Throughout the month of June Fly will be highlighting amazing ladies doing fly things in media, fashion, art and design.
Who: Maeling "Mae" Tapp, founder of NaturalChica.com.
Why Mae is a fly lady in media to watch:
NaturalChica started out as Mae's personal diary documenting her transition from relaxed to natural hair. Since 2009 she's been sharing her natural hair journey in the form of stories, advice and styling video tutorials. Soon after, her site became one of the most important resources for natural hair styling tips and information.
Mae captures audiences with her warm and sparkling personality, and blows us away with her smarts (she's working towards her Ph.D. in materials science and engineering) and many talents (she sings and plays the bass guitar). With NaturalChica, Mae has blossomed into an inspirational and influentional voice for the natural hair community and beyond. All of which definitely makes her a fly lady to watch.
A Question for Mae.
What has been most inspiring about working on NaturalChica.com and creating your videos?
When I started NaturalChica.com and my YouTube channel back in July of 2009, it was initially just an outlet for me to document my transition to natural hair so I could essentially keep track of what was working for me and what wasn't. Since then, I've truly enjoyed watching the site develop as it has grown into an avenue where I am able to interact with naturalistas from all around the world and help encourage and motivate others who are on their own natural hair journeys. What has been inspiring to me is when I receive messages from readers/viewers, who have said that they really appreciate the information I share and that I've affected their life in a positive manner. I truly am humbled from those responses and it motivates me to keep sharing whenever I can!
Link to a fly lady Mae feels we should know.
For those that read my blog, it is no secret that I am a huge fan of Esperanza Spalding for several different reasons! One...she is an extremely talented jazz bassist and vocalist, which was recently recognized when she received the award for "Best New Artist" at the 2011 Grammy Awards. She is a huge motivation for me to continue playing the bass guitar. In addition to being such an inspiring artist, I also admire her for being an established faculty member at the Berklee College of Music at such a young age (she started teaching at age 20!). Ms. Spalding also has quite the fashion sense and you can't forget that fabulous natural hair of hers!
Check out NaturalChica videos here and the NaturalChica FB Fan Page.
