Produced by #bossbabesATX, SHE TALKS is an ongoing discussion-based personal and professional development series, tackling topics from finances to intersectional feminism.
On August 31 at Byron & Blue, we'll host the second session in our summer installation of SHE TALKS, exploring lifestyle design. Statistically speaking, more and more women are diversifying their incomes and exploring entrepreneurship outside of their nine-to-fives. It's a global and national phenomenon—and we want to know why.
Presented in partnership with Aceable, SHE TALKS: The Why Behind My Grind will feature five panelists, chatting their holistic approach to lifestyle design and changing culture through their work and entrepreneurial pursuits. There will be one more session in this series; stay tuned!
Meet the panelists for Session Two:
Qi Dada Ras of Divine & Conjure, LLC., RAS Day and Riders Against the Storm
Lani Rosales of Austin Digital Jobs and The American Genius
Sydney Hardwick of Cooking With Sydney
TK Tunchez of Frida Fridays and Las Ofrendas
Ashley Jennings of Divinc ATX
Ashley Jennings is an award-winning producer, media consultant and international lifestyle photographer. She serves as the co-founder and chief marketing officer for DivInc, a non-profit accelerator for women and ethnically diverse tech founders. She's also the co-owner and executive producer of Spero Labs, LLC, a creative production agency focused on championing great content for clients of all sizes, from local tech startups to fortune 500 giants. Prior to moving back to Texas from New York, Ashley helped launch Al Jazeera Media Network’s American channel, Al Jazeera America, and was part of the ABC News field team who traveled the country covering breaking news, weather and politics.
Lani Rosales is the Chief Operating Officer (and first hire) at TheAmericanGenius.com and TheRealDaily.com, Co-Founded the Big Ass Social Happy Hour (BASHH), and is the iron-fist co-founder and Evil Overlord at Austin Digital Jobs (ADJ). She has been named one of the 12 most influential web writers, is frequently named one of the industry's most influential leaders, has an English degree from the University of Texas, and over the years accidentally became branded as a cat fanatic and prolific cusser.
Qi Dada Ras is one-half of performance duo Riders Against the Storm, a co-founder of annual festival RAS Day and a community organizer in Austin, Texas.
Tk Tunchez is a multi-media artist, event planner and space creatress. She has worked as a full time independent artist & maker for five years, working under the creative name Las Ofrendas. As an artisan, she creates pieces that are intended to celebrate the Divine Feminine. As a space creatress, she believes in the power of utilizing alternative economies to heal and transform by creating culturally relevant spaces that generate financial opportunity for our most marginalized communities. In ATX, she works to generate and support spaces that center on WOC (Frida Friday ATX), and underrepresented communities (Midweek Market ATX, and Luna Llena ATX) and by collaborating with musicians and other creatives to support culturally awake spaces for underrepresented communities to see and celebrate our culturas. She is a graduate of Hampshire College with a specialty in communications and cultural identity studies, has trained through the (anti-racism) program People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, co-owned radical collective - Food for Thoughts Bookstore (MA), ran a successful youth media project (Video Vanguards, MA), created women's centered marketplace (Mujeres Mercado, SATX) and has been committed to studying and creating alternative economic & community spaces for cultural survival, across the U.S, for over a decade.
Sydney Hardwick is a student of people and culture. As a User Experience professional who is passionate about making products easy to use and inclusive for all, she applies her knowledge and experience to sharing deliciously healthy recipes on her food blog, Cooking with Sydney. Through interaction design, accessibility advocacy, and extensive user research, she influences and creates products that are inclusive for all. Sydney also advocates for underrepresented communities in STEM by participating in organizations whose goals are to support the community, while attracting, recruiting and retaining diverse top talent. She is a Human Factors International (HFI) Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) and a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC).
Secure your RSVP:
*All proceeds cover event production costs. Capacity is limited.
**If this cost is prohibitive for you, please email thebabes@bossbabes.org.
About #bossbabesATX: Through our work, we hope to foster community, conversation and commerce around women in creative industry and the arts and women-owned businesses. Our productions center on personal and professional development, activism, the arts, entrepreneurialism, and community infrastructure. We believe intersectionality, informed decision-making, sharing professional resources and actively advocating for women's rights and the rights of marginalized peoples are inherently valuable.
*Our events prioritize the voices of self-identifying women and nonbinary folks. We are not gender-discriminant; all are welcome to attend.
About the sponsor, Aceable: Aceable is a mobile-first platform for certification and training courses, ranging from drivers ed to real estate continuing education. At Aceable, we believe that everyone should have access to education. We believe that certification and value-added training should be cost-effective, yet also high quality. We believe that learning should be a joy. We believe that by delivering innovative, outcome-focused courses we can empower people to thrive in life and succeed at what they do. We are a team of teachers, designers, writers, engineers, customer experience heroes and those passionate about education who love what we do. We are the new standard for learning. We are certification courses for the 21st century. Together, we are driving education forward. You can learn more about Aceable at aceable.com and aceableagent.com.
About the space, Byron & Blue: Byron & Blue is a boutique, events and art space on East 5th St. in Austin, Texas. The space is home to objects from independent makers and has fostered a community for creators.