Fly

Are You Creative? The Answer Is Yes...

Everyone is creative. We express our creativity in different ways: how we organize our home, cook for our families, or design our gardens—our creativity comes out in as many unique ways as we are individuals. The trick is to recognize and nurture it, to own that special "thing" that is ours alone. Whether it's about starting a new venture or just taking time to yourself, it's super important to give ourselves time to be creative—which ultimately leads to us being fully ourselves.

That was the thinking behind Becoming Me. It's my latest project with Random House and another iteration of my work to inspire creativity. I Love My Hair used coloring and doodles to share my excitement about hair and art. And to get readers excited about playing with color and getting their hands dirty with drawing. Becoming Me takes it a step further. With tips, tricks, exercises, and yes a bit of coloring as well, I was looking to create a resource to encourage readers to live a creative life.

Even if you're not a visual kind of creative person (painting, drawing, etc.), Becoming Me is a great space for collecting your ideas and inspirations. It also shares techniques for generating new concepts and capturing your thoughts, all of which is necessary for any creative process.

I'm truly excited about this new book because it brings together a lot of what I've learned as an artist/designer and as an educator. You can use it for yourself, with your kids, and at work with your colleagues.

Becoming Me comes out October 11th, but is ready for pre-order now. 

Let's go on this creative journey together. Keep checking back here for sneak peeks and updates. I'll be sharing some supplemental tid-bits for the book here as well as on Instagram. And show me what you're working on and creating. I would love to see regardless if it's related to the book or not. I want to see your creative space and what you're working on. Tag me and/or use the #whatIcreate or #whereIcreate hashtag. I can't wait to see what you're doing!

A Fly 10 Year Anniversary Note

Ten years ago today I started blogging. Ten years ago! Wow!

I was in my twenties, living in New York City and looking for a creative outlet beyond my 9-5. What started as a few posts a month, soon turned into a few posts a day. This space became my virtual inspiration board. Fly was my Pinterest page before Pinterest even existed. Here I could share all the things that excited me, and share in any way I wished. Which resulted in me exploring with writing, video, illustration, and collage. Creating content for Fly really pushed me creatively. And what was especially amazing was being able to create content that showcased the creative women of color I admired.

Throughout my years of blogging the question I'm asked the most is, "are you able to make a living off of your blog?" Which really means: is blogging your full-time job? Quite often the person asking would be disappointed with my "no, I have not made blogging my full-tme job" response. But I always followed up with this: Fly has afforded me a life I could have never imagined, which is absolutely priceless. 

Because of this platform I've had some amazing opportunities. I visited the White House and met President Obama; had events like the 5th anniversary party at Anthropologie and the Pop & Fly Portfolio review; and collaborated with brands like Gap and Brown Betty. The blog became more than a place for me to share my inspirations, but also a place where my work as an artist and designer (and now author) could shine. Fly and its social media extensions all became my portfolio. I've done work with the Pan American Games, Lenny Letter, caribBeing, the BlackStar Film Festival, and USAID (among many many others) because of some connection through the blog. Which have all led to other opportunities like I Love My Hair and my new book out in October, Becoming Me. 

So in actuality I am living off of the ten years of work I put into my blog. It took A LOT of energy to build a community over the years. And that hard work has connected me to my tribe—people who live this creative life and/or support it in some way. When I was a teenager and even well into my twenties I had no idea there were other brown ladies out there in the world like me. I did't know where to find that artsy, global, eccentric, eclectic, curious, and fun tribe. And if there was any small inkling that they were out there, I didn't know how to connect to them. But in 2006 I found a way. This blog has been that connector for me. A lot of the ladies I vent to, chill, brainstorm and share ideas with are ladies I met through Fly. 

Working on Fly has allowed me to live my dream. I know for sure these opportunities would not have happened without having this platform. And I wouldn't have been connected to you. Meeting all the amazing folks who have followed this blog or my work on IG, FB, or Twitter has made these past ten years phenomenal. I am humbled and constantly in awe of all the continuous love and support. Thank you so much.