Women of Rubies, Author at Women of Rubies

In self development November 20, 2019 By Women of Rubies

GAME OF THRONES STAR, EMILIA CLARKE REVEALS HER PRODUCERS ‘GUILT-TRIPPED’ HER INTO ACTING MULTIPLE NUDE SCENES

British actress Emilia Clarke who played Daenerys Targaryen in the popular HBO series ‘Game of Thrones’ has made an astonishing claim about the hit tv show producers.

Emilia, 33, who went nude and simulated sex scenes as Khaleesi in the first episodes of the Tv show, claims she was pressured by her bosses to perform the multiple nude scenes because according to her bosses she would be disappointing a lot of fans if she didn’t do them. She said she had to rely on a lot of alcohol to act those scenes.

In an interview with Dax Shepard on his podcast Armchair Expert, the actress said she hadn’t agreed to the nude scenes in advance but felt she should do it anyway because she was new to the industry.

Emilia said: ‘I’m a lot more savvy [now] with what I’m comfortable with, and what I am okay with doing.

‘I’ve had fights on set before where I’m like, “No, the sheet stays up”, and they’re like, “You don’t wanna disappoint your Game of Thrones fans”. And I’m like, “F**k you”.’

Season one filming began in July 2010, when Emilia was 23 and now admits the amount of nudity in the first season was ‘overwhelming’ and she had relied on alcohol to get through the scenes.

She said: ‘I took the job and then they sent me the scripts and I was reading them, and I was, like, “Oh, there’s the catch!”

‘But I’d come fresh from drama school, and I approached [it] as a job – if it’s in the script then it’s clearly needed, this is what this is and I’m gonna make sense of it. Everything’s gonna be cool.’

”So I came to terms with that beforehand, but then going in and doing it… I’m floating through this first season and I have no idea what I’m doing, I have no idea what any of this is.

‘I’ve never been on a film set like this before, I’d been on a film set twice before then, and I’m now on a film set completely naked with all of these people, and I don’t know what I’m meant to do and I don’t know what’s expected of me, and I don’t know what you want and I don’t know what I want.

‘Regardless of there being nudity or not, I would have spent that first season thinking I’m not worthy of requiring anything, I’m not worthy of needing anything at all…

‘Whatever I’m feeling is wrong, I’m gonna cry in the bathroom and then I’m gonna come back and we’re gonna do the scene and it’s gonna be completely fine.’
In another scene, another of her love interests stripped for the camera, and she praised the show for that, but added that her love interest in season 1, Khal Drogo didn’t strip for the camera but she did..

She added: ‘No, I don’t know why. But I’d like to bring your memory back to Mr. Michiel Huisman and I copulating for the first time, which began with me saying, “Take off your clothes,” and then you got to see his perfect bottom.’

She explained: ‘I love that so many women watch the show. If you look at ‘Game of Thrones’ on face value — blood, t**s, dragons, swearwords — you’re like, “Oh, this must be for guys”.’

‘But if you take that away, the story lines are fascinating depictions of the struggle for power. And women are in on that conversation.’

She said about Khal Drogo: ‘Oh, I did. I saw his member’, she said. ‘But it was covered in a pink fluffy sock. Showing it would make people feel bad. It’s too fabulous.’

Credit: LIB

In Career Gems November 20, 2019 By Women of Rubies

ALICIA KEYS AND HUSBAND, SWIZZ BEATZ PRESENT A CASE STUDY ON THEIR LIVES AT HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

Alicia Keys and her husband Swizz Beatz presented a case study on their lives at the prestigious Harvard Business School.

The power couple, who are both Grammy award winners, presented their work entitled, “Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys: A Power Couple”. Their presentation was about the success of their personal and professional partnership.

Though the presentation held over the weekend, Alicia Keys took to Twitter this week to reveal the news and also to share photos.

She wrote: “Friday was a powerful day. My baby, Swizz Beatz, and I presented case studies on our lives and business at Harvard Business School.”

