Black Sheep Podcast

Dani is chatting with Leah Lakins, editor, writer and publisher, or as she sometimes calls herself - a wordy, nerdy, quirky girl from Baltimore. You may have seen her name and words in popular books like Steve Harvey's New York Times Bestseller Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success, and his most recent project Jump. Leah shares her early dreams of what she wanted to be when she grew up and how her high school journal revealed pieces of her current reality. We get to learn about how her variety of career opportunities has prepared her for life as an entrepreneur doing what she loves - sharing the stories of others. Change in her life inspired more change. After dreaming of living in New York for 10 years, she gambled on herself and moved to NYC and started her life as an entrepreneur. Leah shares about how she prepared for that major move and what some people had to say about her plans.   We hear about some of her unique challenges of NYC living, what she loves and appreciates about the city, and how it has contributed to her career and success. Her advice to making it in this city: say yes! It is saying yes that has opened up so many amazing opportunities in Leah's life, including working with Steve Harvey. We get to hear her story of how that unfolded from starting a conversation with a fellow word nerd to the process of giving her all to the project. Leah touches on the benefits and the importance of supporting herself with her networking community and business coach. Leah also shares about her aerial yoga adventures and how it has improved her mind body connection, helping her find strength and confidence, and how it helped her on her trip to India. We learn about her superpower, her anthem songs, and about a conversation that shifted her perspective on her life.    Leah's story is a great example of seeing how she planted the seeds are planted and laid out the steps to create life she wanted, and this is just the beginning. May this episode encourage you to "say yes" to gambling on yourself in whatever you want to see happen in your own life. Learn more about Leah: Website: http://www.fresheyeseditorial.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreshEyesEditorialServices/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lakins9/

This episode is part of a series in the Take Over Season where speaker, host and adventure creator Danielle Fontus took over the podcast for chats about living a daring life. Dani is chatting with Felicia Gibson Jaycox, the founder and executive director of The Power of You Teens - a Harlem based mentoring and empowerment group for girls ages 10 - 18. For Felicia, this organization started at a time when she was in a lot of pain. She shares about the unexpected loss of her brother and how she coped with the help of a supportive sisterhood. Learning to channel her pain into passion, she poured her heart into a space where she saw others hurting - teenaged girls who had lost hope, some even resulting in suicide, from life challenges they were facing, like bullying and abuse. Through volunteering, Felicia was able to push through her own pain and she rediscovered the joy she had in touching the lives of young girls that she'd felt before during her days working with a runaway center in Florida. Today, through The Power of You Teens, Felicia has created a loving and supportive community, where she and her team of Power Women pour into these young girls the inspiration and the resources they need to discover the power within themselves and show up in the world as their best powerful selves. From teaching one young woman to read and pairing one with a piano teacher to field trips and workshops lead by women from a wide variety of professional backgrounds, these girls are constantly exposed to the possibilities available to them. Year-round these teens participate in the program that includes things like improv classes, healthy cooking demonstrations, financial education workshops, college preparation sessions; and for four years they have put on their Empowerment Experience - their major event that intends to educate, empower and engage the larger Harlem community. Felicia's vision has become a powerful reality thanks to her dedication and the support of the every-community who believe in and want to do whatever they can for our teens. To learn more about The Power of You Teens, you can visit their website: http://thepowerofyouteens.org/ Follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePowerofYouTeens/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thepowerofyou10 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powerofyouteens/ Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/fundraiser-for-the-power-of-you-teens-2017-girls#/ Or reach out directly to Felicia felicia@thepowerofyouteens.com if you are interested in supporting however you can.

Dani is chatting with Evelyn Badia, the hostess with the mostest. She has been an Airbnb host since 2010 (before airbnb was cool and a verb). When the economy shifted, Evelyn couldn’t find work in her industry as a TV producer. She stumbled upon Airbnb in the NY Times and decided to try it as a way to save her home. Evelyn shares about how her lifestyle changed and what it was like moving out of her home as a way of income. She tells the stories of how she started her listing and her first guest. We learn in this episode the lessons she’s learned from hosting - like setting boundaries and establishing realistic expectations with clear communication. She also shares about some of her favorite guests and funny moments, like when the guy ate her avocado. Evelyn is the ultimate hostess because not only does she create a special experience for her guests but she also contributes to her community, lending her home to neighbors during challenging times like Hurricane Sandy and home repairs as well as for their families’ visits. She equips her guests with recommendations to give them the best NYC experience while also supporting local businesses in her neighborhood. This conversation with Evelyn is a story of perseverance and resilience. She has created a new career in this unexpected chapter of her life, which is continuing to evolve. Seeing a need that was not getting met, she has created The Hosting Journey, an international community of hosts she offers information and support on everything from how to create a listing to how to get a stain out. From moving to NYC from Puerto Rico at the age of 15 knowing no English to creating this new business and career for herself, Evelyn has proven to be tough, someone who takes new challenges; and we see lends that strength and her voice and experience as a host as an advocate for Airbnb and other hosts. In this episode, you will learn what it looks like not only to become an Airbnb host but what it looks like to start a new chapter from an unfortunate situation. There are great lessons and nuggets of wisdom for you to digest. You’ll also get answers to some questions like: -what does she (and should you) look for in an Airbnb? -does she ever stay in hotels? -what makes her Airbnb a unique experience? -what kinds of things guests have left her as gifts? -what have been some of her interesting experiences as a guest? Here’s where you can connect with Evelyn: Listing: https://www.airbnb.com/users/show/118971 Website: http://www.evelynbadia.com/ Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheHostingJourney/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehostingjourney/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvelynBadiaBk

Dani is going deep with Tatiana Dellepiane - a sex and relationship expert and tantra teacher. She helps women connect to their sensuality, which she believes is our superpower. She works with them through movements and their body to break through from shame and reach their full potential out in the world. It is her mission and her work to help women remember who they truly are. Her journey started as she was seeking healing in her own life. During a time when she felt stuck and was experiencing pain, she found a teacher who opened up her eyes to work that used movement to help women heal their own trauma. Having experienced abuse and trauma throughout her life, which she coped with by dismissing, Tatiana reached a point in her life, when she realized true, deep healing was necessary for her to move on. Following her own self love and spiritual journey, she went deeper which not only granted her healing but also helped her discover the work that she wanted to do for other women. Tatiana has grown to know an intense life and existence, which has equipped her for the depth and capacity of the work she is doing with her clients. She is one to break taboo and play in the spaces in our lives that we often avoid or neglect. In this conversation, we go deep and get messy, touching on what happens when spirituality, religion, culture, family, sex, sensuality, all collide. We hear about Tatiana's personal experience of sorting through these things, how she has grown from this work and how she helps her clients do the same,. To learn more about Tatiana and her work, connect with her on: Her website: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelovegypsy Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelovegypsy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelovegypsy

This episode is part of a series in the Take Over Season where speaker, host and adventure creator Danielle Fontus took over the podcast for chats about living a daring life. We are chatting with Bernice Wooden - entrepreneur & educator, who has been in the entertainment business for 10 years. She started her own production company, Be Nice Productions, which includes videography, photography and workshops. Bernice has recently written a book How to Get a Degree in Celibacy: 10 Steps to Keeping Your Lips Closed, where she is sharing with the world about her sex life,or lack thereof. In this conversation, we learn about Bernice's journey to where she is today in her career. She shares about the unique challenges she faced and how she overcame them and the lessons she learned from them. In this candidly, juicy and intimate interview, Bernice dares to share: what makes her uncomfortable to this day & how she approaches those uncomfortable situations an emotional failure and the wins that also came with it some of the excuses she's used that have limited her (which she has since overcome) a private detail she hasn't shared with anyone else In this episode, we get to hear from Bernice about: growing up in Brooklyn how she found her boldness who she's interviewed on the red carpet when she realized she was a Black Sheep her experience with her unique ethnic background & what unique challenges came from that all the things she thought she was going to be when she grew up the jobs shes had along the way &  the lessons she’s learned and prepared her for where she is now how she started in her current field - her first production job her networking tips Bernice has created her own adventure with her celibacy journey AND deciding to share it publicly with her book. We get rich insight from Bernice's experience, including: how she decided to be celibate & the struggle what supported her during the process what she has discovered through the process (in her friendships, in her body, in her relationships) the surprising reactions she heard when sharing with others (men versus women) some of her temptations and how she dealt with them the interesting way she got the title of her book tips for anyone considering their own journey We learn a few fun things about Bernice like: her superpower a random job would she do for a day one of her proudest moments So where we can find her and stay up to date on all that she is up to? www.bernicewooden.com (You can pre-order her book here.) Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/adegreeincelibacy https://www.instagram.com/adegreeincelibacy/ https://twitter.com/BerniceWooden https://www.instagram.com/beniceproductions/ https://www.facebook.com/adegreeincelibacy What questions do you have for Bernice? Let's keep the conversation going! Share in the comments below.

