I attended the Pose ‘N Post Symposium at The Mahler in Raleigh, NC hosted by Grammy Award Winning R&B Singer Chrisette Michelle. She invited some of her favorite people she loves and admires for they’re particular craft to be panelists like YouTube’s Ambrosia Malborough, Beauty & Style Blogger Lover4Fashion and The Mane Choice (Courtney Adeleye). The line up was great because these woman are ALL entrepreneurs who own and set the tone in their select social media spaces. The event started off with cocktail hour where we got to mix and mingle with other attendees. The desert bar was amazing! I love cupcakes and there was a banana pudding cupcake that blew my mind. There were tons of “selfie” opportunities and just to take pictures in general. I was intrigued by what brought on an event like Pose ‘N Post Symposium and had an opportunity to interview Chrisette Michele, so I asked! It turns out that Chrisette Michele is a HUGE fan on Twitterers, You Tubers, and Instagammers! She spends more time surfing YouTube than watching television. She invited some of her favorites on this tour and also wanted a opportunity to have women of color network and support one another. Chrisette Michele would like to see us build coalitions, collaborate and grow our brands together because there’s not too much of that! I honestly agree with Chrisette Michele and hope we can change it.
I also asked Chrisette Michele how she keeps her Rich Hipster Blog and social media content fresh for her online community. She responded by sharing that she stays herself and explained that her thoughts are sporadic so she may change things up quite a bit. She also stated that she tries to stay visually on task with certain picture filters and signature traits like pink hearts. Once the Pose ‘N Post Symposium event started we were able to hear from each panelist on their entrepreneurial journey. We also had a few networking exercises that allowed us to meet other attendees in the room. The first one was to meet someone that we didn’t know before the event and take a “selfie” with them and post it to our instagram account using the #PoseNPost hashtag. I met Aisha, a local lifestyle blogger from Raleigh, NC and she blogs over at Life Laugh & Lipgloss. I made sure we swapped information so that we could keep in touch after the event. We jumped back into the conversation about social media… the good, bad and the ugly! We all agreed that you shouldn’t be afraid to use your delete and block button! Chrisette said… delete, block, delete! Consistency and BEING YOU is also a big deal online. You always want to have fresh authentic content for your online fans and followers.
We also discussed that it’s okay for a woman to think that you are AMAZING! I have heard this comment often, we (women) need to stop hating on one another and compliment and uplift one another. We also had a touching moment where one of the attendees shared that she had been feeling so lost in life and didn’t know where to start with pursuing her dreams. I think the whole entire room fell silent as we discussed how we as women may look all put together and FABULOUS on the outside but, inside we’re a hot mess! We as women know how to mask pain, make things look good and keep moving like everything is okay. I think many women in the room identified with that and we were all in tears. I’m not one to put my business online and things may look perfect on my Facebook, Instagram & Twitter feeds but rest assure that my life isn’t perfect. I just keep my personal life private and share positive moments, events and sponsored content online. It’s all a part of the way I have branded myself. I definitely know that social media is what you make it and everyone that is sharing online isn’t always what they “post” to be. In the end that’s what makes being authentic so important.
Lastly, we had to go back to the person we took our introductory “selfie” with and exchange telephone numbers. I met a few local bloggers that I didn’t know and was excited. We all plan to keep in touch. Chrisette Michele sang for us and I got to meet Krystle Rowry (Web Designer) and owner of KrissDidIt! I’ve been talking about her and her creativity for so long and finally got a chance to meet her! Winning! Pose ‘N Post Symposium was a great event that brought women together from all walks of life. It was a great experience and I hope there are more events like this. At the end we received cute swag bags and were able to take pictures with Christte Michele, Brosia, Lover4Fashion and Courtney (The Mane Choice). My interview with Chrisette Michele was video taped but, you can’t hear it all that great due to some background noise. So, I just added music and some pictures. Take a look… Ciao!
