[THE LENS] GET TO KNOW OLAKUNMI ONI

We often get some amazing people who contribute images that resonate greatly with many of us. 'm sure you've caught a Olakunmi is one who brings beauty in it's simplest form. If you're apart of VIP, I'm sure you've caught a glimpse of some of her work that she was gracious enough to share with us.

5 TIPS FOR INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY FOR BUSY MOMS IN BUSINESS

1. Find a Zen Place - Every mompreneur needs that comfortable, peaceful place to get stuff done in. The place that looks pretty, smells good and looks like the walls are throwing up fabulousness with amazing art and inspiration. If you can escape to that place with no interruptions for at least an hour a day then you can almost conquer the world with laser like focus.

2. Keep Track of Your Time - We all know that time is beyond precious and every second is valuable. As a mom in business, we often have to give so much of our time to others—husband, kids, family, friends or job, leaving little to no time for our own pursuits. To do lists and calendars are great time management tools, but the uber busy mom needs something a bit more robust to keep track of time. Good thing there is always an app for that! In comes the Rescue Time app who’s tag line is “ Find your ideal work life balance” allowing you to track how much time you spend on various tasks from social media, to watching T.V. to answering emails.

3. Let Go of Perfection - As women we often try to live up to some made up standard of perfection. Let’s get something straight. Perfection is a dream killer and a murderer of creativity. Perfectionism is an illusion, stopping you from completing your tasks making you waste time doing things over and over. It is better to complete a task to the best of your ability and move on than to not do it all or waste hours trying to make it perfect. Done is better than perfect. Get it done and find ways to go back and improve it later. “Perfectionism is fear in high heeled shoes- the haute couture of fear” - Elizabeth Gilbert of Eat, Pray Love

4. Hack More Hours Into a Day - Spend less time doing things that don’t matter and that don’t contribute to your own self improvement or business goals. That means get off candy crush, stop binging on reality shows and lay off the celebrity gossip (oh yeah and that includes you Scandal lovers). This will most likely free up a few hours for you to answer emails, check off more items on your to do list, do more brainstorming and execute your business plan or even get more beauty sleep.

5.Shut off Notifications - Technology is awesome and I totally get that we need information right away, in order to stay up date and be responsive to our communities and customers. Admit it though, notifications are killing you softly. The distractions are endless and they are all synced in real time to your phones, pads, tablets, computers. We are really doing way too much and not getting much done! Unplug more often and get more done!

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[THE LENS] GET TO KNOW ISHA GAINES - OCTOBER PHOTO PACK

This is a different kind of feature for sure. At CreateHERStock, highlighting those who share images with us is definitely a necessary that deserves constant need. Each month since our inception, our email list has seen exactly who these wonderful people are. We have more to share as time goes on.

[THE LENS] GET TO KNOW MONICA UKAH - SEPTEMBER PHOTO PACK

 

 

When the image of a Black woman with big hair in an off-shoulder top ran across my Instagram feed, I took immediate notice and gave the quickest of likes. I took it upon myself to scroll through her feed and fell in love with the freshness of her images. My next move created a great connection with her!

 

Monica Ukah is a Nigerian blogger and Harvard student based in California. She's a lover of all things stylish and trendy. Fashion is the muse! She was generous enough to allow CHS to share some of her amazing images in this month's September photo pack with subscribers. If you missed it, get on the list! Let's get to know Monica...

WHY WE CAN'T AFFORD TO SLEEP ON OUR #BLACKGIRLMAGIC

Black women really are making magic these days.  2015 has been a big year for female creatives of color.  I’m sure you agree.  It is undeniable to anyone in the entrepreneurial, creative, or online marketing space that black girls are experiencing unprecedented reach while building amazing platforms and empires.

TOP 5 SUMMER BLACK GIRL INSTA-MOMENTS

Summer is almost over so let's recap the hottest insta-moments shared of these fabulous, familiar faces of women rocking their shine and giving us pure goals!

[THE LENS] GET TO KNOW DWAYNE HILLS - AUGUST PACK FEATURE

The very first of many features we'll be sharing that highlight our contributors and their monthly images we feature in CHS photo packs. Dwayne is a loving father and professional photographer from NOLA and is now based in Austin, Texas. His company - DHills Photography works with agencies, startups, and design studios on projects that span websites, apps, motion, print and brands. We totally LOVE his awesome work.

So much so that he allowed us to feature a few of his images in this month's August photo pack to our subscribers. If you missed it - you should join the list! Let's chit chat with Dwayne - our only male contributor to such a vibrant community of fabulous women. 

9 IMAGES I NEEDED TO SEE GROWING UP BLACK, THAT MY DAUGHTER NEEDS TO SEE NOW

Growing up there weren’t a lot of people who looked like me in the media. I couldn’t identify with the few positive images that were on TV in the early 90’s. I wanted to see girls who were African or Caribbean and proud that had dark skin and super kinky, long hair and dressed fabulously just like the Halle Berrys, Tyra Banks or Jada Pinketts (no Smith then) of the world. 

Those ladies were gorge and fabulous, but only a small percentage of black girls looked like that. Thank God today we have more diverse imagery for young black girls (Hey Lupita!), but there is still so much to be accounted for and so much more that we need to expose our young queens to.

WHAT THE #CREATEHERS TWITTER CHAT TAUGHT ME

I am new to Twitter. The “It’s 2015 and I just opened an account two months ago to further promote articles that I write” type of new. Crazy, right? How could I have survived so many years without being connected to thousands of people out in the world who are traveling similar paths to me? Well, trust me it was not hard at all to avoid Twitter when it first premiered.

5 INSTAGRAM TEMPLATES YOU CAN START USING TODAY

Instagram is home to what feels like the entire world - if you love taking images or if you don't take them of yourself, you are sure to have an account. For many of us, Instagram is a means to make ourselves stand out, market our products or services, and even be consistent with our brand across the board.

If you're use to seeing how some Instagramers have taken the time to create their own "templates", do believe you can too! There are many ways to alter these examples so be ready to put on your Blues Clues thinking cap! Here are 5 Instagram templates you can check out and even start using today!

OWNING OUR OWN IMAGE #CREATEHERS CHAT + RECAP

Our very first Twitter chat was a huge success! Many of us are still trying to come down from Cloud 9 from all of the beautiful and empowering things shared this past Friday night. With a major thanks to our host (@glamsavvy) - this chat definitely left us with amazing gems. The topic centered around how Black women are taking more control in how we're both received and portrayed. Owning our own image is something many women of color should want to do for themselves.

WHAT IS THE DEAL BEHIND CREATEHER STOCK LAUNCHING AT 420?

I have quite a few reasons to be jumping for joy and screaming THANK YA from the rooftops! One being that CreateHER Stock is launching today - for you - for me - for all the awesome women of color who have been needing a place to call their own.  When it comes to being able to Google search things like "black women bloggers" or "pics of millennial black women", a few things happen; 1. You get images that lack the "personality" you need or 2. You simply download what you can get from the internet and not think twice about copyright.