Lights, Camera, Action!

Living in the Scotlandville community, I remember as a teenager, sitting in front my television, and watching live show productions go off wishing that one day I can work behind the scenes and have my name in credits. I grew singing and have always loved music, arts, and entertainment. I come from a family of musicians and talented artists for music and productions. 17 years and thousands of emails later, I now work as a Script Coordinator that allows me to touch every part of the filmmaking and live show production process. I moved to Atlanta/New York City with a hope and dream of working in the arts and didn't take "no" for an answer. I learned the importance of following up, persevering, networking, prayer, and remaining a student of my craft. Below are some of the Productions that I have worked on: 

• Tyler Perry’s “Image This” Grand Opening (Atlanta)
• Tyler Perry’s “Sistas” (Atlanta)
• WarnerMedia/Lionsgate “Love Life” (New York)
• Essence Music Festival 2014-2023 (New Orleans)
• CBS Studios/Paramount+ "Elsbeth" - Season 1 (New York)
• Nat Geo "Genius: Aretha Franklin" 
• HULU “WuTang: An American Saga” (Season 1-4)
• Morgan Creek Productions “All Eyez On Me” (Atlanta)
• BOLDEN: The Story of Buddy Bolden (Atlanta)
• BET Awards (Los Angeles)
• FOX Live “New Years Eve in Times Square”(New York)
• BET Hip Hop Awards (Atlanta)
• OneMusic Fest (2024)
• BET Soul Train Awards (Las Vegas)
• Starz “Power” (New York)
• HBO “Bessie” (Atlanta)
• HBO "The Undoing" (Atlanta)
• USA Network “Satisfaction” (Atlanta)
• Cubevision “Barbershop 3”: The Next Cut (Atlanta)
• NBC “Constantine” Pilot (Atlanta)
• Fox Series “Star” (Atlanta)
• NBC “Blacklist” (New York)
• ABC Studios “Emergence” (New York)
• Food Network “Beat Bobby Flay” (New York)
• AOL Build Series (New York)
• SoSoDef Recordings (Atlanta)
• Event Management: Planned, directed, and executed over 75 private events

In 1995, Lifetime premiered "Weddings of a Lifetime". Soon after, there was an episode  of Family Matter when Stephen Urkel proposed to Laura Winslow. I began to fall in love with weddings, which birthed by desire to be a wedding planner. In 2001, Jennifer Lopez, starred in "The Wedding Planner". In 2010, I started Color Me Beautiful Wedding Planning & Event Design (colormebeautifulweddings.com). 

Starting a business didn’t come without challenges. After packing my bags and driving to Atlanta with $1500, a connection who allowed me to rent a room for $40.00 per night, and a whole lot of prayer; I quickly realized that my plan A would quickly fall apart. The initial plan to was charge $3000 for every wedding. I participated in 2 bridal shows with an expected 5000 brides in attendance. The goal was to sign 20 of those brides. Easy, right? Not! I walked away with ZERO brides and had that $40.00 per night hotel discount was quickly coming to an end. I had to restrategize. After putting countless hours into my business, I began to understand the importance of marketing, PR, networking, and remaining a student at my craft. To date, my highest budgeted wedding was $250,000 and over 75 weddings planned. 

In 1997, my mother brought home a Compaq Deskpro 8086 computer. These were the machines that had to be powered on from the switch in the back. While internet serving was a huge deal, I was more intrigued by the inside of the computer and what made it work. At that time, I knew I wanted work with computers. The challenge I found was being a black women in Tech and not being given opportunities that were easily given to other. 20 years later, I am now an IT Project Manager having planned and executed over 700 projects from inception to completion. My primary focus with working with existing/start up physicians and implementing their IT Infrastructure. Over the years, I have worked in several IT concentrations as a black woman in Technology. What started as a hobby has become one of my most enjoyable and fulfilling careers. My desire is to educate youth in my community through arts so that they can gain an understanding of what a career in Technology would look like in their future and be inspired to embrace field where they might be a minority. My experiences are:

• IT Hardware/Software Troubleshooting
• Website Design/Development 
• IT Project Management (certified in SAFE Agile)
• IT Security and Asset Management
• Healthcare IT (EMR Implementation) 

"Service Before Self" - This is a name that was given to my from my family and friends. I was raised in a household where we were taught that it's better to give than to receive. My goal in life is to be a light in a world of darkness and to open doors for those who are underrepresented. Organizations that I've worked with include: 

• Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank 
• Junior League of East Baton Rouge Parish
• American Cancer Society 
• American Red Cross
• Urban League of Louisiana 
• Hands on Baton Rouge/Hands On Atlanta
• Books for Africa 
• Our House Atlanta 
• EBR Election Commission