Buzz Magazine Dallas

As a child I struggled with insecurities and major social anxiety. I never saw a counselor for my problems because I was really good at hiding them. My parents didn’t even know how much I struggled. Luckily, as time went on, I overcame the insecurity and social anxiety by working on my thought life. At the time, I was performing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on myself without actually knowing it. The whole premise behind CBT is learning how to control your thinking which helps to control your behaviors and emotions.

Fast forward. I never intended to become a counselor. It sort of just happened. After learning that roughly 40 million adults in the United States suffer from an Anxiety Disorder, I knew that I needed to help. After all, I had firsthand experience in overcoming anxiety.

In 2017, New Heights Counseling LLC. was born. Today, we have two locations (Plano/Frisco & Coppell) and 5 therapists. We specialize in Anxiety and Depression. We help children, teens, and adults.

When I overcame my anxiety, it felt like chains had fallen off. I was finally free and didn’t have to worry any more. My hope and prayer is that every client who comes to New Heights Counseling will experience that same feeling. Continue Reading Meet Allison Hewett of New Heights Counseling

Growing up in Alabama, going to business school in Alabama (Auburn University) and law school in the State (University of Alabama) provided two certainties for me: 1) I love Alabama and 2) it was definitely time for me to leave! Post law school graduation, I was ready to stretch my legs, leave the nest and try somewhere new. However, that is much easier said than done in the legal community. The pseudo rule of thumb surrounding law schools is that you should attend a school in the location you want to practice. There are many reasons that go into this thinking, but most importantly is the reality that you are much more likely to find a job in the location of your school. Well, out of state job prospects for an unlicensed fresh law school graduate are bleak. And this bleakness weighs heavier when you need to eat and begin tackling those unbearable student loans. Nevertheless, I was optimistic, undeterred and certain I was leaving home. In hindsight, even more than naivety, I believe I was optimistic for a reason. I have always felt that no matter what statistics or “rule of thumbs” tell me, if I am able to sit across from another human being, I would give myself a good shot at landing the job. With that belief, I intensely studied locations across the country that I wanted to be in, industries I wanted to work in, and how I saw my life unfolding 5 years down the road. After numerous interviews, sleepless nights and city tours, I landed in Dallas, TX.

I moved to Dallas in June 2013, my wife came a few months later, and we have never looked back. We fell in love with the melting pot, sports teams, personalities and the food. Dallas allows us to be who we are and truly feels like home. Alongside our social enjoyment of Dallas, my career was right where I wanted it. I got hired in the employee benefits department of a Fortune 20 company working on benefit related lawsuits concerning our employees. Being able to work with senior attorneys and responding to court’s requests for records really lit a spark inside of me. The day-to-day at a job is about as good as a day-to-day can be, but what really intrigued me about employee benefits is the understanding of the magnitude of the subject matter. Employee Benefits directly impacts hundreds of thousands of our employees and their families, and millions of employees of other companies across the nation. Just think for a second, when someone is telling you about their new job, their benefits package usually rolls off their tongue right after location and salary (i.e. “my 401k match…” “my medical premium…” “we have a dental plan that…”). Getting this first introduction into the field coupled with my interest has allowed me to move up the ranks from leading company-wide projects to my current work in the Governance department, where we navigate health and welfare plan drafting, collective bargaining agreements and mergers and acquisitions.

In conjunction to building a career at my “9 to 5” I have become a licensed attorney in Texas, Minnesota, North Dakota and the District of Columbia. I have leveraged my practical, scholastic and professional experiences to secure an adjunct professor position teaching Employee Benefits and ERISA Litigation at a premier law school in Dallas, as well as, founding a business focused on investing and consulting, Jared Miller Ventures, LLC. I have a long way to go and I am nowhere near a finished product, but it satisfying to know that you can be whatever you strive to be in life. Although your plan might not look exactly like you would want, you will eventually get where you need to go.
Continue Reading Meet Jared Miller of Jared Miller Ventures

