Black Sheep Podcast

Dani is chatting with Leah Lakins, editor, writer and publisher, or as she sometimes calls herself - a wordy, nerdy, quirky girl from Baltimore. You may have seen her name and words in popular books like Steve Harvey's New York Times Bestseller Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success, and his most recent project Jump. Leah shares her early dreams of what she wanted to be when she grew up and how her high school journal revealed pieces of her current reality. We get to learn about how her variety of career opportunities has prepared her for life as an entrepreneur doing what she loves - sharing the stories of others. Change in her life inspired more change. After dreaming of living in New York for 10 years, she gambled on herself and moved to NYC and started her life as an entrepreneur. Leah shares about how she prepared for that major move and what some people had to say about her plans.   We hear about some of her unique challenges of NYC living, what she loves and appreci

This episode is part of a series in the Take Over Season where speaker, host and adventure creator Danielle Fontus took over the podcast for chats about living a daring life. Dani is chatting with Felicia Gibson Jaycox, the founder and executive director of The Power of You Teens - a Harlem based mentoring and empowerment group for girls ages 10 - 18. For Felicia, this organization started at a time when she was in a lot of pain. She shares about the unexpected loss of her brother and how she coped with the help of a supportive sisterhood. Learning to channel her pain into passion, she poured her heart into a space where she saw others hurting - teenaged girls who had lost hope, some even resulting in suicide, from life challenges they were facing, like bullying and abuse. Through volunteering, Felicia was able to push through her own pain and she rediscovered the joy she had in touching the lives of young girls that she'd felt before during her days working with a runaway center in Florida. Today, through Th

Dani is chatting with Evelyn Badia, the hostess with the mostest. She has been an Airbnb host since 2010 (before airbnb was cool and a verb). When the economy shifted, Evelyn couldn’t find work in her industry as a TV producer. She stumbled upon Airbnb in the NY Times and decided to try it as a way to save her home. Evelyn shares about how her lifestyle changed and what it was like moving out of her home as a way of income. She tells the stories of how she started her listing and her first guest. We learn in this episode the lessons she’s learned from hosting - like setting boundaries and establishing realistic expectations with clear communication. She also shares about some of her favorite guests and funny moments, like when the guy ate her avocado. Evelyn is the ultimate hostess because not only does she create a special experience for her guests but she also contributes to her community, lending her home to neighbors during challenging times like Hurricane Sandy and home repairs as well as for their famil

Dani is going deep with Tatiana Dellepiane - a sex and relationship expert and tantra teacher. She helps women connect to their sensuality, which she believes is our superpower. She works with them through movements and their body to break through from shame and reach their full potential out in the world. It is her mission and her work to help women remember who they truly are. Her journey started as she was seeking healing in her own life. During a time when she felt stuck and was experiencing pain, she found a teacher who opened up her eyes to work that used movement to help women heal their own trauma. Having experienced abuse and trauma throughout her life, which she coped with by dismissing, Tatiana reached a point in her life, when she realized true, deep healing was necessary for her to move on. Following her own self love and spiritual journey, she went deeper which not only granted her healing but also helped her discover the work that she wanted to do for other women. Tatiana has grown to know an i

This episode is part of a series in the Take Over Season where speaker, host and adventure creator Danielle Fontus took over the podcast for chats about living a daring life. We are chatting with Bernice Wooden - entrepreneur & educator, who has been in the entertainment business for 10 years. She started her own production company, Be Nice Productions, which includes videography, photography and workshops. Bernice has recently written a book How to Get a Degree in Celibacy: 10 Steps to Keeping Your Lips Closed, where she is sharing with the world about her sex life,or lack thereof. In this conversation, we learn about Bernice's journey to where she is today in her career. She shares about the unique challenges she faced and how she overcame them and the lessons she learned from them. In this candidly, juicy and intimate interview, Bernice dares to share: what makes her uncomfortable to this day & how she approaches those uncomfortable situations an emotional failure and the wins that also came wi

The Black Sheep Podcast is BAAACK! In this episode you will head from Nicole on what caused the long delay in between seasons, what to expect in upcoming seasons of the podcast and how to get your initiatives, products and services in front of our audience. This episode is an interview by past guest Danielle Fontus who is back to interview Nicole.  This episode kicks off the “Take Over Season” where Nicole invited Danielle to take over the mic for honest chats with women who are daring to live life on their terms as a Black Sheep. In this episode we will learn: What has happened since last season? Nicole had baby # 2 and alot of work come her way at the same time and the impact of both these on her, her family and health. Including the low moments - “I’m failing” and high moments “im living and doing work that matters” Her plans for the future of the podcast and ways to continue to support WOC. How time is the most valuable currency in her home Why she and Danielle are really owning not having a bu

