The Season Of Leo :: Time For Expression, Not To Be Shy

PS: This shirt is from La Mère, run by April Perri, who is not shy, and has recently transformed her store IG to focus on sharing her disabled children as she and her daughter undergo a possible kidney swap/transplant.

Taking a moment here to give you permission not to be shy about what you do, offer, make or sell. We are in the season of Leo, and everywhere from Moon Omens to Refinery29 is telling us to release our voice, and let us shine.

Particularly inspiring was this paragraph from this Refinery29 article explaining this. After reading it, I made a video for Tin Shingle’s Instagram friends, to help those of us who need a push, break through an Instagram, TikTok or newsletter wall. Give it a listen below.

For those who find it hard to express their love for themselves, it may be hard to vye for breadcrumbs of attention and affection. Being one’s own PR person could be challenging for those who are modest. Therefore, it’s time to ditch the humble and passive approach to situations. Be loud and ostentatious, brag about your accomplishments, post thirst traps on social media, and show off your fabulous life to the world. Wear sequins and neon colors. Lean into your personal style. Flaunt your success. The reason why you should brag about your accomplishments is because the universe wants you to believe in yourself and to be confident. It’s not the month to be shy. 

Scroll down to see this example of how the Abraham and Christian in Twins Barbershop in Beacon, NY live in Leo Season every day by having no shyness about promoting themselves and their talents.

Abraham and Christian opened Twins Barbershop in Beacon and are non-stop on the scene to reach the community, especially the youth - with their hair styles. They sponsor youth sports, and are the most popular vendor at Beacon High School Career Fair when they offer free hair cuts.

This portrait on the wall of them both styling is fitting for its bold look, reflecting the pride they both take in their work. Some may be modest about a self-portrait in their studio, but as a patron, this photo fits the space and only re-iterates their brand. The Twins always have capes that are color coordinated or of a theme they are sporting for that moment. Their own collection of art and figures is displayed in a protective case. Passion for their work and purpose is evident on all of the walls.

If you are having a moment where you could show yourself in a professional light, but hesitate, think of the Twins, and then do it.

Today for MLK Day: Listening To "I Have A Dream" and Reading "Letter From Birmingham Jail"

One thing to do today for MLK Day is to immerse yourself in words written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Having the context to the quotes is crucial to understanding where the quotes came from. This will also be a refresher history lesson from the days in elementary school where you may have studied Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement he amplified.

To do this, you can listen to the full transcript of the "I Have A Dream" speech, provided by NPR, and you could read his "Letter From Birmingham Jail," provided by California State University Chico.

Today I was fortunate to cover and participate in a local parade march for Dr. Martin Luther King Day in Beacon, NY. The parade kicked off a day of programming from the Southern Dutchess Coalition which featured several speakers, including the author Jeanette Shelton Brisco, who wrote the memoir, From Duck Hill to Fishkill.

Hair, Hair Everywhere Is Available Everywhere - Buy Now

Look at this beauty and the beauty that surrounds her! She has made this life, and launched this book to bring it here.

Hair, Hair Everywhere is a beautifully illustrated children's book celebrating Black hair. Proud of her hair, our fashionista naturalista sets out on an adventure to find all the fun hairstyles in her neighborhood and beyond. This wonderfully written story encourages self-acceptance, builds self-esteem, and underscores the importance of kindness, love, and appreciating the differences and similarities in everyone.

Danielle, so amazed by you and inspired always! Thank you for my vanilla mocha swirl style. You cut the best layers I’ve ever had. Love when you call me boo! - Katie Hellmuth Martin, Owner, Co-Founder

Hair, Hair Everywhere is available everywhere books are sold. Buy it! >

Sunday Morning Read: Partnership Wisdom From Odell Beckham Jr. and Ajay Sangha, In Entrepreneur Magazine

When Entrepreneur magazine came in the mail this time and landed on the bench in the front hall, I felt compelled to read it. Compelled, like, drawn to. Like there was an article in there that was speaking from behind the cover that whisper-yelled: “Reeeead meeee”.

So I picked it up for my Sunday magazine read, and started with the cover story for Odell Beckham Jr. Not knowing who he is. The article promised a story on “the art of the perfect partnership.” That’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about, so I started there.

Wow. What a mind-cycle-breaker to read about how he and his partner and best friend, Ajay Sangha, came to be business partners. And how Ajay grew in the relationship, balanced by Odell.

