Episode 75: Has Anything Changed? | Powerful Conversation on Racism in America | Sharifah Hardie, Mikelle Drew, Chandra Gore, Kristen Fenrick & Lauren Wilson
One month after our first “A Powerful Conversation About America: Racism,” Kara brings the panel back together to ask the urgent question: Has anything changed? This raw, unedited roundtable features Sharifah Hardie, Mikelle Drew, Chandra Gore, Kristen Fenrick, and Lauren Wilson as they share candid updates, lived experiences, and reflections on racism in America. From personal stories to systemic issues, the panel dives into what progress looks like, where it’s still missing, and what we can all do to be part of the solution. This conversation challenges, informs, and inspires - and it’s one to share widely with anyone committed to building a more just and equitable future.
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This is the live, unedited recording from our roundtable, A Powerful Conversation About America: Racism Episode 2. It’s been a month since Episode 1, so we’re asking our panelists “Has Anything Changed”. This conversation too place on July 24th, 2020 featuring Sharifah Hardie, Mikelle Drew, Chandra Gore, Kristen Fenrick and Lauren Wilson. We encourage and invite you to share this episode with everyone who needs to hear it.
You can follow & connect with our panelists on Instagram here:
Sharifah Hardie @sharifahhardie
Mikelle Drew @383design
Chandra Gore @cgoreconsults
Kristen Fenrick @kristenfenrick
Lauren Wilson @shopdoramaar -
Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters
00:00 Welcome & Live Roundtable Introduction
03:15 Has Anything Changed Since Episode 1?
07:50 Personal Experiences Over the Past Month
12:40 Where Progress Is Happening
17:15 Ongoing Challenges in Communities and Systems
21:50 The Role of Social Media in Driving Awareness
26:10 Accountability in Business and Leadership
31:30 Educating the Next Generation
36:05 The Power of Sharing Stories
40:25 Concrete Steps for Individuals to Take
45:10 How to Keep the Momentum Going
50:40 Resources and Calls to Action
Hi guys. This is your host, Kara Duffy. This is the live unedited recording from our round table. A powerful conversation about America. Racism, episode two. It's been a month since we've recorded episode one, so we're asking our panelists, has anything changed? This conversation took place on July 24th, 2020, featuring Sharifa Hardy, Mikel, drew, Chandra Gore, Kristen Finnick, and Lauren Wilson.
We encourage and invite you to share this powerful and inspiring episode with everyone who needs to hear it.
Okay? So thank you guys so much for coming to our, a powerful conversation about America. Racism, episode two. It's been exactly one month since we had our first conversation. That was very powerful and inspiring and moving. And I'm excited to introduce who our panelists are for today. So we have these five incredible women who are here speaking with us today.
You guys remember Sharifa from our first event, same as Mikel and Chandra. And then we have two new incredible women joining us today, Kristen and Lauren. So I will let everyone do a little introduction themselves so we can get to a reminder of how powerful and amazing you are. And then we'll get into the questions.
So Sharifa, let's start with you. I didn't realize, did not realize I was muted. I was talking to myself. We were having a wonderful conversation. I said that it's a blessing. It's wonderful to be here again today. Good to see you again, Kara Chandra, everyone. Thank you again for this opportunity. For those of you who don't know me, my primary focus is being a business consultant, author, and talk show host.
I host three different talk shows all the way from as Sharifa Videocast to the Round Table Talk Show and face-to-Face talk show, which is a show I launched about, about a month ago after this panel. And one of the reasons I wanted to do that is I agree we need to have more conversations about America race relations.
And I realized on the Round Table Talk show, I didn't want people who came to the show to discuss their book or their business to feel awkward and put in a position to have to discuss and have conversations that they may not, wanna have. So that's me. I love it. Thank you. Mikel, please introduce yourself.
Hi everybody, I'm Mikel Drew Pellum. I am a teacher professor at FIT fashion Educator. I have a business, a training business called 3 83 Design Studio, and I train fashion designers, whether you're existing or looking to get into fashion how to use the computer, Adobe's specific pro programs right now, and then moving into 3D how to use those specifically for fashion.
That's what I do. Love it. Thank you for coming back.
Hi everybody. My name is Chandra Gore. I am a consultant and also a publicist. I am so excited to be here to talk about this today. I think it's opened the lines of communications for everyone. That's about it.
Thank you and Kristen, welcome. Hello, welcome. How is everyone today? This is super exciting to be here. My name is Kristen Fenrick and I am the owner of Clearly Kristen Inc. It is a fashion, jewelry and accessories brand. I'm based in Houston, Texas. I'm also the host of InStyle with clearly Kristen. It is a show where we bring on fashion, beauty entrepreneurs and business people who are in the fashion and beauty space to give them a chance to spotlight and to show who they are and to tell their story.
It's very exciting to just be here today to be a part of this panel and of amazing women. Thank you. And last but not least, we have Lauren Wilson.
Lauren, you might be on mute. Can everyone hear now? We can. Yes. Hi. Talking to myself, just alright I'm Lauren Wilson. Great to be here and thank you Kara for having us. Really excited to speak to everyone and open the conversation. A little bit about myself. I'm based in New York where I run a company called Dora Mar, which is a luxury fashion consignment platform.
Before that I worked in luxury fashion. Any and every job in New York, Ralph, Lauren, Gigi, the whole like it's great to see some fashion people on this panel as well and talk about that into intersectionality and race and everything. So I'm excited to be here. Thank you. And I have to give Lauren A.
Little brag moment because she just got featured in Vogue, which is so exciting. So it came out, is it, was it Wednesday? The article Wednesday? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Congratulations. Yeah, congrats. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'm to talk about it. Yeah. Perfect. So the first question I have for all of you is, has anything changed in the, since we had our conversation?
I guess I'll go ahead and answer that since it's quiet on the panel. I talk, that's what as Sharif does. To answer that question for me, Elise, personally, it's a yes and no answer. I have seen a lot more conversations. I have, I've been a part of a lot more panels. This was the first panel that I was on in regards to race relations in America.
