Allison Seymour
​News Anchor, Fox 5

Allison can be seen weekdays on FOX 5 News Morning, but haven't always held this particular job at Channel 5.  She was hired as a general assignment reporter for the evening news, but has also served as health reporter, noon anchor and midday anchor.  Since 2007, she has served as a main anchor of the FOX 5 News Morning, and now Good Day DC.

Demetress Valentine
​Celebrity MUA

Demetress Valentine (Demi V) has been involved in the beauty industry for almost 20 years. She is both an accomplished hairstylist and make-up artist. Over the years, Demi V has mastered her craft and continues to perfect it through continued education and work assignments.

Born and raised in the Washington DC area and was inspired by local talent that have gone on to do great things and with that inspiration, she is destined to do the same. She works with all skin tones and hair textures because having this ability is a MUST in this industry. Developing such love for her craft, she resigned from her 18 year position with the federal government in 2006 to pursue her dream full-time in the beauty industry.

She has Agency representation in Washington, DC and New York. Working with clients such as Tamia, Dr. Oz, Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Beals, Kim Wayans, Carla Hall, Olivia Wilde, Adrienne Bailon, Josh Groban, Terrell Suggs, Shanti Lowry, Denyce Lawton, Eddie Goines, JR Ramirez, Lamman Rucker, Jackee Harry, Shonhreh Aghdashloo, James Wolk, Eloise Chris Colfer, Diane Dimond, Rachel Roy, Tonya Blount, Nate Berkus, Ken Downing, Lisa Bloom, Michelle Ebanks, Tim Thompson, Warren Buffett, Angela Burt-Murray, Jamie Foster Brown, Shon Gables, Eddie and Charisse Jordan, Trevor MacDonald, Ben Jealous, Marcia Dyson, Regina Lewis, Dorothy Norwood and others, have afforded Demetress the opportunity to obtain such amazing jobs.

Mekeda Haniyyah
​Kakewalk Cupcakes

Kakewalk Cupcakes evolved from the love for baking instilled at a young age. Being grandma's helper in kitchen, grandma's baking knowledge would be one that stayed in my heart forever.

I attended Howard University briefly then decided to move to New York City to pursue my modeling career.  After establishing a successful career, I moved back home to raise my two wonderful children. While still modeling and juggling mommy hood, the idea of Kakewalk Cupcakes evolved. In early 2011 it all came to life.

In 2014, I began weight training and competed in my very first Body Building Competition. After falling in love with fitness, I became a personal trainer to help other people achieve their fitness goals.

As a Mom, Model, Personal Trainer and soon to be Nutritionist, I'm looking forward to all that the future has to offer.
Born and raised in the Washington DC area and was inspired by local talent that have gone on to do great things and with that inspiration, she is destined to do the same. She works with all skin tones and hair textures because having this ability is a MUST in this industry. Developing such love for her craft, she resigned from her 18 year position with the federal government in 2006 to pursue her dream full-time in the beauty industry.

She has Agency representation in Washington, DC and New York. Working with clients such as Tamia, Dr. Oz, Jimmy Smits, Jennifer Beals, Kim Wayans, Carla Hall, Olivia Wilde, Adrienne Bailon, Josh Groban, Terrell Suggs, Shanti Lowry, Denyce Lawton, Eddie Goines, JR Ramirez, Lamman Rucker, Jackee Harry, Shonhreh Aghdashloo, James Wolk, Eloise Chris Colfer, Diane Dimond, Rachel Roy, Tonya Blount, Nate Berkus, Ken Downing, Lisa Bloom, Michelle Ebanks, Tim Thompson, Warren Buffett, Angela Burt-Murray, Jamie Foster Brown, Shon Gables, Eddie and Charisse Jordan, Trevor MacDonald, Ben Jealous, Marcia Dyson, Regina Lewis, Dorothy Norwood and others, have afforded Demetress the opportunity to obtain such amazing jobs.

Hena K'han
​Author

Hena is a children's author and a communications specialist working in international public health. She has written several award winning books, including three picture books that introduce Muslim culture and traditions to a general audience. Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns is an American Library Association Notable Book, and Night of the Moon is a Booklist Top 10 Religion Book for Youth. Hena has worked for and consulted with several international organizations, including the Population Council and UNICEF, and she is currently a communications manager at Management Sciences for Health, a non-profit focused on improving global maternal, child, newborn and adolescent health.

