cynthia Bailey, Tamar Braxton and Trina Braxton; actor Tyler Lepley; and social media star Karlton “@notkarltonbanks” Humes, sparkled at Club XLIV as attendees and Hiplet-style dancers showed off their best moves to the sounds of DJ Rashida and DJ B-Hen.

BLACK & POSITIVELY GOLDEN SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATIONS: To close out the weekend, McDonald’s empowered the next generation of leaders by supporting college education. In partnership with Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the organization’s national ambassador and HBCU alum Terrence J, McDonald’s presented two, $10,000 Black & Positively Golden Scholarships to well-deserving incoming HBCU freshmen.

 

 

Reality television star Cynthia Bailey attends McDonald’s Black & Positively Golden Late Night Party during the 25th Essence Festival.  McDonald’s activities at Essence Festival are an extension of it’s Black & Positively Golden movement, which celebrates Black excellence through empowerment, entrepreneurship, and education.

 

 

Actor/singer Luke James attends McDonald’s Black & Positively Golden Late Night Party during the 25th Essence Festival.  McDonald’s activities at Essence Festival are an extension of it’s Black & Positively Golden movement, which celebrates Black excellence through empowerment, entrepreneurship, and education.

 

 

R&B songstress Jazmine Sullivan strikes a pose at McDonald’s mobile restaurant before her showstopping performance on the Black & Positively Golden Experience stage during the 25th Essence Festival. McDonald’s activities at Essence Festival are an extension of it’s Black & Positively Golden movement, which celebrates Black excellence through empowerment, entrepreneurship, and education.

 

Beauty /

2019 ESSENCE FESTIVAL TRANSFORMS INTO PLATFORM ADVANCING GLOBAL BLACK CULTURE, ECONOMIC OWNERSHIP & INCLUSION

The ESSENCE Festival® presented by Coca-Cola, the world’s largest cultural, entertainment and empowerment experience, is marking its 25th anniversary July 4-7, 2019 in New Orleans, LA.  The Festival, the only experience of its kind, is also the largest celebration of global Black culture and continues to reach new heights with a focus on economic inclusion, cultural ownership, and community development. Now attracting more than 500,000 attendees each weekend, the ESSENCE Festival surpasses every national music, entertainment, and cultural festival based on average daily attendance and is planning its most extensive programming to date.

With a daily line-up of diverse, can’t-miss enrichment and entertainment programming, the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center will be a safe space where hundreds of thousands of multigenerational attendees gather to be informed, inspired and empowered.  Offering new and elevated experiences, each activation will serve the unmet needs of Black women across the globe and bring the pages of the magazine and online content to life as never before across arts, entertainment, music, beauty, fashion, technology, film, food, wellness, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and economic empowerment.

“For 25 years, the ESSENCE Festival has embodied the power and purpose of our culture – bringing a total of more than $4 billion in economic impact to the City of New Orleans and state of Louisiana and most importantly, serving as a sacred ground for millions of Black women to engage each other in community, sisterhood, service, family, love, laughter, joy, hope, and empowerment,” said Michelle Ebanks, CEO of ESSENCE Communications.  “Today, the Festival is a full celebration of that culture – what we have achieved, how we honor each other, and where we’re going from here. For us, as a 100% Black-owned company, that includes building from the Festival’s foundation of music, entertainment, and empowerment to also now reclaiming our economics and facilitating more opportunities for ownership of and in the culture that we create, innovate and evolve.”

Ebanks continued, “ESSENCE is home, and we know that home is where the heart is.  It is where we go to be restored and sustained.  No matter where we travel in the world, there’s no place like it.  So, the ESSENCE Festival is also a much-anticipated homecoming for Black artists to be uplifted and replenished, for our brightest minds to convene around solutions to critical issues impacting our communities, and for our most creative, bold and passionate selves to be celebrated and renewed. ESSENCE is that place, and today we say “Welcome home.”

In addition to an epic ‘homecoming’ musical line-up of more than 80 performers at the Louisiana Superdome – including Mary J. Blige, Nas, Missy Elliott, H.E.R., Big Freedia, Davido, Frankie Beverly, Jermaine Dupri, MC Lyte, Pharrell Williams, Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky & Mike (RBRM), Sheila E., Teddy Riley, Teyana Taylor, Timbaland, and more – a 25th anniversary celebration of 1994’s most culturally impactful and transformative albums that redefined pop culture will be curated and performed by the original artists.  These include Mary J. Blige’s My Life, Nas’ Illmatic, Brandy’s Brandy, Method Man’s Tical, Scarface’sDiary, Big Daddy Kane’s Daddy’s Home, Da Brat’s Funkdafied, Slick Rick’s Behind Bars and Brownstone’s From the Bottom Up.

The 25th Anniversary ESSENCE Festival will also span more than 10 venues across New Orleans and encompass several new and enhanced curated experiences, including (**indicates new for 2019):

 

**Global Black Economic Forum – Attendees connect with today’s most seasoned corporate moguls and inspiring entrepreneurs, focused on building economic empowerment and generational wealth, featuring the Black CEO Roundtable, The Billionaire’s Forum, Entrepreneur’s Summit, relationship-building opportunities, and more.

