Summit 21 Recap: A Black Girl Magic Experience

Originally Posted: June 2019

So, I just got my ENTIRE life this weekend at the Summit 21 conference!

In case you’re unfamiliar with Summit 21, here’s a quick summary before we jump into the magic:

21Ninety is part of Blavity and was created for Millennial women of color by Morgan DeBaun. The 21Ninety woman is an independent spirit, a rebel, and a proud member of the all-natural movement. She's in the midst of a life transition - whether that be moving to a new city, starting a new career, leaving bad habits behind, refining her skin care routine or embracing the newly single life.

She's not afraid to make bold choices.

She loves to smile and laugh, and she'll try anything at least once. She's opinionated, funny and not afraid to jump outside of her comfort zone if it will take her to the next level. She's highly ambitious, but for all the right reasons - to make an impact on others and inspire them to go after their dreams, too.

She loves to find fun, creative ways to stay active but also appreciates downtime to recenter and refocus. She's selective about the company she keeps. Her core group of girlfriends are there for advice, venting and to accompany her to the latest events. She's intentional about everything she does.

The 21Ninety woman is a beautiful work in progress. The 21Ninety woman is me.

21Ninety values simplicity, color, curiosity, fun, independence, community, authenticity, and utility! Their annual conference brings all of these values together in a room full of black girl magic and women empowerment featuring leaders, entrepreneurs, politicians, and entertainers dominating in their fields.

It takes 21 days to form a habit and 90 days to create a lifestyle, the 21Ninety conference provides women with the tools needed to create the lifestyle of their dreams.

The conference took place in Atlanta, GA at the Atlanta Convention Center on June 7th and 8th 2019. Once registered, attendees are able to access all things #Summit21 with an app. The conference app provided scheduling information, discussion boards, a conference community to connect with other attendees, photos, information about speakers, and more!

There were two tracks to choose from : Leadership and Entrepreneurship. There was so much amazing content that it was impossible to see/hear it all, but I want to walk you through my weekend and the sessions I chose.

Friday:

Masterclass: The Power Of An Idea From Concept To Completion

So this session was a MUST for me because I’m somewhat of an idealist. I love to dream big and come up with amazing ideas, but I REALLY struggle with following through on them. The idea of implementing my ideas and bringing them into action often brings me anxiety and dread because I prefer focusing on the big tasks and get overwhelmed by the the details. Thankfully, Malliha Ahmad provided realistic and attainable ways to bring ideas to life!

1. Create a love story with your idea. Similar to how you fantasize about a future bae.

Feel the passion, excitement, and importance behind your idea.

2. Imprint it onto your psyche, manifest the vision, and be clear about your intentions and idea.

What is the idea? How does it look? How do you feel now that it’s launched? How has your life changed?
Why is the idea important to you? Why is it helpful (does it solve a problem)?
Who is the demographic/customer? Who will be there waiting and proud once the idea has launched?
When will it launch?
How will you promote it? How will people feel when they buy or use it?

3. Gather your accountability squad or partner and share your idea bae

This can be friends, family, work colleague, or anyone that’s positive and wants to see you win!

Alex Wolf

The Creative’s Guide to Building a Loyal Audience:

Alex Wolf shared advice on how to build a brand using creativity. The biggest takeaway for me was:

When building a brand you need to gain a following in a platform that YOU control. Instagram is great, but if Instagram were to shut down, would your brand still be in tact? Building an email list/sending newsletters is the most consistent way to build/maintain your following/customers.
Embrace authenticity. Connect with your followers on a deeper level.
Substance is more important than optics.
Honor your followers attention instead of exploiting it.

Lunch: Lunch was an incredibly thoughtful experience on both days. There were so many healthy options to choose from including vegan options. During lunch, attendees were able to enter the expo center which included art installations, small businesses to shop at, and Chateau 21: A free shop that features full size products from black women vendors;including small business owners, major hair care companies like Cantu and Camille Rose Naturals, lingerie, jewelry, candles, bath soaps, and more! During this time there was lots of dancing from an amazing black woman DJ, hoola hooping from Black Girl Hooping, along with wine,makeup, and more! It was so beautiful to see the duality of black women. We can talk about building a business from the ground up and bust it down on the dance floor, and then get right back to becoming a boss!

Masterclass: Build your Brand-PR, Marketing, and More

This session was hosted by Nichole Lynel, I hadn’t heard of Nichole before the conference, but after her session I became a super fan! I initially started in a panel on Finding your voice to improve physical and mental wellness with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford (Therapy for Black Girls) and Pinky Cole (Owner of Slutty Vegan) because I am such a big fan of both women, and although I was feeling the session, I slipped out to Nichole’s after I heard my friends talking about how amazing it was and I’m so glad that I did. Here are the big takeaways:

People don’t buy products: people buy people and people buy stories.
Always be prepared. You will get plenty of opportunities but if you’re not prepared, nobody cares.
Pay attention to your analytics.
You have to find your why, your what, and your how!
There’s no secret or shortcut. Someone can give you the tools but it’s up to you to go home and use it. It takes time. Nichole spent most of her 20s crying and working miscellaneous jobs, but they all prepared her for this moment.
Identify the problem in your market and provide a way to solve it, that’s what keeps people coming back.
In leadership: Don’t be afraid to be bossy. People will reflect what you do, so lead by example.
Don’t hold up the line: When you don’t use the gifts and vision God gives to you, you’re holding up the line and preventing the women who are supposed to learn from you and come after you from getting where they need to be. Your purpose isn’t just about you.
A lot of people don’t like to talk about their goals/ideas because they’re afraid to Jinx it, but maybe you need to tell people about it to hold yourself accountable.