​You can learn more about Hena and her books at www.henakhan.com

Stephanie Ready
​NBA Basketball Analyst, TV Host, Sideline Reporter, Spokesperson

Stephanie Ready is the first full time female color analyst for an NBA team. Ready is responsible for providing in-depth coverage and basketball expertise during the NBA season on Fox Sports South East as apart of a three-person booth. Stephanie Ready has completed her twelfth season as apart of the Hornets/Bobcats television broadcast team. In addition to her work in the booth, on the sidelines and at the desk, Ready supplies feature and human interest pieces on players, coaches and front office personnel for pregame, halftime and postgame shows. Ready has served as a sideline reporter for TNT’s coverage of the NBA Playoffs, and for ESPN during the women’s NCAA basketball tournament. Ready also worked for ESPN and ABC during the 2006 WNBA Playoffs and Finals in the same capacity. Ready has also served as host on NBA-TV for their WNBA Finals post game show.

Stephanie Ready joined the NBA team in Charlotte after serving as an assistant coach for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. Prior to her appointment with the Mystics, she was the assistant coach of the Greenville Groove of the NBA D-League, making her the first woman to coach a men’s professional sports team. Stephanie also helped guide the team to the league’s inaugural championship in 2002. During her two seasons in Greenville, she was 2-0 when assuming duties of the Head Coach.

Prior to her stint in the D-League, Stephanie Ready spent three seasons as the Head Volleyball Coach and two seasons as an assistant coach for the men’s basketball program at Coppin State University. Stephanie was one of the youngest Division I Head coaches in the country, and the first female to hold the position of full-time recruiting assistant on an NCAA Division I men’s basketball staff. A four-year starter on the women’s basketball team at Coppin State, she ended her collegiate career among the school’s all-time top 10 performers in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Ready graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. Stephanie and her husband Perry have two children, James and Ivy.
​

Monica Scott Haynes
​Model/Actor

After a 15-year career in Corporate America, Monica Haynes is now living life as a full-time “mompreneur”, model and actor. Monica’s dreams of  staying home with her children and working for herself became a reality  about two years ago when she decided to quit her 9-to-5. Since then, she  has established herself as a successful entrepreneur of a health &  wellness business. Monica has also become a professional print model.  Having graced the pages of Modern Woman and Best Years magazines,  along with national print campaigns for Hair Cuttery, American Express  and Volkswagen. Her acting has landed her roles on the BET Network, 

Investigation Discovery and Netflix’s “House of Cards”. Her commercial  work includes national spots with Amtrak and Mercedes Benz, just to name  a few.

Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Monica fell in love with the DMV area  after attending Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD) for both her  undergraduate and graduate studies. She is married to her supportive  husband Lenny and they have two children Hayden (age 8) and “LV” (age  6). 

“I am having an incredible amount of fun exploring the entrepreneurial and  artistic side of myself. It’s something that I felt was my purpose all along,  however it took 15 years for me to step out of my comfort zone and go for  it. Today, I live fearlessly.”

Michellette Green
​Mimi Cute Lips

MimiCuteLips is a lifestyle blog for women of all shapes, sizes, colors and walks of life. MimiCuteLips is a blog about life as I see it, live it, love it (or not)! On this blog I share my social life, interviews, do it yourself projects, parenting, fitness, natural hair, crafts and more.  I want to empower you to live the life you desire. In addition to writing MimiCuteLips, I custom designs converse Chuck Taylor’s, Custom Kicks by Mimi. I also co-authored an e-book, From Blank Space to Blogging Brilliance.