The Black Sheep Podcast is BAAACK! In this episode you will head from Nicole on what caused the long delay in between seasons, what to expect in upcoming seasons of the podcast and how to get your initiatives, products and services in front of our audience. This episode is an interview by past guest Danielle Fontus who is back to interview Nicole.  This episode kicks off the “Take Over Season” where Nicole invited Danielle to take over the mic for honest chats with women who are daring to live life on their terms as a Black Sheep. In this episode we will learn: What has happened since last season? Nicole had baby # 2 and alot of work come her way at the same time and the impact of both these on her, her family and health. Including the low moments - “I’m failing” and high moments “im living and doing work that matters” Her plans for the future of the podcast and ways to continue to support WOC. How time is the most valuable currency in her home Why she and Danielle are really owning not having a business and being freelancers. Reacting vs responding to life’s challenges Hard chats around gender norms with her husband. Deep work; money work, valuing her worth. Creating an entrepreneurial life. Nicole’s aspiration?  Creating a WOC Podcaster Network. NEW WAYS TO GET YOUR SERVICES, PRODUCTS + SOCIAL GOOD EFFORTS FEATURED! A call to listeners >>>>WOC who want to experiment with launching a podcast!Want to Take Over the Black Sheep Podcast?? We pick a topic- tied to your word, your biz, interviews or a topic to explore with NIcole Email: Hello@liveblacksheep.com or visit www.liveblacksheep.com A call to listeners >>>>WOC with Social Impact Efforts that Need Promotion! The Black Sheep Podcast is looking to support smaller grassroots efforts - We will be experimenting with in episode segments or mini episode on initiative led by WOC looking for small investment of funding. Use the Black Sheep Podcast platform to promote it. Email: Hello@liveblacksheep.com or visit www.liveblacksheep.com A call to listeners >>>>Micro-sponsorship for WOC with Small Businesses! The Black Sheep Podcast and Live Black Sheep brand is looking to support smaller WOC owned businesses interested in sponsoring episodes, segments and WOC Shopping Guides. Email: Hello@liveblacksheep.com or visit www.liveblacksheep.com Join the Black Sheep Society and connect with fellow WOC! Get on the list and get notified about new episodes! Follow us @liveblacksheep

Victoria's company (and her passion) is called Victoria Akkari Organic Culinary Oil. She works with a Women's Cooperative in Aberdare, in the South Western region of Morocco. There, the women make the culinary Argan Oil by hand, in the ancient, traditional way. This is what Victoria imports and she does the bottling and the labelling in Long Island. Victoria has a passion for this and she has many wonderful ideas for the future, to expand and incorporate working with other Moroccan cooperatives. Listen in to find out more about Victoria and the benefits of edible Argan Oil.   Today, Victoria and Nicole discuss:   The difference between edible and non-edible Argan Oil. The importance of knowing where what we eat or put on our bodies comes from. How Victoria came to find herself creating a company based around Argan Oil and supporting Women's Cooperatives in Morocco. Victoria's background, growing up. What Victoria had to do, in order to import a food product from Morocco. How Victoria found her commercial kitchen in Long Island. How Victoria started her business while she was still employed in a job. How and where Victoria sells her products. How Victoria got to sell her products at ABC Carpet. The properties and benefits of Argon Oil and how to cook with it. The Argan Tree and it's fruit that produces the oil. Victoria describes the labour intensive job of extracting the Argon Oil. Victoria explains what a women's cooperative is and how it works. How Victoria found the Women's Cooperative that she works with currently. Why fair trade is even more important than organic. Some great ways to eat and cook with Argan Oil.   Links: Victoria Akkari can be found across all the social media platforms. Victoria's website:www.victoriaakkari.com -to buy Argan Oil from Victoria online Argon Oil can also be bought from ABC Carpet and Home in NYC  

If you would like to know what it's like to have psychic abilities, or how a person gifted with clairvoyance or clairsentience uses those talents to help people, listen in and find out, as Nicole's psychic guest, Tanya Brown, shares her story, on this week's show. Tanya, who comes from New Jersey, is psychic, clairvoyant and she's also a business coach. Tanya describes her psychic ability as being like having someone whispering the answer to a question in her ear. She explains clairvoyance by saying that her guides give her information, in the form of pictures, which she can 'see' when she closes her eyes. She's also clairsentient, which means that she can feel what her clients are feeling, either emotionally, or physically. Tanya's journey so far has been really fun and interesting. Join her and Nicole this week's show to find out more about her and about how she uses her gifts to help her clients with their lives and in their businesses.   Today, Tanya talks to Nicole about:   How her gifts developed in stages and how she learned to work with them. How she came to realize that her grandmother was her Spirit Guide. The ad that she put on Craig's list to do free Tarot readings and what happened as a result. How she initially put her abilities down to luck. The prophetic dreams that she's had. How she describes her sense of really knowing. How her Guides urge her, in loud voices, her to do as they recommend. How the information comes to her in various ways. How channeling gives her a nauseous feeling. Nicole explains how you, as a listener, can benefit from hearing Tanya's story. How Tanya's participating in a Brian Weiss Event worked as a catalyst for awakening her to her abilities. What Past Life Regression is all about. What she experienced during some of her Past Life Regressions. How Tanya's family accepts her gifts and abilities. How her clients find her. Why she prefers working with people that she's never met before. Why it takes more energy for her to work with people that she knows well. How her journey has brought her to the full realization of who and what she really is today. How she feels after she's done a reading. Why people tend to contact her, either regarding their businesses, or for themselves, personally. That she is more afraid of not doing, than doing- and how that really works in her life. Nicole talks about Tanya's courage and confidence in doing what she does.   Links:   Tanya's website: www.laurenstjulian.com   Tanya Brown on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest   Resources:   Book: Many Lives Many Masters by Brian Weiss.  

