Kismet + Charisma

My podcast other-half, Charisma, keeps herself booked and busy but her candles are the only candles we should be talking about during Black History Month. She sells out QUICKLY and each of these hand-poured, soy candles are sure to keep you in your hygge feels all winter long.

Shop

Heretics Shop

With their resin jewelry, book memorabilia, accessories, and more, Heretics has something for everyone. Did I mention that they also do commissions? Not only is Jade dedicated to their craft, but they have also done an amazing job of curating an e-commerce store that gives you the feeling of walking into your favorite small, town gift shop.

Shop

Andrea Pippins

Honestly, I could host an entire blog post dedicated to my love and admiration of illustrator and author, Andrea Pippins. Her work has inspired me for years and her journey as an artist is awe-inspiring. I highly recommend purchasing any of her published books to add a piece of that bright, happiness that her work illustrates into your life.

Shop

Val’s Cheesecakes

1. Watch Jonathan Morris’s Self Employed on Magnolia Network. 2. Come back very inspired by Val’s story, hungry, and craving cheesecake. Cheesecake is a love language and Val has taken his mother’s legacy and created a cheesecake empire right in the heart of Dallas. This post is also a plea that Val’s can start delivering nationwide, expeditiously.

Shop

Shop After Another

Alyissa is a MAKER-maker. She makes jewelry, art, greeting cards, pins, patches, and so much more. Alyissa’s work is colorful, bold, bright, and empowering. She makes products that radiate joy and embody positivity. I cannot say enough about how talented she is and how you should be supporting her for all of your 60s and 70s revival needs.

Shop

Simisienna

Simisienna is one of three sister brands that have a HOLD on me. As we are still #pandemicliving, athleisure is a top clothing choice for me. I don’t want to wear hard pants. Simisienna makes beautiful options for those who are looking for something stable for their next workout or whoever else wants to elevate their #WFH lifestyles.

Shop

Afrohemien

Afrohemien is everything. This craftily curated shop of handmade jewelry, cultural goods, and vintage finds is my favorite e-commerce find of the pandemic. I could easily have an Instagram feed of the amazing work Lakesha is doing to create this shop. Her eye for details is immaculate and everything highlights the beauty in Black and African culture.

Shop

Namiwear

This is an obvious outlier for my style choices. I am a woven blanket, chai latte person, but, this jacket is everything. Honestly highlighting an anime-influenced streetwear company is all-encompassing on the Black joy scales. For bonus points, enjoy the Sailor Moon Fan Club podcast, a Sailor Moon fan podcast hosted by a Black woman.

Shop

Eso Tolson

Eso’s lettering embodies every feeling of Black joy for me. He has effortlessly created some of my favorite pieces. I have shamelessly highlighted him before on this site. I cannot say enough kind words about his bold block or fluid lettering style that makes you feel each phrase in your chest. 10/10 Must-buy.

Shop

Moonlight Roller

One of my favorite pandemic trends has been the resurgance of roller skating. Growing up in Atlanta in the 90s and early 00s meant that roller skating rinks were a welcomed weekend destination. Insert Moonlight Roller, a black-founded roller skating brand based out of Tennessee. These stylish skates with their signature crescent moon will help you stand out aamong your local skate gang.

Shop

Black Brew Bros.

I am heavily invested in Black people roasting coffee. I discovered this gem out and about at my local farmers market. You can smell the beans before walking to the booth which is nothing but a good sign of coffee worth trying. With a variety of different roasts of their Grade AAA Arabica coffee beans, there are plenty of options to choose from. I can’t wait to gift these beans to all of my fellow coffee-loving friends.

Shop

Brave + Kind Bookshop

This bookshop was also a pandemic find of mine. Located in my hometown, Brave + Kind is a bookshop that carefully curates books for littles and some books for grown-ups too. As a parenting person, it is so much easier to browse the wide variety of children’s literature when someone has done the work of putting together an artful selection to choose from.

Shop

One of the things I’ve learned in my six years of being a podcast producer is that there are some real gems out there, despite podcasting having a ROUGH 2022 thus far. The best way to help support podcasts is to share them, rate them, and consistently talk about them if you love them. Remember how you found out about Serial for the first time? Now do that with some of these podcast gems.

I’ll do my best to highlight Black creators and businesses on Instagram stories throughout the month in this Celebrating Black Joy series. This is just a small snippet of everything I want to share but let me know of your favorite Black businesses, creators, artists, and technologists in the comments below I can follow along.

The post Black Businesses & Creators Guide appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.

If you are new here, Links I Love is my Friday wrap-up series. I am online and reading so much content so I wanted to use this to share with my friends without having to blow up their inboxes (Yes, this blog is that old.) Every Friday, that I can, I’ll try to share some things I’ve seen on the internet that are interesting (in my humble opinion).

♥ My talented friend Melissa released an amazing new to-do list Instagram filter. You can get it on your stories by visiting her profile (in the app!), and selecting the filter icon. (It’s the icon we normies don’t have.)

♥ Speaking of friends, my friend and podcast co-producer Charisma has just released her fall collection of candles at Kismet + Charisma. I cannot wait to get the pumpkin king candle in my house ASAP.

♥ It’s been my very first Grace Hopper Celebration and I cannot rave enough about how amazing this conference has been. There are so many sessions and tons to enjoy.

♥ Sherell Dorsey has released the Clark Street Project podcast which is a narrative look at the evolution of black business and entrepreneurship.

♥ I have been making these mini cinnamon sugar pretzels from Mike Bakes NYC for the past two weeks and they’re so great. It’s an easy recipe to follow for someone who has never made pretzels ever in her entire life.

♥ Little Occasion is the cutest small shop of clothes for the littles. I love button-downs on tiny kids. They’re so ridiculous and it’s fantastic.

Around the Studio

♥ I talked to Andrea Flores of Drea Flow on this week’s Artist Showcase and I was not disappointed.

♥ We shared ALL of the things we’re doing for content for our businesses and our clients in 2020.

♥ I’m currently getting the 2020 Holiday Gift Guide ready to go. If you have small businesses you’re wanting to recommend, please comment below!

♥ The holiday catalog is going out NEXT WEEK to newsletter subscribers only so you need to subscribe below so you don’t miss out.

The post Links I Love – 10.02.2020 appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.

If you are new here, Links I Love is my Friday wrap-up series. I am online and reading so much content so I wanted to use this to share with my friends without having to blow up their inboxes (Yes, this blog is that old.) Every Friday, that I can, I’ll try to share some things I’ve seen on the internet that are interesting (in my humble opinion).

♥ Hello! There are new Halloween prints and printables available in the shop to get you prepared for your favorite spooky holiday.

♥ I was very inspired by this video of Masako Wakamiya via Great Big Story. Masako learned how to code at 81 and calls herself an IT evangelist. She’s amazing.

♥ The very amazing Jessica Hische and Adé Hogue collaborated with twenty other artists to work on the Rise Up. Show Up. Unite! campaign to help uplift the Biden-Harris campaign and the results are stunning. The hashtag is growing quite rapidly on Instagram showcasing the talented work of so many people.

♥ Adanna shared a list of 16 affordable dresses for a summer-fall transition and she didn’t miss the mark.

♥ I’m late but Kristle Marshall’s amazing Small Business Directory is full of wonderful small businesses to support as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

♥ The ever-wonderful Grace Bonney has created a site where you can be a part of the Design*Sponge Good Company book by generating your own page.

♥ If you are a womxn founder seeking a collective group of like-minded individuals who will help guide and uplift you to help grow your mindset and business, Honeycomb is for you.

Around the Studio

♥ I’ll be speaking at the WPMRR Virtual Summit on September 24, 2020. This two-day conference is put on by the cool people at WP Buffs and spoiler alert: tickets are free.

♥ We talked to Marley of Marley’s Menu about how she started her food blog after being furloughed.

♥ I’m currently getting the 2020 Holiday Gift Guide ready to go. If you have small businesses you’re wanting to recommend, please comment below!

The post Links I Love – 9.18.2020 appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.

If you are new here, Links I Love is my Friday wrap-up series. I am online and reading so much content so I wanted to use this to share with my friends without having to blow up their inboxes (Yes, this blog is that old.) Every Friday, that I can, I’ll try to share some things I’ve seen on the internet that are interesting (in my humble opinion).

♥ This weekend, I’m doing a Fall Collection giveaway on Instagram. You can enter to win a print and five cards up until midnight on 9/13/2020, so, good luck if you’re entering!

♥ In memory of Patriot Day, I’m recommending the following documentaries In the Shadow of the Towers: Stuyvesant High on 9/11 and What Happened on September 11 (which is free.) There are a lot of other 9/11 documentaries that I’ve watched over the past nineteen years but these two are quite recent and both offer perspectives that were poignant to my experience as someone who was in middle school at that time.

♥ I’m still in love with these small, insightful videos from Bonnie Tsang on her YouTube channel. They’re so soothing and she does an amazing job composing these shots.

♥ I spent way too long scrolling Elliot Ulm’s Instagram account with his witty quips of #LifeofaDesigner.

♥ This Coffee Things shirt from our local coffee shop, Qreate Coffee, is everything I’ve needed in my entire quarantine wardrobe.

♥ The ladies from The Product Boss are running their Rock Your Holiday Promotions digital course again soon. This course was super helpful for me to prep this place for the holidays so I cannot recommend it enough.

♥ I’m late to talk about it here but I adore this Tia Mowry x Etsy collaboration so, so much.

♥ I’ve been listening to More Love – Songs from Little Voice Season One by Sara Bareilles as much as possible to soothe me into the fall season. We’re having a lot of rainy days here so I’m missing the long afternoons in coffee shops.

Around the Studio

♥ I’ll be speaking at the WPMRR Virtual Summit on September 24, 2020. This two-day conference is put on by the cool people at WP Buffs and spoiler alert: tickets are free.

♥ I’m currently getting the 2020 Holiday Gift Guide ready to go. If you have small businesses you’re wanting to recommend, please comment below!

The post Links I Love – 9.11.2020 appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.

Like many of you, I’d declared 2020 as the year of doing more in-person networking. I was looking forward to returning to public speaking. However, with the limitations on being able to gather in large groups, the need for digital conferences has increased way beyond anything we’d ever anticipated. I think most of us who have worked online have been attending or participating in online events for quite some time. The switch from physical to digital was somewhat welcome to me although we had such a great time at WordCamp Miami 2020 that I was a little disappointed in throwing any plans by the wayside. I’ll share one of my favorite stops on the trip, grabbing baked goods at Parlour Vegan Bakery on the way home.

However, the announcement of Cancelled Con 1 happening on my 30th birthday left me feeling a little hopeful for the digital events to come. I’ve had the privilege of attending a few very different events this year post-pandemic so I’m going to share a few tips on how to get the most as an attendee and how to prepare for a digital event as a speaker.

Attending a Digital Conference

After the official cancellation of Creative South, Andrew Hochradel’s announcement of Cancelled Con was extremely welcome. Seeing some of my favorite creatives on my birthday felt like my own personal birthday gift. If you’ve never been to a design conference before, there’s a lot of opportunity for other people in the industry to share their stories but also show off their skills. Obviously it’s hard to recreate the things that happen in the hall, meeting up over food and drinks, or the exclusive merch, but there is a lot of value in showing up to a digital event.

Cancelled Con was live-streamed via YouTube. It was two days of amazing conversations, designs, tutorials, and more. I learned so much about different programs that I knew nothing about. It was good to see familiar faces and it was a lighthearted vibe.

David was a presenter at PechaKucha Orlando v28 which was a physical event that was switched to a digital presentation. He’d practiced and was coached to present in front of an audience so it was disappointing to pivot to an online-only event. However, as someone who was able to watch these speakers share their stories, it was a great evening event to contrast with my daytime event experiences.

I also attended the Lesbians Who Tech (NOT IRL) Pride Summit at the end of June. It is obviously a much larger event but it was such a great experience. The keynotes were great. The workshops were phenomenal. The chats were fantastic. I didn’t plan on attending an event in 2020 where I got to hear Arlan Hamilton speak and moderate a panel with the cast of The L Word but it happened. This event was focused, targeted, informative, and powerful and I cannot say enough kind things about it.

From these very different experiences, I came away with a few tips that would be helpful for digital events as an attendee.

• Take notes
  • I will always recommend taking notes for any event. Of course, you’ll want to follow along with any live creating that’s happening in real-time but it’s nice to take notes so you can remember the things you’re learning later.
• Engage with the presenters
  • If you’re on social media, reach out to the presenters in real-time so they can see any feedback on what they were doing and how it went on their end. Use official hashtags, follow on social, and connect with speakers so they know how things went.
• Stay focused
  • Digital events are great because you can multitask while attending. However, I will say I’ve gotten the most out of the events when my brain wasn’t focused on something else.
• Put everything on your calendar
  • There have been a few digital events that have slipped by me because I didn’t have them on the calendar. If you carve out time for it, you’re more likely to attend and be engaged. LWT was so detailed, I had any session I wanted to attend on my calendar with reminders so I wouldn’t forget.
• Don’t be spammy
  • Obviously, if you have an opportunity to network and share your business, do it. However, don’t overdo it. I’ve seen so many people just spam chats of events and it’s not cool.
• Stay muted
  • If you’re in a video format for any reason that allows you to have a mic on, mute yourself.
• Take it easy
  • Relax! If an event isn’t for you, it’s ok to leave. There have been some things that definitely didn’t align with me or wasn’t what I thought it was. It’s ok to leave. Not everything is for you and that’s ok. If there’s a survey, give honest feedback for things but also be fair with any criticism.

Presenting at a Digital Conference

I’ve been very lucky to present, facilitate workshops, sit on panels, and more at events over the past few years. When Kelly of Spark Orlando reached out to see if I wanted to speak at The Freelancers Conference on podcasting, I couldn’t think of a better opportunity to dip my toes back into the presenting arena. This was technically my very first digital event opportunity so although I was nervous, I was excited to talk (way too much) about podcasting.

I wanted to share some ways that I planned for this event. As you can see from above, we may have done a lot for the lights but it was a fantastic opportunity. I had a great time. My workshop attendees were wonderful and patient with me. I also learned a lot through the experience so here are some things to take note of if you’re planning on speaking at a digital conference:

• Over-prepare
  • Luckily, I’ve learned while during five years of podcasting that anything can happen while you’re online and live. There aren’t enough backups of slides, presenting areas, and whatever else you need to be prepared. Early on, I realized it would be beneficial to have a second screen so I could see the chat while presenting through the Hopin platform we were using.
  • All presenters also got to do a test run of the software with the organizers. This was super helpful to get an idea of the platform, what their expectations were, and what to do on the day of.
• Treat your speaker guidelines like the law.
  • I was in my session room fifteen minutes before and it helped me prepare. Luckily, Kelly was in my room as well to help me if anything went awry.
  • It also helped remind me of what the conference organizers were expecting for me.
• Engage with the audience
  • The audience helps keep a presentation alive, especially when you can’t see them. I loved asking for feedback in the chat. They also let me know what they wanted me to cover in terms of Q&A and gave me feedback on any tech issues in real-time.
• Relax and enjoy yourself
  • I was slightly nervous. I’m not a talker despite having a podcast so any long periods of talking are weird for me. I had so much tech on my desk that I didn’t keep tea with me and I have regrets. Coughing during a pandemic during your talk isn’t the most graceful thing you could do.
• Have a follow-up plan
  • I’ve always tried to have something special for attendees to offer them at the end of the talk. Yesterday, I launched a 3-week podcasting mini-course that was exclusive for attendees but I’m opening it up below. I had 10% of my room attendees sign up via the special promotion page where I included additional reading links, my slides, a freebie, and a coupon code exclusive for the attendees. Don’t leave with a follow-up. I’m still connected with so many people who I’ve met in my talks at events.

Let me know all of your digital conference tips in the comments below and for any readers, you can sign up for the 3-week Podcasting 101 Mini-Course below.

Sign-up for the Podcasting 101
Mini-Course

To help keep you on track for launching your podcast, sign-up for the Podcasting 101 Mini-Course, a free inbox-only podcasting mini-course for aspiring podcasters.

• Name
  First Last
• Email
• Business Website

Δ

The post Tips for Digital Conference Attendees and Speakers appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.

If you are new here, Links I Love is my Friday wrap-up series. I am online and reading so much content so I wanted to use this to share with my friends without having to blow up their inboxes (Yes, this blog is that old.) Every Friday, that I can, I’ll try to share some things I’ve seen on the internet that are interesting (in my humble opinion).

♥ I’m finishing up my Botanical Collection giveaway on Instagram. You can enter to win a print up until midnight on 7/25/2020, so, good luck if you’re entering!

♥ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had an opportunity to respond back to the targeted harassment and verbal abuse she received on camera from a colleague. The ten-minute video is powerful and she shares so many anecdotes about how harmful the behavior is and how widespread verbal abuse is towards women everywhere.

♥ The new Seattle Kraken branding was released this week and as any design item, has received mixed reviews. I like the colors. I’m not sure about the main icon still but the wordmark is actually pretty good. I like seeing other design systems in the wild so I’m not angry about it.

♥ If you love book cover design, this thread of people sharing their favorite beautiful covers on Twitter is worth checking out.

♥ I made these cinnamon rolls this week and I couldn’t recommend them enough.

♥ I also finished the Neil Patel E-commerce Unlocked course this week. As someone who is stepping their toes back into e-commerce personally, I am in the sponge stage. I’ve been testing what works. I’m writing notes on what to improve. It’s so important to stick to what you’re doing and do the best you can. I’m excited to see how the products continue to develop over the seasons and what else I can do with this space.

Around the Studio

♥ Tomorrow at 2 pm EST, I’ll be presenting my podcasting workshop at The Freelancers Conference. I’m excited to tap back into the speaking waters and especially with other speakers from Orlando.

♥ We shared some tips on going back into the office during a pandemic as an employee and as an employer.

♥ New Botanical Collection prints have been added this week so be sure to check those out!

The post Links I Love – 7.24.2020 appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.

