Masha Banar is a physician assistant and the Founder of Visage Sculpture and Mesolyft. While Masha is a powerhouse and successful entrepreneur today, she had to face a hard road of resilience and tenacity to get to where she is. During this Confidence Conversation we talk about Masha's journey, how to cultivate your inner and outer beauty, and what it means to find success by staying true to your core essence

Kassandra Dasent is a queen of confidence and the definition of a multi-hyphenate. This singer-songwriter is making her music industry comeback in a major way with her newest single, Be Still. During our Confidence Conversation, Kassandra talks about how she mastered her mindset to create music that resonates with the newest, evolving version of herself, and how she keeps her head above water in the music industry. Here’s a few gems Kassandra shared about how to embrace where you are, break out of your shell, and become the most confident version of yourself.

Tyler Skinner is an entrepreneurial alchemist and the Founder of Connected Communities, a creative consultancy that helps women connect with each other and their passions. Today Tyler and Host Jocelyn Michelle talk about how women are stronger together and how to ride the wave of hard times to find flow.

Alisa Bowen-Mercado is no stranger to being the first to pave the way for others. As one of the leaders of her family-owned construction company, Alisa was one of the few women in the field in a position of power. Then, when she decided to take a leap of faith and pursue passion by opening up her own salsa studio, she had to pave her own way--construction was what she knew, but salsa was what she loved. So, pursuing passion over paycheck, Alisa found a way to both support herself and bring the joy of salsa to New Haven Connecticut. As if that wasn't enough, Alisa most recently decided that her love for beer deserved a business of its own. So, in 2018 Alisa founded Rhythm Brewing Co., the only black-owned beer brewery in the state of Connecticut.

Ally Melendez wouldn't be where she is today in her sports broadcasting career if it weren't for her ability to remain tenacious and confident despite the daily challenges in life. During this Confidence Conversation, Jocelyn and ally talk about how you can reframe your mindset to think positively in order to attract and manifest positive outcomes in your life.

If there’s one word to describe Alex Williams, the Founder and CEO of Holistic Hyperbarics, it’s authentic. She’s authentic in her work, her story, and the way she runs her business.

Before founding Holistic Hyperbarics, Alex was working as a police officer and wrestler. She enjoyed her time on the force, but she wanted to do more to end systemic poverty, racism and oppression that the system only seemed to perpetuate or ignore.

During one of her matches she was injured and told that she wouldn’t have full range of her shoulder for over a year. Unable to sit still and simply succumb to injury, Alex spent every penny she had to purchase her own hyperbaric chamber. With the help of the chamber, Alex’s shoulder healed in a fraction of the time. Impressed with her results, Alex’s friends began using the chamber for their own injuries, and before she knew it there were strangers showing up at her home in East Oakland to use the chamber. Alex was baffled by what was happening and when she told a couple of friends they invested in medical grade hyperbaric chambers with her and Holistic Hyperbarics was born.

During this Confidence Conversation, host Jocelyn Michelle and guest Alex Williams chat about pursuing purpose and keeping your head held high as black women in business. Happy Juneteenth!

Today Tabitha Brooke is a renowned life coach and the founder of the Love Me Lab, but her journey to self awareness was a difficult one. As a survivor of narcissistic abuse, Tabitha found herself lost and in need of healing at age 30. After years of suffering in an emotionally abusive home where religion was used as a weapon against her mind and mental health, Tabitha was able to escape the only home she knew and find herself in the process. Ten years later Tabitha helps other people who have faced emotional and narcissistic abuse pinpoint the root of the issue and equip them with the tools they need to engage actively in self love and self care. Tabitha’s story is an inspiration and helps us to see that there really is light at the end of the tunnel.

Shayla Varnado lives by the words “feel the fear and do it anyway.” As the founder of Black Girls Wine, Shayla knows a thing or two about taking a leap of faith and landing on your feet. She founded her luxury wine experience in 2019, but her entrepreneurial journey actually began years prior when she ventured away from her career in Corporate America to be a fashion stylist and business coach. Although she has since sunset her fashion styling business, the lessons Shayla has learned along the way have been crucial to her success as a leader, a woman, and an entrepreneur.  This inspirational and motivational conversation walks through how to be brave in both business and your daily life with high performance habits, mindset hacks, and intention-setting.

Camilla Gray-Nelson is a farm-girl turned entrepreneur and author with a unique take on finding success in life, love, and career. Camilla coaches, cajoles and commands her audience, teaching important life lessons on leadership and personal empowerment with lessons learned from the animals that have shared her life. Drawing upon years of studying animal behavior first-hand, Camilla discusses the similarities between animals and humans and the subtler side of leadership – why bigger and louder isn’t better and how universal social cues can be applied to all of life’s important situations. It’s a powerful but pragmatic approach designed to help audiences better achieve their goals – not only with their animals, but with their staff, their clients, their children and partners alike. 

Dr. Sheri Walls has her feet founded it faith, but it wasn't until her faith was tested that she was able to really prove she had it. Sheri had a relatively smooth-sailing academic career until it was time for her to take the MCAT. Like many of us in situations like this, Sheri felt the pressure of this make or break moment despite knowing that she knew the content and was well prepared to succeed. So what happened? Ultimately Sheri ended up taking the MCAT three times, but it wasn't until the third time that she surrendered control of the outcome, and went in with a mindset of confidence and empowerment. She was able to not only score high enough to get into medical school, but used the lessons she learned in mindfulness and faith to help her match with her top residency program as well.