Exhibit A Nars Blush
Charcoal Ink
Where Hair, Culture & Business Mesh
Filed under Current Affairs …
Work, Life & Hair Update
I’ve been ghost for a while now thanks to the joys of having a job and somewhat of a social life. It’s been about 4 ½ months since I’ve been in Atlanta and I have to say I’m enjoying my new fresh start. I’m single, independent, and working and that’s all that matters at the moment. As far as my new job that I’m grateful to have, I don’t entirely love it but I love aspects of it. I know I don’t have to be at this job forever but since I am here I will do my best and take what I can from it to move forward in my career. Continue reading
Hair Notes: New braids without extensions
Before I got my hair done this afternoon as you can see above, I had a bit of a drama-filled day with my mum and an argument in the morning. Just another reason why I want to move out. I swear down, the family drama is wreacking havoc on my hair because it feels stressed.
I feel like there is no way out! At least I got a protective hair style to calm the stress down in my life.
Women Need to Negotiate More
I came across this great article called “Why Women Don’t Negotiate” on Forbes and let me say I can totally relate. When it comes to negotiating as far as money, I find it rather hard to do. I recently started working for a company and when it came to negotiating my salary I felt really stuck. I felt as if I couldn’t ask for more because I was scared I wasn’t going to get the job.
Right now I can kick myself for not stepping out and asking for more. I believe other aspects played a role in why I didn’t ask for more, one being I was negotiating with a man. I honestly think if it had been a woman I was negotiating with, I would have spoken up. The Forbes article states three points I agree with …
“… Women suffer economically because we fail to ask, but we’re punished for our nerve when we do ask. We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t, right?”
“Not only has our culture instilled in women a disinclination to be self-serving, when we do work up the nerve to ask, we’re likely to experience “gender blow-back”—a subtle but powerful punishment for stepping outside our cultural gender role.”
“What we need to do is learn to powerfully ask for our true market value. We can do that by starting the conversation with offers of benefits rather than requests.”
I know next time around I will be speaking up. Do you negotiate?
Whitney Houston: 9 August 1963-11 February 2012
I haven’t commented about Whitney since it happened because I’ve been processing the news, but it was such terrible news to hear she passed away on the 11th February and the funeral took place yesterday.
I remember posting about Whitney when she came to the UK in ’09 to promote Million Dollar Bill and on her X Factor performance, that voice is still there and she sang her heart out. I hate how people are dragging her name in the dirt – it is clear she loved her daughter and she is probably the best singer to have ever graced this earth.
Going to miss her.
Postponing Goals: Is This Good or Bad?
I’m two weeks into my new job which is full of new responsibilities and as much as I’m excited to be getting into my new role, I am also very overwhelmed. Yes, it’s only been two weeks but I already have a lot of work on my plate. Of course it’s going to take some time to get into this new work flow and no I’m not going to be able learn everything at the snap of a finger, but I feel this new position is going to take up most of my time. With that being said I have a list of goals I want to have accomplished by next year and I feel with this job some may need to be postponed.
The objective here is not to totally wipe out all my goals but to come up with a way to reach them in a manner that works with my new work life. I’ve come up with a list that may help me still be able to achieve my goals …
- Evaluate each goal and rate them based on which goals will take the least & most time.
- Take at least 2 days out of the week and work on one of my goals for at least 2 hours.
- Break down my bigger goals into smaller goals.
I don’t know if postponing will necessary be bad but well definitely see. What do you think?
Why families and money never mix: why moving out is the only answer
I think one of the biggest fallacies and therefore the biggest jokes of living back in African society is this idea of collectivism. Tanzania suffered hard for Nyerere’s egomaniac views on how we should all be one big happy families of citizens.
#Fail
This definitely impacted on how I have been living my life here because I feel like there are massive double standards in how family units (including mine) operate when it comes to money. I think for me, the biggest thing which has singlehandedly been the most disappointing is how my mum has treated my contributions to the family home.
There has been this kind of systematic ”you have to contribute even though you do but i will make you feel like you don’t”-ism when I have been contributing substantially to the family home for more than 1 year. There was a period of time when it was just me and my mum living at home – she hired a new driver for the house, and I was paying his salary as well as laying down money for the household food budget.
I feel like my mum does not appreciate me and what I do for the house, which I personally think has included in making it more streamlined.
This has been extremely stressful for me to be honest and one of the main reasons why I want to move out but I can’t save as much as I want if I have to pay for the household things that me and other family members use all the time.
Honestly, the stress that living at home has brought me has reached a fever-pitch. I only wish my late father was here so I could talk to him about it.
I don’t feel like my mum cares about how I feel and how I am because everything is always centred on other people in the family. Money just exacerbates the problem because it acts as a symbol as why I feel so much discord and resentment about living at home.
Business Notes: Knowing when something is not working – thoughts on hiring my first assistant
My temporary assistant for one of my businesses, my recruitment website, has finished has term as he worked for me for 5 weeks.
The key objective of me having my assistant was to increase the number of affiliate sign ups to my affiliate partner for my recruitment partner.
This objective was not reached, and it was not sucessful. Affiliate sales for January 2012 was £21 that he generated, while his salary was 800,000 TZS (£313).
That means my investment on this assistant lost £292 on my investment. Continue reading
Taking a Leap of Faith: I Got a Job!!
About two weeks ago I turned 25 and I am happy and blessed to be where I’m at in my life so far. If you’ve been following my “Taking a Leap of Faith” series you know I made a big move 3 months ago to a bigger city to pursue my career. Last year I made three goals to be achieved by the end of January of 2012… Continue reading
Business Notes: Following Up [VIDEO]
[Please click through to watch the video below that I have posted!]