She added: “As a kid I never would’ve imagined this! If we can do it, you can do it better.”

Swizz Beatz graduated from Harvard Business School. He earned a certificate from Harvard’s Owner/President Management Program.

Earlier this year, Swizz Beatz helped put together “Gordon Parks: Selections from the Dean Collection” at Ethelbert Cooper Gallery and was featured in The Harvard Gazette.

Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz have been married since 2010 and share sons Egypt, nine, and Genesis, four.

Credit: LIB

In Career Gems November 20, 2019 By Women of Rubies

COME 2020, THE BALTIMORE SUN MUSEUM OF ART WILL BE ACCEPTING WORKS FROM FEMALE ARTISTS ONLY

The Baltimore Museum of Art will celebrate 2020 by adopting a daring new policy designed to reverse the art world’s historic marginalization of female artists.

Museum director Christopher Bedford said Thursday that every artwork the BMA obtains for its permanent collection next year — every painting, every sculpture, every ceramic figurine, whether through a purchase or donation — will have been created by a woman.

“You don’t just purchase one painting by a female artist of color and hang it on the wall next to a painting by Mark Rothko. To rectify centuries of imbalance, you have to do something radical.” -CHRISTOPHER BEDFORD

In addition, each of the 22 exhibits on view will have a female-centric focus. Nineteen will showcase artworks exclusively by women and will include works by at least one transgender woman, Zackary Drucker, a Los Angeles-based artist and consultant for the Amazon original television series “Transparent.”

Two exhibitions will explore how male artists perceive women, and another will honor the visionary Adelyn Breeskin, who directed the BMA from 1942 to 1962.

“This how you raise awareness and shift the identity of an institution,” Bedford said. “You don’t just purchase one painting by a female artist of color and hang it on the wall next to a painting by Mark Rothko. To rectify centuries of imbalance, you have to do something radical.”

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment guaranteeing U.S. women the right to vote. More than a dozen local arts groups have prepared some sort of programming to celebrate that milestone, according to a survey conducted by the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance.

What sets the BMA’s initiative apart, experts say, is the depth of its commitment, devoting an entire year to recognizing the contributions of female artists.

Bianca Kovic, incoming executive director of the New York-based National Association of Women Artists, said she isn’t aware of any other general-purpose museum in the U.S. that has devoted so much time, gallery space and money to showcasing female visual artists.

“What the Baltimore museum is doing is so cool,” Kovic said. “We think all museums should do it. It’s particularly important that the BMA is creating a platform for woman artists to showcase their work, because that will inspire other women to make art. Even today, female artists are highly under-represented in museums. We have a lot of work still to do about educating the public on the importance of women in American art history.”

The BMA acquired its first work by a female artist — a painting by Sarah Miriam Peale — in 1916, just two years after the museum was founded. Nonetheless, just 4% of the 95,000 artworks in the permanent collection today were created by women.

“We’re attempting to correct our own canon,” Bedford said. “We recognize the blind spots we have had in the past, and we are taking the initiative to do something about them.”

Last year, Bedford’s decision to sell seven artworks in the museum’s collection by such modern masters as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Franz Kline to purchase paintings and sculptures by women and artists of color aroused an art world uproar. A letter to the editor in the Sun by David Maril, who father was an artist who served on the BMA’s board, described that decision as “horrendous.”

The museum sold five of the paintings for nearly $8 million and used some proceeds to buy works by such prominent contemporary artists as Mark Bradford and Amy Sherald.

The highlights of next year’s exhibition schedule likely will be a two ticketed shows: a selection of videos by the South African artist Candice Breitz that opens in March and touches upon such topics as the lives of immigrants and sex workers, and a retrospective of paintings by the renowned abstract expressionist artist Joan Mitchell that debuts in September.

But the exhibition schedule also includes such well-known Baltimore-based artists as Grace Hartigan, Betty Cooke and Jo Smail.

“This is the start of a much-needed change,” said Shan Wallace, an artist whose photographs and collages of Baltimore will be exhibited in a group show during the spring.

