What a crazy past 4 days it has been. I’m in LA right now, but the world has gone from 0-100 in a hot second. I posted a video on Sunday and received a strong response from so many of you – and I appreciate you all for agreeing and continuing to use your voice. I am one person and I need you to stand up next.

Watching the riots, the pain, the injustice (that has been happening for centuries) come to serious fruition in 2020, during a pandemic, is shocking. I am white, I am of privilege, and I stand by all of you as angry as I am.

I WILL NOT stand by the police injustice, the wrongful convictions of people across America, and the racial injustice that has occurred for centuries.

TOP TAKEAWAYS FROM YESTERDAY ON IG LIVE WITH ACTIVIST AND YES SHE CAN FOUNDER ZANIYA LEWIS:

• While attending GWU University, the school revoked her financial aid when she received a scholarship. She believes that is because of her race, and happens to tons of other students. What can you do about that if you witness it in your school? SPEAK UP. Protest. Start a petition. Standing down will only hurt the people after you who may need help the most.
• BOOKS AND MOVIES TO READ: 

THE HATE YOU GIVE 

BECOMING

JUST MERCY

BLOODY SUNDAY

• Protesting is a start in right direction. What comes next is the power of your VOTE. If you do not vote, you lose your voice by enabling an incompetent President to continue his terrible acts of power.

I’m ALL about a beautiful handbag. I usually find ones at thrift stores or on sites like Poshmark that are available for less, so I can have more purses and save more money! Between bags that can fit my laptop and clutches that can fit just my wallet, I compiled a list of my favorites below!

It’s finally almost Summer! You know what that means? With all of this time you spent in quarantine, hopefully you cleaned out your closet a bit for something new and more in season! There’s no better place to start than with your handbag section, perhaps the most fun and beautiful section. Here’s some of the trends you should consider when looking at a new baby for the summer. 

Woven Leather 

This trend has become huge and it’s mostly utilized by Italian leather brands since they are the experts in specialized leathers! Woven style bags are woven, like a basket, but use very soft leather instead. You can find plenty of woven pieces and other handcrafted leather bags on Mirta for example, which is an artisan Italian leather making brand. They are perfect for taking into the office, or for going around with your friends (as soon as it’s safe to go out of course). Match up a beautiful woven bag with your favorite tailored suit, or just your coolest jeans, t shirt and kitten heels. You’ll get a lot of use out of this practical, but stylish item!

Puffy Pouches 

Think of a clutch bag, only puffier, like a cloud. These tasteful bags were loved by celebrities last year, and will grow in popularity through 2020, as most designers are now releasing their own version in a rainbow of colors. They are practical and stylish enough to be used during the day, and cool enough to sit under your arm during a night out hopefully soon!

XXL Totes  

Tote bags are big this year, and not just in size. Designers are using the mantra of bigger being better, and some have even created a tote that is big enough to fit a person in! Whilst these are fashionable, and highly practical in storing your belongings, they might not go down so well day-to-day. Best to save this bag for a shopping trip, and fill it with your latest purchases or better yet, a beach or weekend trip! 

The Extra Mini Bag

From large tote bags, to teeny tiny mini bags. They are barely big enough to fit anything in, but celebrities are loving this fashion accessory on the red carpet! They are just so cute! Some can even double up as a necklace, just don’t expect to be able to get your phone in there. Some argue you can fit lipsticks and keys in, but that’s about it. They aren’t very practical to be honest, but will make a great talking point when you wear them anywhere! 

In my day to day life, I spend a lot of time on the go. That might be running to a podcast interview, running to the gym, or going to dinner. I think it’s incredibly easy to lose track of your personal goals when you’re home, since you’re surrounded by food and boredom all day right? I’ve done a few posts since quarantine started explaining what I eat in a day, but when I came across Mana, I was hooked.

What would you say if I told you that you could have a complete meal with 2 ingredients that’s delicious, healthy, and isn’t some crazy secret plot to inspire you to lose weight. You’re perfect just the way you are. But we all need a bit of “me” time, and spending an hour cooking a healthy meal doesn’t always make me (or you) feel relaxed! I love to cook, but I know the pain of having 100 tasks to do, and grabbing a protein bar or an apple to fill me up. Neither are really complete meals.

