Impact Magazine, April 2014

Contents 2 Flawless Beauty An inside look at Just Glam owner Nik Caldwell with the 5 looks of Ledisi 8 The Evolution of the Side Chic 10 The Spirit of the Hustle Publicist Anje Collins new book “PR Related” 12 Flawless Fresh Face Crystal Alexis From The Editor Spring has sprung and a new season has begun! T he dawn of a new season brings a fresh awakening to innovative possibilities and a renewal in you! What have you pushed back or what are you moving forward toward? Are your goals attainable? I remember hearing that you should write them out in steps that are within reach; this way you have the feeling and the tangible evidence of an accomplishment! We all have a purpose and desires; with each new season we should evaluate each to be mindful of the tasks at hand. Too many items on our list can lead to busy work full of intangible results! If we take a task and break it down into manageable parts, we will have the most IMPACT in the achievement. “ With each new season, we should evaluate each to be mindful of the tasks at hand. Last year, we set out to find the Flawless Fresh Face where she would have a photo session with the infamous Derek Blanks! We searched hundreds of young girls who were not only beautiful, but who knew that what they were doing was all on purpose! Our cover girl, Crystal Alexis made us proud when she walked in and took command on the set! The team of professionals we had, put together an awesome look. We had styling by Elocin Plus (@elocinplus), celebrity makeup artist Bee Wade (@allthingsbee), hair by Heidi Cook (@styled_by_heidi). It is opportunities such as this that we seek each season to fulfill with the magazine. This year, we will be launching our beauty box that will be sent to subscribers at the BET Live Experience in Los Angeles, Essence Music Festival with Dr. Miracles in New Orleans, and in Atlanta, GA in the Fall! Our new goal is to find a face to match the quintessence of the campaign, so let the search begin! With each season, there are endless possibilities on what the end result will be to your desired goal. How do you embark on each one? With a renewed, purposed driven mind that understands that each goal is attainable, as long as you break it down into parts you are able to handle! Remember to always be an IMPACT! “ Tunisha C. Brown Editor-In-Chief Pictured from the left: Designer Nicole Nolan of Elocin Plus (@ elocinplus) with our Flawless Fresh Face winner Crystal Alexis (@ plusmodelmua), celebrity makeup artist Bee Wade (@allthingsbee), and celebrity photographer, Derek Blanks (@mrdblanks). Beauty FLAWLESS J Beauty ust Glam founder and visionary, Nicole Caldwell, has a wide range of creative talents. She is an accomplished stylist and cosmetics entrepreneur in the beauty, fashion and entertainment industries, and motivational speaker. She represents all that is glamorous, and her own journey symbolizes the company’s mission and passion for making a difference in the world of cosmetics. Just Glam is a “Movement”! Nicole has mastered the skills and expertise necessary to place her at the top of her game, but she remains actively involved in her community. With a business degree from San Francisco State University, she is frequently asked to conduct workshops and seminars to share her success story. She displays her charismatic personality and outgoing spirit while sharing her entrepreneurial and business experiences, as well as beauty secrets to eager fashion students and colleagues. She continues to demonstrate her love for makeup artistry and positive self-image by donating her time to teaching self esteem building, career awareness, workplace readiness, image and self-assessment in group In just a few years, Nicole, affectionately homes, women’s initiative programs, women’s shelters, known as Nik, carefully developed and detention centers, juvenile hall programs, urban schools, launched her signature line of cosmetics, and ministries nationally. Nicole has written numerous while simultaneously gaining a reputation as an incredible stylist, make-up artist and savvy businesswoman. Nicole has a decade of experience working in a variety of media, and she has successfully established clientele ranging from influential congresswomen to popular television personalities to chart-topping entertainers such as Lauryn Hill, Brian McKnight, Ledisi, Terri Vaughn, Delroy Lindo, Chandra Wilson, Corrine Brown, Kim Burrell and so many more. Nik’s artistry has graced the pages of Essence, People, Upscale, and Sister 2 articles, and is a frequent editorial contributor to many Sister magazines. popular beauty sites. Her active participation in UNCF Empowerment Tour and NABFEME (National Association of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment), contributes to her ongoing sponsorship of many nonprofits and charitable events, including: The Princess Project, Haute.lanta Fashion Week™ and Fashion on the Square, just to name a few. Nicole is also on the Board of Directors for the Global Fashion Initiative. JUST GLAM NICOLE CALDWELL Having established herself as an up and coming beauty mogul, Nicole wants to pave the way for those who will follow her footsteps by educating others and making even deeper inroads in the beauty, fashion and entertainment industries. “I am determined to spread my undying passion for what JUST GLAM stands for,” says Nicole. “There are very few African American stylists in the industry, but I am confident that