Takeaways From The Business Partnership

The journalist and magazine’s Editor In Chief, Jason Feifer, pulled out a few secret ingredients to what has been making this business partnership work, that started in friendship. Here are a few:

- Fear: Ajay was afraid of failing Odell, from it seems like, the very beginning. It’s a fear that stays with him through the many investments they have done together. But Ajay is able to harness that fear, and let it fuel him. However, it is with Odell’s outlook on life that makes balancing this fear possible. Said Ajay after their latest large investment: “I mean, it’s not my money. It’s a lot of money, right? It’s a lot of fucking money. And it’s a venture investment. It could go down the drain. I didn’t sleep for a month and a half.”

On the other hand, Odell’s approach is this: “I’m okay with taking the risk in hopes that it pays off. And if it didn’t, I was going to beat him up and then we’d move on to the next one.”

- Burned For Kindness Being Weakness: When Odell, an NFL player, he had fun dancing and taking videos of him out having a good time. But he said that started to change when the videos began to be “used as a downfall.” When he was open and authentic, he felt it backfire, and viewed “Kindness is taken for weakness.” The reporter noted that Odell closed himself off, quoting Odell as saying: “It’s hard to live in a lens where I’m going to be judged for those moments.”

- Short Term vs Long Term: As an NFL player, Odell was living a short and fast life, with big money going in, and big money going out. He began to think about his mortality, his unpredictable career, and how to make his career more scalable.

- Looking Around: When Odell invited Ajay to live with him in his big football house (according to the article, this is common for celebrities to do who need their social life close and private to them), Ajay accepted and they started moving and grooving. When Odell approached Ajay about doing the business development stuff, Ajay immediately looked around to find out: “Who can I trust? Who can I learn from? Who is doing it right?”

- Calmness: From the article, you’ll learn that Ajay is constantly thinking of what can work, what needs to change in order to grow, and what is fulfilling to their business and their people. But - Odell brings Ajay back down to calmness. Eventually the two moved apart from each other, and this improved Ajay’s mental health. “It gives their relationship more of a rhythm. ‘When I visit, [Odell’s] like ‘Hey man, you’re here for the weekend. Stop thinking, stop talking, just relax, enjoy a beer.”

- Wisdom: Here is some wisdom Odell shared with the reporter, that he tells to friends who are struggling: “I’ve said this so many times - I’m like bro, just remember the other time where you thought you weren’t going to be able to keep going, and the worst fucking possible thing happened, and then you got over it. And then it happened again, and this one was worse than the last. And it’s like, you just have to know that it is going to happen. It is. And that’s kind of what you’re saying about a moment, not the moment. I don’t really know if there is the moment. There might be that once-in-a-lifetime thing, but I feel like if you’re waiting for that, you’re not being present, and you’re not living in a bunch of moments that are happening right in front of you.”

Go read the full article. Better: subscribe to the magazine in print so that you can experience it as a page-turner on paper.

Black Girl Nerds; A Podcast Highlighting Your Geeky Guide To Pop Culture Entertainment

If you need a good podcast to listen to, this is it! Black Girl Nerds is Your Geeky Guide To Pop Culture Entertainment. In this episode, they interviewed Emmy-nominated actor, comedian, and author Yvonne Orji. Going to need to listen to and buy the paper version of her book Bamboozled By Jesus.

On television, she stars in HBO’s critically acclaimed comedy series 'Insecure'. A distinguished standup comedian, Yvonne previously opened for Chris Rock on various stops of his Total Blackout Tour and headlined her first comedy tour, Lagos To Laurel, at the top of 2020. She subsequently debuted her first one-hour HBO standup special, Momma, I Made It!, in June 2020. Earlier this year, Orji released her faith-based advice book, Bamboozled by Jesus: How God Tricked Me Into the Life of My Dreams, and can currently be seen in the Hulu film 'Vacation Friends', alongside Lil Rel and John Cena.”

TuneUp: When A Feature On Good Morning America (GMA) Goes In A Different Direction | Interview With To My Old Racist Earth Founder, Moraya Seeger DeGeare

When A GMA Feature Goes Not The Way You Wanted

When: Wednesday, July 14th, 2020
Time: 1pm EST
Where: At your computer or on your phone.
Price: Free for all during this live broadcast.

The dream came to this New York based relationship therapist - Good Morning America came calling. Moraya Seeger DeGeare of BFF Therapy in Beacon, NY  (you've seen her before at Tin Shingle!) started a chalk conversation movement from her side hustle activist brand - To My Old Racist Earth - during the beginning of the protests in 2020.

A friend saw what she was doing and reached out. That friend worked for Good Morning America, and wanted to feature the movement that encouraged children's participation.

Moraya organized several families for the producers to interview, and a lot of footage was shot. However, what aired was much different than Moraya expected. So much so, that she didn't want to share the full feature with her own following after it aired nation-wide.