Mana is a healthy meal replacement, in the complete form of a drink. I like to have Mana with some peanut butter, banana and spinach in a smoothie, but it’s just as good in water. Every serving is filled with delicious and easy ingredients, like protein and healthy fats that help keep you satisfied throughout the day.

Will you join me on the journey to making Mana monumental?

USE CODE: ALEXA10 for 10% off of your Mana, valid from June 1-3rd.

Support small businesses!

How often do you find yourself frustrated with simply getting up and working, or pursuing something? It took over 1 year to get my summit program up and running & I was completely on my own during that entire time period. 1 year is NOTHING in the startup world: after 10 years, you might need to evaluate. That being said, whether your company is instantly successful or whether it takes a few extra years to get it up and running, you never give up. Keep case studies on hand, and never stray away from doing new ones. This way, you’re constantly tracking your target demographic. The world is always changing, and you want your brand to equally adapt.

We advise you to keep your head up by making sure you’re bringing in another form of revenue is some form. Like to graphic design? Make a profile on Fiverr. Like social media? Make one on Upwork and get crankin! If this is the idea that makes you want to get up in the morning, you’ll do what it takes. Trust me!

#LiveLifeUnfiltered

Yesterday’s This is Life Unfiltered episode dove into my experience during quarantine so far. In the episode, I explain how quarantine has not been the worst experience for me. I’ve been lucky to work with brands that I wouldn’t have been working with if it wasn’t for quarantine. Since brands have budget now that they can’t spend on in-person events or on bigger partnerships, I’ve noticed many of them are back in the experimental phase of allotting budget to content creators or bloggers.

So financially, I’m okay! I’m lucky to be able to say that. I’m also saving as much money as possible, so that when the next summit comes around I’m not scrambling.

Each day is different, but the most difficult time for me is on the weekends. Once Friday at 5 PM hits to Monday at 8 AM, I’m either staring at the wall, re-watching Gossip Girl or probably eating something. My regular day-to-day is identical to the below outline:

8-9 AM: Wake up 

9-10: Drink an almond milk latte (I make these with my Nespresso), use Headspace for 10 minutes, call my dad 

10-12 PM: Emails, blog post, phone calls with people/brands whether it’s about podcast ads or sponsored opportunities 

1-3 PM: I only film podcasts in the time period because it’s when my mind feels the clearest, so likely interviewing someone for This is Life Unfiltered

I eat my first meal around 1 or 2 PM. Today I’m having a cauliflower rice and chicken stir-fry.

4-5 PM: Workout if I didn’t in the morning, edit pictures, review a case study or research new brands for Be Fearless Summit

I’ll eat dinner between 6-8 PM which is super late but my schedule is all wonked up so I don’t exactly care. Yesterday I had a double burger wrapped in lettuce with fries from Shake Shack, so that was really good.

GO TO SLEEP! By 11 PM. 

#LiveLifeUnfiltered

EPISODE 121: As you know, COVID-19 has affected many small businesses, including many creatives and freelancers. While it may feel stressful and overwhelming, no one is in this alone. I had to postpone the next Be Fearless Summit(which means I lost a decent amount of money!) but when you’re an entrepreneur, you have to be ready for things to turn quickly 😉 Tune into Ep.121 below to hear more on how I am dealing with the pandemic as a young entrepreneur.

 #tilu #thisislifepodcast

Relentless: constant; incessant

Resilient: able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions

Rejection: Alexa Curtis

Just kidding! The definition of rejection is the dismissing or refusing or a particular proposal or idea.

Yesterday I got a direct message asking me how many times I followed up with Disney to get them to say yes to my show. If you read my Fearless Friday’s post last week, you’ll understand how many highs and lows I faced to get the final yes. That time period was not easy, and when I wrote back my answer to her question, I used the 3 R’s.

I was relentless with follow-up. My manager Eileen was the one calling Disney every single day for 6 months, and if she forgot to call one day, I’d ask her to make sure she called. I was glad I had a manager because otherwise I would’ve felt seriously alone during that process, more than I already did! Even if she got put to voicemail, she’d leave a message asking for a call back. When it comes to my daily pitching of ideas that isn’t related to getting a show… if I don’t hear back, I always send follow-up emails and then will call after that if I’ve had no luck on email.

