ENVSN Fest: Empowering the Female Hustlers of Tomorrow
The two-day festival inspired a new generation of visionaries.
On September 14 and 15, the second annual ENVSN Festival took place at Industry City in Brooklyn, N.Y. Founded by entrepreneur Sharifa Murdock and Hot 97 on-air personality Laura Stylez, ENVSN is a platform designed to empower young women through interactive learning, networking, entertainment, and shopping experiences.
The two-day festival’s schedule was packed with workshops, performances, and panel discussions revolving around career building, self-care, fashion, beauty, entrepreneurship, and women in music. Inspired by the “dreamers and go-getters of the world,” the event space was packed with entrepreneurs, main stage performances, and sounds from a rotation female DJ’s.
Both days also included meet-and-greet events, including with the founders of Black Girl Podcast, Power actress Donshea Hopkins, R&B/Soul artist Abigail Furr, and the hosts of Let Your Voice Be Heard!, Selena Hill and Stanley Fritz.
“This festival is just showing diversity and it’s showcasing what women can do and how powerful women and women of color are,” said Hopkins.
Best known for her role as Raina St. Patrick on the hit Starz original series, Hopkins describes her character Raina as brave yet outspoken. After finding out her character would no longer be on the show, Hopkins mentioned her disappointment over leaving the cast, yet her elation at being able to work with the cast again on season 5.
“A lot of people are going to try to knock you down, but you have to believe in yourself and you have to surround yourself with a strong circle and have a strong family and a strong team,” Hopkins told Let Your Voice Be Heard!. “Find people that support you and that are interested in doing what you do and just keep going for it no matter where you’re from.”
As a 20-year-old musician from Northern Virginia, Furr combines her classical training in violin with her acoustic guitar. Considering herself “family-oriented,” her music is inspired by her love of God and her family.
“A lot of people tell me that because I am a young African-American woman, that’s it’s harder for me in the industry and that’s not the case,” says Furr. “It’s very important to come to events like this so you can connect with other people who are going into the same things as you — who look like you.”
With over 40 vendors in attendance, including fashion, beauty, and wellness brands, attendees had an array of goodies to choose from.
One of the vendors Baby Tress, part of NYC-based agency, Mama Tress, showcased their baby-hair styling tool, The Baby Tress Edge Styler. Launched in November 2018, the edge styler is a three-in-one brush — well designed for bringing more details when styling your baby hairs.
“We wanted something to give away to our customers and we noticed there weren’t any edge brushes that looked or functioned well,” says one team member Shannon Kennard. “We’ve been doing our baby hairs for decades and why is it that in 2019 there’s not a real well-made tool for your baby hairs?”
Beauty vendor, Awomi Naturals, is an NYC-based African body care line founded by mother and daughter duo, Lola and Dade, last December. Dade tells the story of her mother’s Nigerian lineage and her grandmother’s effort to make a living selling local produce from farmers. The company partners with women in Nigeria to create their products.
“They don’t know that shea butter is a multimillion-dollar business,” said Dade. “They aren’t getting paid as if it’s a multimillion-dollar business, so our brand wants to highlight those women and bring their work to the forefront directly.”
The panel discussions at ENVSN revolved around tips on mental health, wellness, insight on breaking into the music industry, and discussions on how young women can change the world.
“Women only can understand other women,” said Black Girl Podcast member Alysha Pamphile. “I’m looking at so many other people here today and I can see myself in some of them.”
One festival attendee, Naomi Russell, described the event as “inspiring.” She expressed her elation over having met her idol — social media influencer and Black Girl Podcast member Scottie Beam — and the advice given to her on branding herself as a young black woman.
“From the panels to the vendors, everything was run by women of color,” said Russell. “Having such an amazing event for young women in the heart of Brooklyn was so moving and a transformative experience that I will never forget.”