**Fashion House – With ongoing accusations of cultural appropriation and tone-deafness in news and social headlines around the world, many major and luxury fashion brands continue to face issues around their appreciation, understanding, and representation of people of color globally. In addition, the increasing awareness that free promotion from cultural giants in the Black community bestow a lucrative cultural significance to these brands, but with little economic inclusion, and as Black creatives struggle to create and maintain significant business, this conundrum presents the challenge of how do we exercise our creative and economic influence for the benefit of our community.  Focused on elevating the Black fashion community as well as the fashion experience for Black consumers, the Fashion House will provide the necessary tools for Black-owned brands to be successful and opportunities for major fashion brands to provide support, capital and partnerships for Black designers and consumers, as well as curate and showcase Black-owned brands via a shoppable designer trunk show and online Fashion House collaborations.

**Wellness House – The declining state of health and wellness in the Black community mandates that we do more – in more places, with more people – to educate and activate Black women and families around what it means to truly live well physically, mentally and emotionally.  At the Wellness House, attendees will engage in an enlightening and inspiring environment focused on self-care, including educational and motivational conversations with some of today’s leading health and wellness experts; an array of fitness and wellness activities and programming; cooking and nutrition classes; wholesome and delicious food and more with nationally-renown speakers, instructors, trainers, chefs, and special guests.

 

**ESSENCE Black Excellence Awards

The ESSENCE Black Excellence Awards will embrace the triumph of everyday leaders in our communities; honoring trailblazers across disciplines including the Arts, Education, Entrepreneurship, Fashion, Film, Food, Music, Social Justice, Sports, Technology, Wellness and more. This elegant celebration of local and global heroes will also spotlight the impact of corporations, government and Black-owned businesses working collectively for the advancement of all.

 

**ESSENCE Food & Wine Festival – Foodies indulge in a wide range of mouthwatering selections at ESSENCE’s official culinary experience, featuring ‘ESSENCE Eats’ pop-ups at multiple locations throughout New Orleans.

ESSENCE Music Festival – The Festival’s 3-night, evening concert series will present more than 80 of the world’s greatest artists and performers across five stages, featuring artist-led curations, tribute moments and one-of-a-kind, only-at-ESSENCE collaborations, as well as a new intimate venue series called After Dark.

Beauty Carnival – Beauty enthusiasts pamper themselves in an immersive beauty experience designed to meet their individual needs. From live tutorials to curated shopping destinations, beauty fans explore a vivid spectacle of global beauty.

ESSENCE Film & TV Festival – Fans’ all-access to exclusive previews and screenings, appearances and meet & greets with the industry’s most popular casts and performers, featuring the Screening Room, Center Stage, and Fan Zone.

Power Stage – Audiences take in a range of empowering conversations with today’s most influential voices, tackling key issues around politics, love, and family, activism, wealth and more.

E-Suite – With a membership pass, subscribers access an exclusive suite for entrepreneurs and senior-level women in business. From panel conversations to recruitment opportunities with our partners, E-Suite is the Festival’s top destination for executives and entrepreneurs.

ESSENCE Marketplace – With participation from nearly 300 entrepreneurs, the ESSENCE Marketplace will offer a specially curated, daily retail experience across multiple destinations throughout New Orleans during the four-day weekend. Attendees will indulge in bespoke culinary, craft and retail shopping environments that present unique, culturally diverse and authentic offerings from around the world.

Day of Service/Girls United – The 2019 annual “Day of Service” – community reinvestment via projects around New Orleans focused on rehabilitation, beautification, and inspiration – will focus on ESSENCE Girls United, ESSENCE’s Gen Z platform and the mentoring initiative focused on helping this generation increase their academic potential, self-love and leadership skills. The day will culminate with ESSENCE Day in the Park – a community celebration at Louis Armstrong Park with music, food, and local vendors.

Weekend and single-night ticket packages for the evening Music Festival concert series are on sale now. For the first time ever, ESSENCE is introducing the 2019 Weekend VIP Power Pass, which provides access to a premium experience at all of the Festival’s ticketed events throughout the weekend, including the evening Music Festival, Fashion House, Beauty Carnival, ESSENCE Day in the Park, Wellness House and Power Stage, among other experiences to be announced.

For information about ticket sales, accommodations and the latest news about the ESSENCE Festival® visit Essence.com/festival.  Join the festival community: Follow us on Twitter @essencefest #EssenceFest and become a fan of Festival on Facebook.

Sponsors for the 25th-anniversary ESSENCE Festival® include Coca-Cola, AT&T, Ford, McDonald’s, State Farm and Walmart.  The ESSENCE Festival is produced by ESSENCE Communications Inc.

 

Entertainment /

ESSENCE ESTABLISHES “THE PIPELINE: AN ECONOMIC INCLUSION INITIATIVE” TO GROW ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND TECHNICAL CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN LOUISIANA

ESSENCE, the number one media, technology and commerce company dedicated to Black women with a global brand reach of over 17 million, will partner with the City of New Orleans and the Urban League of Louisiana to launch The Pipeline: An Economic Inclusion Initiative.