If you're interested in finding out about what drives and motivates someone with an active social conscience, join Nicole and her guest, Sharee Johnson-Cammon, on this week's show. Listen in and find out about Sharee and what she does to educate and raise the awareness of her community.   Sharee is from Houston Texas and she's the founder and owner of the BAM Black Friday Market, which she started in 2015. Although she shies away from the limelight, Sharee is active with social justice movements and with raising awareness about inequality, oppression, police brutality, communities and education. Listen in this week and find out what Sharee does to raise community awareness and create business opportunities for black people.     This week, Sharee and Nicole discuss:   Providing information to inform and educate people, without overwhelming them. How Sharee's business came about and what provided the impetus to make it happen. That Sharee's business is a whole new thing for her. How people of color tend to be overlooked for events and conferences. Sharee's bold approach to getting out there and taking risks as an entrepreneur. Sharee's planned event, now to be launched in 2017 and how she responded to the pressure to make it happen. The momentum and motivation for creating something or for making something happen. How people have been conditioned to believe that black owned businesses are inferior, and Sharee's efforts to create awareness to change that perception. What really motivates Sharee. How you can make a change with the money you hold in your hands. Sharee's white friends' responses to what she's doing. How some people have labelled Sharee racist for what she does. The obvious disinvestment in black communities. The criticism that has been directed towards Sharee, due to her focus being only on black owned businesses. How businesses capitalize on black (people's) pain.   Links:   Sharee's website: www.bamblackfridaymarket.com     Dates for BAM Black Friday Market: 24th November 2017                                                   25th November 2017 and                                                    27th November 2017- Online for Cyber Monday   Follow Nicole on all the social media outlets- @liveblacksheep  

This chat was super insightful and inspiring. Dara is the founder of Brevity Brand which is launching its first piece of apparel the Do Anything Jacket.  In this episode we talk about: The process of designing and producing a piece of apparel Her drive for creating a social enterprise  The importance of getting away from the computer + email and just going out and meeting people. She started showing up at factories and meeting with pattern makers at as a result was able to move faster on getting her jacket designed. Going in person to the factories also opened her eyes to the huge disparity of women owned vs male owned manufacturing plants Launching a successful KickStarter campaign - we go behind the scenes with step by steps to ensure your campaign is successful Ignoring naysayers! Going against the grain and trusting your gut - all the established fashion experts advised her against Kickstarter and told her she can't build a brand or launch a sustainable biz on Kickstarter but trusting her gut that this wasn't true she meet with newer brand owners who supported her vision stating many had regrets on not doing it  What Dara learned about entrepreneurship from watching her immigrant parents run a donut shop waking up at midnight everyday. Why she feels so passionate about women owned factories producing her work, in the USA and only using vegan materials. Resources mentioned in this episode include: MakersRow - http://makersrow.com/ Get your Do Anything Jacket at https://brevitybrand.com/ And connect online at https://instagram.com/brevitybrand and @BrevityBrand        

This week Nicole brought Lupita Santana her online buddy for a friendly jam on the way we experience being Latinas.  The idea for this conversation came when Nicole learned that like her, Lupita was married to someone from a different Latino culture, and was now living in her husband's native country.  Having spent time living abroad in a Latin country Nicole was curious about Lupita's experience being an 'Latina expat' in a Latino country. Nicole shares about her experience moving to Chile for a year and her challenges with in fitting in and the hard chats with folks who saw her as simply American vs what she was used to in the states being seen as a Latin American. Please note, there may be some points of views expressed that some people may not agree with as we are speaking from our POV and perspective.  As always, all feedback is welcomed.  Email hello@liveblacksheep.com

This week Nicole welcomed Aycee Brown to the podcast to talk to us about the launch of Good Night Darling Co. her company dedicated to helping us get better sleep.  In this episode we talk about: Why is sleep so important that she would start a company around it?  The moment when she knew you this idea had to be birthed. The journey and process of creating a product based business. Being a serial entrepreneur (Aycee started her first biz at age 8!!) How the micro-agressions and the hustle of WOC that affect us during the day affects our sleep e.g., being the only person of color in office  Aycee is so awesome she even created a special promo code just for Black Sheep Podcast listeners. Enter BLACKSHEEP to score 15% off any product in the store. We agree that sleep is so important to any Black Sheep Lady that this winter we featured her fade to black. herbal tea & tincture combo in our Holiday Buy Brown Guide and since then she has added more products and soon will be launching a sleep consultation practice. Sign up to be notified when it launches and to purchase visit www.goodnightdarling.co/collections/all and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram @goodnightdarlingco and Twitter @GNDarlingCo

In this week's episode we jam about money. How we manage our money, tools/apps/systems and general thoughts on money. Want help finding awesome women of color owned business? Get on our list to access our latest Buy Brown Guide is coming out soon. Don't miss out on these amazing products by women of color owned businesses. Sign up here http://bit.ly/buybrownguide to be notified when the new guide is released.   We would love your feedback! Email us or leave a review at iTunes.  And join us in the FB group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamblacksheep/ to get support on your Black Sheep journey.  

This week we break the news - we are breaking up! Jes is going to be stepping down from the Black Sheep Podcast and the Live Black Sheep brand.  We know, we know...shocking!  But it's all love and all good. Tune in to hear our candid conversation where we process this decision together for the first time since we made the decision with love and grace.  Upmost was our commitment to maintaining our friendship and staying in integrity. We came to this decision in late January as it became clear that at this point Jes doesn't have the time to devote to the podcast. We then went through the process of working through the logistics mainly over email. This chat is our first time we got on the phone since that call to discuss and process the end of our partnership. This episode is a great one for anyone curious about what it is like to partner with grace and integrity even when it doesn't work out.  We cover lessons learned...partnership agreement early on. Hello...yeah that would be very helpful to have had early on. Especially if money is being paid out and/or shared assets are being created. We talk about getting clear...are you partnering on a business or a project? Our lack of clarity created a space for uncertainty and resentment to build. Although it is sad - we are filled with gratitude for the journey and time together and the ability to end this part of our relationship and maintaining our friendship.   Past Episodes referenced in episode: Episode 21: Maintaining Motivation and Momentum Episode 15: Live From Toronto: Schedules and Workaholism Episode 14: 3 Keys to Success: Risk Taking, Failure + Being Vulnerable

In this week's episode we explore decision making. How do we make decisions, how do we prioritize? Each and every day there are a lot of decisions that need to be made. Join Jes and Nicole in a candid chat about how we approach decision making in our lives and catch up with each other on the decisions we are weighing in our lives.  Some of what we heard in the Black Sheep Society our free online community we've heard women are making decisions about: When starting a coaching practice how do you niche down? Do you take a full time gig for the income to support your side hustle as it grow? How do you refer to yourself when you are a multi passionate entrepreneur? How do you brand yourself when you have multiple hustles? Want help finding awesome women of color owned business? Get on our list to access our latest Buy Brown Guide is coming out soon. Don't miss out on these amazing products by women of color owned businesses. Sign up here http://bit.ly/buybrownguide to be notified when the new guide is released.   Join the tribe online in the Black Sheep Society our free online community.  

As we celebrate International Women's Day support the March 8, 2017, called "A Day Without A Woman."  We are excited to shared our chat on the joys and challenges of being women of color owned business and certifications that one can apply for as a minority and women owned business.  For more information on the March 8th Campaign, the Women's March website suggests three ways to participate in the strike: Women take the day off work — whether you are paid or unpaid. Refrain from shopping for the day — or if you must shop, choose small, women- and minority-owned businesses. Wear red in solidarity with those participating in and supporting the strike. In this episode Nicole interviews Jes as she takes us through the process of earning a certification to become a minority and women business. What is this? A Certification businesses can gain to access RFPs for diversity supplier needs.  The Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWB) Certification.  State and city certifications are available - JPD has NYC and NY State certification along with New Jersey. We also talk about how accountability in this process (and in life!) is very important when moving forward. As many conversations between Nicole and Jes go this episodes also flowed into a chat about the challenges and sometime annoyances of doing business as a women of color.  Nicole shares a frustrating process of contract negotiation with two white men. Jes shares how she stood up to a business bully  Looking for accountability? Join the Black Sheep Society our free online community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamblacksheep/ Have a women of color owned product or service you want to promote? Email us hello@liveblacksheep.com and get featured in an upcoming Buy Brown Guide.  Want help finding awesome women of color owned business? Get on our list to access our latest Buy Brown Guide coming out soon. Don't miss out on these amazing products by women of color owned businesses. Sign up here http://bit.ly/buybrownguide to be notified when the new guide is released. Resources mentioned in this episode: Minority Owned Business NYC MWBE Overview 

We don't know about y'all but it has been really intense in these parts! Things have been so busy and intense here at Black Sheep HQ that we paused the podcast release and took two weeks off to get healthy and caught up on the insane amount of everything February threw at us! Anyone else?  We would love your feedback! Email us or leave a review at iTunes. And join us in the FB group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamblacksheep/to get support on your Black Sheep journey. Are you on the list? Our latest Buy Brown Guide is coming out soon. Don't miss out on these amazing products by women of color owned businesses. Sign up here http://bit.ly/buybrownguide to be notified when the new guide is released.

