00:00You all look at her, look at her, Caroline Wang, everybody, SNCEO.
00:05Wait, you're part of the orange group.
00:09You're part of the gold group.
00:10You're giving her hours.
00:11Expensive.
00:12I'm getting expensive.
00:13It looks expensive.
00:14It looks expensive.
00:15It's comfortable.
00:16Really?
00:17Wow, can you tell us what you're wearing?
00:19So this ensemble, the beads and the skirt are by True Face by Grace.
00:23She does this wonderful work with African fabric,
00:25puts beading and different draperies around it to just create natural beauty
00:29that flows with your body.
00:30And so when we knew this event was coming,
00:32I couldn't wait to put on some of her things.
00:33She's one of my favorites.
00:34Wow, she killed that.
00:35Well, you look fantastic.
00:36And this hair was done by Shelly and we found it on Pinterest.
00:39Okay, yes, Pinterest.
00:40Pinterest has everything.
00:41It'd be inspiring to folks.
00:42If we could live in Pinterest, I would.
00:44Pinterest and Etsy, which we've had conversations about.
00:47We've had the Etsy conversations.
00:49Okay, sorry, we're focusing.
00:51Focus.
00:5215 years of Essence Black Women in Hollywood.
00:54Talk about how monumental this is.
00:56Here's the thing, right?
00:58I think there's a couple things that are really monumental about that.
01:00The first of those is, while Essence as a company and this event was founded in a time
01:04where black women weren't getting equal shine, right?
01:07And we're trying to make sure we're bringing just an equitable approach to that.
01:11The beauty is even 15 years later, as supposed equity has happened in other places,
01:15this is still relevant.
01:16Yeah.
01:17Which tells you that there's just something about when we celebrate ourselves
01:20that's different even if others do.
01:22So first of all, it's what's long lasted.
01:25We haven't run out of nominees.
01:27We've never run out of honorees.
01:28We've never had people not show up.
01:30We've never had people say it's not important on Oscar weekend when they've got 15 other things to do.
01:34So the beauty of this event is what is necessary for what we need to do with each other.
01:39The community of Village, we bring together to witness it.
01:42And what it does for the people who never got to be up on this stage,
01:45who are now seeing their fruits manifested,
01:48but also my five-year-old niece who may never know a day where black women weren't getting recognized.
01:55And I love that she gets to live in that, right?
01:57A day where that was never a struggle.
01:59It was just always there.
02:01But we were just as important for us.
02:03We don't stop celebrating us because others do.
02:05They just get to join the party.
02:07So this isn't going anywhere.
02:09And you know, one thing, a conversation that we had, and it sticks with me,
02:13and I want you to share it with people, is about showing up as your authentic self
02:16and the day that you threw away all of your cardigans.
02:20Y'all, she burned her cardigans.
02:21No, no shade to cardigan lovers.
02:23But can you talk to them about why you burned?
02:25Because I think it's important in this space, too.
02:27It is.
02:28It is.
02:29So the story that Blake is talking about, the abbreviated version is,
02:31I had a career in corporate America before I had the opportunity to come and serve here.
02:34And I had been living most of my life trying to be small and not be seen
02:38because I was worried about being different.
02:40And one of the ways in which that was happening was I had my own point of view on style.
02:43I had a way that I wanted to dress.
02:45But I thought it would be a career-limiting decision to wear what I naturally want to wear to work.
02:50I'd still be the best-dressed person in the room, be clear.
02:52Period.
02:53But I was worried that I would lose my career if I came showed up the way I wanted to.
02:57Well, I got a job where my job became helping people be authentic.
03:01And I wasn't courageous.
03:02I was afraid that I was fake.
03:04If I'm afraid to wear my real clothes, then how am I going to ask other people to do it?
03:09And so in a series of a number of things from starting my locks,
03:12one of the things I hated was all my outfits were from New York & Company.
03:16Like it was like cardigans and slacks.
03:19No hate to New York & Company.
03:20They survived my career.
03:22But when I started to do this, I realized I hate cardigans.
03:26Yeah.
03:27So you burned them?
03:28It's a solid cardigan.
03:29Was it a large fire?
03:30Waiting to exhale scene with Angela Bassett burned them.
03:32Okay.
03:33In the backyard in a suburb of Minneapolis.
03:34Wow.
03:35And now look what she has on.
03:36And now look what she has on.
03:37And I'm just as good as I was in New York.
03:38Never to wear a cardigan again, maybe.
03:39Cardigans are for those who love cardigans.
03:41Yes.
03:42Well, look, we love you.
03:43We love you and thank you.
03:44Thank you so much for inspiring us today.
03:45We will see you inside.
03:48Couldn't be more honored to serve with you guys.
03:50Bye y'all.
03:51Oh.
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