But I've been on other panels, asked to speak at different occasions. I've been able to speak at a church. For the people who don't know me, I ran for Long Beach City Council. So they called me out to speak on a panel with the Deputy Chief of Long Beach, who's only second to the Chief of Police in Long Beach.
Then I did another panel with the prosecutor in Long Beach in order to make changes in Long Beach. So I feel like there have been more conversations. However, my focus is and remains on reparations. So until we can have that conversation and get those checks written. Then I'll say, okay, we've had enough change, but we've changed it up to be able to have conversations, which I'm happy about.
I'll say there has been an increase in conversations, but there's been so many different changes in roles and positions being offered that were never offered before. And it just seems like it's a pation of, trying to save face now that things have been brought to people's attention.
Like where were those jobs before all of this stuff happened? Like, why now are the, there are editors and she, the editors being named from individuals who were qualified before. So to me it's thank you. But it's is it genuine or are you just being just giving something just to say you did it because there's been a lot of people who have been overlooked for years and years and years and years.
And then it took this big shift to happen this big, things to be brought to light to happen for these roles to be filled. And I'm like I'm appreciative. Don't get it wrong, but it's like what more, like why wasn't this done before? When people are going up against people who have less credentials than they do, you know what I'm saying?
Than the person who was hired. It is, it's it's brought a lot of stuff to light, it's brought so many, it's pulled back the veil like I've seen in the fashion industry, that it's, there's been so many different changes and I'm like, you should have done this before all of this, and then you announced these changes.
Just do it and be right about it. Even in the media, it's been the same way. There have been publications that have never reached out to African American women and men that want to to feature clients who we've been pitching for years, you know what I'm saying? Now, they wanna jump on the bandwagon to put them on the cover, put them in features, put them in on these lists, and all of the, all of these lists that came out, like these businesses just popped up out of nowhere.
I just think that it's. It's a great thing, but it's also a double edged sword because it's like, it's a slap in the face, because you knew we were here before, but now, because you wanna save your image, you wanna push it to the forefront. It, it's, if you damned it, if you, damned if you don't at this point, like I just, I, I've, but I've been reached, there's been other people who've reached out to me who I've tried to work with before.
Other publicists, other public relations firms. And I'm like, I try to network with you before, like, why now? No, I'm good. What other black publications? I'm good. Don't ask me for a list of black publications. Don't do that. It's a slap in my face. You have Google.
Google is available. I just think.
It's changed. So I'm new to the panel, but not new to this discussion. And just to give you guys a little bit of a background about myself before I took my jump into the fashion industry, I was in the ed tech space and in the ed tech space. I was in sales and I was with a really large educational technology company and I was one of the very few, being a female and being a black female that had a position with this company, they took a chance, as they said on me.
But I ended up really excelling in doing an amazing job and really helping to open the door for other women like myself to come in after me and get jobs in this space, which was predominantly male before. And then. Even if it was female. Female, it was usually other women that were able to get these positions.
I interviewed this week someone on my show that said something very very mind blowing to me. That really made so much sense being in the education space for as long as I was. He was talking to me about a new initiative that they're starting called the Be Smart Initiative. And the Be Smart Initiative is specifically geared toward helping children at younger ages know about all the different career paths that are out there.
Because part of it Yes. Is what you're saying, Chandra is about the fact that, where have we been all this time? Where are these jobs all been? But it's also the part of education on our part, educating our children and educating those around about. Other types of jobs and career paths and all the behind the scenes things that are available.
And we all have to do our part in educating everybody. This next generation, the people that are currently in positions of power across the country that can hire people of diversity and just getting ourselves in the room and getting a seat at the table and not stopping, just at anything.
Like we have to forge those doors and as these doors are opening right now, we need to step in them and then make sure most importantly, that our children and this next generation are prepared to take these roles that are opening up and now available to us. And it's not that it shouldn't have been, I'm in total agreement, like what happened before?
Why did it take something like what's going on for people to jump into it. The thing is the season is here and I think that's really gonna be a space for everyone to really excel and figure out what they're good at and really know what is all out there so that they can take part of it. I think that's wonderful and well said that you said it, Kristin and I think that it was a lot of truth in what you had to say as well as what Chandra had to say.
My focus and I did an interview a couple of weeks ago and the gentleman asked me, he said, Sharifa, are you, were you really motivated by Shirley Chisholm? One of the things that she said was to make sure that you get a seat at the table, and I said, no, I love Shirley Chisholm, but I don't stand by the whole, get a seat at the table.
I don't necessarily want a seat at the table. I want my own table. That's my focus in creating my table so that I can help other people become entrepreneurs, business owners, and CEOs. So I wanna create that lane for people, which is why my focus has been on helping entrepreneurs. Why I wrote my book, signs You Might Be An Entrepreneur.
Why? I built my first website in 1994. Been doing this for 26 years to help people not only be at someone else's table, but be the head of their own table. I think that's really important that you say that because I'm all about that too. Like entrepreneurs, I love me, some entrepreneurs. I'm an entrepreneur myself too.
What I do realize, though, in order for me to get to this place, I had to forge connections and these relationships and these connections that I had to forge. Guess what? I sometimes had to do jobs that I didn't wanna do. I sometimes had to work behind the scenes in a place that maybe I didn't want to.
I had to do a lot of things on my path to get, I didn't just wake up as, this, I didn't just wake up one day and this is what I walked into. I had to go through many different steps. And I think it's important for us to let people know that there's steps to this process and you have to start somewhere and don't be, worried about that piece.
Start where you are. Forge connections. Get the seat at the table of where you're knowing what you're trying to get to is to, or where you're going is to get your own table and to create. I think everybody here on this panel, beauty is that we are creators. We are people who are creating, whether you're creating jobs, whether you're creating new paths, where you're creating products, whatever.
When you're in that place of creation, your job is to even create that table for others to come sit with you as they're figuring out what they need to do to go rise to their next level. Excellent point. Excellent point. I definitely agree. I see we're like mines on the same point where I get go a little bit different is, I think too often in certain environments, we forget that we are supposed to be creating our own table.