I became resilient during that process. I’ve always been good at bouncing back from disappointment and rejection in my business career because I’ve faced SO MUCH of it! That doesn’t mean I get rejected and feel happy about rejection. It just means I know that something better is always around the corner.  You must be resilient to get successful, and therefore not take the negative situations in business personally. Sometimes, things just aren’t meant to be.

Rejection. Ahh, one of my favorite words. Rejection doesn’t get easier, you get stronger. Once you have an understanding of the first two words I described, the rejection gets easier. I appreciate that hopefully you see some of the success I have had an am having in my career today, but it wasn’t always like this. I also feel like I have so much more to do and not enough time in the day, or my life. It’s hard and frustrating to be a business owner.

The journey, and the yes’ you will get after you fall down, are worth every moment of doubt along the way.

I moved to a new apartment over the weekend a few blocks away from where I was living. This move was equally stemmed by almost setting my entire apartment on fire from my air fryer a few weeks ago, along needing more space since I think I’ll be working from home for a while.

I signed the lease day of, and wow, it feels nice to have a change of scenery AND a balcony! I feel lucky.

Whenever you move into a new apartment, there’s a ton of paperwork you have to sign. My landlord has been coming over what seems like every few hours with a new piece of paper that requires a signature, and yesterday she mentioned to me how much her son was struggling with finding job happiness. She asked if I’d speak with him to give him some ideas for other ways to bring in money that was different from his current job. I said yes!

The conversation I had with her got me thinking. I know so many of you have missed out on graduation parties, a graduation day, and even the daily conversation you have with your friend or colleague over morning coffee. Me too! I didn’t go to college so I can’t relate to that aspect, but I know what FOMO feels like. I’ve missed out on my own events, and that’s not fun.

There’s an unfortunate reality right now. You’ll never get those days back that you couldn’t walk across your stage or pop a bottle of champagne outside your college. But you can make new memories.

What I can tell you is that you are not the only one in your position. I am constantly trying to remind people, friends and colleagues who I speak with, that it doesn’t matter whether you’re me, Kim Kardashian, or Bill Gates. They’re all in quarantine too, missing out on equal fun days. This won’t be for forever. It’s not your fault if you’re struggling, financially or mentally. This wasn’t and should never have happened in 2020, and it’s unfortunate that it happened during spring with so many graduations and weddings planned.

The next time you find yourself deep in a mental hole of frustration, remind yourself to be KIND. Something I learned in therapy is that when negative thoughts come in to my mind, I have to have a conversation with my own brain (weird, right? this technique works) to tell myself to turn those thoughts off and let positive ones come through.

I’m going to post a podcast episode next week on how I’ve been dealing with quarantine myself, but for now I wanted to leave you with these 6 ways to stay positive.

• Have a conversation with yourself about what you want in life. Job happiness, a lot of money, nice friends. When those frustrated thoughts come to mind, talk back to yourself. You deserve a mind that supports you!

• Fill your safe space (bedroom, your fridge, bathroom) with sticky notes. Care Bears posted this technique today on Instagram! 

• Listen to podcasts. Whenever I’m frustrated, I always put on an episode of NPR’s How I Built This with Guy Raz. Founders, myself included, have had such crazy struggles on the route to success that it might inspire you to keep pushing forward by hearing what other business owner’s have dealt with.

• Don’t talk to people who are negative. I’ve got a few friends who go deep into COVID discussions, and I have to be honest, I just don’t care about listening to death stats. If I don’t want to listen on the news, I don’t want to hear it from you over FaceTime wine hour. If you’re getting people talking to you too often about the negative things, kindly remind them that you have access to CNN and NPR for when you want to hear the news.

• Occupy yourself. I’ve heard so many of you say you’re bored, and I totally understand. Come Friday at 5 PM, I find myself bored and frustrated too. Though there isn’t much to do, you can allow yourself a few extra minutes (or hours) at Target or your grocery store if it makes you feel a little less anxious.

• Host a Zoom with your friends. I’ve been popping on to Zoom calls with young adults who have been reaching out to me with questions, and I love them all! I walk away feeling inspired just by talking and hearing new ideas. You will too!

LAND YOUR DREAM JOB DURING QUARANTINE WITH CNBC’S JULIA BOORSTIN: