For the second installment of the Know Her Name series, Akosua chats with Allie Danziger of Ampersand Pro about Gen Zers in the workplace, Allie's journey to business owning, and Ampersand's mission. Allie shares advice to women business owners, Gen Z students and entry level workers, and employers on what they should expect from the incoming generation of workers.

Want to join Sesh in celebrating Pride? Visit our events page!

DONATE to our fundraiser for The Mahogany Project, a non-profit dedicated to reducing social isolation, stigma, and acts of injustice in TQLGB+ communities of color.

This June, we are reflecting on our roots. Akosua and Dane are joined by University of Houston Professor, Maria Gonzales, to talk about the history of Houston's LGBTQ+ community.

From the open secret of Ima Hogg, closeted lesbian and patron of art and culture in Houston. Through the start of the gay rights movement, when the Montrose Patrol formed so the community could rely on each other for protection. The intersection of the feminist movement with the early days of the Houston LGBT Political Caucus. To modern leaders and organizations, and how Houston's community has grown, changed names, and faded away. The trio also ponder the future and how we will withstand the aversion to acceptance coming from the State and Federal government.

Want to join Sesh in celebrating Pride? Visit our events page!

DONATE to our fundraiser for The Mahogany Project, a non-profit dedicated to reducing social isolation, stigma, and acts of injustice in TQLGB+ communities of color.

In this Outspoken episode our guest host, Akosua speaks with our guest expert, Amari, on the viral social media/TikTok discussion on choice feminism (the belief that individual choices of a woman are inherently feminist) and how beauty politics affect women and femmes of color (and with other intersecting identities), on their relationships, how they interact with clients, and skincare. Amari, our guest expert, discusses where they want to see skincare going in the future and shares tips. 

More about Amari:

Amari is a queer esthetician of color based in Austin. They are with eleMINT Skin. They specialize in holistic skincare and facials.

"With a deep belief in radical healing and transformation, Amari brings a true holistic energy to our team and your facial experience. Amari prioritizes preventive, restorative skin health over reactive excessive treating. A native of Dallas, Amari brings mindfulness and intuition, combined with advanced esthetic expertise and a love for plants to transform skin health. Amari’s heart beats for the collective good and she is known for her conscious approach to life AND skin practices!"

Follow eleMINT Skin on Instagram

Welcome to Sesh’s True Crime Lunch Club. This month our team discusses the mysterious death of Rey Rivera, a recent episode of Unsolved Mysteries covering the man’s strange death. Rey Rivera rushed from his Baltimore home to never be seen again, nearly a week later his badly beaten body was found decomposing at the historic Belvedere Hotel. The team falls down several rabbit holes that include body guards, helicopters and aliens, but ultimately the team lands on the perfect ending to this cold case.

In this episode of season 3 we’re speaking again with Carrie Colbert of Curate Capital. This episode is part of our Outspoken series, where we speak to experts and get their personal takes on headlines, current events and topics impacting our community. Today we hear from Carrie on the High Standards & Consequences for Female CEOs which comes from a trend we’ve witnessed in media coverage of female founders from Glossier, Refinery 29, Thinx, Cleo and more are quickly ousted from their companies after what appears to be a few missteps.

Resource Notes:

Book Mention: Rocket Fuel

Fortune: https://fortune.com/longform/female-founders-startups-the-wing-away-outdoor-voices-ceos/

NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/business/outdoor-voices-ty-haney-mickey-drexler.html

Vox: https://www.vox.com/2018/10/31/17960156/what-is-the-glass-cliff-women-ceos

Refinery 29: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9549004/female-founders-toxic-workplace-culture-outdoor-voices-away

Inc.: https://www.inc.com/rebecca-deczynski/dominos-customer-pickup-incentive-labor-shortage-staffing.html

Rice: https://business.rice.edu/wisdom/features/charismatic-founder-ceos-behavior

For the opening episode of Season 3 of Oh Yes We Can, we’re introducing a new podcast mini-series called Know Her Name. This series is a mini-series within our podcast that gets to know the people behind the brands you may or may not know here in Houston. In episode 1 we're learning about Carrie Colbert and Curate Capital. We'll learn how she started Curate Capital and the "by women and for women" companies she's uplifting and investing in. Stay tuned for Episode 2, when Carrie joins on our Outspoken series to discuss a trend we’ve witnessed in media coverage of female founders from The Wing, Ban.do, Away, Outdoor Voices and more are quickly ousted from their companies after what appears to be a few missteps. 

Where's the line between censorship and cancel culture? It all started with one tweet from Brene Brown & we were down the rabbit hole. Who is the responsible party - Spotify? Joe Rogan? Algorithms? Us? Sesh digs in with Houston expert Ozeal DeBastos of Pod Houston & Podcast Influence Academy to discuss the slippery slope that is podcasting, free speech and being a brand that has a voice. 

Valentine’s Day has gotten a bad wrap for being a commercial thrusted in our faces just before New Years with stores trying to sell, sell, sell - but we all know it isn’t the things that create the amorous feeling. It's the acknowledgement of having an enduring, growing loving relationship with someone....AND that someone includes YOURSELF! The Sesh Team & Community share their life experiences of when they weren't loving themselves, the repercussions and how they overcame their bad habits of putting everyone else first. 

On this episode we hear from:

Amy Malkan - AKA the artist behind the well-known Pinky Promise mural at our previous Montrose location.

Theresa Quintanilla - Sesh Member, art lover & brilliant newsletter writer. 

Mags, Mere & Koko ALL noticed the same thing about Britney Spears recent trend of Instagram videos. They're...well, a bit juvenile and we're wondering - why is that? 

We take a historical look into the overly public lives of celebrities who gained huge success and fame at a very young age and what the impacts were that fame had on them. And of course, we take a look at whether this is just a trend for female celebrities vs male celebrities or if its truly about what age they enter "the business". Listen further as we discuss the fame of Brittany, JoJo Sewa, Lindsey Lohan, The Olsen Twins, Demi or Justin Bieber. 

Mags & Mere get down and dirty about what it's like to move your business. They include pro-tips about changing your address, packing and preparing your clients for not just the move, but also the changes that are inevitable with a new space.