Buzz Magazine Dallas

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

I have been drawing since I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade, I started off drawing stick man then I started put swords in there hands and started filling in there whole bodies. I was big on Kung Fu movies, I believe if I meditated long enough that I would be able to fly into tree like they did in the films. My cousin Ken was a great artist, me and him spent a lot of time drawing pictures and other kids at my elementary school was real good artist, this all influence me to continue to work on my art from elementary throughout high school, drawing Ninja Turtles, Marvel Comic characters and whatever influence me from my neighborhood. In High School I won a few art ribbons and got paid to design a school screenplay cover. After I graduated from Langston University in 2004 , I was working at Walgreens, around 2005, 2006 one of my fraternity brother ask me to invest in a party, this was my first club promotion event with 97.9 and Lil Joe, he was the headliner, he had a hot single called I Can Do This. After promoting this first event, I started promoting my own events and started working at a few different club spots. After doing several events one of my promoter friends, that was doing teen parties at the time, give me the first adobe software program and show me the basic on how to use it. At this time I was still working at Walgreens and working at a few clubs, I was just getting into bartending, I bartended on Tuesdays and Sundays at a spot called The Ice Barr in Downtown Dallas and my Bar manager Twon was my first paid Graphic client, he paid me to do a flyer for his event his was putting on. I was from Bartending a the Hottest Open Mic in the city, Tuesday nights at the Ice Barr with my partner Mr. Nike to becoming the host of the event to helping him with promotion of the night, Me and Mr. Nike was passing out 10,000 flyers in a few days. Mr. Nike was plug in with a lot of big name national artist, this is where I pick up my first camera, I purchase it from Walgreens and I was working as his camera man, this started me with Camera work. Like with Graphic Designs, I have always been a creative story teller, which got me trouble when I was younger because I was drawing and creating comic books plus some of the material was inappropriate for my age. When my camera and laptop got stolen in Austin at my friend’s wedding, another friend at the time invested in me by purchasing me a new camera and laptop and I have been making movies and creating graphics and website designs every since. Continue Reading Meet Tommy Dunn of PpSquared Production

I purchased my first DSLR camera in 2010 for my photojournalism course. There, I learned a lot about lighting and manual shooting. After the semester, I didn’t really pick up my camera up “professionally” until around 2014, for graduation shoots. It wasn’t until 2019 that I decided to purchase another camera and starting doing maternity sessions. In order to build up my portfolio, I was doing a lot of free shoots to try to build a clientele up. One year later, a hobby of mine has turned into a small business. I owe it all to those who refer me, support me and constantly motivate me. Continue Reading Meet Janet of Shot by Janet

It has always been a dream of mine to own my own magazine. Growing up, I had a lot of single parent household, yet ambitious group of friends. My plan was to tell their story and get them exposure because I felt people needed to hear their story. Also, like any other person standing in the check-out line at the grocery store, I enjoyed the creative images and reading editorials about upcoming people and A list celebrities in magazines. As I was making the decision throughout college of what I wanted to do, photography was just a hobby. I purchased my first camera, as a birthday present to myself, at 19; I never imagined it would lead me to Dallas, TX. I am originally from Monroe, Louisiana. In 2013, I began my journey at The Art Institute of Dallas where I found my niche for fashion photography. I assisted with fashion students preparing their senior portfolios by doing fairly wide production shoots on location or in the studio. It was in 2017 after I graduated that I began to work more with local fashion designers, hairstylist, and wardrobe stylist to create content for their brands. Continue Reading Meet Angela Webb of Angela Webb Photography

When I was 16 years old, I decided that I was tired of asking for money. I wanted my own money on my own terms, but my parents informed me that we were leaving Florida and moving to Texas. I then thought well I don’t want to start a job then have to quit, so like any normal teenager I decided to start my own business. I knew absolutely nothing about starting a boutique, except that you needed a name, clothes, and some form of way to communicate with the world to buy your items. So in June of 2013, I started Nazeerah Love Boutique, which was originally named LoveYaasameen Store. I refused to ask for help or money, so I googled everything and figured it out along the way. Since I had no money, I basically was a drop-shipper using Aliexpress vendors… Which now that I think about it could have gotten me sued because a lot of their pictures were stolen from actual businesses. Considering the fact that Instagram wasn’t available for everyone till 2012, I was one of the first “Insta-Boutiques” to be on the app. I used social media to build my original customers and was doing pretty damn good.

Now seven years later, my company has become something completely different than that big-eyed 16 year old girl could have even imagined. Over the years, I have made many mistakes, I thankfully no longer use Aliexpress as my vendor, I have an actual brand, I have closed down the store numerous times, but here we are.

I want Nazeerah Love Boutique to be a place where any and every type of woman can come online and find an item she cannot do without. We are working hard each and everyday to show real women with real bodies, and to become more inclusive not only for our plus-size women but also for those smaller women as well in the 0’s and extra smalls. Continue Reading Meet Yaasameen Garrett of Nazeerah Love Boutique