She said that it’s “absurd” that the BMA’s holdings include just 3,800 artworks created by 1,500 woman artists and designers when the museum is located in a city where 53% of the population is female.

“I think that what the BMA is doing will get other institutions to show more women artists,” Wallace said. “I am glad that my hometown museum is embarking on something this important.”

Other local cultural groups celebrating women artists include Everyman Theatre, whose inaugural New Voices Festival will highlight the work of three female playwrights; Johns Hopkins University, which in May will host a major scholarly conference on women, gender and sexuality, and the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, which is running an exhibit of the works of the late sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, including several works that celebrate motherhood.

Bedford said the BMA expects to spend up to $2 million next year to purchase art by female artists — and that’s just the beginning.

“This is a declaration of intent going forward of the kinds of exhibits we will have and the kind of acquisitions we will make,” he said. “There can be no beginning and no end, just a consistency of effort in the right direction.”

Culled from: baltimoresun.com

Credit: Baltimore Sun, Mary Carole McCauley

In self development November 20, 2019 By Women of Rubies

MEET OFENTSE PITSE, THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO CONDUCT AND OWN AN ORCHESTRA

27-year-old Ofentse Pitse has set the bar in more ways than one with her groundbreaking orchestra, Anchored Sound.

Not only is Pitse the only conductor of an all-black orchestra, but the young black female owns the musical group as well.

SowetanLIVE reported that Anchored Sound is the first of its kind in the world and it’s heartwarming to note that it is the brainchild of a young South African woman.

Pitse has music flowing in her genes as her late grandfather, Otto Pitse, was known as a great trumpeter and orchestra conductor as well. Perhaps she was therefore destined for musical greatness, but the fact that she’s achieved so much without a formal qualification in music, still takes some doing.

Pitse shared some insight as to what it takes to become an orchestra conductor. She said,

“You have to walk in there with a certain kind of reverence and confidence.”

Pitse explained that part of the challenge is that she needs to lead people who almost expect to see an elderly male leading them during performances.

Briefly.co.za gathered that much of her success in the industry is due to the role played by her mentors Thami Zungu and Gerben Grooten, after she called on them for guidance.

Pitse has been slowly forming her ensemble since 2017 as she handpicked youngsters from Tembisa, Soweto, Pretoria and Katlehong. Thanks to her forward-thinking, talent and determination, the group grew from only eight members to a 40-piece symphony orchestra.

Pitse revealed her passion for empowering black youth as she said, “I’m a believer in the black narrative and a believer in the black child.” Anchored Sound is living proof of this, as all proceeds from performances are used to directly assist its members.

Source: Briefly.co.za

In Career Gems November 15, 2019 By Women of Rubies

ALICIA KEYS TO HOST THE GRAMMYS AWARD FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW

Alicia Keys will be for the second time in a roll host the 62nd edition of the Grammy awards.

According to Recording Academy, the Grammy award winner will be returning to its stage for the second time later in January 2020. The music star while reacting to the news said she thought it was a one-time thing.

“At first I did think last year was a one-time thing but when the opportunity came back around there was no question about returning as the host of the Grammys award. Last year was such a powerful experience for me. Not only did I feel the love in the room, but I felt it from around the world and it confirmed the healing and unifying power of music,” she said.

During the last awards show, Alicia showed out by simultaneously playing two pianos, and brought the audience to tears during her opening monologue with influential ladies like #MichelleObama and Jada Pinkett Smith.

Alicia Keys is no newcomer when it comes to the Grammys as she had been nominated 29 times and has gone home with 15 Grammy Awards! [Instagram/AliciaKeys]

Alicia Keys is no newcomer when it comes to the Grammys as she had been nominated 29 times and has gone home with 15 Grammy Awards! The 62nd edition of the Grammys will be held on Sunday, January 26, 2020.

