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Authenticity has remained Kordell Beckham’s superpower beyond the villa. Beckham and his girlfriend, Serena Page, were crowned the Season 6 champions of Peacock’s “Love Island USA,” which had become the most-watched series on streaming platforms in the U.S. ahead of the season finale in July 2024, per NBC Universal. Beckham and Page also made history as the first Black couple to win on the show, The Hilltop mentions. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Jennifer Hudson Show (@jenniferhudsonshow) Investing Cash Prize The couple — who now have 7 million followers combined across their TikTok and Instagram accounts — earned a $100,000 cash prize on the show, which they split evenly, according to US Weekly. Beckham has decided to be wise with a portion of his earnings going toward investments, and this will include the launch of his own clothing brand now in the works with his team. “We’ve been talking with a bunch of businesses to see what we can do to jumpstart a clothing...
For Dr. D’Wayne Edwards, innovation has always been the driving force behind his work as a shoe designer. With more than 50 patents under his belt, as well as a college among the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, he is committed to uplifting the next generation of designers. Collaborating with brands like Nike, adidas, and quite a few household names, his love for creating keeps him going every day. 2024 has been quite the year for Edwards. In February, he reopened the doors to the first HBCU with a focus on design through the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design (PLC), which he founded in 2021 in Detroit, MI. Now, he has officially partnered with Target to launch ÜNOS by Sz, an adjustable footwear line created uniquely for growing families. “For a long time, it’s always been my goal to do something that was much more affordable for people who could afford everyday things,” Edwards told AFROTECH™ in an exclusive interview. “I just felt like everyday things, if...
Nicky Saunders has tips and tricks to scale your digital presence. Saunders, a content strategist and CEO of Deeper Than The Brand since 2018, understands firsthand what it takes to build online. Called “the voice of content branding,” her platform offers helpful content creation suggestions that can be beneficial to businesses and content creators. Of late, she has heavily geared content around the various ways technology can be a resource, such as using an iPhone to edit live photos or artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT or Opus Clip. The latter allows users to repurpose long videos into shorter clips with one click, per its website. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nicky Saunders | The Voice Of Content Branding 🏁🦁🏁 1 of 1 (@thisisnickys) Thanks to her expertise, Saunders has built an online following of 12,000 subscribers via YouTube while impressing on Instagram with 187,000 followers at the time of this writing. Screenshot taken via Instagram /...
When considering the “It Girl”, Kirah Ominique is top of mind. She had no intentions of being a full-time content creator. In fact, she had first envisioned attending an Historically Black College and University, potentially Howard University or Texas Southern University, to obtain a pharmaceutical degree. Although that did not become a reality, her Plan B was to always be involved in the beauty field. “I was supposed to come become a pharmacy tech first. Girl, I failed pharmacy math like, ‘Yeah no let’s go to P lan B.’ Now Plan B is Plan A, doing something in like the beauty field but a mix with the medical. Or maybe a traveling nurse wouldn’t sound too bad either,” she explained in a YouTube video posted in May 2024. Ominique has stayed true to her interests in diving into the beauty world through content creation, which also encompasses fashion and lifestyle and has led to a strong social media presence. @kirahominique Get Ready With Me For Dinner In Thailand , Its Giving...
Tyler James Williams will be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor. The trajectory of Williams’ career as an actor, which began when he was 4 years old, has reached new heights due to his role as Gregory Eddie on the ABC hit sitcom “Abbott Elementary,” created by Quinta Brunson. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Quinta Brunson (@quintab) Williams’ character centers a first-grade teacher in an underfunded, public school in Philadelphia, PA. According to NPR, he worked closely with Brunson to workshop the character. “I think from the minute we got on the phone about it, Gregory became a collaborative effort,” he explained to the outlet. “We very quickly had a conversation about the importance of showing an active Black male struggling with and attempting to do a really good job in raising the next generation, because those are the men I grew up with, and those are the men that she grew up with.” Williams later added, “I love that his story isn’t rooted in some sense of...