I’m Natalie Nichole, singer-songwriter, actress & all around Entertainer born in Lubbock, Texas & raised in San Antonio, Texas. I’ve been performing ever since I can remember. At a very young age, I was involved with dancing groups, talent shows, TV Shows, Commercials, and youth organizations such as NYA and HYPE. With NYA (Network for Young Artists), I gained experience throughout San Antonio, TX performing at local rodeos and festivals. I ended up moving to California for 2yrs after High School & rubbed elbows in the studio with the likes of Smitty Soul (Credits: Chris Brown, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj etc.), Ron Aniello (Credits: EMPIRE, Bruce Springsteen, Shania Twain.), Pusha Rod (Credits: YG, Dreezy.), Rita Wilson & gained even more experience in songwriting in sessions for artists like Disney Star CoCo Jones. I became homeless for 11months while living in California but that didn’t stop me from continuing to work, becoming an extra for more money & still pursuing my dreams! During this same time I also auditioned for Nick Cannon’s #SignMeToNCredible Challenge via Instagram & she WON! Natalie has been apart of Nick Cannon’s Projects Titled “Calling All Models (The Prequel)” & The “Fuck Him Trilogy” that released early 2018/2019. My discography keeps flourishing so stay tuned! I would like my legacy to be for my storytelling/testimony because I pull from my own life experiences to create. I also help upcoming Independent Artists create a base, make revenue & rise through her Independent Label “Indience Music Group”. Continue Reading Meet Natalie Nichole of Indience Music Group

My journey started about 6 years ago after I had my daughter. I was working a regular 9-5 and after I have birth I suffered from extreme separation anxiety. The lack of freedom and time to spend with my family pushed me to seek out bettering my financial placement. I started learning more about investing and started working on my credit. As far as getting into real estate it was sort of by luck. I won a settlement and instead of blowing it I decide to purchase my first rental propriety, a 1 bed and 1 bath condo. Continue Reading Meet Taneisha F of TD&F Investment Group

My journey as an artist has been a bit of a roller coaster. I’ve always loved acting and music since childhood. I remember singing in the church choir and playing the drums and piano in my early school days. I also remember doing plays and reciting monologues and poetry growing up. I started writing songs around the age of 13/14 but never took them anywhere. During my Jr/Sr year of high school I started to get more involved with my schools theater program and the school step team. After a year at Howard University as a hospitality major I came back home to Texas and started to really focus on my artistry. I started to build my resume as an actor and did background on nearly every show that filmed in the DFW including Queen of The South, Murder Made Me Famous, & Texas Flip & Move. If you look really close you’ll even see me in a few movies like The Last Champion & Alita Battle Angel. I called my high school choir director and began singing lessons and I started to experiment with songwriting and production in GarageBand. Four projects and multiple singles later we’re creeping closer to 200,000 streams in over 15 countries. My most recent single “No Hard Feelings” from my album “Sorry I’m Late” is proving to be my most successful single to date. I recently wrote, directed, & starred in a short film called ‘Chasing Time” to get back into acting and I’m really excited about that as well. I’m getting ready to shoot my first music video and I’m creating songs to submit to other artist. Once things start to open back up I hope to find the right team and head out west and continue growing. Continue Reading Meet Malik Johnson of Malik Entertainment

The U.S Army is really where my road to entrepreneurship started. In the army I was a generator mechanic for about five years. A male-dominated industry that demanded most of my time. I loved that I was a part of something bigger than myself and that with my job specifically I was able to help others; but I Wanted more control of my time and income. From the first out at 21 I feel like God started grooming me for the position that I have today.

I kept finding myself in situations that I couldn’t explain, except to say that God had a plan for me.

During my search for a better job I found out about a credit repair company that claimed to help people and make me a millionaire with an Audi in 2 years!! (let’s all laugh, lol)

In my 21 years old mind I was Ecstatic!! Not only would I be able to clear my credit up but I’d be able to help my friends and family and even get a nice car out of the deal!! Rich? In two years? Yeah, no. It sounded too good to be true because it was!!

Just a few months after signing up (and paying of course) I realized that the company was just another multi level marketing scheme that was going to take my money and have me work for them without fixing anyone’s Credit!

With a bruised ego and a determined spirit, I carried on. Still looking for a way to become an entrepreneur and help other people (with a humble e3 salary).

It only took about six months of trial and error before I realized that you have to have money (or at least Have access to money) to make money in most cases. I didn’t have the money so I researched ways to gain access to it and it seems like all roads lead back to “good credit”!!

So BOOM , I set the goal to become a Business owner by 22 and a Home owner by 25!! ** Spoiler alert** I CRUSH IT !! During my journey of repairing my own credit, I realized that there were more people like me! People who wanted better for themselves but didn’t know where to start, because we had never been taught financial literacy.

At 23, my husband and I started our own Independent Credit Repair Company. We used ALL of our money (and some of the bank’s) to get educated on the laws of credit and debt then stepped out on faith!

Fast Forward to now, we own Credit Connect and hold Several other
several other business Licenses. We bought our house and We were blessed with two amazing little boys!