This week Nicole and Jes keep it light in a fun discussion on ways we can take care of our external selves that serve to support our internal workings (you know feelings, emotions etc :) and yes we talk about money!! Topics discussed: The use of color to support us to feel different Smartly, financially investing in ourselves even when times are lean Our personal brand is a part of what we are selling and what we communicate externally has implications The power of owning the energy you want for the day - both negative and positive through our personal branding Becoming aware of the things we have surrounded ourselves with and around how they are impacting how we feel inside Making smart purchases What do you love to invest in? Let us know @liveblacksheep or in the Black Sheep Society our community FB.  Full show notes can be found at http://bit.ly/liveblacksheep24

This week's episode is all about giving back in a way that is sustainable to your life and maximizes impact around your cause. This episode has a freebie - The Ready, Set , Do (Good) mini course is designed to help embed giving into your biz or life. It outlines seven ways to give back, get it for FREE at www.liveblacksheep.com/findyourcause A hallmark of every client Nicole has even coached is that they are values-driven women. And whether through their work or personal lives they seek ways to give back.  Many of them are also multi-passionate and have a ton of ideas and projects they are trying to juggle. Sound like you?  This week Nicole uses Jes as a case study of how she works with clients to launch social good projects. Make sure you grab your freebie to get access to Nicole's coaching process that helped Jes maximize her social impact through the social impact initiative she birthed called www.poweredbyher.com This week we are Black Sheep because....   "I am Black Sheep because I am taking risks to talk more about the things I am passionate about." - Nicole   "I am Black Sheep because I make unreasonable asks." - Jes   The BlackSheepAsk Challenge is live!  For 30 Days we are making small and large asks to get out of our comfort zone. When you make your ask tag us #blacksheepask      Terms mentioned in this episode:    DoGoodLiving.com [link to www.dogoodliving.com]- Spectrum of Social Change There is a pipeline of change, where along a change journey to affect this wrong is your intervention going to be placed?   Social Entrepreneurship - Mission driven for-profit entity that from it's start is intended to do social good for world. Or non profits that create revenue generating streams.    One-for-One Model - Buy a product, company donates one.    Examples: Warby Parker - https://www.warbyparker.com TOMS - http://www.toms.com/   B-Corps - "B Corp is to business what Fair Trade certification is to coffee or USDA Organic certification is to milk. B Corps are for-profit companies certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency."  Source: https://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps Example: SustyParty - http://www.sustyparty.com/ Non Profit with Revenue Generating Streams - These organizations are supported by both donations and "incorporate some form of revenue generation through commercial means into their operations. Income-generating activities are not conducted as a separate business, but rather are integrated into the organization's other activities."  Source: http://www.4lenses.org/Setypology/iga Examples include:  SHE Health Enterprises - http://sheinnovates.com/ DC Central Kitchen - https://dccentralkitchen.org/our-social-ventures/ Social return on investment (SROI) - "is a principles-based method for measuring extra-financial value (i.e., environmental and social value not currently reflected in conventional financial accounts) relative to resources invested."  Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_return_on_investment   Organization mentioned in this episode: Unreasonable Institute - https://unreasonableinstitute.org/ ThoughtWorks - https://www.thoughtworks.com/ Ashoka - https://www.ashoka.org/ AshokaU - http://ashokau.org/ The New School Social Innovation Initiative - http://www.newschool.edu/social-innovation/ To learn more about Nicole's coaching work with clients around social impact visit www.DoGoodLiving.com    Have a cause or effort you support - tell us so we can support and share with the community.

This week Nicole and Jes are jamming about Creating Content for Social Media. This episode is a training for those of you new and seasoned entrepreneurs who want to re-examine and re-commit to your online presence. Other episodes that would be good to listen alongside are Episode #: 12 Launching a Website in 5 Steps and Episode 20: Being Seen. This week's episode picks up where we left off last week talking about motivation and momentum. For #liveblacksheep, 2017 is the year of striving for consistent communication across our channels and maintaining that momentum. Topics we explore include: Choosing a platform the best services your voice + style Understanding how you best produce content Choosing your content focus areas Coaching Corner: The Black Sheep Ask Challenge is here! In last week's episode we introduced you to a TED Talk: What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection. This week we are officially kicking off our #BlackSheepAsk Challenge. Until Feb 15th we can use #blacksheepask to share our about our asks, no matter how big or small. From Jes, "I plan to start with smaller asks and build from there. I feel both exhilarated and scared! All the more reason to do this!" Will you join? Follow us #blacksheepask and join the tribe in the Black Sheep Society our free FB group where we will share behind the scenes from our asks!   Tools + Tech + Programs we love! As this week we are focused on social media we are featuring CoSchedule our all-in-one content marketing editorial calendar solution. Why we love it? Create one social media campaign across all your channels at one time?! Month a glance to visually see the communication with your audience One step connecting to all our social channels for the non techy black sheep Try it out for free for 14 days.    Other social media planning software we mentioned in this episode -  Edgar Buffer Grum Social Oomph   and...design related apps: SnapSeed PhotoGrid Font Candy  

This week we talk about motivation and momentum and what we each need to maintain both.  Topics we explore include: What is the difference between motivation and momentum? The important of values-based motivation + doing work that is meaningful The importance of growth and education + learning in maintaining momentum Coaching Corner In this episode we asked you consider the following questions to help with motivation and momentum, especially when either (or both!) are stalled:  What am I learning from this process? (as easy or hard as the task or project at hand is) How I am growing? (personally or professionally) What can I say I now know that I can apply to a future project or endeavor?  What motivates you or enables you to keep up momentum? Reply to this email and we will feature your response in an upcoming episode! Part of maintaining momentum for Nicole was finding tools and software that can support her to maintain the flow of work. When she gets bogged down doing work that doesn't inspire her she can loose motivation which in turn affects the momentum of her projects. Sound like you?   One of the biggest hurdles you might have heard her discuss in Episode 20: "Being Seen"- was maintaining a presence on social media. Doing it manually was causing a bottleneck. Enter one of her new favorite tools - Coschedule, an all-in-one content marketing editorial calendar solution that lets her plan out all her social media ahead of time. "Getting out of the day to day of writing posts and uploading and instead sitting down and at one time writing and then scheduling posts for the next week (or three!) freed up so much room to focus on other aspects of the project. Most important though, was it allowed me to get excited about content marketing and having a consistent dialogue with our followers and friends online!." - Nicole They have a free 14 day trial we suggest you try out: http://coschedule.com/r/81100 Have you downloaded our Buy Brown Buy Guide yet?  Each much we curate a list five women of color owned businesses to feature in a free guide. Leverage your purchase power and sign up today at http://liveblacksheep.com/buy-brown-guide/ Look for community, inspiration and accountability on your Black Sheep journey? Join our free online community at https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamblacksheep/  