I, I worked for American Express. I was one of the people who built the website for cheap tip cheap tickets.com. I started perks.com, almost golf.com, and raised millions of dollars for. The last company that I took public in 2016 and we raised $6 million in A IPO. I worked for that company for three years through for sweat equity.
That's it. No paycheck, nothing else. So I earned my seat at that table. But what's so ha? What happens is we forget that once we get to a certain level, we're supposed to be taking care of ourselves. We're supposed to be creating for ourselves, creating our own company, taking our own companies public. And a lot of times, not because of our race or because we're women when we go into those circles, people are looking for employees.
They're looking for parts of their team, they're looking for people who will help them build. And yes, you wanna help other people build, but just don't get stuck building someone else's dream. And remember that you have a dream as well, and that you, like you said, Kristen, know so. Valuable. You are a creator.
Like I love working with Chandra. I think Chandra's just tried to speak like three or four times and I'm jumping in there. But our focus and our conversations is always about being the creator, creating that instead of going to work for someone else and being an employee. Am I right, Chandra? Yes. And my biggest thing is I come from a tech background, you know what I'm saying?
And I mean I've worked in different capacities. Like I even worked in, you said we have to show the, there are other industries that we have to go into. I worked in museum fabrication where the minority the people who work in that field is 0.075%. You know what I'm saying? So the biggest museums and stuff, I've worked on some of the largest, doing the bids and marketing for a lot of, some, a lot of the museums.
And to sit at a table and be the only face there and to be, to have to actually, and this is where I do a push, where I push STEM programs, I push engineering, I push architecture, I push for these programs that exist that have existed in our communities. But when we go to the table to get those jobs, they're overlooked by someone who was interning with, that didn't even have the degree.
So this is what I'm saying, like my biggest thing is I get what you're like, I get what you understand where you're coming from, but the opportunities, the jobs have been open, they've been applying, there's been so many African American people who have went through and studied architecture and studied, engineering and studied all of these things, but they were not given a chance because they needed five years of experience when they come out of, out of college.
They weren't given that push or that, that look to be into these positions. But now they're opening up because they see that there's a deficit and they're being called to the carpet about not hiring people. Even in production, we had, you have PAs who they want to have a degree when there's people who walk in, who didn't have to have those things.
Like all of these things that we, there they have, there have been the issue that I'm finding that all of these jobs are being open and they're hiring. I think it's more of, it's a slap in the face to those who came before who actually had to go through the toxic environments. Myself and one we included, who've had to go through the hazing, the, oh, she made a face at me, the reports to hr, all of these things.
And so these are the things that I really wanna say. We prepared a generation, but generation. We were preparing our chil, like I had to prepare my children even in school for them to understand you can't make that facial expression in class. So preparing our children for a world that's now it's a, it's.
It's a catch 22 because you are already hyper aware of your things that you're doing, like all your facial expressions, your tone, all of these things. And now these doors open up. Who's to say that once they get through these doors, that the HR department and the culture of the company is going to be accepting, even though they gave that position?
What are they doing to protect that individual that they brought in to save face, what are they doing to make sure that the environment is welcoming to the person who it's like affirmative action. When that when that was a, when that was a big hot topic issue. Oh my gosh, they're bringing in somebody else, a woman, a minority, or a black man to take my position.
And that person went through hell, but they hired them though. But you can't make decisions. So it's like, what are we doing to see the day to day, to make sure that person is being respected and nurtured and understood in this environment? This is, these are the things like hiring somebody is great, whoop, you, do more power to you.
Write them a check, but how are you treating them once they get through the door? How are you going to retain them and then keep going and making sure the culture that talk, that culture at that company is going to nurture that role. These are the things that I we are, we, I'm happy, but it's like, what are they gonna do to keep the longevity of this?
You can't have the culture of a company. Once you bring someone in, then you can't, it's like a. It's a, it's just a catch 22 for me. I'm all, I all awkward. I you cha I hear you Chara. I hear you. I think there's so many things that are on the table, so many different conversations that we're having.
I think that's an excellent point. But I agree with what Kristen said is first we have to get to this in the door. This is the first stage. And I think that a lot of people don't understand that we have to go through this through in stages. I'm not as personally as concerned about what happens once people get in the door.
Oh yeah. But what's been interesting to me, it's secondary to me is not like the primary focus, but to each his own. But what is important to me is this, and it's what Kristen was saying. We need more opportunities. Correct. And I had this conversation on the second panel that I sat on in regards to race relations.
One of the people who was on the panel, she said to me, she said, Sharifa, I just, I'm a white woman. I just don't know. I don't know about, all this racism and I don't know what's going on. And so my question to her was, what part of it do you not know? What part did you miss? Did you miss slavery?
Did you miss civil rights? What part, no matter what your race is that you do not understand, they asked me to write an article on reparations in a MA magazine called Radiance Magazine in Southern California. It is all over Orange County, long Beach, some parts of Los Angeles. It's a print magazine.
White man owns the magazine, known him for about two years. He called me and write this article, but one of the things that he said to me, he's Sharifa, I had no idea all these things were going on. So somehow, somewhere, some light switch went off in certain communities that racism in America actually exists.
And so I'm curious from the other side, why all of a sudden are people waking up to this whole idea of racism in America? And why do we have so many white allies who are saying, let's open those doors, let's create those opportunities and now deciding to make a change. I think for me, coming from the fashion industry and just working with a lot of luxury fashion partners here, there's been a lot of issues for me in the performativeness of a lot of these editors, influencers, what have you where they're posting the black square, they're posting how to be an ally.
They need to learn. I'm reading this, I'm doing that. And we've reached out to them before everyone woke up and now we're still reaching out to them. And they're like, yes, I wanna support this. This is great. And then they ghost. And that perform is what's really, I like, it's great that they wanna create opportunity on their Instagram to their, a hundred thousand followers, but what are they doing to push that opportunity?