Credit: pulse.ng

In Career Gems November 15, 2019 By Women of Rubies

TWO NIGERIANS, NJIDEKA AKUNYILI CROSBY, OLUWASEUN OSOWOBI NAMED IN 2019 ‘TIME 100 NEXT’ LIST

Two Nigerian women, Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Oluwaseun Ayodeji Osowobi have been named in the first-ever ‘TIME 100 Next’ list.

TIME 100 Next — an offshoot of TIME 100 franchise — brings to spotlight 100 rising stars around the world who are shaping the future of business, entertainment, sports, politics, science, health and more.

The initiative, according to the organiser, is to provide a breakaway from the traditional definition of world changers, which are mostly dominated by politicians and the rich.

Crosby, Nigerian-born visual artist, based in Los Angeles, California, who was named in the ‘Artist’ category, made the list for her works, which focus on the cultural differences between Nigeria and the US.

Born in 1983 and raised in Enugu, Njideka is one of the daughters of late Dora Akunyili, a professor and former director-general of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control of Nigeria (NAFDAC).

According to TIME, her works have sold for millions at auctions.

“But in 2018, it was possible to see one at Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art free of charge—you didn’t even have to go inside,” it wrote.

“The visual artist was only the second person to be chosen to create a mural on the walls of the museum itself, which was visible from Grand Avenue’s sidewalk. It featured brightly colored scenes of domestic life: in one section, a woman rests her elbow on a table, seemingly deep in thought. Akunyili Crosby—who moved to the U.S. from Nigeria in her teens—is known for such scenes, some of which are autobiographical and incorporate references to both countries.”

In 2017, she won the Genius Grant award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Owosobi, on the other hand, made the ‘Advocates’ category for her campaigns against sexual assault in Nigeria.

Through her organisation, Stand to End Rape (STER), she has reached about 200,000 in Nigeria providing training for health workers and counseling for survivors, according to TIME.

“Telling my story as a survivor, that comes with a lot of stigma,” said Owosobi, who was once honoured by Obama Foundation.

She was named 2019 Commonwealth Young Person of the year.

Credit: fabwoman.ng

In Rubygirls November 15, 2019 By Women of Rubies

#RUBYGIRLS| “I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT CHANGING THE VIEW OF MENTAL HEALTHCARE IN NIGERIA AND AFRICA AS A WHOLE” – TOLUWANI ADEBAYO

Toluwani Eyitayo Adebayo is a Medical Doctor in training at Bowen University, Iwo. She is the second child of a family of seven. She has about two years experience of being a mental health advocate.

Currently, she is an ambassador of YOUTHLEAD TEAM, 2019 kectil colleague, 2019 AFRICAVE fellow, 2019 Yali Rlc West Africa fellow, an open source leader of the common purpose global leadership UK and a member of MHIN (Mental Health Innovative Network.)

Toluwani loves volunteering, reading, travelling and networking with great minds.

She shares her ‘Ruby Girl’ story in this interview.

MEET ME

TOLUWANI EYITAYO ADEBAYO is a Medical Doctor in training at Bowen University, Iwo. I am the second child of a family of seven. I have about two years experience of being a mental health advocate.

Currently, I am an ambassador of YOUTHLEAD TEAM, 2019 kectil colleague,2019 AFRICAVE fellow, 2019 Yali Rlc West Africa fellow, an open source leader of the common purpose global leadership UK and a member of MHIN(Mental Health Innovative Network.)

Toluwani is a student volunteer who believes in changing the world’s perspective about mental health.

HOBBIES

I enjoy volunteering, reading, travelling and networking with great minds.

INSPIRATION

God has been my greatest source of inspiration, my parents and great mentors like Ms Florence Olumodimu, Ms Tejiri Emuveyan, Dr. P.O peters, Dr Adewale Adeluyi have been inspiring me greatly and encouraging me to become a better version of myself

WHY I CHOSE TO SPECIALIZE IN MENTAL HEALTH

There has been an increase in the incidence of mental health condition, in Nigeria and the world at large and people with mental health conditions are commonly stigmatized.