will change soon. It is important that other women of color see the strides made by a woman who looks like them in this industry, which in turn will encourage, inspire and motivate them to make a difference and follow their passion.” Join Nicole Caldwell and the JUST GLAM beauty revolution in making the world a beautiful place to live. Golden Brooks top 5 glam looks of LEDISI TOP 5 GLAM LOOKS OF LEDISI Evolution of a Sidechic T he side chic has always been in existence! One of the things the men who indulged in the side endeavors did was to always keep her presence unknown. It was a time that a man would have another family and no one would know of it. I remember watching an episode of Love and Hip Hop when Chrissy was explaining to Emily on how a woman is never supposed to feel the presence of another woman with her man. Now, it has become evident in this day and time that the side chick is more prevalent than who the man have at home; specifically, the wife. It has become more and more clear from shows like Scandal, Being Mary Jane, Mistresses and more that the side chick is the better option; when in actuality, she may not. History depicts that the side chick never wins, but the glamorization of her has taken precedent, more so than her demise. How will this evolution die, better yet, how do you begin to understand the reasons why she has evolved? Flawless IMPACT walks down the evolution lane to display our main perceptions of why she has evolved in film and in the realities of life. It is better to be seen than heard: The side chic has her man’s ear in private. Some of their ultimate goals are to have the perceived fairy tale life with him. Some, don’t even want the life, they love the fact that the man cheats on his woman…for her! Eventually, they all want one thing and that is to be seen! Time and time again, it is always the woman who makes their relationship known publically. It is not frowned upon on in today’s era of ratchet TV, Amina’s announcement to Tara about her and Peter Gunz marriage on VH1’s Love and Hip Hop was all the rage on social media! Did you see how the alleged baby mother of NBA star Paul George announced her pregnancy on Instagaram? Paul’s girlfriend, Callie Rivers, is the daughter of head coach of the Clippers. It was reported that he offered the side chic $1M to have an abortion. She is seen on instagram rubbing her belly announcing she is having a girl! They want that shine!!! You have to give for it to be given: The respect code has gone out the window! Those days of a man keeping his business away from the street are gone. Grant it, having a side chic is not ideal, but there was a line of respect given for the woman at home. Now, with the love of the ratchet, the man and the side piece (vice versa in some cases) seem to not want to have the understanding of the word respect. It seems as if they are getting points for the display of disrespectfulness. Take Joseline and Stevie J., you couldn’t keep promoters from booking them together at their events because they knew the people would pay to see them out together; knowing it was out right disrespect toward Mimi Faust. Being seen, not having respect….these are some of the rules that have changed in the side piece game. With the dawn of a new age, the side chic has evolved. She has ran to cyberspace to air her dirty laundry, in hopes of a ratchet following and to justify her place in the relationship. No matter the case, the side chic desires to have the main chic responsibilities! But, what if she does get him? Does she ever think that he would do the same to her? Karma is definitely real, and if the side chic in all of her evolution believes she will not get paid a visit, she is the one living in a beautiful nightmare! What does PR stand for? It’s the abbreviation for Public Relations. What is public relations you ask? No, PR Does Not Stand For PUERTO RICO! P ublic Relations is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as: The professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company or other organization or a famous person. A publicist’s definition of public relations: Public Relations is the art and science of sharing credible, genuine, relevant news and information in order to grow, maintain, and protect brand acceptance, awareness, reputation, and sales, when appropriate. PR creates measurable fact- based conversations and conceives activities and events, in order to, generate positive third party endorsements and target audience buy-in. Working in the public relations industry is not glamorous. Not to mention PR jobs are extremely competitive especially in the entertainment and fashion PR industries; they’re highly coveted. The allure of party planning, record launches, club openings, celebrityfilled events, fashion shows, and film premieres is understandable. However, few young professionals understand the rigors or realities of the entertainment and fashion PR industries. Popular reality television shows like MTV’s “The Hills,” depict cast members Heidi and Audrina (who are both “employed” in entertainment industry PR jobs), partying and drinking at clubs while rubbing elbows with upand-coming bands and entertainers. By proffering this shallow and reckless image, these shows do a disservice to the dedicated and intelligent professionals working in the entertainment PR industry. in her late 40’s, which meant that she had to work for everything she had and obtained in life. (Reality check time) PR