Welcome Black Sheep! Today we are talking about being seen. There’s no one better to have this discussion with than Danni Fontus. She’s an event concierge and does she ever make an impression! She’s constantly in search of a one way ticket to a fascinating destination.    Nicole got very clear about “being seen” this week. She didn’t realize how much she struggled with being seen until she stopped and thought about it. There’s something to be said for surrounding yourself with people who are actively doing what you aspire to. With a new year on the horizon, Nicole is determining to make strides toward being comfortable being seen. It’s a brain switch that she is committed to making.   Jessica also shares how she had struggled with the branding for her website (JPD). There was some emotional attachment, and let’s be real - some baggage! So she set a date and made it happen, even though she was hesitant!   Dani has to make a conscious decision to be seen on social media. In this episode, she made a confession about being a very shy only child. She cried and had panic attacks all the way through high school when she was called on for anything. College and waitressing helped her learn how to talk to anyone. She’s not going to not do something because she’s scared of being seen. Don’t you think if Danielle can do it, you can too?   Is being seen and being heard different? Well, we have our own opinions about it and we aren’t necessarily all on the same page. Some people with big brands are introverts, and it’s interesting to see how it plays into how people actually connect with the messages we are putting out.   Fear causes us to do a lot of things. It causes us to doubt ourselves. It caused Dani to edit herself and not pursue what she wanted to do. She shares a story about her personal battle to be Ms. Harlem Shake - eventually she just went for it, even though there was stiff competition from highly qualified contestants. Each morning was an exercise in doubting herself. She would pep-talk herself all day long and take action. The next morning, she embraced the doubts and went for it anyway. If you really want something, you have to keep going.   Personal posts on Facebook always get the most attention and reaction on Facebook. Showing others what you are struggling with somehow endears you to others. Getting a following around your cause involves just being YOU!   “I meditate in the morning and work at a place that’s completely night life!” - Danielle Fontus   Don’t miss this honest discussion around how we are “seen” by the world and how we show up in the world. From being vulnerable on social media, to curating the content you present to the world, it’s all a balancing act that we all struggle with. Being seen can happen with actions both big and small - from wearing a bold lipstick to planning a big event. All contribute to your visibility in the world.   Danielle shares her journey to personally branding She Dares as her own and how that will affect the next phase of her journey.  She’s determined not to let any of her fear and insecurity hold her back from accomplishing everything she wants. She’s putting her intention out and walking into it!   Finding others who have similar visibility and intentions to be visible can help you get where you want much faster than you could on your own. You need the “go hard” friend that will keep you on your toes and pushes you to “get your ticket” too!                   Connect with Dani:   snapchat.com/DaniDares instagram.com/DaniDares twitter.com/shedares instagram.com/shedares   Join the Black Sheep Facebook Group!   The Power of You Teens is Danielle’s charity of choice.    

This week on the Black Sheep Podcast we are taking a little Halloween break before we push to end the season and launch a series of projects we are working on behind the scenes to support our tribe.   Tune in to hear about what is in store for the podcast and for 2017.    And if you have yet to listen to our first episodes where we introduce the Black Sheeps take a listen after the intro.   Free coaching offer! Take advantage of a free 30 minutes coaching session with Nicole by giving 15 minutes to provide feedback on the direction of season 2 of the podcast. Email Nicole at hello@liveblacksheep.com if you want to score one of the 2 free coaching sessions.   FEEDBACK PLEASE! We want to know what episode was your favorite? We are planning season 2 and want to hear more of what works for you. Email us hello@liveblacksheep.com       

We had two special guests this week – Leora Edut, founder of Goddess on the Go http://goddess-onthego.com/ and mother to 15 month old Cariel.  As a working momma we invited Leora on the show along with Cariel. There will be background noise and a few hellos from Cariel, but nothing says “I am Black Sheep” like recording with your kid. #workingmomhustle   This week we tried something different. Nicole was sitting on a stoop to record while visiting family in Denver, Jes was in JPD offices and our guest Leora was home in Long Island City.   Although we aim to showcase women of color on the podcast, practicing what we preached on Episodes 9: Owning Your Values + Belief, Talking a Stand + Keepin’ Real is important to us. As such we decided to bring on a white ally for a conversation on embracing diversity and raising biracial kids while also talking about the importance of sisterhood in our lives.    Full show notes can be found at http://bit.ly/liveblacksheep18            

In this episode ,we pull back the curtain and take you through the steps needed to launch a podcast by giving you a behind the scenes of launch. If you are considering launching a podcast this episode is a much. It was recorded as a free training with a free worksheet to accompany this episode that can be found at http://liveblacksheep.com/freebie-launch-podcast    If you aren’t looking to launch a podcast but are curious to see behind the curtains of the Black Sheep Podcast and hear about how the idea was birthed, the role of collaboration in our launch, and how Nicole and Jes ended up teaming to make this a co-hosted show vs. a one woman show tune in!   We also recommend you also check out our previous episode on - 3 Keys to Success – Risk Taking, Failure, + Being Vulnerable http://bit.ly/liveblacksheep14 and episode 12 - Launching a Website in Five Steps http://liveblacksheep.com/12   FREE COACHING OFFER! Ready to launch your podcast? Want more free help launching your podcast? We want to bring one lucky lady onto the show for free live coaching to talk through her ideas and her launch!  Email us at hello@liveblacksheep.com    Resources mentioned this in episode:    Donate to Haiti Relief Efforts - These are just three organizations that were recommended to us to support Hurricane Mathew Relief efforts http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/country-region/haiti http://edeyo.org/ http://www.pih.org/   Donate to Standing Rock – The Dakota Access Pipeline, which is a violation of the Sioux Nation’s right to oppose destruction of their land (the use of the term nation means just that, this is their land.) Native peoples from around the world, as well as allies have gathered to support this effort. Protestors rights are being violated, they are being arrested and attacked and money is needed to support legal fees and for supplies.  http://standingrock.org/            

This week we welcomed coach and creative, Ariane Hunter to the show for a conversation about going for your dreams. She shares her journey from MBA + corporate employee, to fulltime photographer, to one-on-one life coach at www.arianehunter.com and now founder of http://www.shewentforherdreams.com/   In this episode Nicole, Jes and Ariane shared their journeys - the joys + challenges - of taking their leaps of reinvention – from corporate marketer to non profit employee, from fulltime employee to entrepreneur, from creative to coach.    For this episode we asked Ariane to share some coaching tips for someone with a dream for change and added a few of our own! Whether you want a new job, a new career or new services for your biz, we created a place to start in our free worksheet. Download it at www.liveblacksheep/ep16freebie   Have feedback on the show? Email us to hello@liveblacksheep.com What episode did you like, what do you want more of?     Highlights include:   A conversation on how to allow the creative + entrepreneurial callings we have as Black Sheeps to guide us. The challenge of telling your family + friends when you want to take the leap and work for yourself, quit a lucrative job and go for your dreams.  How when you leap, it’s not only a journey for you but for those around you who when seeing you go for your dreams feel they have been given permission to also go for their dreams. Your journey becomes a starting off point for them to start reflecting on their dreams.  “When you are the mirror for your family and friends you show them what is possible through your dreams.” We talk about the need to protect your dreams, “when embarking on the dream be protective about who you share that with.” Doing something different can make others fearful and you need to surround yourself with the right people who will encourage and support. (More in Resources below) We talk about the responsibility of women of color to leave a legacy and chart new paths for our younger women, as well as honoring the sacrifices of the older generation of Black Sheeps that gave us the freedom we have to go for our dreams.  The isolation of working with for yourself at times and the power of community We talk about how going for you dreams can take different forms. It isn’t only for entrepreneurs. “It might be sharing your ideas at the board room.”     Ariane is an example of her own project #SheWentforHerDreams. She takes us through her journey, the feelings, the moment of clarity, and the plan of action she took in creating her new venture that takes the passion she has for coaching her clients 1-1 on launching their dreams to form a space for community gatherings, workshops and group accountability to work through ideas as you start the journey towards going for your dreams.    The first year of the project was visual and storytelling to tell the stories of women going for their dreams. Then she launched the offerings for the community. A true example of how going slow along a clear plan can yield tremendous return and rewards. She is now launching her first Symposium on the Fear of Failure October 15th in NYC – http://bit.ly/2dpJ31b    We talk about the fact that because dreams are so intangible it is hard to discuss them. “What do you dream about is a powerful question that can provoke thoughts. Our dreams call us to the ways in which we need to grow the most” – Ariane Hunter    What are the tools do we recommend for going after your dream?   A coach - A coach is designed to create a safe space for you to dream and help co-create, guide and encourage your action plan. A mastermind – a group working towards their dreams to support, challenge and hold accountable. Set meetings and weekly/biweekly/monthly reports keep momentum going. Accountability partner – if a group seems too much a one-on-one partner you text, email or call with each week to keep you motivated and not isolated. A community who inspires – This could take the form of a mastermind but can also just be a 1x meet up, or  FB group in or outside of your field.    The good news is #LiveBlackSheep can help. Join our FB Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamblacksheep/  to connect with other Black Sheeps today! And download our free worksheet to get started at www.liveblacksheep/ep16freebie   You can learn more about Ariane at http://www.shewentforherdreams.com/ and connect with her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/arianehunter     We loved these quotes from Ariane’s visit and know you will too!   “I had a hunger, a calling, that pulled me into this path of who am I? What do I want to contribute to this world? - Ariane Hunter   “Seeing the world in a very unique way, my way.” - Ariane Hunter   “I feel like dreams get a bad rap.” - Ariane Hunter   If you give ten people a camera, and the same water bottle to shoot, you are going to get ten different photos and I think that there is something unique and special about that.” Ariane Hunter   “If there is something you are called to do you have a responsibility to explore that.” - Ariane Hunter   “Our dreams call us to the ways in which we need to grow the most. It is a courage act to embark on the journey of going for your dreams ” – Ariane Hunter                     