As a result of this, I have developed a passion to change the view of mental healthcare in Nigeria in particular and in Africa as a whole. I am trying to change the perspective of people by using measurable actions in the aspects of sensitizing and caring for mental health patients.

ON GIVING UP

Well…. There have been times I felt like giving up on school,career and building myself but during those darkest moments, I pray to God and I remember the reason why I chose this path. This has helped me to come out stronger and better. Also, I continuously remind myself to never despise days of humble beginnings.

BEST QUOTE

“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.”
— Dolly Parton

WHAT I WILL LIKE TO CHANGE ABOUT MYSELF

Currently, I have been working on procrastination. Having discussed I procrastinate a lot, I have been actively doing things as they pop up as a corrective measure.

WHAT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT

The fear of failure has been one of the things that keeps up.
Fear of disappointing my parents and my self as well.

IF GIVEN THE CHANCE TO BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA FOR A DAY

I will focus more on health sector of the nation reason being I actively relate with Sustainable Development Goal 3 which is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.

1.This will reduce the maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 live births.

2. This will help in ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age.

ON DEPRESSION AND HOW TO OVERCOME IT…

Depression comes in different colours as it looks different on everyone. So Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:

¶Feeling sad

¶Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed

¶Changes in appetite — weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting

¶Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much

¶Loss of energy or increased fatigue

¶Increase in purposeless physical activity

¶Feeling worthless or guilty

¶Difficulty in thinking, concentrating or making decisions

And the common one
¶ Thoughts of death or suicide

Coping with depression:

∆Reach out and stay connected
Reaching out might seem impossible but to snap out of depression, one must do it

Tips

¶ Look for *support* from people who make you feel safe and cared for
Talk to others that matter to you

¶ Try to to keep up with social activities even if you don’t feel like it.

¶ Join a support group for depression
¶

Improve Satisfaction

Satisfaction is a state of being, not a transient mood. Whereas cheerful emotions come and go, satisfaction is an appraisal that reflects the sum total of an experience more than a specific point in the experience.

∆ Plan to Get What You Want
Respond differently. Stop planning to be hurt and hopeless. First of all, delay thoughts of failed expectations. It is a simple refusal to think ahead about inevitable failure. Tell yourself instead that you will “face it when it happens.” If you are going to be disappointed, there will be time later to deal with it.

∆ End Isolation
Although self-care is an important part of recovery, in the short-term, getting back to social contact is highly useful. Relying on others may seem impractical or impossible in your particular situation, but taking small steps toward reliance on others, even if it is simply

∆ Most importantly,
*GET A PROFESSIONAL HELP*
SEE A DOCTOR, IF YOU DON’T FEEL BETTER AFTER TRYING ALL THESE..
You might need a pharmacological approaches.

GROWING UP…

Growing up in a Nigeria home was fun as well being stressful. My parents are academicians, so I have seen reading as a necessity to shapen myself. There are days where I would be sad or feel unhappy.

My parents have been my number one cheerleader, they have been supportive from the very start. Days of coming to watch me march during school’s inter house sports to reposting my e-fliers for online webinars. They have been amazing and this helped building my self esteem.I have 4 siblings and I am the second child/daughter, so I have had to take care of my younger siblings. This has helped in shaping me to be more compassionate.

MY BRAND IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS

In the next 5 years, the name TOLU ADEBAYO would have made significant impacts in positive social advocacy and in changing people’s perspective about mental health.

WORDS OF ADVICE TO GIRLS FIVE YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME

They should find what they are passionate about and start early.

In Career Gems November 13, 2019 By Women of Rubies

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION PREQUALIFIES FIRST EBOLA VACCINE

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said it had prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time, hailing a “critical step” towards its licensing, access and roll-out in countries most at risk of outbreaks.

WHO said Ervebo has been shown to be effective in protecting people from the Ebola Zaire virus

“This is the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by WHO,” it said in a statement, explaining that “prequalification means that the vaccine meets WHO standards for quality, safety and efficacy.”