In the name of helping others, Moraya has agreed to come on Tin Shingle's next TuneUp to talk about the experience. Here's what we're going to cover:

• The Process: How the Good Morning America segment came to be.

• What to expect: can the star of the story control the narrative?

• Analyzing the segment: What parts triggered Moraya and why.

• "Granddaughter Of": Moraya is the granddaughter of Pete Seeger, the musician who was a major figure during the Civil Rights Movement and in environmental justice. Will this always lead a segment, leaving a person feeling in a shadow?

• What to do next? What if you hate the segment? Should you bury it forever? No. We are going to milk it, and Katie will tell you why.

• Where do we go from here? You got Good Morning America - most people's biggest dream - now what?

• Sought After - but what if you want to steer? Moraya is approached often by the media as an expert in her field. When it comes to building buzz around her chalk movement, she realized that she needed to start pitching - just like everybody else! Katie will give her some tips. Not that she needs them! But all of us need tips and nudges.

• See pictures of this segment in Tin Shingle's blog post, and watch the whole thing.

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Get ideas! Join us live on the broadcast!

If you can't make it to this free broadcast, Tin Shinglers with the Media Membership get 24/7 access to watch any TuneUp whenever they want. Apply for Tin Shingle membership today to get access!

50 Cent Opens Student Entrepreneurship Program For 3 High Schools In Texas

Photo Credit: Screenshot from HISD website.

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) announced its partnership with 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) to launch an entrepreneur program at 3 of their high schools with the intent of giving students opportunities and business education that 50 Cent himself did not have access to at that early age.

50 Cent has moved to Texas, and is is investing $300,000 into the program, which will offer high school students the chance to apply for paid internships as well as take part in the G-Unity Business Lab. 50 Cent is funding the launch of the program through his nonprofit G-Unity Foundation, the mission of which is to empower youth in America’s cities (50 Cent’s film and production company is called G-Unit Film and Television). The program will launch at Wheatley, Worthing, and Kashmere high schools, with up to 50 students in the program when it launches this fall.

According to G-Unity Foundation, the 3 high schools “will work with HISD educators, Houston business leaders, and the G-Unity Foundation to complete an after-school course that teaches MBA concepts aligned with Curtis Jackson’s book, Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter. The goal of the program is to arm youth from urban areas with education and business acumen in the hopes they will be able to start their own companies or manage a company.”

Students will be given the chance to learn core business values, as well as develop their own business ideas.

The musician and producer is involved in another project involving high schoolers as an executive producer on the reality series called Dream School. According to HISD, 50 Cent said: “These opportunities are huge opportunities that I didn’t have. Being able to provide that in the early stages, I think it changes the direction and the choices that they will make. It prevents them from making some of the mistakes that I made.”

The Houston Independent School District is the largest school district in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States. It serves approximately 209,000 students at 280 campuses and is one of the largest employers in Houston, with about 27,000 team members.

And now you know. As business owners and creators dream big when they think about how to get the word out, it’s important to know what your favorite celebrities are up to, as they make social investments like this. Browse Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Idea Center and use our Community to bounce ideas off each other before making an outreach.

Additionally, if you work for or run an educational center - be it ginormous like HISD or small like a charter school - an announcement like this is a great edition to your own business blog, in addition to pitching it to the media. This news came from a simple SEO search in Google. We talk about SEO as well when you’re a member of Tin Shingle.

50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) Launches New Hip-Hop Music Competition Series "Unrapped" at ABC

Photo Credit: Screenshot of article at Deadline.

Entrepreneur, producer and musician 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson), is launching a new hip-hop musical competition series called Unrapped at ABC via his production company, G-Unit Films & Television. According to Deadline, celebrity contestants will be coached by iconic hip-hop mentors and compete until and king or queen is crowned.

Deadline quoted Jackson as saying: “I am excited to expand my relationship with ABC. Unrapped brings G-Unit Film and Television’s ability to put incredible music and musical talent on screen to the competition space.”

Another reality series that 50 Cent is part of is Dream School, where he serves as executive producer. Dream School follows 15 high school drop outs as they are taught by celebrity “teachers.”

Deadline reports on the other projects 50 Cent is developing with other networks, including “the Power universe on Starz, Jackson has Black Mafia Family for Starz; is developing Let Me Hear a Rhyme, based on the novel by Tiffany Jackson, for Peacock; and has a straight-to-series order for true crime anthology series Confessions of a Crime Queen for Discovery+.

Unrapped at ABC will directly compete with Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow, which got bought for a second season and features judges Judges Cardi B, Chance the Rapper, and Tip “T.I.” Harris as they search for the next hip-hop star.