When you love what you do, and are in the flow it can be hard to not work, but when does the scale tip into workaholism and unhealthy behaviors? We explore this in a candid conversation that led to Jes having a break through on air as Nicole coached her to remove blocks around an area she was stuck in that was preventing her from scheduling the final stage of her rebrand.    This is a great episode for anyone with challenges around schedules, working too much, and needing some coaching to push through. There is a ton of free coaching for listeners both – live on air and in show notes.   We also share an exciting opportunity for one listener to come onto the show for free coaching to launch her podcast! Email us: theblacksheeppodcast@gmail.com with your name, info on you, why you want to launch a podcast and links to your social media/website/etc.  Learn more about this offer at www.livingblacksheep.com/launchyourpodcast and if you want a free coaching session live on the air email us!   And we want to hear from you! Give us your feedback in two minutes and score our Black Sheep tote http://bit.ly/blacksheepsurvey     Highlights include:   Finding the right time to do certain time of work can help with scheduling   Winding down from networking and being on is important and healthy    “Being able to set your own hours is rally great but it’s not for everyone, some people need that schedule.” - Nicole   “Even if you work for yourself you need schedule for when work needs to get done.” - Nicole   “I don’t know that that means  - work ending - that doesn’t have any meaning to me these days”. – Jes   “The tricky thing is, when you love what you do, it can be very hard to know when to stop” – Nicole   Sometimes life throws you a curve ball and you need to reset and start over and go back to start up mode and the “all in hustle” but the challenge is to know the indicators of when this hustle mode tips into workaholicsm     “I love doing, I love creating and making things happen” – Jes   “I love knowing that I will be uninterrupted. “ – Jes   We talk about how we define workaholicsm and what gets given up in the exchange? It’s hard to prioritize and put more value on what needs to get done on work and in life.   What can we put in place to help us mange our schedules, to dos and not slip into workaholicsm?    Free Coaching Exercise on What do you do when there is an excess flow of work?   After the euphoria of a new idea(s), the key is being able to see through all the steps needed to complete a project to know what needs to be schedule.   Create a list of the buckets/areas of our lives that we are focused on now (not all can be on the list)   What is everything you want to do in ach bucket, write it down.    Now determine how many steps are needed to complete each task identifying the complex ones that requires more time to be scheduled out.    Within those buckets what are the three things I will focus on BUT if you have taken care of step four you know that perhaps you can only have 1 or 2 things in that bucket because it is a complex project that needs more time on your schedule.    Looking at each item ask yourself, does this absolutely have to be done? And  Will I grow from this effort? Whatever it is. This can be in your person a life as well. It takes time to schedule time projects as well as time with people but the key is to ask yourself :  “Am I a going to grow or expand when I sit and talk to that person?” Am I going to grow or expand through the process of completing this project?” If I will grow from this- it stays on the list if I am not going to grow it comes off this list.      “Your brand is not about you, it is about your customer.” – Jeremy Bailey, Freshbooks   Your schedule is indicative of too much work on your plate when it spills over into your personal?   As yourself? What can you remove/take off of your plate right now? Or delegate?    If you want to hear more about making your list of your Tough Love, All Love and Just Listen people check out Episode 14: 3 Keys to Success – Risk taking, Failure, Being Vulnerable     Timing is everything and then it is not.” There is no such thing as the perfect time to do something, sometimes it has to be now.” Nicole   Jes allowed Nicole to coach her through her “failure to launch her logo” alongside the rebrand of the site.    This is a must listen for anyone who is stuck and not moving forward with a project (personal or professional) who can be coached alongside Jes   “Let go of the past and step into your future but there isn’t enough room for both to exist.” – Nicole   Coaching exercise to for when we are stuck holding onto the past: Write a letter from your younger self is writing a letter to her present self congratulating an celebrating you for everything that you have done.” Then you write back to her as a present self thanking her for ebtying she did to get you to where you are, say good bye to her lovingly.”     Its honest and real, we try something    “This is the time to take a risk.” Nicole   Jes sets the date for the completion of the this journey to rebrand JPD and release the past and step into the new JPD brand. October 12th is the date!   “I do think it is about letting go, you cant full step into something if you are two feet in the past” - Nicole    A take away for both Nicole and Jes and we hope listeners is to remind ourselves that we need to schedule time for self care, inner work, to address the feelings that are within us holding us back from taking action externally.   “If you want to get something done you really do have to set aside time on your calendar.” Jes   Listeners – what software or tools do you use for time management, to do lists, project management?   Coaching tip from Emily from @being when you are struggling to close the deal?  Add $500 to the quote    Resources mentioned: FreshBooks Cloud Accounting Bullet Journaling  To Doist

It’s Nicole and Jes this week in what ended up being a full-length episode exploring three keys to success for Living Black Sheep.   We started off doing an episode on failure but as the conversation evolved we found ourselves needing to also talk about the role of risk taking and vulnerability in failing. It was a candid conversation where we explore failure in our own lives and businesses. Furthermore, if we #liveblacksheep as #WOC, trailblazers in our families or communities, taking risks, the stakes are even higher and the spotlight shines even brighter and that must be addressed. As a woman of color, failure can be really scary and really tough because the stakes are higher. You are dealing with double tokenism, you are woman and a woman of color so when you do something and you stand out, you stand out a lot, and that can both be wonderful and also really difficult because if the spotlight is shining on you, not just because of what you are doing, but because of who you are doing what you do, if you fail, there is also that added responsibility of feeling like “I failed for all of us; I am supposed to be paving the way for those of us behind me.” With this can come the fear of hearing, “women can’t cut it” or some bullshit affirmative action argument as to why you failed as a woman of color; not just because sometimes people fail.  Not wanting to only have a conversation about the challenges, we also wanted to leave listeners with some inspiration + coaching including: Episode sound bites/quotes “The hard part of talking about failure is that you don’t want to mess with your brand or persona…but done in an elegant and appropriate way it can elevate you in the eyes of the client.” – Jes + Nicole  “You can’t take risks if you don’t expect that at some point you will fail.” - Nicole Jes loves this quote- “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”   “Everyone fails at some point of time in their life and anyone who tells you they haven’t is a liar” – Nicole “It’s hard to share when things aren’t going well” – Jes “The failure got me to recommit” – I put more on the line and am taking bigger risks because of the recommitment after failing. I am glad we went through that failure.” Jes “I am someone who needs to go all in, in order to know if something is right.” – Nicole “Failing as women of color, the stakes are higher” – Jes and Nicole “Asking for help is a sign of strength because it shows you know how to be vulnerable.” - Nicole Coaching: What to do when you are failing/have failed?  Pause and remind yourself that everyone fails. - While we know this, it’s important to be reminded when times get hard.  Share. Talk about it. Ask for help. – You can’t keep it inside, that’s when it becomes bigger and harder to manage. You don’t always have to share what happened, you can acknowledge things are hard and share your emotions or feelings as a result. And, if you are seeing a person who is failing, create space for them to freely talk.  Learn the lesson. – What are you being taught? What can you take for the next time you find yourself in this spot or this emotion? How can you take action earlier to avoid the failure before it happens the next time? How do you know whom to talk to? Start taking stock now, of who your people are, you need these three: Tough love – This person gets you in action to change the direction of the failure – no room for wallowing here, just fixing.  Unconditional Love – They will tell you it will all be ok, not to worry etc. etc. and even though it may not be OK, you need to hear that sometimes.  Just Listens – This person just lets you unload all your fears, doubts, pain and perhaps plans for redemption but does not meddle in anyway, just gives you the space to get it all out. Which you need! They may live in the same person or be three different people.  Grab a piece of paper, open up Evernote, grab a post it and make a note of your three people NOW! External Resources mentioned: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho– a must read Community Resources/Free Coaching:  FB Live: Jes + Nicole will be on FB Live each week prior to recording. We will send the date/time and topic earlier in the week via email sign up here: www.livingblacksheep.com or like us on FB at www.facebook.com/liveblacksheep/ to be alerted when we are live.  Community Video Chat: The date is set, Thursday, October 20th 12pm EST. sign up at www.livingblacksheep.com to be sent the dial in info. Can’t wait to see you there! If you liked this episode and want to hear more from Jes +Nicole sign up at www.livingblacksheep.com/Findyourherd to receive our Sunday digest with love notes, honest shares and free coaching on how to live your best life as a black sheep.        