And I think that's been a struggle for me. 'cause it looks like, wow, doors are opening, we can take hold of this. It's our time to amplify our voices and the voices of other women in our community. And it's just seems like a lot of times it's. That pr kind of angle for a lot of people.
And that's been I think, the biggest struggle for me. I think what's changed for me personally is that I am so confident in using my voice to raise up my community and raise up other women, especially women who are part of Dorm R and that's a lot about what that logo article is about.
So I appreciate, the magazine giving me that spotlight, but there's a lot of other partners who it's a little bit hypo hypocritical. So that's been a, something that I thought could change and it is some stages, but especially with fashion, it's lot for the show and that really needs to change that accountability needs to be there.
And I think we talk a lot about cancel culture and I'm sure we'll get in there, but what does removing someone have to do with, making your business inclusive and raising those choices and giving those opportunities. So that's something that. I'm really trying to focus on, and there's this great panel for those who are in fashion called Black and Fashion.
It was started by Lindsay people Wagner and Sandra Charles, and they had a call today about how they're implementing with different fashion brands, how to hold people accountable, kind of these checkpoints they're having with brands. There's a lot of great things happening, but there's, especially in fashion, there's a lot, there's a lot to do in that performativeness, I think.
I think one of the things, this was something that I had mentioned in the last panel, and it's something that I constantly talk about. Like right now I feel like I can't make the assessment of how good things have been going or how bad things have been going because it's only been a couple of months.
And the real testament to what's gonna stay and whether this is really going to be something that is long term is. If we have this conversation next year, same time, what do we actually see? And my whole thing is the consistency. Like for all the people who are saying, I want, and Lauren, you are already seeing it.
People are like, I posted my black square, I po you know, I made my donation. I'm good. No, you're not. Pause and go. It's there's so much more that needs to be done. And for those who are saying, I really want to help, if you are really and truly about it, you need to understand that it's a lifelong I, let's hope for not our entire lives.
Although I feel like we are my, and I've said this with, my husband and I have talked about how this is something that we may not see in our lifetime. So it's really more setting up for the next the next generations. People need to understand that it's a long journey and it's not something that by Christmas time we'll be done, and everything will be back to normal and everything will be fine.
If that were the case, then we would've had rights, 50 years ago when they signed a bill. But that, we all know that doesn't happen. That hasn't happened, and it needs to be something that just keeps on going. So I think it's about the consistency of all of us who are within this, everybody in the black community holding continuously, holding people accountable, but also all of those who are saying, I wanna be a better human being.
I wanna be a better person. I don't like how people are being treated. You also have to consistently step up, whether it is, and Karen and I talked about this on her podcast, it doesn't have to be that you are, if you're not a person who goes out and protests, that's fine. If you're not a person who is, about posting on social media, that's fine too.
But where I need your help is your father who is consistently doing those jokes about, black people and this one, or who has the power to say yes or no to the loan for the next entrepreneur. That's, that's coming in trying to get some money to build up a business or to do whatever. I need you to be the one to say, this is wrong.
You shouldn't be doing this. Or say something, that is probably one of the most powerful things that people can do. If you are not black, and even if you are, or for whatever we're not talking about other marginalized communities, but for any community, just being a better human and saying, this isn't right, let's do something about it.
No, I agree with you. I definitely agree with you. I just take to a certain extent, a different stand. Not completely different, we mentioned this on another panel when the lady said basically the same thing. She said she wanted to go into the stores and not have people look at her like she was going to steal something.
She wants to go into the bank and have people approve her loan and not disqualify her because she's an African American. And I said see, that's why my focus, and I say reparations a million times because I don't wanna go into a bank, right? I want to be able to have my resources that I can pass down from generations to generations so that I don't have to go to.
For money. I don't care what their race is. I don't wanna have to ask anyone for anything. I wanna be self-sufficient. Another thing that was mentioned, and I think Lauren Miss Naje, is about the whole PR aspect. Now, I'll give you an example of something that happened here in Long Beach. If you go on Postmates, they created a whole different section and Postmates for black-owned businesses or black-owned restaurants.
There happened to be only two black-owned restaurants in Long Beach. Now, one of the black-owned businesses, which is Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, in 2015, lost. They went to court, this is, you can Google it. They lost a discrimination case because they refused to hire black people. They don't, they're a black owned company that will not hire black people.
But yet when everything goes on about race in America, everyone of every race sends all of their money to this business because they're black owned. But do we take a look at these businesses, how they're operating, what their practices are? It's no, because it makes us feel good to support a black business because.
Yeah. And Rosco, Roscoe's is always packed. But have you who, and it's nothing against Hispanic people, but the guy who owns Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. And I can tell you from experience, I know him personally. His name is Herb Hudson. Herb will tell you from his own mouth, he doesn't hire black people.
'cause he will tell you, black people will steal it all. And he doesn't use the word black people, but Hispanics, they'll steal from you, but they'll leave you a little something. So he refuses to hire black people and he lost a discrimination case for, and he had to pay a guy millions of dollars because he refuses to hire black people.
But five years later, all the black business and all the business in this city is gonna this same company because it doesn't matter because he's black owned Sharifa. I do have something to say to that because. And it's so interesting that you said that because right before I was gonna make a comment to Mikel, and when all of this started taking place as a fashion brand owner and being a black entrepreneur in the fashion and beauty world, it's very tempting and very easy to hide behind your brand.
And what I mean by that is for years I hid behind my brand. I didn't wanna be the face and name of my brand because I was a black female. Predominantly most of my customer base was white females. And I kept thinking, if I put myself out there and I make myself be the face and name of my brand and everybody knows me like that, is it gonna take away from people wanting to buy from me?
So I had my own hangups that I had to be truthful with my own self about and say, you know what? I'm gonna, I'm gonna go out there. This is who I'm, this is, and you know what? See somebody else is saying, same here. It's a very fickle space. And so I've had to let go of my own hangups. I've had to push back and say, you know what?
