HuffPo's Lilly Workneh and I discuss a wide variety of topics during our session at the EmpowerHer 17 Conference.

HuffPo's Lilly Workneh and I discuss a wide variety of topics during our session at the EmpowerHer 17 Conference.

I only had to follow a line of beautiful Black women to know I'd reached the right place for the EmpowerHer conference hosted by Blavity and its newish beauty/health site 21ninety.com.  Though this two-day conference held at the gorgeous Venue One space in the West Loop centered on uplifting aspiring executives and entrepreneurs bent on living their best lives, it also served as an informal catwalk with some of the most stunning hair, styles and shoes you will ever see at a conference. And the music?  I think Blavity head honcho Morgan DeBaun best release the playlist because in between sessions, they had the people GOING.

But on a serious note, this event was far more than some meeting place to exchange business cards or peer at name tags to see if someone was somebody...if you get my meaning.  Instead, an impressive array of speakers including storytelling phenom and comedic genius Lena Waithe; best-selling novelist and (again) comedic genius Luvvie Ajayi; resilient and super savvy digipreneur Necole Kane of XONecole to name a few.

I was interviewed by the intrepid and awesome Lilly Workneh, Senior Editor at Huffington Post Black Voices, and our conversation traveled from my thoughts on being a brown face in a white space during my mainstream media days to my philosophy on leadership during my past tenure as Editor-in-Chief at EBONY.  We also discussed work-life balance, collaborating with other Black women (which I highly recommend whenever possible) and the future of media with so many take-no-prisoners ladies starting their own media empires.

It truly felt like family and I am grateful that my words helped others, and I'm really glad they captured this little impromptu dance session because, like I said, the music was on point!