Clarke Peoples had a “formulaic” road map that was disrupted by content creation. Columbia University Student Peoples was a student at Columbia University in New York, NY. It had been the only school she applied to, and she placed all her energy into perfecting her application, she shared with Business Insider. “I put in a lot of work to earn enough scholarships to get into Columbia. I spent months writing my application essay and did whatever I could to make myself a more competitive applicant. It was the only school I applied to, and soon I was in New York living out my dreams,” she said. Putting all her eggs in one basket ultimately paid off as she would be admitted into the school. She proved herself to be ambitious — pursuing an American studies degree — with an overarching goal of becoming a lawyer and launching a startup company. Peoples also had other backup plans including becoming a finance intern for a wealth management asset firm. Early Career Opportunities By her...
By capitalizing on her status as a leading beauty influencer, Jackie Aina has built the foundation for a prosperous business empire. How It Started Aina, a Nigerian-American born in California’s San Gabriel Valley, came from humbling beginnings. BuzzFeed News mentions she has six siblings, with an even split between brothers and sisters. She recalls “growing up with nothing” at times, bouncing around shelters with her mother and siblings. “Growing up, I had no leverage, I had no rich uncle,” she said, per the outlet. “We got kicked out of a shelter, we couldn’t get to another one quick enough. And when you’re a mom of seven, It’s not easy.” To change her outcome, Aina studied medicine at the California State University, Business Insider reported. That route did not pan out for Aina, and she made the decision to serve in the Army in 2008, after being convinced by her then-boyfriend. They would marry — although they later divorce — and she moved to Hawaii to live with him where she...
Being funny pays. Just look to TikToker DeMarcus Shawn as confirmation. Beginnings Growing up on the outskirts of Chicago, IL, he recalls always being funny, often creating skits or playfully imitating his family members. His humor translated well to the camera, and he would toss around various skit ideas with his two older brothers. With the rise of social media, leaning into it was natural for Shawn. Ultimately, he landed on TikTok as his breeding ground for content though initially his Instagram was geared towards his creative interests. @artbydemarcusshawn #fyp ♬ original sound – DemarcusShawn “I grew up doing music and learning how to sing and photography. I’m a guy that’s heavy on drawing and painting,” he told AFROTECH™. “ Those are my hobbies that I like to do. Outside of that, when I came into TikTok, it was more of what I’ve been doing with my siblings, but on a larger front.” Full-Time Content Creation Shawn was working on building his online presence while also employed...
Allyiah Gainer is making a bag from YouTube alone. From An HBCU Student To YouTuber Gainer’s rise as a content creator and beauty guru dates back to 2015. She was briefly a student at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, FL, and intended to pursue a career in pharmacy. Her motivation for attending school was driven by her father, and after they had a falling out she dropped out of school, as shared during the “Big Boss Energy” podcast with Kayla Burke. However, Gainer remained enrolled to make use of her dorm and meals, which had already been covered under her full-ride scholarship. “I needed somewhere to live, right? I couldn’t just peace out,” Gainer explained on the podcast. Her new plan was to fulfill her dreams of becoming a makeup artist, and she secured a part-time job at a MAC store located at a nearby local mall, which had been her highest-paying job at the time. ESSENCE reported she was also able to land her own clients who were her former classmates. When she realized...
Tyler Perry opened the world’s largest Black-owned studio, not just to build his own legacy but to empower others to create theirs. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, he self-funded Tyler Perry Studios to launch in Atlanta, GA, in 2008. I t’s now reportedly worth $280 million and serves as both a hub for his creative projects and a welcoming space for other filmmakers seeking to rent its stages and spaces. His ambition to succeed and help others is driven by his great-grandfather, who was enslaved, NBC News reports. “I’m on the wave that they set in motion,” he told the outlet. “So I feel like I’m supposed to live well. I feel like I’m supposed to have everything that I want. Not just for me, but for everyone who didn’t get it. …It’s not just about what I’m doing,” Perry told NBC News. “It’s also about all the people that’s affected.” Perry’s vision has manifested in several ways. His workforce is 99% Black and also includes a population of those who were formerly incarcerated and...