I will be the face, the name of my brand. It's not going to take, or, i've got to stand up in the same way and stand up for one for my own self, my brand, my company, not try to hide behind a different image. And I need to be part of the solution of changing what beauty means in our country, period.
So now I take that on as a responsibility of mine. I, my models are extremely diverse. In nature that I used, I wanna make sure that all women are represented, that they can feel themselves in the jewelry that I sell, that they can see themselves in it. That it's not for any one person, it's for everybody to feel beautiful.
So I think that's that first piece. And I didn't know about the Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle story I think that's, yeah, I think it's really important that he's not the only one. We understand that, but he's not the only one though. That's the whole thing. He's not the only black owned business that will refuse to hire other black people.
So it it's sad, but it's, it's the only one that got sued and won and got, and, and the judgment was entered against, so we just have to be honest with ourselves, know who are who we are, and not be afraid to put ourselves out there. And I think that's been one of the biggest things about this whole movement is about people saying, this is who I am and I am here and don't ignore me.
And my life is important and I do matter. And what I like and do, and my family, my children, I have three young black males and all of my kids right now they're great kids. They're college graduates and they contribute to this country and world enormously. And it's like I shouldn't have to be worried every time they walk out of the house.
But I'm, I've always been since they were young teenagers. And it's important to really think through that as a mother, in this world that is crazy. How do I protect my family and my children and also still be an advocate for my people? Be an advocate for women, be an advocate as an entrepreneur, and still be able to, make my light shine in the world the way that I want to.
Kristen, I feel like, you took the words outta my mouth a bit because I'm going through the same thing with my business, really honing in on who I am and infusing that in the business. I had a co-founder who is no longer part of the business last fall. She was a blonde haired, blue eyed girl.
I raised a question, we're a new business. We need to, promote so many different types of women on the platform. She goes, Lauren, our audience is white. They don't wanna see black models. Oh. And she said that she's no longer with the company. She did say that she had a lot of, we had a lot of issues.
But I have to be honest I'm biracial. And when she said that, and having worked in luxury fashion I was like, maybe she's right. Maybe no one will think we're luxury. No, maybe that's not the answer. And I hid myself and who I am and in its entirety from my brand. And you know what? The brand was not authentic.
It was not true. There was no personality. And the second that I decided, you know what, I'm gonna embrace who I am in all ways. And the business now and myself, no matter what happens with the business is going on right now, but I am giving a voice to myself and to other women. The woman that was featured in the article with me, her name's, she's this adorable, beautiful girl.
She's launching her own skincare line that's she's calling it a skincare like lifestyle goop kind of place, and it's for black women skin. And she's launching it in a month or two. And I was able to feature her and she got, had her business mentioned in Vogue. And to be able to give that platform to women of all different colors, but specifically black women right now is what this is about.
And we do have to raise, we need opportunities, but we have to use our voices to raise each other up to get to that next level. I think it's really interesting how many of us in fashion and in higher end fashion have that same issue of feeling like we can't show our faces. And the person in chat is actually my best friend.
Shout out to am Poitier got my ear today. But it's once you get to a certain level in fashion, it's almost like when you put yourself out there people feel like they you, that you, they won't be able to relate because there's a black face there. And that's really sad. It's okay, I, if I'm out there, then other people think, oh, it's a black brand, so it's not for me.
And it's really hard but necessary to change that narrative because it's not we're putting products out, that's just for black people. We're putting great products out for people who connect with the story and connect with the brand to buy it, and it is not that I am, if I'm not black, I can't buy it or I can't understand it. No, it's not that at all. If you connect with it and you love it, and you think it's gonna look beautiful and you, then you should support it. You should. You should go ahead and get it, I think that's across the board, though.
I don't think that's in any form or fashion specific. I'm not disagreeing with you at all. But I don't think that's specific to fashion. I think in it, it's not specific to fashion, but it's something that comes up a lot. It does. In fashion. No, I mean it pretty much and particularly like luxury, like high end luxury.
Items? No, again, that's what I'm saying. So with high-end luxury items, you have a lot of different industries and a lot of different brands. So it's been my experience that the higher you go up as far as the echelon, the less you deal with people of color or the less you deal with a certain image and a certain look.
So my focus, again, I always go back to what is the heartbeat of America? What makes America's heartbeat? And that's small businesses. So if you take away small business, what happens when your heart stops beating? So we just have to implore, to me, this is my focus to implore more people of color, more minorities, more African Americans to focus on being the business owner as opposed to being the employee.
Because I can give, we talking about fashion as opposed to anything else. One of the number one questions that I'm asked when people learn that I have a talk show. Oh, okay. Is it for black people or are the majority of your audience black? No. I'm like, if you watch my shows, which I'm sure all of you have the majority of the guests on my show are primarily white.
We're the white men. White men, it doesn't really matter. The majority of people are white. And then I'll say to them, I put out a response or request for people to be guests on the show and people will apply. I don't go after white people. I don't specifically go after black people. I go after people who want a platform to have a voice to talk, tell their story, and talk about their business.
So we just have to keep reminding people how important it is for us to continue to grow and to get to those levels so people become more accustomed to seeing our black faces. Yeah. Riva, I think you make a really good point. There is a brand I think there's an issue right now with having that one black seat at the table.
This is the black, this is a black person's role. We need one black person to do this, do that. There is a brand that did a story on June. Obviously this Juneteenth never got attention in mainstream media until this year. Story was luxury fashion man, and their Juneteenth story was featuring their one black stylist cooking a pie in her kitchen.
Why she gotta be cooking though. Why does, why she have to be cooking? She's black. There's a ton of things to celebrate her beyond cooking. Peach cobbler. This is a fashion brand. Dress her in a beautiful gown and have her talk about her favorite summer looks. They tried to celebrate black holiday, black culture community, but they relegated her to the one way they know how to feature a black woman.
And that was. Really, it's some names to work for. And that was really painful to see because I know they're trying and I'm sure they were well-intentioned, but they, no, they didn't have anyone at the higher echelons that spoke about, where that went wrong and 'cause the publicist. Was is tone deaf?