The Pipeline is designed to increase the pool of Louisiana-based women and Black professionals pursuing careers and business opportunities in live events and technical production. This initiative will also create opportunities to connect existing production entrepreneurs to service contracts in the industry at both the corporate and governmental levels and give them access to networking, capital raising and opportunities for training and skills development. It will also include an internship program for youth who aspire for careers in media and live production and more.

In 2018, Essence Communications was acquired by Essence Ventures, an independent African-American owned company focused on merging content, community, and commerce to meet the evolving cultural and lifestyle needs of people of color. As the brand celebrates its one-year anniversary of becoming 100% Black-owned again, ESSENCE is furthering its commitment to enabling sustainable opportunities for economic independence, social empowerment and wealth creation for Black women and their communities.

“Our Pipeline Initiative is so meaningful because we are establishing it in direct response to a critical void that we have identified while successfully building the ESSENCE Festival and other live experiential and content platforms for 25 years – the need for more Black professionals prepared to bid on large-scale live events and technical production,” said Michelle Ebanks, CEO of Essence. “This effort speaks directly to ESSENCE’s mission of serving our audience in every way—especially by empowering them to own their economic security. It will allow us to become a conduit for Black businesses and entrepreneurs to help them source targeted opportunities in a space where we are underrepresented. We thank the City of New Orleans, the Urban League of Louisiana and each of our partners for their vision and support in this important endeavor.”

As part of ESSENCE’s partnership with the Urban League of Louisiana, the Pipeline Initiative will launch with information briefings that will target potential bidders in key Louisiana cities featuring RFP training and more. The sessions will be held in New Orleans (February 5th), Baton Rouge (February 6th), Shreveport (February 7th) and Monroe (February 8th). To register or for more information, visit Essence.com/Festival/Pipeline.

In addition to the City of New Orleans and the Urban League of Louisiana, the Pipeline Initiative will partner with several other key community and business organizations, including New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC), Louisiana Economic Development (LED) and the New Voices Fund. In 2020 and beyond, the Pipeline initiative will also partner with Louisiana academic institutions to launch the Essence Live Production Academy. The Academy will feature a collection of e-training and live training modules for small businesses and will be instructed by leading industry professionals with a focus on key areas of technical production – audio, lighting, staging and live event management. 

“I am very excited about the collaboration between ESSENCE, The Louisiana Urban League, and the City of New Orleans for The Pipeline economic initiative,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “It’s a great way to create opportunities for talented women and Black professionals in the live events and production fields. With New Orleans being a hub for live events, we are being intentional about bridging the gap between opportunity and those who may have not had previous access to those opportunities.”

“We are grateful to partner with ESSENCE and the City of New Orleans to support The Pipeline,” said Judy Reese Morse, President, and CEO of the Urban League of Louisiana. “Our mission speaks directly to the power and importance of economic self-reliance for those we serve. This innovative collaboration brings the business, non-profit and government sectors together to deliver access and capacity building for small business entrepreneurs to grow and compete. The Pipeline is adding seats to the table, and our small business owners will be ready to join in and participate.”

 

About Essence Communications Inc. 

Essence Communications is the number one media, technology and commerce company dedicated to Black women and inspires a global audience of more than 17 million through diverse storytelling and immersive original content. With a multi-platform presence in publishing, experiential and online, ESSENCE encompasses its signature magazine; digital, video and social platforms; television specials; books; as well as live events, including Black Women in Music, Black Women in Hollywood, Street Style and the ESSENCE Festival. Essence Communications is owned by Essence Ventures, an independent Black-owned, technology-driven company focused on merging content, community, and commerce to

Beauty /

Blogging Business: Rachel Parcell From Pink Peonies Featured on Forbes #Entrepreneurship

Rachel Parcell is the owner of Pink Peonies fashion blog and clothing brand designer.  Recently, she was featured on Forbes in the article:  How The 26-Year-Old Founder Of Pink Peonies Turned Her Blog Into A Million-Dollar Business.

This is a must-read article for bloggers and business women! Rachel states, “The biggest misconception about bloggers is that they’re materialistic and they have the easiest job in the world. Being a blogger is a 24/7 job that is extremely hard and takes so much more time and dedication than anyone realizes. A blogger—especially one in the early phases of starting a blog—has to wear so many hats: creative director, stylist, photographer, model, writer, editor, marketer, and the list goes on. The women who have turned a space on the Internet into a full-fledged business are brilliant, hard-working businesswomen who don’t get enough credit.”

According to Forbes, she continues to provide business advice saying, “Be creative, work hard, stay positive, never give up and be willing to take risks!”

Read more about the article here:  How The 26-Year-Old Founder Of Pink Peonies Turned Her Blog Into A Million-Dollar Business.

If you like this post, click here:  Use These Tips From 6 Successful Bloggers to Blog Your Way to Riches