Sara Jaffe
​Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts

Riche Holmes-Grant
​Bambiniware

Arminta Crosby
​Pretty Lady Pole Fit

Valerie Marshall
​2016 Mom Model

​LCDR Valerie Marshall was commissioned in the United States Public Health Service in March 2008.  She received her Masters of Public Health (concentration in epidemiology and biostatistics) from the George Washington University School of Public Health and her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Morgan State University.  LCDR Marshall began her USPHS career as a Policy Analyst in the Biomedical Research Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) in the Office of the Secretary of HHS, where she focused on smallpox and botulism medical countermeasure development for the Strategic National Stockpile.  She is currently stationed at the Food and Drug Administration in the Office of Vaccines Research and Review and her diverse portfolio involves maternal immunization, childhood vaccination, and international vaccine initiatives.  LCDR Marshall has authored journal articles and book chapters on vaccine regulation.  LCDR Marshall is an ordained minister and gospel pianist.  She has been married to her darling husband, Phillip, for 11 years and they have 2 adorable children, Brandon and Gabrielle.

Taheera Espinoza
​Style Medic

Stacey Ferguson
Blogalicious

​Stacey is a co founder of blogalicious with a mission to celebrate diversity in social media.  Blogalicious achieves its mission through community building, on and offline; providing tools and training to facilitate entrepreneurial and technical skills growth within the social media space; raising awareness within the marketing space of the powerful “multi-influential” demographic; and serving as the face of multicultural women online.

Back in 2009 when the idea for Blogalicious was conceived, the idea was to bring together women bloggers of diverse ethnic backgrounds to connect and share their experiences of being bloggers in a blogosphere where, at the time, was heavily biased towards a handful of blogging “rockstars.”  The secondary goal was to show brands that by overlooking the multi-cultural digital niche, they were missing out on crazy opportunities.

The inaugural Blogalicious Weekend accomplished both of those goals and we were elated – what we didn’t expect was for a tightly knit community to be formed and for the brand to signify a movement; one that bloggers and brands were clamoring for.

Blogalicious is a platform to celebrate and lift up the talent and passion that lives in our community. If we can serve as a vehicle to promote or support your blog, brand or business, we’re going to do it.  Period. It’s not about your traffic or your resume or who you know – being Blogalicious means to be genuinely passionate about your relationships, your work and your passions, rooted in social media, and to live that passion.

Mocha Ochoa-Nana
​The Oracle Group

Tara Gates Anderson
​TGA

Tara Gates Anderson’s career spans over 15 years in the entrepreneurship, business and public relations arenas and over 22 years in education in both the public and non-profit sectors. In business and public relations fields she has established long-standing influential relationships and has built and trained teams of business leaders domestically and internationally.

Ms. Anderson is a sought after speaker for conferences and events dedicated to empowering women to pursue their destiny, and building their dreams and businesses.  She’s slated as the host and speaker at this year’s “Its Go Time” Women’s Conference hosted by 21st Century Woman Founder, Chereace Richards with keynote speaker, Iyanla Vanzant, New York Times Best Selling Author and host of “Iyanla Fix My Life” on the OWN Network.

Please visit http://www.taragatesanderson.com/ for a full bio.

Sade Lewis
​So Modishly Chic

My name is Temitayo ‘Sade’ Lewis. I’m a personal stylist, an ardent fashion lover, and a magazine addict. Married, a mother of two boys and a girl.

Why start a blog? You may ask. Yeah! I know. Too many bloggers on the internet. Why not? If you meet me in person the question you will ask is why didn’t I start a blog earlier than now. I have a bachelors in Chemical Engineering and a masters in Project Management. Unless I tell people these, everyone just assume I have a degree in something fashion related.

Over the years, my personal style has been greatly influenced by paying close attention to the fashion and beauty industry. As a tween and then a teenager in a Nigerian boarding school, I hardly followed the school’s uniform rules. I dressed with flair just to be a little different. When asked to add a button I opted for a hook and eye. Zipper on the back, mine was on the side. The most interesting piece I had and fancied was the thin extra-long belt I wore over my above-the- knee, no-pleats form fitted brown/light brown instead of brown/white gingham housewear. My style was a cry away from the suggested four panel pleats, full skirt skirt or dress the school recommended. Rather than tie the belt to the back, mine was tied to the front and a good four inches past the hemlines. Those were the beginning of my journey into the world of fashion until I introduced myself to my very first copy of a Vogue Magazine I saw on the shelf of CVS Pharmacy.  Flipping through the glossy pages of Instyle, Vogue, Elle, Bazaar, Essence, Lucky, and W Magazines, my fashion sense has improved a great deal. I also noticed a lot of people are not privy to the information that I have acquired so far mostly because of lack of interest in reading fashion materials.  Hence, the birth of So Modishly Chic (SMC).