Yeah. Whoever okayed that, was that like really, Yeah. I sent it to this site called Diet Prada that kind of puts brands on blast, but it expired before they got it. But I just it's come on now. I've seen a lot of tone deaf ads on June, like I've celebrated Juneteenth since I was a kid.
So to me it's a, I'm like, what's the big hoopla? I've been like, they didn't teach it. My, my parents taught me this whole side. My, my father who is black from two black parents, he had no idea what Juneteenth was. Literally zero clue. Bless his heart. It's like one of those things that like, it's just been so buried under the rug for a lot of people, including black people.
Okay. The thing is, the sad part is that the history books are wr like we, I can have a whole conversation about how I know, because that right there is a whole different, it is up to us. Like I teach my family, my children because I was taught, I'm from the south, so there's an unspoken spoken oral history that goes on through, through our family that carries on.
So I don't, I just think that having a publicist who is, or having a marketing department, that, that is diverse, that could understand exactly what your audience wants and not just speaking to one section would've prevented that whole girl on the, on a thing cooking a pot. Come on now. Like they mindset like there's black women, black men come in many different.
Backgrounds, things they can do. It's not cooking or whatever. She has probably has a degree and is very accomplished. Yeah, and wait. What's the thing? They always say, oh, you're so articulate. I'm just like, yeah, exactly. So I'm gonna jump in right here because I have the best publicist and PR rep, like firm period.
Like they're awesome and she's watching right now. So I'm gonna ask her to go ahead and chat her information. But what I'm gonna tell you guys is this, it all comes down to you actually that person that's representing you and your brand. Needs to actually know you. You can't just hire somebody that is out there random and you think that they're gonna tell your story correctly.
You have to have somebody that is gonna tell your story correctly, that understands you and your brand, and what your influence is on the marketplace, and make sure that they're gonna put you in the right frame, because that's also part of our responsibility. You can't just have other people that are just telling who you are and now putting you into these situations, and now you're what just happened?
Me being a publicist. Me, I like, I'm, this is my profession. I'm a publicist as well, Uhhuh. So it's like what really makes, what really cracks me up when I have a consultation. I had someone ask me, oh, do you take white clients? First of all, ma'am, lemme tell you something. There's a combination, there's a certain sweet spot that you have to be able to tell somebody's story.
There are three parts that make a great pitch. Yes. So don't ask me if I work with a certain, ask somebody else that don't ask me that because I don't see you asking my white counterparts. Do you handle African American? Some of them will not take a black client or they'll take a black client and then they'll pitch them and they'll tone deaf on their pitches.
So the whole conversation has to happen when you have, this is a whole different, we're about to walk into a whole different situation. We've had black celebrities who go for the white firms and have fallen on deaf ears because. They don't know how to pitch them. They don't know what angle to pitch them from.
They don't know what publications are out there. Like I said, I had a, another, a white publicist ask me about black media. Now, if you're a publicist and you're in this profession, you would have access to all the publications and media that I have access to. So why would you have to ask if there's a specific list?
Yes. But I think what's key here and what's important and what you said and what Kristen said, and I think what Lauren said as well is this, you have to have that PR person who can push back. That's the key. So when someone presents you with a opportunity and let's put our star celebrity influencer client in the kitchen cooking a pie, they would've pushed back and said, that's not a good look.
That let's, explain it. But when you have a representative and you have a company who don't understand that we do not wanna be portrayed in a certain way, that's when it becomes a issue. So you have to have that person who's in control of helping you with your brand and giving you opportunities that are, that won't put you in a bad light.
Because I agree with you, Laura, but to me. Again, let me say it again. I agree a hundred percent, but there could have been worse things than a lady in the kitchen could have cooking a pie. You know what I mean? Because I'm like, they could have been like, oh, she making that chicken and watermelon.
You stop gonna say, you knew I was gonna say, you know what I'm saying? Like at least she gotta cook the pie. You know what I mean? They could put her in some mama scarf or mama. She didn't take, she, she wasn't cleaning though, so that's a good thing. That's what I'm saying. She wasn't the, she was not to help.
That's, she wasn't help. Okay. It's a funny thing that we can laugh about some of the, it's the most disrespectful thing. It was so off and this girl was in, it was not, she actually works for that brand. So it's a whole internal thing. I would've quit. So I think that comes to the next step of the only way she was gonna, be featured, be a face of this luxury brand was to put herself in her.
I don't know her personally, but was to relegate herself to one role. So at least she had some sort of feature because she didn't feel like there was another way to be featured. And I think that's, yeah, to compromise herself beyond fashion. How do we get people to think that, black people can be featured and have those voices and have those platforms without that stereotypical way that, we've seen them throughout history.
I think that's does it is well beyond fashion. Yeah, but I have an answer for that, Lauren. It may sound simple, but you have to first be able to see in your mind's eye that black people can do more than just cook in the kitchen. Yeah. If you can't perceive that, you're never gonna create that environment.
Because my background is entertainment. Like I said, the company, I just took public, it was a television studio. That's how I know the who's who in Hollywood. But you have to create images in the media of doctors and lawyers and successful people so people can recognize that. But when you, other than the college show.
Girl, woods' at the eighties. But you have to be able to see people in certain roles. They're not the drug dealer, they're not the hooker, they're not the criminal, they're not the crazy lady sitting on the bus stop. You have to be able to see successful people in roles and create more opportunities for people to relate to.
Because some people really do take television. Literally. They think, because I saw that on television. Everyone's like that. I was watching this show, I'm captivated as soon as this ends. I'm going back to it. But if you haven't seen All American on Netflix, oh, that is my se new series. I've been watching it, but it's so much about race in a funny, humorous, family way.
But it, it's just so much about race and it's interesting and I just think we have to show different areas and different dynamics of who we're back to. What I think Chandra, who said that, people say you're so articulate. Was that you Chandra? Yes. I'm tying you. Yes, but see, I heard what you were saying when you said it, and I don't think our audience truly understood what you were saying.