Note to listeners! We want to know more about you, who you are, what’s your jam, what can we offer you, and what are you looking for from our community? Leave us a note @liveblacksheep Patia Braithwaite is a memoirist + essayist based in Harlem, NYC currently working on her book based on dating around the word on Tinder. In this conversation Patia shares her tips on getting featured as a writer on the inter-webs and her process for coming up with her pitches. She talks about how to keep the creativity flowing and how writing from life has been key to her success. She ponders the challenges of being women of color occupying space as creatives and entrepreneurs and shares that T-Boz is her TLC archetype. It was an insightful and fun conversation filled with tid bits for anyone who needs to write as part of their work or life, as well as anyone looking to get started.   Highlights include:  Does writing flow for anyone? Patia says even as a professional writer, “writing and reading is like breathing… the thought process is organic, the urge is organic, but the craft is work.” She says being creative about where or how she writes – recently going to central park because she feels relaxed in nature – is key to keep the words and ideas flowing. Where do the words flow most easily? Depends on the time and mood. Patia shares her thoughts that, “being a professional writer can taint the passion so finding ways to go back to that space is important.” As is, “being flexible for the process.” In sharing her advice on how to get articles or become a featured writer on a news site or blog Patia says, “take a chance, email an editor and follow up! That is the lesson of my life! If you don’t hear back it doesn’t mean your idea is crappy. It means editors are busy.” What are the logistics? Full length pieces or concepts? She emails an editor with a concept. How does she come with the ideas for her concepts? Life. Whatever is going on in Patia’s life influences what she writes.  In Patia’s word, “People want realness – write what is real.” “I trust the writing. If I am authentic in the writing it will show up in the writing. The challenge is that once it’s out there your nuanced experiences can be flattened by some guy, some troll.” In launching her blog Men, Myself and God - when she started, she wasn’t calling herself a writer. She was going through a hard time, not trusting herself and used the platform to help  As a child Patia loved playing with magnetic refrigerator letter tiles and make up stories. She always loved storytelling and used storytelling as a way to entertain herself as a shy girl with a stutter.  Jes also shares how her art was a theme throughout her childhood. Patia gives us the scoop on the novel she is writing about dating on Tinder around the world which appeared to her as an idea for a book after coming home and sharing funny dating stories with her brother and sister in law she was staying with for two months in Brazil. Things to look forward to in the read: She went on a ‘Tinder Honeymoon’ - a 3 day date in Brazil The guy who FB stalked her after she swiped left and ended up being crazy cool! How her tastes changed and she expanded her horizons after dating on Tinder abroad. She ditched the “list” and met some awesome people. Black Sheep is going to help launch the book with a book launch party in the new year! We chat about online dating – Nicole never has never done it, Jes did it 2x one time sucked the other she made a lifelong friend.   Writing is very powerful. Thinking through an idea is powerful. Can be very vulnerable.  Call for writers - any writers in the Black Sheep Podcast community – share with us who is telling our stories, you or someone whose content you love? Share with us @liveblacksheep so we can feature them  Patia poses a great question– “ Do you think being a woman of color in occupying space, giving yourself the right to tell your story, to be creative poses an added challenge?” The answer, yes and we had a rich conversation exploring why.  We talked about being a black woman pitching her book and how that does or does not affect her process or her writing. Her book is not just a book about a woman traveling and dating abroad. She is a black woman traveling abroad. So even if it is not a book about identity, when a black woman writes it, it is embedded in there. Knowing your audience is key when pitching for blogs and news sites but when writing a book Patia writes as if she was talking to her best friend to keep herself real. Our Black Sheep News! Nicole is pregnant and as she had a rough August with morning sickness and fatigue as such our Sunday dispatch - Living Black Sheep stopped but she will resume writing in part because she feels better but also due to the inspiration from this interview. Sign up @ www.livingblacksheep.com Want to connect with Patia? Twitter: @pdotbrathw8 Visit her  @ www.MenMyselfandGod.com Email her with any questions! Some of her recent work: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/soloish/wp/2016/08/17/this-is-what-online-dating-is-like-when-youre-not-gorgeous-or-ugly-but-average/ http://madamenoire.com/717539/open-letter-woman-will-marry-ex/ http://www.sonima.com/author/patia-braithwaite/      

In this mini episode Jes and Nicole share five steps for effectively launching a website. It is expected that there will be over 1 billion websites launched by end of 2016. Whoa! And while there are a ton of DIY options for those of us with no design or coding skills, the truth is there is a lot of planning that should go into not just the design but the content and launch plan for your site. Tune in and stop by the FB page to share any website or other questions you may have for us by visiting https://www.facebook.com/liveblacksheep/ And sign up to join the Black Sheep Society at www.livingblacksheep.com  

This week we welcomed Dior Vargas to the podcast for what was a very important and inspiring conversation. Dior is an American Latina feminist mental health activist and the instigator of a project focused on creating a community to eradicate the stigma of mental illness for people of color.    Dior’s work is so important for our communities and her conviction and commitment towards social justice, advocacy and activism for women and people of color is inspiring for us all.    Full show notes can be found at www.livingblacksheep.com. You can learn more about Dior and her work at www.diorvargas.com  