The announcement comes hot on the heels of a decision last Monday by the European Commission to allow the release to market of the injectable vaccine, Ervebo, made by US laboratory Merck Sharpe and Dohme (MSD) after the European Medicines Agency gave the product its green light on October 18.

“This is a historic step towards ensuring the people who most need it are able to access this life-saving vaccine,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Five years ago, we had no vaccine and no therapeutics for Ebola. With a prequalified vaccine and experimental therapeutics, Ebola is now preventable and treatable,” he added.

WHO said Ervebo has been shown to be effective in protecting people from the Ebola Zaire virus and added it is recommended by the organisation’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) for vaccines as part of a broader set of Ebola response tools.

The WHO said licensed doses will only be available from the middle of next year.

WHO said it had “accelerated prequalification by reviewing safety and efficacy data as the information became available” and said it was engaged in facilitating licensing for use in countries at risk of Ebola outbreaks.

“WHO, with the support of EMA, has worked closely with many African regulators who have indicated they will quickly license the vaccine following the WHO recommendation,” the world body said.

Since the current epidemic, which has cost some 2,190 lives out of 3,290 declared cases since it began in DR Congo, more than 236,000 people have been treated, according to the WHO, including 60,000 health professionals, with the vaccine, known in the lab as rVSV-ZEBOV-GP.

Merck’s vaccine was administered to them under an exceptional procedure, granting permission to use non-licensed drugs in emergency cases.

A second vaccine still at the experimental stage and developed by Johnson & Johnson for administration in two doses at 56-day intervals, is due to be introduced in the coming days in zones where the virus is as yet absent.

The current epidemic in DR Congo is the tenth in the country since the first in 1976. It is the second most deadly to date after a 2014-2016 outbreak which cost some 11,000 lives and underscored the urgency to bring a vaccine to market.

Credit: pulse.ng

In Career Gems November 13, 2019 By Women of Rubies

UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN 2019 BEST GRADUATING STUDENT, MARY EBHOMIELEN IS ALSO THE FIRST FEMALE EVER TO GRADUATE WITH A PERFECT CPGA OF 7.0 FROM THE SCHOOL

Ofure Mary Ebhomielen of the Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science was the cynosure of all eyes on Tuesday as she was presented as the best graduating student at the 2019 Convocation ceremony of the University of Ibadan, UI.

Ebhomielen, who graduated with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average, CGPA of 7.0 received a thunderous ovation when she was presented to parents and well-wishers at the ceremony.

She was given the opportunity to have a special handshake with the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, who could not hide his admiration for the star of the moment.

In her brief speech, which was intermittently interrupted by applause, Ebhomielen, who congratulated her fellow graduands, noted that they were being celebrated because they had burnt the midnight candles.

She noted that success did not come easy, adding that apart from making a good grade in the university, one still needed to prove oneself in the outside world.

Ebhomielen called on those who did not make upper-division to go out there and prove their worth.

Commenting, Olayinka said, “Ofure Mary Ebhomielen is the fourth person ever to have obtained perfect Cumulative Grade Point Average (7.0 out of 7.0) in the 71-year history of the University of Ibadan and the first female. This is worth celebrating and we are indeed very proud of her. The world is now under your feet, Mary, aim for the skies while we keep celebrating you.”

It could be recalled, such fest was also achieved by Mr Daniel Nkemelu from same department (Computer science), who also emerged as the best graduating student in 2016 with overall CGPA of 7.0.

Credit: fabwoman.ng

In self development November 13, 2019 By Women of Rubies

SOCIOLOGIST, ENKESHI EL-AMIN OPENS FREE SEWING CAMP FOR KIDS AND TEACHES THEM HOW TO RUN THEIR OWN BUSINESS

Enkeshi El-Amin, a sociologist who studied at the University of Tennessee, was preparing for a career as a professor when a happy accident changed the course of her life.