Saturday

Congresswoman Maxine Walters has gained a large millennial following after “reclaiming her time” and it has become a whole mood! She shared a few pieces of advice on reclaiming our time and our charge as millennials:

Get involved in economic development by challenging your local leadership (city council members and mayors) to control rent.
It is okay to make money, but it’s not okay for you to gauge resources.
When your elected officials come into your community, schools, churches- hold them accountable.
Millennials are not earning the money they SHOULD be earning. Millennials are working two or three jobs and it’s working against them when they apply for credit. Bankers need to create new criteria for millennials. The pay does not match millennials skills and talents.
Rent stabilization is what our generation should be advocates for to fight gentrification.

Masterclass: Get Your Side Hustle On with Nicaila Matthews Okome

When trying to decide on a side hustle: Pick something you are excellent at, not just good at.

Create a survey to send to your friends and family to see what you’re excellent at.
Take small first steps. Research your industry. Buy a domain. Research who is big in your field. How are they branding themselves? Take a class from an expert.
Do things ‘Just in Time’ : Take a class, just in time to use it. Don’t just take a class and sit on that information. Take it and implement what you learned immediately.
Start something. Finish it.
Be willing to be whack. You won’t be amazing right away, but you have to start somewhere.
When you’re balancing your main job and your side hustle make sure you understand your current job’s rules. Is there a non-compete? Make sure to work on your side job OFF the premises.
Set SMART goals for the next 12 weeks. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Based). Example: I want to get sponsorships for 2016 vs I want to get five sponsors valued at $10,000 for the first quarter.
Be your own boss. Manage yourself like you would your future employees. If you wouldn’t call out sick or oversleep frequently for work, why would you do it to yourself?
Take inventory of circumstances that made you procrastinate and eliminate them next month.
Value good content over quality graphics. If you’re focused on visuals over meaningful content, it could be your ego thinking about how it’s perceived to others.

Pitch Competition

I did not know what to think of the pitch competition, I don’t have a business yet so initially I wasn’t that interested since I didn’t think this would be applicable for me, but girl, this was AMAZING! Morgan DeBaun, Jewel Burks Solomon (fellow Howard Girl), and Anu Duggal judged this competition of black women business owners. In between the scoring, the judges provided a lot of advice for anyone interested in starting their own business or pitching an existing one. What I loved most, was that even the adjusting feedback was affirming and came from a place of love to help these women grow and become better. The energy in the room was absolutely incredible. I loved seeing women supporting women and having a safe space to make mistakes and grow from them.

I don’t know when I fell in love with Karrueche, but watching her journey over the last few years has been so beautiful, so I was beyond hype to hear a little bit more about how she made it happen. After trying to find myself and level up after my own breakup, I really appreciated being able to relate to Karrueche and her transparency.

Here were the major keys:

“I was in a relationship and realized I had no goals and no aspirations. I had no career and realized I needed to level up”
“ I leveled up by starting with self-love and acceptance. I was able to transform through prayer and strengthening my relationship with God.”
Where there is love, there is life. Love is the foundation for a beautiful life. Not romantic love, but the love you have in your heart for others.
You can meet someone that’s pretty, but that’s whatever. But when you meet someone that’s genuinely kind and authentic, that’s what’s really dope. And kindness is contagious.
Social media is just people’s highlight reels. You can’t look at the curated and filtered moments people share and compare yourself to them.
You are enough, don’t try to live up to anyone else’s standards.

Yes, you read that right. Mama Knowles-Lawson, the legend herself. Designer of clothes, birther of legends, curator of art experiences; blessed us with a word!! I was already hyperventilating because being so close to Ms. Tina is like being close to Beyonce by association, however, Ms. Tina is a Diva in her own right! I loved hearing about how she started her business her grew as a mother and a wife.

Major key alert:

You need a vision for your life to make it a reality. You can’t imagine what you’ve never seen.
That’s why providing people with exposure to new experiences and bigger dreams is so important.
Mentorship is so important. You don’t have to join an organization or have a lot of money or a big following to be a mentor. Start small. Go to a school and talk to girls. Encourage the girls in your neighborhood.
Sisterhood is so important. We are taught as young girls to compete with each other. Have a girl code, celebrate each other and lift each other up.

If you made it to the end of this, I’m thoroughly impressed!! I learned so much and had the most magical experience that I just had to share as much as I could. I was so sad when the conference ended. I feel like I spent two days surrounded in a beautiful bubble of black girl bliss! Check out what other attendees had to say about the conference:

From the fashion, to the friendships, from the business and bosses to the beauty and black girl magic, from the leveling up to the letting loose…I had the best time of my life and will definitely make this conference a regular thing! Summit21 is going on the road, so you can catch them in LA this October or Atlanta in 2020. Check the site for more information!