Early on we mentioned we were going to bring some woo woo to the Podcast. What do we mean by woo woo? Energy work, psychics, angels, spirits and more! For this conversation we invited witch + clairvoyant Yolanda Shoshana onto the show to give us a live reading.  We opened up, got vulnerable, hit record and let you in on our personal reading.   Highlights include: -Who is Yolanda Shoshana? She is a Witch, Tantra Guru Lifestyle Expert, Wine Concierge, and Writer that helps women thrive, celebrate life, and own their magick.  Her tantric approach to self-help appeals to women around the world.  - Her goal main goal is to help women live empowering lives so of course she was a natural person to bring on the show to help us find was to do the same! - We talk about trusting ourselves, control, and timing and planning. Yolanda Shoshana digs deep to help Nicole explore the fear around trusting herself and explore the issues around vulnerability.  - Nicole bares all and shares what is challenging her around her spiritual practice, her need to control. The shock of loving motherhood as much as she does.  - Yolanda Shoshana gives Nicole and anyone who is struggling with a spiritual practice or taking time for "me" some sage advice and inspiration. - Yolanda talks to us about 'cords' of energy that clairvoyants can see attached to us.  - We talk about the power of numbers to guide us if Angels aren't your thing.  - Yolanda Shoshana helped us plan our fall calendar and community offerings. Last week you heard us talk about how we are launching our first monthly community call. This week we get the clarity we needed to share that while our group trip to Paris is being put on hold till 2017, we are launching our first mastermind for community members this fall in early October going for ten weeks through mid December. This mastermind will be small, only six women and is by application. Sign up to be notified about the application release in early September by visiting: www.livingblacksheep.com - In addition to her spiritual work Yolanda Shoshana is a connoisseur of wine and spirits. You can listener to her podcast "Witch on Wine" to learn more. - What is Yolanda Shoshana up to next?  Well, very soon she will re-release her Magikal Aromatherapy tantric line as well as debut a new line new of essential oils to wear or burn while drinking your spirits.  - In addition, she is launching a special reading for mothers soon as well! Trying to get pregnant or need some support right after the baby arrives? Find her new offering online at www.yolandashoshana.com - If astrology is your thing (we love it!) check out episode 12 of her podcast for a great episode on Wine + Astrology! - Other fun tid bits! We introduce you to "Ramon" our mascot. A small white ram whose presence was gifted to us the first time we recorded and is with us every time we record! If you want to work with Yolanda Shoshana visit her site: www.yolandashoshana.com                  

In this episode we talk about A LOT. The theme was owning our values and taking a stand for what we believe in. It was the first episode with just the two of us in a few weeks so we covered a lot: We are working on ways to support connections between community members including monthly groups calls starting soon. Sign up at www.livingblacksheep.com to find out the date of the next call A mini rant and a conversation about forming allies  Let us support you - need some tech advice? Email Jes for her insights to: theblacksheeppodcast@gmail.com  Coming this fall is a buyers guide to help you use your dollars to support and invest in women of color owned businesses and projects! Want to be featured? Hit us up on social media @liveblacksheep or email us! Supporting indie podcasters – The Messengers a Podcast Documentary needs our support! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-messengers-a-podcast-documentary Some Black Sheep Podcast news – we are going to have seasons of the podcast and want to hear from you about topics or suggestions of women to interview for season 1 We had a launch event – we recorded live and brought some of the fun to the show! …and most important… a tremendous amount of gratitude to our listeners – you tuning in each week means so much to us!! Full show notes and resources tied to this episode can be found at: www.livingblacksheep.com  

When we decided to continue our conversation on the power of collaboration and partnering we thought of no one would be better to join us than Gaby and Nadia, our boss besties from Miami.  This was a fun interview filled with concrete examples of ways we all have used the power of we to create amazing things in our lives. This is a must episode for anyone who is seeking motivation and inspiration for creative ways to engage with others to further a shared vision.  From business partnerships that started in coffee shops, to artistic partnerships that launched from Instagram, there is a little something for everyone in this one! Highlights include: The amazing story of how these two ladies met 2x in one day and what came next! How a down home Internet forced Nadia to a coffee shop where she met their third biz partner Taking risks and going for it, signing leases, moving states and saying yes before you are ready! The importance of listening to your intuition when partnering Seeking out ways to collaborate that are purely based on a shared passion and love for fun not for financial gain Brand pillars, what are they and how are they useful when leveraging the power of we Gaby and Nadia answer our Black Sheep questions, "how does your family describe what you do," and "which member of TLC do you most embody? Connect with Gaby and Nadia on Instsgram their fave place to do social https://www.instagram.com/thejupitercircle/ https://www.instagram.com/nadiapayan/ ...and if you are in Miami at #TheCreativeGirls HQ http://thecreativegirls.com/ And stay tuned whose knows when we might do a Miami Meet up Black Sheep Style with #TheCreativeGirls Seeking to build your community? The Black Sheep Society is filled with awesome women like YOU seeking to support each other. Perks include access to promos and discounts, secret recordings, and our weekly Sunday evening digest where we share our journey Living Black Sheep. Join us at www.livingblacksheep.com   

Tara Jefferson Pringle is committed to the self care of women. This focus has been evident throughout her entrepreneurial journey. Currently she offers self care to women through her bimonthly subscription box – The Bloom Beautifully Box. More than a box, she is creating a community for women devoted to self care and well being.   One of the goals of this podcast and supporting community is to showcase various models of entrepreneurship and give you the behind the scenes on what it looks like to run these different types of businesses. This week we were excited to explore the subscription box model with Tara Jefferson Pringle the founder and Chief Curator of The Bloom Beautifully Box. If you are interested in upping your self care you sign up at www.theselfcarebox.com and enter code ‘Welcome’ for 15% off.    Our Black Sheep Society community has had access to this code for a few weeks when we first recorded this episode.  Any special offers shared on our recording get shared with the community immediately after we record. If you haven’t signed up for our weekly Sunday evening digest or joined out private FB group you can by visiting www.livingblacksheep.com to get the scoop first!    

We had such an awesome chat with Desi that even after we stopped recording our full length episode we kept right on chatting and had a lively discussion on gaming, fun and play! Lots of laughs and nostalgia as we dish on our favorite games and the importance of fun. Desi has launched Games, Geeks, Tech - gaming and tech news! Let's help her spread the word. Learn more here: http://www.gamesgeekstech.com/ Did you know games are better for your brain than watching TV? Love Game of Thrones... why not BE the Mother of Dragons instead of watching her! Join our community at www.liveblacksheep.com  

This week we welcomed creative entrepreneur Desi Sanchez to join us for an intimate and revealing conversation about owning your creativity and following the road less traveled as a young black sheep who dreamed of being an artist.  She is inspiring and motivating for all creatives or anyone with a big dream! Have an idea for a show? Have feedback? Contact Jes and Nicole www.liveblacksheep.com 

We welcomed co-founder and CEO of Eat in Chef Ara Galarza who shared the story of how Eat in Chef came to life.  Using their tech platform, Eat in Chef has created a local and affordable chef to consumer pipeline. Their goal is to localize chefs, similar to Air B&B, where you can request a chef to come to you home as an option to dine in. How cool is that?!  We asked Ara to be "you" and she brought it.  We loved her authenticity and passion and so will you! Check them out at: www.eatinchef.com Have an idea for a show? Have feedback? Contact Jes and Nicolewww.blacksheeppodcast.com

Nicole shares the behind the scenes of the launch of Black Sheep podcast before Jes came on board. How she worked through impostor syndrome and the stalled launch of black sheep through collaboration.  And of course some fun! Did you know you can use the energy embodied by the members of R&B group TLC to identify your role and purpose in a group. Jes is a T-Boz and Nicole is a Left Eye. What are you? Join the Black Sheep Society and share. We couldn't pick a favorite TLC song so just check out Crazy, Sexy, Cool the whole album! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrazySexyCool Have an idea for a show? Have feedback? Contact Jes and Nicole www.liveblacksheep.com

For the past five months months Jessica and her team have been in a process of rebranding JPD Studio. This week Jessica allowed us to record a live check in between her and Nicole (who has been consulting with the team) to see how things are going and offer tips to listeners on how to manage investing in your business while running a business and serving clients! Sign up for our newsletter to learn:  What is a revamp vs a rebrand? How can you know if you are ready for a revamp vs. a rebrand Jes' Tips: Web + Branding Tips  Have an idea for a show? Have feedback? Contact Jes and Nicole www.liveblacksheep.com 

In this episode we introduce ourselves and our work as two Latina entrepreneurs from New York City who are designing our lives and work around our passions. We share the inspiration and purpose of the Black Sheep podcast and community - to create a space for women of color who aspire to or are currently designing a life that lets us do work that is meaningful in a manner that works for the personal and professional lifestyle we want - Black Sheep style. Join our community at www.liveblacksheep.com