El-Amin said she was interviewing for a news article about her side job as a seamstress/designer when she casually mentioned the possibility of one day opening a summer camp for kids. When the article was published, so was the idea for the camp, and support from the community came rushing in before El-Amin even knew what she was doing.

“The support from the community was overwhelming. It came from everywhere,” El-Amin said, realizing her idea was pushing towards reality quicker than she expected. “It was really an idea that was able to come to fruition through support from the community.”

Photo by: WBIR

Enkeshi El-Amin plans to expand ‘Sew It, Sell It’ to an after-school program.

Marcus Hall, the owner of Marc Nelson Denim in East Knoxville, donated studio space, and people from around the area dropped off sewing machines, food, and furniture, so kids could attend the camp for free.

By mid-July, ‘Sew It,’ Sell It‘ was ready for its first campers.

“The kids learned to sew in three days, actually make that two days. The first day was a lot of team building and getting to know each other, so they really learned to sew in two days,” El-Amin said. “I remember thinking I must be getting better or these kids are really good because they just caught on so quickly.”

When professionals like Randy Boyd or Chris Blue popped into Marc Nelson Denim to shop, Marcus Hall would bring them back to the studio, so they could meet with the campers.

Photo by: Sew It, Sell It

Singer Chris Blue takes a moment to meet with kids at ‘Sew, It Sell It’ while he shops for a new outfit at Marc Nelson Denim.

A large portion of the camp included learning how to run a business. Participants had to come up with a product and pitch it to professionals in the community at the camp’s very own market day.

“When I say I was impressed, I’m not just saying that. I was super impressed by how well they presented, how well they knew their products, how well they were able to talk about it. The judges were so impressed, they said, ‘we can’t just have three winners.’ So, they went out and got gift cards for everyone,” El-Amin said.

Tiara Hill is a sixth-grader who created ‘Bonnets By T’ with the skills she learned at camp.

Bonnets By T

Bonnets By T. 43 likes. I create bonnets because African Americans 9 times more on hair care than other populations. Which is a big investment. So I make bonnets to protect that investment.

“I created a bonnet that would protect braids. I got this idea because I wear braids, and African Americans spend a lot of money on hair care. It’s a big investment, so I created something to protect that investment. I have a waterproof one too,” Hill said, and she already has a plan for her profits. “I’m going to take most of the money and reinvest it back into the business, and I’m going to open a bank account.”

Photo by: WBIR

“I didn’t’ really think of being a business owner this early,” said 5th-grader Ja’Shonna Bryant.

Her fellow camper, Ja’Shonna Bryant, was inspired by her dog to create her business, ‘Bow Wow Doggie Boutique.’

“I made a dog vest that’s comfortable for your dog,” Bryant said. ‘I made it out of cotton fabrics and silk fabrics, so it’s soft.” Bryant said even if you don’t have a dog, you could purchase a vest, and she’ll donate it to Young Williams Animal Shelter.

Bow Wow Doggie Boutique

Bow Wow Doggie Boutique, Knoxville, Tennessee. 25 likes. Comfortable canine fashion for your furry friend!

“It’s important for our kids, especially kids of color, to learn financial literacy and learn what it means to be an entrepreneur and how to manage your money and make your money work for you. It’s important to teach them these skills and to teach them that you have something to offer the world, even at eight or nine years old,” El-Amin said.

Photo by: Enkeshi El-Amin

Enkeshi El-Amin (left) pictured with her grandmother.

“I grew up in a household where I saw a lot of entrepreneurs. My grandmother was a seamstress. Sewing was her primary income. I learned to do hair from my sisters who did hair. My sister is a hairstylist in Atlanta who has her own business. I was always around people who were starting their own business or tapping into their entrepreneur spirit,” El-Amin said, adding that she’s instilling that same spirit in a new generation of entrepreneurs.

El-Amin said she has plans to expand ‘Sew It, Sell It’ to an after-school program and exploring options to teach the same lessons to refugees as well.

Credit: https://www.wbir.com

Women of Rubies