Victoria's company (and her passion) is called Victoria Akkari Organic Culinary Oil. She works with a Women's Cooperative in Aberdare, in the South Western region of Morocco. There, the women make the culinary Argan Oil by hand, in the ancient, traditional way. This is what Victoria imports and she does the bottling and the labelling in Long Island. Victoria has a passion for this and she has many wonderful ideas for the future, to expand and incorporate working with other Moroccan cooperatives. Listen in to find out more about Victoria and the benefits of edible Argan Oil.   Today, Victoria and Nicole discuss:   The difference between edible and non-edible Argan Oil. The importance of knowing where what we eat or put on our bodies comes from. How Victoria came to find herself creating a company based around Argan Oil and supporting Women's Cooperatives in Morocco. Victoria's background, growing up. What Victoria had to do, in order to import a food product from Morocco. How Victoria found her commercial kit

If you would like to know what it's like to have psychic abilities, or how a person gifted with clairvoyance or clairsentience uses those talents to help people, listen in and find out, as Nicole's psychic guest, Tanya Brown, shares her story, on this week's show. Tanya, who comes from New Jersey, is psychic, clairvoyant and she's also a business coach. Tanya describes her psychic ability as being like having someone whispering the answer to a question in her ear. She explains clairvoyance by saying that her guides give her information, in the form of pictures, which she can 'see' when she closes her eyes. She's also clairsentient, which means that she can feel what her clients are feeling, either emotionally, or physically. Tanya's journey so far has been really fun and interesting. Join her and Nicole this week's show to find out more about her and about how she uses her gifts to help her clients with their lives and in their businesses.   Today, Tanya talks to Nicole about:   How her gifts developed in st

If you're interested in finding out about what drives and motivates someone with an active social conscience, join Nicole and her guest, Sharee Johnson-Cammon, on this week's show. Listen in and find out about Sharee and what she does to educate and raise the awareness of her community.   Sharee is from Houston Texas and she's the founder and owner of the BAM Black Friday Market, which she started in 2015. Although she shies away from the limelight, Sharee is active with social justice movements and with raising awareness about inequality, oppression, police brutality, communities and education. Listen in this week and find out what Sharee does to raise community awareness and create business opportunities for black people.     This week, Sharee and Nicole discuss:   Providing information to inform and educate people, without overwhelming them. How Sharee's business came about and what provided the impetus to make it happen. That Sharee's business is a whole new thing for her. How people of color tend to be

This chat was super insightful and inspiring. Dara is the founder of Brevity Brand which is launching its first piece of apparel the Do Anything Jacket.  In this episode we talk about: The process of designing and producing a piece of apparel Her drive for creating a social enterprise  The importance of getting away from the computer + email and just going out and meeting people. She started showing up at factories and meeting with pattern makers at as a result was able to move faster on getting her jacket designed. Going in person to the factories also opened her eyes to the huge disparity of women owned vs male owned manufacturing plants Launching a successful KickStarter campaign - we go behind the scenes with step by steps to ensure your campaign is successful Ignoring naysayers! Going against the grain and trusting your gut - all the established fashion experts advised her against Kickstarter and told her she can't build a brand or launch a sustainable biz on Kickstarter but trusting her gut that

This week Nicole brought Lupita Santana her online buddy for a friendly jam on the way we experience being Latinas.  The idea for this conversation came when Nicole learned that like her, Lupita was married to someone from a different Latino culture, and was now living in her husband's native country.  Having spent time living abroad in a Latin country Nicole was curious about Lupita's experience being an 'Latina expat' in a Latino country. Nicole shares about her experience moving to Chile for a year and her challenges with in fitting in and the hard chats with folks who saw her as simply American vs what she was used to in the states being seen as a Latin American. Please note, there may be some points of views expressed that some people may not agree with as we are speaking from our POV and perspective.  As always, all feedback is welcomed.  Email hello@liveblacksheep.com

This week Nicole welcomed Aycee Brown to the podcast to talk to us about the launch of Good Night Darling Co. her company dedicated to helping us get better sleep.  In this episode we talk about: Why is sleep so important that she would start a company around it?  The moment when she knew you this idea had to be birthed. The journey and process of creating a product based business. Being a serial entrepreneur (Aycee started her first biz at age 8!!) How the micro-agressions and the hustle of WOC that affect us during the day affects our sleep e.g., being the only person of color in office  Aycee is so awesome she even created a special promo code just for Black Sheep Podcast listeners. Enter BLACKSHEEP to score 15% off any product in the store. We agree that sleep is so important to any Black Sheep Lady that this winter we featured her fade to black. herbal tea & tincture combo in our Holiday Buy Brown Guide and since then she has added more products and soon will be launching a sleep consultation p

In this week's episode we jam about money. How we manage our money, tools/apps/systems and general thoughts on money. Want help finding awesome women of color owned business? Get on our list to access our latest Buy Brown Guide is coming out soon. Don't miss out on these amazing products by women of color owned businesses. Sign up here http://bit.ly/buybrownguide to be notified when the new guide is released.   We would love your feedback! Email us or leave a review at iTunes.  And join us in the FB group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamblacksheep/ to get support on your Black Sheep journey.  