Artificial intelligence (AI) technology has taken the creative industry by storm, but a new bill has been introduced to protect creators’ rights. U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota), and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) introduced the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2024, or the NO FAKES Act, on July 31. According to a press release shared by Coons, the bill was created “to protect the voice and visual likenesses of creators and individuals from the proliferation of digital replicas created without their consent.” “The NO FAKES Act would hold individuals or companies liable for damages for producing, hosting, or sharing a digital replica of an individual performing in an audiovisual work, image, or sound recording that the individual never actually appeared in or otherwise approved – including digital replicas created by generative artificial intelligence (AI),” per the release. “Everyone...
Colin Kaepernick is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to help storytellers. Kaepernick has been pouring into new ventures following his departure from the NFL, which came after he started kneeling in 2016 during the national anthem in protest of police brutality and racial injustice, TIME reports. Kaepernick last played for the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 1, 2017, and when he became a free agent he was not signed by a new team, per ABC-7. Since then he has focused his attention in areas that include venture capital. As AFROTECH™ mentioned, he joined KINLÒ, tennis star Naomi Osaka’ s skincare company, serving as an investor and board member. He also is a children’s author and released “I Color Myself Different,” in April 2022, which depicts his experience of embracing his Blackness as an individual adopted into a white family. Kaepernick’s latest endeavor focuses on supporting other storytellers, and he is utilizing AI to achieve this goal. TIME mentioned he raised $4 million...
Da’Vinchi, 28, has been on quite a roll in Hollywood. From shows like “Grown-ish” to “All American,” the Haitian-American actor has been stacking roles. However, Da’Vinchi’s starring role and portrayal as Terry “Southwest T” Flenory on 50 Cent’s “BMF” (or “BMF: Black Mafia Family”) on Starz is his biggest gig to date. Although Da’Vinchi, born Abraham D. Juste, has made a name for himself in the acting world, he is transparent about coming from humble beginnings. In an interview on REVOLT’s “The Blackprint,” the Brooklyn, NY, native was open about the way he grew up. “I grew up in poverty,” Da’Vinchi told host and REVOLT CEO Detavio Samuels. “A very normal situation that most of us grow up in, but of course while you’re in it you don’t really know it because everyone else is like that around [you] until you switch environments. And then, you start realizing the depths of the lack that you were in.” He added, “The poverty that I faced was you don’t have all the meals throughout the...
Rene McLean, partner and founding advisor at Influence Media Partners, has a new music venture to share. Influence Media and McLean have announced SLANG, a new independent front line label under the music and entertainment company, according to a press release shared with AFROTECH™. One of the label’s first signees is Will Smith. Prior to the announcement, the winner of both Grammy and Academy awards debuted his single “You Can Make It,” featuring Fridayy and Sunday Service Choir, at the 2024 BET Awards, per Variety. Marking Smith’s first time performing at the award show, he was joined by Kirk Franklin, Chandler Moore, and Sunday Service Choir. “Through some of my darkest moments, music has always been there for me – to lift me and help me grow. It’s my humble wish that it can do the same for you and bring you all the joy and light you deserve,” Smith wrote in an Instagram post ahead of dropping the single, according to Variety. Along with Smith, SLANG’s roster includes...
Ice Cube is celebrating wins in different sectors. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Ice Cube has been investing his time in his BIG3, a 3-on-3 basketball league that has been expanding to Los Angeles, CA; Detroit, MI; Houston, TX; and Miami, FL. Its presence in the aforementioned states follows a reported $10 million sale each in an effort to adopt a city-based model. “We need to plant our roots in cities so we can be more than a rolling all-star game coming through,” Ice Cube previously told Bloomberg. “It’s really about growing the sport and the league.” While he is gaining momentum in the sports world, he is also growing in the entertainment space. According to a news release, his production company Cube Vision has landed an expanded partnership with Paramount Global. The partnership builds on an existing relationship between the parties, who have previously collaborated with the taping of the Big3 basketball league games, which aired on CBS, as well as on other projects. The...