For businesses and designers looking to pitch stylists or celebrities connected with the show, or for beat makers, browse Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Idea Center and use our Community to bounce ideas off each other before making an outreach.

Making The News: The Media Learns From You, Just As You Learn From The Media

In a college Ethics in the Media course, the question was asked:
"Is media mirroring society? Or is society mirroring the media?"

In Tin Shingle's opinion, the answer is both.

The #1 question we get at Tin Shingle is:
"How do I get featured in the media? I want someone to interview me!"

The way to get that interview is to tell the media what is going on in society as you know it. Believe it or not, reporters don't know everything. They may hardly know anything! With all of the topics they could write about, they may not know about your corner of the world.

That is why you must tell them. Telling them is called "pitching the media." You are telling them about something going on in your corner of the world - how you and your business are making a difference.

How Do I Create The News?

It's a liberating thought - you creating the news. You think you don't have control, but you do. Here are some places to start:

• If you are up against a challenge, tell the media about it. Spell it out on why it's a challenge - what's going on? Who are the players?

• If you are one of the only ones in your field or community doing this, make that very clear in how you present your accomplishments and what you got going on.

• Write these points in an email to a producer or writer that you have researched by reading that media, or skimming through Tin Shingle's Media Contact Idea Center.

Can I Control The Story? Will They Run It?

Two things you must understand about getting PR:

• Nothing is guaranteed. You might get interviewed for 30 minutes, and 1 sentence of what you said was used. If it was used at all!

• You can't control the narrative. A story may go in the opposite direction than you intended. That's OK. It's a wave you can ride. Talk to us in Tin Shingle's Community or book a Private Session should this happen, to see how you can ride with it.
  

Look At Homeschooling As An Example:

This article at Wired magazine provides a lot of stats on the rise in homeschooling this year, especially in Black families. The fact that it was covered at all with this positive spin is a surprise, as people of color have been homeschooling for some time for various reasons (bullying, religion, teacher/administration disagreements, etc.). Positioning it in this light is refreshing for homeschooling families.

The freedom to cultivate the curriculum was an appeal. As people stretch into their new normals and values after enduring the shutdown, the complexities of public schools, unions, charter schools, homeschooling, and the community around those options may be at the forefront of discussions.

Homeschooling has (or had) a reputation of being isolating and possibly elitist. Often snubbed by public schools for after school activities, will they now be accepted after families have pulled out to control the educational narrative at home, but want to benefit from tax-funded community events happening at public schools?

These are questions you can pose. Use examples of the past, and what is being asked for now. Use statistics and studies to back your claim, and provide names and links to those studies. Even if you have no studies, use voices from your community.

The Media Learns From You

Yes, it’s true! The media learns from you! Reporters are trained to hear topics that resonate with people; that will make a difference in their lives; or that their readers don’t know much about. You can inform the media about this. Even if you think a reporter knows about it already. They might not. Or, they may have heard about it, but don’t know how to approach it from a different angle - because they don’t know the different angle to come at it from.

You can pitch the ideas you wish the media would write about! Need help? Use Tin Shingle’s Pitch Whispering benefit that comes with your membership.

Homeschooling & Charter Schools Will Be In The News - Starting at Wired Magazine - Start Pitching!

This article at Wired magazine provides a lot of stats on the rise in homeschooling this year, especially in Black families. The freedom to cultivate the curriculum was an appeal. As people stretch into their new normals and values after enduring the shutdown, the complexities of public schools, unions, charter schools, homeschooling, and the community around those options may be at the forefront of discussions.

And I thought the Common Core debate was too complex for me to follow! Now is your time, homeschooling and charter school peeps, to pitch the media about what you got going on. Your pitch won’t just be a feature of your business or initiative. It will be informing the reporter, editor or producer about the problem you see in a certain area, and how your business or initiative addresses that. If you don’t have a business but are trying to change policy, same thing.

Have you wondered why these topics weren’t covered before? Were you silently seething at the media for not covering these things? Or covering them in a way that reflected poorly in the area you know so well, and could use some change? Here’s the thing: you can make that change. By pitching the media.

Yes, it’s true! The media learns from you! Reporters are trained to hear topics that resonate with people; that will make a difference in their lives; or that their readers don’t know much about. You can inform the media about this. Even if you think a reporter knows about it already. They might not. Or, they may have heard about it, but don’t know how to approach it from a different angle - because they don’t know the different angle to come at it from.

You can pitch the ideas you wish the media would write about! Need help? Use Tin Shingle’s Pitch Whispering benefit that comes with your membership.