When you say to a black woman, you're so articulate. People say that because to a lot of people it's a surprise, which at which is why at times I'll be very quiet and just listen. And then when I speak, they're like, oh my God. You're articulate. I'm like, okay, what did you expect me to say?
Yo, what's up? It's just an image that they see of people and we have to change what it be like. You know what I mean? I don't talk like that. I'm mean a very educated person, but that surprises some people because they have a certain idea in their mind of who you are and what you stand for. I think it also goes back to what I was saying in the beginning about opportunity and education.
We are still raising up, I see someone has their child right there, right? We're raising up this like next generation and I think it's such our responsibility to really show them and let them know the opportunities that are available and schools have to change the way that they're teaching.
They have to be, begin to really start teaching our kids that, and this is all kids. They really have to start teaching them all of the different aspects. Like it's time out for community helpers. People don't just grow up to become doctors and nor nurses and dentists. There's. Millions of other career paths to follow.
And I think it's really important that we, here we're talking about fashion and beauty, but there's so many, like behind the scenes jobs in the fashion and beauty world, there's so many behind the scenes jobs in the entertainment world. There's so many things and a lot of kids just have no idea.
And we talk about the dropout rate in society. It has been like that for a long time because kids don't see a purpose. They don't see, what am I going to school to learn math for? They don't know that math is beyond just engineering or beyond. There's so many other things that can be done. So I believe like we have to start with education.
We have to start in a very young age, letting kids know, taking them to these different places, having different opportunities for them to see people in a different light, because you guys are right. Sharifa and Chandra. They have to see us differently. And it's also really important to help your next person get to where you are.
I think that's what we've all been saying. Even when I left my job in Ed Tech, the other woman who came behind me was a black female. And that was something that I wanted to have happen. And because my clients were used to dealing with me, and I really wanted them to have somebody that they could feel represented in that same way.
So it is our responsibility, and I'm so glad that things have started to shift. And so now we can begin to have open dialogues like this afternoon, which is I think, really where everything starts. I like you. Oh, thank you. I like you too. It's really weird. I like you too ladies. How y'all doing? 'Cause I think each one of us as black women, we've come from so many different diverse backgrounds.
Like we've, but we've all dealt with some of the similar issues. And it's crazy that even though we all have different back, like it, it's crazy that some of this are just practice. So many these social programs that are here to expose children to the things that, you know, to keep them motivated, support those programs.
This is exactly why people, why these kids are dropping out because the programs are being canceled. Or they'll be there for one semester, then they're gone because the funding is pulled from it. Keep those things in in, in, in motion. Keep funding those, keep supporting those programs. The STEM programs the, there was a, there's a class called fashion marketing, right?
They got rid of it because they felt that it wasn't a necessary need, but people have to be creative. They have to nurture those aspects of children. And so it's it, we just need to do a complete reset. But that's not possible. That's in a perfect world that would be, just do a complete reset and nurture each child for what they know and not, teach them that that what the status quo is.
Okay. Because some of the children wanna speak up and say, that's not fair to my fellow student. A lot of children wanna say that, but they can't. So I just, I agree with you, Chandra.
Sorry. Sorry. You know I'm a talker. Look, you used to me by now and I just, I'll keep it short, especially since we're coming to end, but I just wanna say what Chandra said. I agree with you a hundred percent about those programs. I'm for them. I believe in them. I, all my life Magnet schools, I've always done a little bit more.
But again, let's focus on once we have those programs, creating business owners outta those students. Because what happens, no matter what happens with these programs, when these students get outta school and they believe that the only job they're going to be able to get, pays them $10 an hour, they're already frustrated because they can't earn a living wage.
So we have to take them from these programs to opportunities where they can sit at the helm of their own companies as CEOs and entrepreneurs, that's my focus, because if they just do the program and then they're not self-employed and self-sufficient, then they're still gonna be struck. Very true. Couple of things.
So to to Chandra's point yes, I think that we have to do a better job in the school system, me being a professor in its school. But I also think that to like what Valerie's doing right now, we all can either take our own children or be mentors to other people because we can obviously cannot rely on the school system that we have right now to teach our children what they need to know.
We've all had our own we've all said something about the history books and I have countless, I have countless, incident with the history books. And I have a specific incident about right after the Rodney King incident and something that my history teacher said to me, and I took that on my mother and she was like, are you crazy?
But, it's things like that happen that we need to make sure that either you as a mentor or you as the parent is sitting down with your children and saying, okay, I know this is what you learned in school, but this is what we're gonna talk about today. You have your own history lessons, you have your own lessons about being a better contributor also to Sharif's point, I totally agree in, in terms of entrepreneurship.
And one of the things that I've been trying to think of myself is how do I share what I know about entrepreneurship? And, my fashion skills because there's a lot of young people who are really interested in getting into this particular industry or just getting, becoming an entrepreneur period, but don't really understand how to run a business.
How to be an entrepreneur, how to the small nuances of, yeah, I have this t-shirt line, what color should I actually have? I can't have all of 'em. And just the things that actually help you run a successful business that's actually going to be profitable. So things like that.
I've been trying to figure out, okay, I, in the last couple of years have learned more about that and how do I share that with other people? Because then to Kristen's point, it's also about access and accessibility to that information. And as much as we say, yeah, we got Google, and yeah, we got you can Google it.
There's so many things that to me, when I sit and talk to people and I say, yeah blah, blah, blah. And there are people, there are students, there are young people, there are older people who have no idea what I'm talking about. And I am like, I just Googled it yesterday. Yeah. So to that point, there's so much information out there, but there's a lot of information still that people just don't know.
So how do we as responsible citizens, as people who are trying to make the world better, how do we reach out to. I think everybody has to do it in their own way, in their own form of fashion, which is why I do my talk shows and why I take the time to host three talk shows a week, the Round Table Talk show.
I do weekdays every day for an hour at 8:00 AM that's why I wrote a book. But you have to find that way for you that works best for you to where you can say, I made a difference in this world, even if I just helped one person. And also to be able to say I'm available to, that's why everything is Ask Sharifa.