involves hard and dedicated work, long hours, time management skills, and proper spelling and grammar at all times, along with an extensive laundry list of dos and don’ts. Public relations is about communicating with the public and the media, not hiding behind a “No Comment” statement. The biggest reality wake up call for PR newbies is learning that issuing a “No Comment” statement is not only completely wrong, but that it also makes any PR practitioner look foolish and that he or she may be up to something. All of those celebrity publicists who have been using this statement since the dawn of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” have been doing it wrong! Who knew? PR is not just about throwing and attending parties, rubbing elbows, or even raking in the money. After years of watching the fascinating lives of the four women being portrayed in Sex and the City, one of the characters drastically stood out to me and that was Samantha Jones. Samantha stood out to me because she owned her own Public Relations company, rubbed elbows with the best of the best in New York City, threw first class parties and attended her fair share of them. She also knew all the best hot spots in the city and had a Rolodex overflowing with the names and numbers of the best and most elite of New York City. A lot of young people enter the industry thinking that PR is more like a lifestyle than a career. Take Samantha Jones; for example, she is her own boss, she is fierce and she makes a lot of money (and let’s not forget about her amazing fashion sense either). However, all of these desirable things had been over shadowed by her age. On the show, Samantha was PR is not just about throwing and attending parties, rubbing elbows, or even raking in the money. In the fashion entertainment industry, there are high expectations for even the most junior staffers, who must take initiative, and flawlessly execute public relations tactics with minimal supervision. Aspiring professionals must understand that success in the entertainment and fashion industries requires more than looking good and knowing how to party. In reality, there are long hours of tedious work before major events. If you have a passion for hard work and not just the glamour – this is the industry for you! So as you can see PR does not stand for Puerto Rico! Everyone has an idea of what public relations is all about, whether from TV and movies or just assumptions based on seeing a PR guy on a televised press conference “spin” a story. PR REALITIES Once you’ve worked in the field, though, it becomes clear that most depictions are inaccurate. Again, blame TV and movies. People see the lifestyle of a PR pro as portrayed in fiction and assume its reality. In the real world, it’s a lot of hard work and can’t be done while shopping for shoes and hanging out of a limo. To be really successful in the field, you have to be dedicated and love what you do, despite all the long hours and missteps along the way. So ask yourself this question, is PR for you? First of all it is important to establish what your expectations of public relations are. Despite popular media representations of the industry, PR isn’t all glamour and long boozy lunches – it can involve a lot of long hours and hard work. That’s not to say there aren’t any perks to the job, of course! Essentially, public relations can offer an incredibly varied and challenging career, encompassing many different activities. As with many jobs, the proof is in the pudding and you will only find out if you are suited to PR through real world experience. Makeup: Bee Wade (@allthingsbee) Hair: Heidi Cook (@styled_by_heidi) Dress: Elocin Plus (@elocinplus) Photography: Derek Blanks flawless fresh face Flawless IMPACT Magazine sought out hundreds of ladies for our Flawless Fresh Face campaign. Our winner is the beautiful, Crystal Alexis. Check out some of Crystal’s shots from the shoot and read what she had to say about winning the contest. W inning this contest has been such a growth process for me. I had been submitting to contest after contest and traveling to show after show, only to be rejected. My confidence was on a downward slope and I was beginning to question my purpose. “After this, I’m not entering another contest!” That was the sound of me giving up on my dreams. Then it happened… I’ll never forget the morning of May 15, 2013. I woke up to my phone buzzing like CRAZY! Then it hit me, “OMG! Today is the day the winner is announced!” I picked up and it was my friend screaming, “CONGRATULATIONS HUNNYYYY!” My breathing got heavier, my heartbeat got faster and then it seemed like time stood still. I had won the contest! What’s interesting is that during a modeling workshop I shared a few short term goals of mine, one of which was shooting with Derek Blanks. One year later… I WAS SHOOTING WITH DEREK BLANKS!!! In retrospect, it was never just about winning a contest for me. It was about never giving up and proving to myself that I can have anything I want in life if I’m willing to work hard for it. This was definitely a major milestone in my life as well as in my career. For that I owe a huge thanks to Elocin Plus Designs, Michael and Bee Overton, Heidi Cook, and Derek Blanks Photography. And a very special thank you to Tunisha Brown and Flawless-IMPACT magazine for choosing me for this AMAZING opportunity. I am forever grateful! Prepared by MagCloud for IMPACT Magazine. Get more at impact-magazine.magcloud.com.