Photography by @bykalia.asia, courtesy of Black Girls in Media
Where fellowship, creativity, and networking meets.
Held at the Westin in Downtown Atlanta last Saturday, August 20th, Black Girls in Media hosted their 2nd annual BGiM Conference, their first conference since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Charlotte PinC was excited to have the opportunity to attend the 1-day event filled with panels, discussions, and workshops. Created by Tasha McCaskiel, a serial entrapanuer and North Carolina A&T alum, Black Girls in Media is a worldwide community and safe space for Black and African American women creatives. The day started with prayer, followed by a get-to-know-you social and music to get the energy flowing. The atmosphere was fully indicative of the day ahead.
Photography by @bykalia.asia, courtesy of Black Girls in Media
The first panel of the day, Building your Brand, consisted of social media influencers, brand designers, and creative agency owners. It was inspiring to see so many Black women holding such high titles at their companies. Many of us attendees were in awe of how successful these young black women are. At just 27 years old, panelist Brianna Weaver (@briannajweaver) has garnered a huge following for her interior design on a budget content on YouTube, Instagram, and tik-tok, totaling a near 20,000 followers across all social media. And, in addition to content creation full time, Brianna also works for Twitter, in their advertising sales department. Another panelist Amber Kai, marketing director and CEO of Tenth Social, an influencer marketing agency, spoke about the importance of creating a plan, a mission statement, and a schedule, urging young women to treat themselves and their content as a business. This panel in particular was packed full of helpful information, tips, and tricks. The motivation that these women offered, in addition to sitting next to hungry, passionate young women in media was invigorating. I felt very lucky to have attended this.
Photography by @bykalia.asia, courtesy of Black Girls in Media
After the Building your Brand discussion was Managing and Scaling your wealth. An informative seminar focused on bookkeeping, setting your rates, and negotiating brand deals. Some of the women included on this panel were Raquel Curtis, (@theboujeebanker) a prior banker who became an international finance and business coach, Ellie Diop (@ellietalksmoney), a mother of 4 who turned her stimulus check into a seven-figure business and now coaches others on how to do the same. This session was very informative as most of us in the audience are just starting out in media, and this industry notoriously underpays Black women.
Photography by @bykalia.asia, courtesy of Black Girls in Media
Lunch and a few other panels later, our time together in Atlanta came to an end. Connections were made between attendees and panelists, and most importantly, we left with far more knowledge than we had coming in. The Black Girls in Media conference 2022 was a raging success, and you won’t want to miss the next one. Keep your eyes out for future events by BGiM, here.