So Modishly Chic is a medium to share knowledge gained through reading magazines and watching runway shows.  The purpose of So Modishly Chic (SMC) is to inform, educate, and influence your fashion sense. It does not matter if your style is edgy, modern classic, trendy fashionista, or undecided, SMC will provide you with fashion and beauty news, advice and tips to keep you fashionably current from season to season.

Latest fashion trends at your fingertips.

Victoria Taylor
​Nation Tours and Transportation

Nation Tours and Transportation LLC is a family of Tours and Transportation. We have offices in New York, Charlotte, Atlanta and Miami. We operate out of Washington, DC. Since opening in 2010 we’ve treated every customer like they were a part of our family. Other companies may offer similar services, but our services come with a personal touch and an exemplary staff of people who LOVE what they do!

Anthea Glassman
​Perks Photography

My passion is photography. I love seeing the world through a lens and capturing that one moment that can be forgotten in an instant. In my eyes, pictures tell a story and have meaning to them they are a memory that can be reminisced later in life. Photography has a been a long journey for me and I am proud of where I am.

​Check out my website to find out more: http://www.perksphotography.net/

Julian Kiganda
Bold & Fearless

I am an artist, designer, speaker, writer. I’m a mother, daughter, sister, friend. I’m a globetrotter, cultural junkie, dance fanatic. And being a native-born Ugandan with mixed Rwandese heritage raised in America, has colored the lens through which I live my life and experience the world.

In my lifetime, I’ve been blessed to have some of the most amazing opportunities to use my gifts in more places than I can count. Previously, as the founder and managing partner of multicultural design and communications firm, I led and collaborated on projects ranging from award-winning magazines and Fortune 500 company web sites, to international marketing campaigns, and life-changing cultural and historical exhibits. As a community organizer with African Diaspora for Change, I have chaired star-studded events and led critical community dialogues, while developing culturally-relevant programming. As a performing artist, I have traveled all over the United States and to the Caribbean exhibiting and teaching East African dance, music and culture with Mbuutu of Uganda.

Despite all of these incredible experiences, I’ve also been knocked around by life—as I’m sure you have. But I’ve learned from those trials—which I sometimes wasn’t sure I would get through—that ‘this too shall pass.’ And when it does, I’ll be all the wiser for it. I’m still learning. Thank God for faith. It means that I can look beyond the immediate and hold on to the hope and vision of what is to come.

As Maya Angelou has said, “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” My mission with Bold & Fearless is to weave all of those life experiences together and, along with my incredible team of contributors, share with you what I have learned to encourage and inspire you to live your life Boldly and Fearlessly.

http://boldandfearless.me/

Martine Foreman
​CandidBelle

Martine Foreman is a lifestyle and relationship expert, content creator, speaker, writer and the founder of CandidBelle.com, a lifestyle blog committed to helping women achieve their personal goals and design a life they love. Through meaningful content, speaking engagements, workshops, and coaching, Martine strives to help women find courage, take leaps of faith, develop meaningful relationships, and create healthier, happier lives. Martine is also the founder of candidliving.com, a lifestyle brand offering products that reflect the things in life that matter most.

Martine regularly blogs parenting, love and marriage, health, wellness, and a number of other lifestyle issues. By doing so, she has developed a nationwide following of women who come to her site because they can relate to her honest, authentic and progressive editorial voice. In addition to creating great content for her own site, Martine is a regular contributor to Black and Married With Kids and Madame Noire, and has also been a contributor to Disney Baby. Martine lives in the suburbs of Baltimore with her husband, two kids and her quirky cat, Pepper.

Quianna Douglas
​2016 Mom Model

Jade Pham
​2016 Mom Model

Kate
​2016 Mom Model

Madina Balaba
​Touch of Elegance

​Registered Nurse & Makeup Artist. Madina is a dedicated wife and mother of three beautiful girls. She is also a registered nurse-passionate about making a difference in her patient's lives. Madina loves spending time with family and strives to achieve a balance between a happy content home and a fulfilling work experience. Among other talents, she is a gifted make-up artist who cares about enhancing one's natural God given features- with a touch of elegance.