If you are new here, Links I Love is my Friday wrap-up series. I am online and reading so much content so I wanted to use this to share with my friends without having to blow up their inboxes (Yes, this blog is that old.) Every Friday, that I can, I’ll try to share some things I’ve seen on the internet that are interesting (in my humble opinion).

Oops! The pandemic summer has been zooming by and I haven’t had the time to catch up with you peeps! I’ve been trying to post as much as I can over on Instagram so you’re more likely to get some timely updates from me there.

♥ I’m patiently awaiting The Michelle Obama Podcast on Spotify. I didn’t know that I needed it but now that it’s an option, please and thank you.

♥ The new A11Y Project redesign is a reminder to use this resource often if you’re creating content online. Accessibility is something we can be better with.

♥ The magical Michelle Chantelle Hopewell wrote an amazing list of things contributing to anti-blackness online. This amazing human being is doing so much great work with her platform and I couldn’t recommend following her enough.

♥ Speaking of uplifting Black creatives, Ade Hogue’s work for the 2020 Issue of Texas Heritage for Living Magazine is 10/10.

♥ I’m sharing here because this Design System Checklist will be a lifesaver in the future.

♥ Currently binging Indian Matchmaking and Down to Earth with Zac Efron. While I’m not in love with everything in the later docuseries, I will say it was easy to watch and informative on some subjects. Would recommend!

Around the Studio

♥ Launched the new Botanical Collection and I couldn’t be thrilled about it. A collection within a collection is probably obnoxious. I’ve also added a new print and printable.

♥ We talked to Maria Nuñez, a local Orlando real estate agent, about how she does her business her way on the podcast.

♥ ICYMI, I’ll be presenting at The Freelancers Conference next weekend on podcasting! Tickets are 100% free so sign up ASAP.

The post Links I Love – 07.17.2020 appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.

What a week! I haven’t blogged twice in a week in years. I’m also posting on Instagram several times. What is this? What has quarantine done to me? Folx, I’m exhausted. I haven’t been able to write the “What Not to Do When Launching an E-commerce Business” post but I am working on it.

If you are new here, Links I Love is my Friday wrap-up series. I am online and reading so much content so I wanted to use this to share with my friends without having to blow up their inboxes (Yes, this blog is that old.) Every Friday, that I can, I’ll try to share some things I’ve seen on the internet that are interesting (in my humble opinion).

♥ My big one this week is the Lesbians Who Tech Pride Summit (Not IRL). This whole summit has been phenomenal. I’ve always wanted to attend this amazing event and it has not disappointed. If we’re in the AC (after COVID-19) next year, I’ll do my best to attend. A lot of the keynote sessions with amazing humans like Angelica Ross, Elizabeth Warren, Stacey Abrams, Megan Rapinoe, and others are up on their Facebook page. I will say my favorite sessions have been the “smaller” break-out sessions via Zoom. Ariel Belgrave, the founder of Gym Hooky, led a fantastic workshop called, “The Importance of Self Care in the Age of Black Lives Matter: Taking Care of Your Mental, Physical, and Emotional Self.” Also, this amazing playlist has been the soundtrack to the event, and what better way to better yourself than with amazing tunes to accompany you?

♥ This article by Leigh Stein dismantling the myth of the Girlboss has been making the rounds online and for good reason. There needs to be a larger conversation happening about abuse at the hands of people perpetuating commercialized feminism for their personal gain and not for the betterment of their sisters.

♥ Ron Tinlsey wrote this powerful open letter to the white graphic design community. As someone who is “in” the design and tech community, I’ve been let down by the stances so many people who have positions of power have taken over the years. Currently, so many of those leaders are now adopting the voice of change and empowerment of Black people. I’m questioning a lot of voices and continuing to do my power to uplift Black creatives on the platforms I have.

♥ Speaking of uplifting Black creatives, how amazing is Sharee Miller’s Instagram account? She’s amazing. I’m in love with this piece.

♥ I will yell on the hill of Dana Tanamachi as much as I can for as long as I live. The MiiR x Tanamachi Drinkware & Coffee collection is all I want. Give me all of the things.

♥ I’m catching up on Second Life Podcast episodes and this episode with Justina Blakeney left me with plenty of notes.

♥ I’ve been watching Taste the Nation with Padma Laksmi and it’s so great. If you’re looking for something light, I highly recommend it.

Around the Studio

♥ New products have been added into the shop, including these amazing note cards!

♥ We talked to Ben O’Keefe about activism on the podcast.

♥ ICYMI, I shared some insight into the Summer Solstice Collection and how this revamp came to be.

The post Links I Love – 06.26.2020 appeared first on Studio 404 Paper.