My August & September Month-End Review

Hey, hey, hey! I’m back (finally). August was so busy I completely forgot to do my month end review. Okay well, maybe I didn’t really forget; just kept procrastinating. So here we are now, recapping both August and September together (time is really flying) !

August was a really awesome month for me professionally, and September was one for the books for me personally.

In August:

• Kicked off the month by attending a close friend’s wedding. Such a beautiful day, and honor to be apart of their limited guest list due to COVID19 safety restrictions. Congratulations again to the newly weds Katreena & Taverious Davis!
• Our Women Who Code CONNECT India conference was absolutely amazing and over 2200 people joined us.
• My company, 3MC Business Solutions secured a new influencer client. Our lead digital designer & developer Kenya Wilson created a beautiful mood board & logo kit for her, and is now wrapping up her custom website project. I can not wait for you all to see this one!
• Had a virtual coffee date with a new linkedin connection. I don’t drink coffee, but I couldn’t turndown the opportunity to mentor an aspiring female entrepreneur.
• Met the Partnerships Manager of Turing School , Robyn Purvin. It was awesome to learn about their current initiatives & partnerships to see how I can possibly collaborate and/or support their endeavors in my role as Head of Recruitment @ Incluzion.
• Pitched the need for a fully dedicated people operations role to support our external team (our volunteers) at Women Who Code.
• Pitched Incluzion with the Founder & CEO, Jibril Sulaiman for Techstars.
• Attended one of my line sisters wedding in Greenville, SC and it was absolutely beautiful!
• Found out that a close family member of mines has Bipolar Depression, so being intentional about supporting them with accessing all of the resources they needed to cope with this was a huge priority for me this month.

In September:

• Kicked off the month by paying off all of my credit card balances. Such a great feeling and sigh of relief. I was intentional and consistent with saving 50% of my extra streams of income to do this. Paying off my car is up next (on track to pay off my 6 year car loan in 4 years, before the holidays).
• Traveled to Houston to see some friends for the Labor Day holiday. I had such a fun yet safe/social distanced mini vacation.
• Was a bridesmaid in one of my best friends’ wedding in Charleston, SC. It was such a honor to stand aside her on such a special day and important milestone in her life. I am looking forward to watching/supporting her and her husband continue to build the life they want for their family.
• My company, 3MC Business Solutions secured a new partner organization. Super excited to be working with a fellow Gamecock alumnus Timothy Bryson and his organization, Walk with TFB!
• Pitched Incluzion with the Founder & CEO, Jibril Sulaiman 2x for different Techstars cohorts.
• Remember that Volunteer Operations role I pitched last month at Women Who Code? Well a use case for this need just so happened to present itself, so I was invited to take lead on the project. One week later, and few days shy of my 2 year anniversary I was surprised with a sudden promotion. I am now serving as the Sr. People Operations Manager to support our volunteers around the world, and couldn’t be more thrilled for this opportunity.
• WPBuffs (a wordpress startup) is experiencing a lot of growth and recognizes their new need for HR so they invited me to be their part time People Operations Manager. I’ll be working alongside the CEO & COO to build their HR department, create/ enforce DEI strategies and practices, and implement continuous process improvements for scale as the team continues to grow.
• I got engaged! My Fiancé proposed to me at what I thought was going to be a regular family cookout & fish fry. All of our immediate family and close friends were there to share this moment with us, and it meant the world to me.
• Participated on an independent grant review team for a large grant opportunity we recently submitted at Women Who Code. *Fingers Crossed*
• Attended a close friend’s drive-by baby shower with my mother and a line sister. The soon to be mother and I graduated high school together, graduated college together, witnessed her now husband propose to her, stood by her side on her wedding day, and since I’ll be traveling during her baby shower hosted by her and her husband in October- I made sure I attended the baby shower hosted by her mother.
• Had a brainstorming session (my favorite) with a close friend about her non-profit organizational initiatives. Her non-profit focuses on bridging the equity gap for women of color and underpaid/unpaid internships to promote diversity and inclusion. Check out Shatter The Ceiling to learn more and/or donate to a great cause.
• In my role as Head of Recruitment @ Incluzion I had the opportunity to meet with the CTO at MoveOn , Ann Lewis a few months ago about their partnership with Movement 4 Black Lives (M4BL) to help them source diverse technologists for their Tech Lead job opening. After a few conversations via zoom and email we landed the retained search agreement, and I am excited to announce that we are wrapping up that project now.
• Ended the month with a weekend filled with matching pajamas, all my favorite foods & drinks, laughter, and my sisters.

As you can see, the purpose of my work is staying close to everything that makes me glad to be alive. Giving back to marginalized & underserved communities (black & brown communities in particular) by providing them with equal access to resources & equal opportunities and showing up for/ spending time with family & friends every chance I get.