This week we break the news - we are breaking up! Jes is going to be stepping down from the Black Sheep Podcast and the Live Black Sheep brand.  We know, we know...shocking!  But it's all love and all good. Tune in to hear our candid conversation where we process this decision together for the first time since we made the decision with love and grace.  Upmost was our commitment to maintaining our friendship and staying in integrity. We came to this decision in late January as it became clear that at this point Jes doesn't have the time to devote to the podcast. We then went through the process of working through the logistics mainly over email. This chat is our first time we got on the phone since that call to discuss and process the end of our partnership. This episode is a great one for anyone curious about what it is like to partner with grace and integrity even when it doesn't work out.  We cover lessons learned...partnership agreement early on. Hello...yeah that would be very helpful to have had ea

In this week's episode we explore decision making. How do we make decisions, how do we prioritize? Each and every day there are a lot of decisions that need to be made. Join Jes and Nicole in a candid chat about how we approach decision making in our lives and catch up with each other on the decisions we are weighing in our lives.  Some of what we heard in the Black Sheep Society our free online community we've heard women are making decisions about: When starting a coaching practice how do you niche down? Do you take a full time gig for the income to support your side hustle as it grow? How do you refer to yourself when you are a multi passionate entrepreneur? How do you brand yourself when you have multiple hustles? Want help finding awesome women of color owned business? Get on our list to access our latest Buy Brown Guide is coming out soon. Don't miss out on these amazing products by women of color owned businesses. Sign up here http://bit.ly/buybrownguide to be notified when the new guide is released

As we celebrate International Women's Day support the March 8, 2017, called "A Day Without A Woman."  We are excited to shared our chat on the joys and challenges of being women of color owned business and certifications that one can apply for as a minority and women owned business.  For more information on the March 8th Campaign, the Women's March website suggests three ways to participate in the strike: Women take the day off work — whether you are paid or unpaid. Refrain from shopping for the day — or if you must shop, choose small, women- and minority-owned businesses. Wear red in solidarity with those participating in and supporting the strike. In this episode Nicole interviews Jes as she takes us through the process of earning a certification to become a minority and women business. What is this? A Certification businesses can gain to access RFPs for diversity supplier needs.  The Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprise (MWB) Certification.  State and city certifications are available - JPD

We don't know about y'all but it has been really intense in these parts! Things have been so busy and intense here at Black Sheep HQ that we paused the podcast release and took two weeks off to get healthy and caught up on the insane amount of everything February threw at us! Anyone else?  We would love your feedback! Email us or leave a review at iTunes. And join us in the FB group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/iamblacksheep/to get support on your Black Sheep journey. Are you on the list? Our latest Buy Brown Guide is coming out soon. Don't miss out on these amazing products by women of color owned businesses. Sign up here http://bit.ly/buybrownguide to be notified when the new guide is released.

This week Nicole and Jes keep it light in a fun discussion on ways we can take care of our external selves that serve to support our internal workings (you know feelings, emotions etc :) and yes we talk about money!! Topics discussed: The use of color to support us to feel different Smartly, financially investing in ourselves even when times are lean Our personal brand is a part of what we are selling and what we communicate externally has implications The power of owning the energy you want for the day - both negative and positive through our personal branding Becoming aware of the things we have surrounded ourselves with and around how they are impacting how we feel inside Making smart purchases What do you love to invest in? Let us know @liveblacksheep or in the Black Sheep Society our community FB.  Full show notes can be found at http://bit.ly/liveblacksheep24

This week's episode is all about giving back in a way that is sustainable to your life and maximizes impact around your cause. This episode has a freebie - The Ready, Set , Do (Good) mini course is designed to help embed giving into your biz or life. It outlines seven ways to give back, get it for FREE at www.liveblacksheep.com/findyourcause A hallmark of every client Nicole has even coached is that they are values-driven women. And whether through their work or personal lives they seek ways to give back.  Many of them are also multi-passionate and have a ton of ideas and projects they are trying to juggle. Sound like you?  This week Nicole uses Jes as a case study of how she works with clients to launch social good projects. Make sure you grab your freebie to get access to Nicole's coaching process that helped Jes maximize her social impact through the social impact initiative she birthed called www.poweredbyher.com This week we are Black Sheep because....   "I am Black Sheep because I am taking risks t

This week Nicole and Jes are jamming about Creating Content for Social Media. This episode is a training for those of you new and seasoned entrepreneurs who want to re-examine and re-commit to your online presence. Other episodes that would be good to listen alongside are Episode #: 12 Launching a Website in 5 Steps and Episode 20: Being Seen. This week's episode picks up where we left off last week talking about motivation and momentum. For #liveblacksheep, 2017 is the year of striving for consistent communication across our channels and maintaining that momentum. Topics we explore include: Choosing a platform the best services your voice + style Understanding how you best produce content Choosing your content focus areas Coaching Corner: The Black Sheep Ask Challenge is here! In last week's episode we introduced you to a TED Talk: What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection. This week we are officially kicking off our #BlackSheepAsk Challenge. Until Feb 15th we can use #blacksheepask to share our about our