The company has exceeded my goals 10 times over !! Continue Reading Meet Kourtney Holliday of Credit Connect

When I went to school for Graphic Design, I was being taught how to work for a company or at a desk. Doing work for people, not for myself. After graduating, I attempted to do some freelancing work – working for others and designing the products they were looking for. While I was able to give them what they wanted, I was not fulfilling my dream or having complete passion for what I was doing. I had a repertoire of illustrations and drawings in my notebook that I had not used. I spoke to a friend and showed them the portfolio that I’d been building and they advised that I use my work and put it on clothing – essentially, start my own clothing line. I decided to follow their advice and worked hard to put everything together, ultimately leading to me having my own clothing and fashion show in February 2019 which was successful and began the progression and expansion of Kreative Klothing.
Continue Reading Meet Marquis Parks of KREATIVE KLOTHING

Yana: I would say that we were naturally called to this space. Personally though, podcasting came on my radar at a time when I was pushing through one of the lowest moments in my life. I had experienced a cancer scare and both of my parents were experiencing issues around their health. Podcasts played a vital role into my self-healing story. One of the ways I found myself navigating through was tuning into shows on my then drive to and from work. I became so connected and really fell in love with this form of media. What started out as a method of healing and avenue for personal care, manifested into a fulltime business and show.

From the start Terrian and I were both aligned with our vision and messaging around our show. We knew we wanted the content around our show to be centered around women, specifically sharing the stories of black women. We wanted something that provided a positive representation of us, allowing us to shift the narrative and view of the black woman perspective from our own voice. Ultimately, this served as the blueprint for the formulation of Melanated Conversations.

Terrian: We have always been very close (more like sisters), and our conversations would always vary on different topics. Oddly enough, both of us started feeling the push to start podcasting; we just hadn’t said it out loud to each other. So, about a year ago, Yana called me up and shared her interest in starting up a podcast. The timing was of the essence as I shared the same sentiment. Fast forward a week after our initial conversation, we made the decision to set this thing in motion. We officially launched in August 2019 and we’ve been going strong ever since.
Continue Reading Meet Yana Reynolds & Terrian Jones of Melanated Conversations & Levels to Launch

Dominic, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
MY story is not finished as God is still working through me. I am a new father to a six-month-old beautiful daughter and I have been married for three years now and we reside in Frisco, TX. I own my own Company, ChefNIC and CO. and I am co-Owner of Gemini Engraving. I also am one of the executive chefs at Toyota and Lexus Headquarters in Plano TX (125 acres, 700 people on campus, 14 different outlets to get food and beverages from) I am a devoted man of God first who has been called to lead others in and outside of the kitchen. God Blessed me with my gifts and talents to lead others along their path personally and in their career.

With my Catering company, we travel all across the country doing the event but are based here in Frisco, TX. I went to the University of Arkansas – Fayetteville for Hospitality and Restaurant Management and I finished here in Dallas at The Art Institute of Dallas getting my Culinary Degree. My team and I do the event as small as a house dinner for two all the way up to 10k people we have served in the past. We have catered to many people, doctors, lawyers, car dealerships, shows, churches, family’s, weddings, reunions, anniversaries baby showers and much more.

Some more notable names we have catered to are (Dr. Tony Evans – Kingdom Legacy live event to honor him for writing a commentary and study Bible(Priscilia Shirer and family, Steven Furtick and family, Levi Lusko and family, Rich Wilkerson JR and family, Ed Young and Family, Lecrae, Natalie Grant, Sherri Shephard, Kirk Franklin, Tori Kelly, Dak Prescott, Sean Lee, Boosie, Dorrough, Ronnie Brewer JR, Nelly, Wale, Jim Ross and many more.

My Calling is to serve people and lead others in doing so, I believe in creating environments to make people feel good in service and the edible items we serve to them. IT is my ultimate calling to lead and grow others that work with me to make it to their calling and ultimately take my place someday. God has saved me and brought me through a lot, I have been tremendously blessed to make it through all that I have and it is my duty now to bless others with what God has blessed me with. Continue Reading Meet Dominic Parks JR of ChefNIC & Co.

We are blood sisters that have always had fashion and entrepreneurship within our family history. From running around through clothing racks in our grandmother store to drawing personal designs in school years, including designing my senior prom dress. I (Calisha Tunwar) obtained a certificate in Visual Merchandising with an Associate’s in Fashion Marketing. Most importantly our kids set us on the path. Being able to start a company with each other shows our kids that siblings have a special bond and family is always first. Continue Reading Meet Calisha & Nakiethie Tunwar & Jones of Basic Attire Everyday