Asked By Ayana

I'm chatting with Marnely Murray (@marnely_murray), a professionally trained pastry chef, food writer, and the co-founder of a digital marketing agency! We discuss how she moved to New York from the Dominican Republic to attend The Culinary Institute of America, how she started food blogging, and where she found her love of baking and cooking. Connect with Marnely below:

cookingwithbooks.net

instagram.com/marnely_murray

twitter.com/marnely_murray

https://www.tiktok.com/@marnely

Today is the first ever episode with multiple guests, and it's a treat. I'm chatting with Winter Dunn and Mikayla Bartholomew about Dear Mama, a short film that centers Black family, loss and hip-hop. Winter directed the short, and Mikayla stars in it. We discuss how they ended up in the entertainment industry, how Dear Mama materialized, the importance of telling Black stories, and the reception the film has received at festivals like SXSW. Connect with both of them and the film below:

instagram.com/dearmamafilm

instagram.com/itswinterdunn

instagram.com/carpeingdiem

I'm joined today by Courtney Caldwell, the co-founder and CMO of ShearShare.  ShearShare — affectionately known as "HairBNB" — is an app that lets beauty professionals rent out their salon spaces, and it's available in more than 900 cities. Courtney has an incredible story about how she and her husband came up with the app (while eating at Chipotle!), how ShearShare survived the start of the pandemic, and what it's like to be a Black woman in the entrepreneurial space.

Follow ShearShare below:

 instagram.com/shearshare

Thrilled to introduce y'all to Lizzetth Bellot, the director of people operations at Light. Lizzetth has worked at companies like Curai, Dropbox, FireEye, and Facebook. She went back to school as a single mom to get her bachelor's and master's degrees and has worked in Silicon Valley since. We talk about the importance of networking, the example she's set for her daughter, and her goal to help women whose path may be different from the norm.

Connect with her here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizzetthbellot/

I'm joined by the fabulous Natalie McMillan (@nataliemcm) this week! She's the founder and sole creative behind her self-titled lifestyle brand and focuses on unique and slightly off-beat pieces. We discuss how she got started with jewelry making, what it's like to make the leap to full-time entrepreneurship, why she doesn't feel the need to have a niche, and why she's outspoken about human rights as a business owner.

Follow her below:

instagram.com/nataliemcm

instagram.com/shopnataliemcmillan

I'm thrilled to be joined by Felicia Pride (@feliciapride) today! She is an author turned award-winning filmmaker and TV writer who has written for shows like Queen Sugar and Grey's Anatomy. She's also won accolades for directing tender, a short film, and producing Really Love, which debuted on Netflix as a Top 10 movie. Felicia moved to Los Angeles when she was 35 to pursue a screenwriting career, and the rest is history. We talk about how she tells stories that center Black women, what it really means to "make it" in Hollywood, and how she maintains her love of writing. Connect with her below:

instagram.com/feliciapride

twitter.com/feliciapride

instagram.com/itshoneychile

tendermovie.com

This week, I'm chatting with Janina Santillan. She's the director of creative marketing and brand strategy at East Olivia, a creative agency specializing in large scale floral installations. She shares what it was like to start her career in theater and how she ended up where she is today, advice for handling rejection, and the benefits of working for a small, women-led business.

Follow her and East Olivia below:

instagram.com/janinasantillan

instagram.com/eastolivia

shopeastolivia.com

I’m joined by Carmen James (@thegoodcarmablog) for today’s episode! She’s the assistant principal at a Montessori school and a blogger. We talk about how education is becoming politicized (critical race theory, Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill, and more). She explains common misconceptions about Montessori education, and we also discuss how she became a blogger. Follow her below:

instagram.com/thegoodcarmablog

thegoodcarmablog.com

This week, I'm chatting with Zara Hanawalt, a full-time freelance writer who's been published in publications like Glamour, Parents, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, The Huffington Post, and many more. We discuss how she became a successful freelance writer, what it's like to be underrepresented as a South Asian woman, how to pitch and find story ideas, and how to deal with rejection. She's a delight, and I hope you enjoy our conversation!

If you want to connect with Zara, she can be reached at zarahusaini00 [at] gmail [dot] com.

Happy Wednesday! I'm joined today by Austen Tosone (@austentosone), a fashion and beauty content creator, consultant and entrepreneur.  We discuss it all — how she survived print magazine layoffs, what it's like to be consistent across multiple social media platforms, how to get over imposter syndrome when creating educational content, and how she's created streams of passive income. Follow her below:

https://www.instagram.com/austentosone/

https://www.youtube.com/c/austentosone