Nobody can't say, I'm not available if they have questions. I'm available if you ask me, and I'm available if you tune into my shows. But no one can say that I haven't done my part to make this world a better place. And Mikel also. That's also part of what I do too. I make it a point to consult with new entrepreneurs.
Actually, one of my consulting clients is on right now, and what I do is I consult with them and I help them start their business right from the start. So if they have an idea, we talk through what is it that you need to do foundationally? So you're set up for the future. And then I do a handoff.
'cause I know I can't do all of that and the other million things that I'm doing. But I do make it my point to just take a little bit of time, have some great conversations with them when I know it's time for them to go to another place. I hand them off to someone else I know that's in the industry or in the right industry so that they're able to move forward.
And I know that they're taken care of. I also have my show, that's what my show in style with Clearly Kristen is all about, is about giving fashion and beauty and business entrepreneurs that space to be able to tell their story, to let other people know that they exist that they're around, that they have a platform where they can showcase their products and services and other people are aware that they're there.
And our show is on Thursday nights at eight 30 on Roku. Yes. Kara Roku, Amazon Fire. It's on Apple tv. It's pretty awesome. On the new promote her network. So you guys check it out? Yes. Annika, you can put that in the chat, but it's awesome. You guys check it out and it's really great. So we have to find your thing that you can do to give back.
And once you find your thing that you can do to give back, it doesn't matter how small or how big it is, just find your thing that you can do to give back. I wrote a book as well for, launching, it's called the Dreamers Workbook. So I try to make sure that, kids have a access, they can actually walk through a workbook to launch a business and understand it starts with an idea and it works through all of that.
So you have to be able to give back and in different ways of giving children and giving everybody an opportunity to find their passion and find their dream and work their dream. And I think that's, it's gonna change everything, like you said, learning the nuances of how to run a business, how to start a business, what's needed.
That is very important. And I think giving I try to talk to as many kids as I can. If they wanna launch a business, their parents know they wanna launch a business, then that's what it needs to, what needs to happen. I was making sure that I wrote the Dreamers workbook with a friend of mine so that it was so easy for people to, for kids to follow, teenagers to follow, and it broke it down to them so they understood.
Exactly. There, there's options outside of working a job because, gone are the days of working a job for 40 years and getting a pension. They don't gamble a pension away on, on a riverboat. I don't know. But that's not an option anymore. So having your own business gives you a sense of ownership, a different sense of confidence and a sense of belonging.
And you matter. And it gives a whole different side of your world. So I love the fact that each one of you ladies are promoting entrepreneurship and owning your business. And I just love y'all. I love you. That's my girl. We talk, we doing show a day together the other day. What was that?
We did two shows and one day we did the round table talk show and face to face. And then Lauren was on my show the other day and it was like the most awkward one because we had this bad connection and I couldn't really connect. But I love talking to you ladies. I would love the opportunity to talk more.
I want you to come back, Lauren, I'm gonna give you an amazing show. I'm gonna put you with some amazing people. We kept the connection. The ladies in the Middle East, we can't even hear. I love that. That was fun. I know, that's what I said. But yeah, come back. I would love to talk more with all of you, but again, back to what Mikel said, do what you can.
That's why I wrote my book Signs. You might be an entrepreneur. How to discover the entrepreneur in you to help people who are interested in becoming an entrepreneur. I love this entire panel because everyone is on such, so many of the same pages, right? We're here to be good citizens, we're here to be entrepreneurs.
We're here to, keep lighting the way for everyone else and highlighting who's here. And that's like the entire powerful ladies like thing. It's like we know how to make things happen. We know how to change things. And thank you guys so much for being a yes to me for the first time or again and like sharing this conversation because seeing everyone in the chat, like these conversations matter so much like they, it.
Everything you're talking about, like we have to keep doing these. So before we wrap up today, I'm gonna share my screen again. And let everyone see your contact information. And then so you can, here's how you can connect with all of our panelists. We've got their Instagrams, their websites. Please go follow them, support them, reach out, connect with them if you wanna have a conversation.
And to also remind you guys that we are, we have one more scheduled in this series. We're going to be scheduling more. The next conversation about racism is in October. It's one month before the election. Very intentionally. And we're gonna be focusing on that one a lot about what actions need to be taken or what available actions are there that we can do to keep pushing this through, because there are so many opportunities right now.
How do we keep opening up a little bit wider while we have people interested and there's momentum and there's movement happening. And then we will also be sharing this as we did before, so you can get it on YouTube and it'll be our podcast next week for anyone that couldn't listen to it live.
Everyone will get to. But panelists, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for everything that you shared. You are for sure incredible powerful ladies, and I can't wait to see you all on the next one. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks everyone. See you next time. Bye.
Thank you for listening to this special episode and our commitment to continue the conversation of racism and solutions to racism in America. We have scheduled follow-up events. The next will take place on October 2nd, and that will be episode three. You can register for this free event right now@thepowerfulladies.com.
For additional resources and ways to take action, follow us on Instagram at Powerful Ladies and check out our Powerful Ladies Online community. You can find the link to this@thepowerfulladies.com. This is where we are continuing this conversation and where women and business are rising together. You can follow and connect with our panelists on Instagram here, Sharifa Hardy at Sharifa hardy ml, drew at 3 8 3 Design.
Chandra Gore at C Gore consults, Kristen Fenrick at Kristen Fenrick. Lauren Wilson at Shop Door Mar. In the meantime, be safe, be allowed, be the leaders we need. Be awesome and up to something you love.
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Episode 68: A Powerful Conversation About America - Racism Episode 1
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Episode 111: A Powerful Conversation About America, Racism - Stop Asian Hate
You can follow & connect with our panelists on Instagram here:
Sharifah Hardie @sharifahhardie
Mikelle Drew @383design
Chandra Gore @cgoreconsults
Kristen Fenrick @kristenfenrick
Lauren Wilson @shopdoramaar
Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
