With millions watching, Courtney Adanna has mastered the internet. Now, the Nigerian-American creator is rewriting the rules of influence, embracing her evolution, and preparing for a future that extends far beyond the screen. Words by Angel Neal, Editor-in-Chief Photography Courtesy of Courtney There is something particularly fascinating about a woman who understands that her greatest asset is simply being herself. Social media and the creative industry can often be fueled by algorithms, fleeting trends, and the relentless pursuit of relevance. Courtney Adanna, better known to millions as Courtreezy, has discovered a formula that cannot be manufactured: authenticity. And while the digital landscape continues to reinvent itself, the Nigerian-American content creator has managed to do something increasingly rare, grow an audience without outgrowing herself. “I always just think of it like I'm the niche,” she tells DISRUPSHION. “So whatever I choose to do is what you'll see and what you'll enjoy.” It's a declaration that feels less like internet bravado and more like the quiet confidence of a woman who has finally realized her own power. For Courtney, that confidence wasn't built overnight. Long before the millions of subscribers, coveted industry invitations, and a memorable appearance on the Grammy Awards red carpet, there was a young girl in Houston, Texas, uploading YouTube videos while navigating the awkward realities of adolescence. She was in eighth grade when she began creating content, inspired by the personalities she watched religiously after school. The idea that ordinary people could build extraordinary communities through a camera fascinated her. She wanted in. “I was always obsessed with other YouTubers growing up,” she recalls. “Before I knew it could be a job, I wanted it to be my job.” But ambition, particularly when expressed at a young age, doesn't always receive applause. Courtney remembers classmates making fun of her videos and people questioning whether her dreams would ever materialize. Today, when she reflects on that younger version of herself, there's no bitterness, only admiration. “I’m actually still persevered and living out the dreams that I had as a kid,” she says. And that is where the real Courtreezy story begins: not with virality, but with conviction. For a generation raised alongside social media, the line between personal identity and public persona can become dangerously blurred. Courtney, however, has learned to navigate that distinction with remarkable self-awareness. Her audience knows her for her animated reactions, sharp humor, and cultural commentary. Yet behind the larger-than-life delivery is a woman who has become increasingly selective about what she shares. “I think I've just evolved and grown up as a person,” she explains. “I think I just take things less personally.” That maturity has also changed her relationship with visibility. While oversharing has practically become a form of digital currency, Courtney never subscribed to the idea that accessibility should come at the expense of privacy. “I never made it a standard to show every part of myself,” she says, explaining that her audience has consequently never expected unlimited access to her personal life. It's a boundary that has served her well. And although she acknowledges that certain story times from her earlier YouTube years are no longer content she would create today, she refuses to dismiss the young woman who made them. Revisiting those videos recently brought an unexpected sense of pride. Yes, she admits, there was a little cringing at her younger, more dramatic self. But there was also gratitude for the girl who had the courage to begin. Her proudest memory remains reaching one million subscribers and celebrating the milestone with her family. For Courtney, the numbers represented something greater than popularity. They were proof that a childhood dream could become a reality. The internet has a peculiar habit of making stars overnight and forgetting them just as quickly. But Courtreezy's staying power has little to do with chasing the next viral moment. Instead, she has remained committed to the platform that introduced her to the world. “I didn't give up on the thing that made me, me,” she says. While countless creators have shifted their attention toward bite-sized content and ever changing social platforms, Courtney continues to believe in the power of longform storytelling. YouTube remains her foundation, not simply because it built her career, but because it allows her audience to experience more than a fleeting glimpse of her personality. And that connection is something she refuses to take for granted. Interestingly, as her subscriber count has climbed into the millions, her definition of success has shifted in the opposite direction. “I really don't care for the numbers anymore,” she admits. Her priority now is rebuilding the intimate sense of community that made her fall in love with creating in the first place. It's a refreshing perspective in an industry where success is often measured by engagement rates, follower counts, and digital impressions. For Courtney, the relationship matters more than the reach. Her Nigerian-American upbringing has also played an undeniable role in shaping the personality audiences have come to love. Raised in Houston and surrounded by Nigerian culture, she credits her parents and siblings with influencing her humor and storytelling. “I feel like I even tell stories like a Nigerian,” she laughs. The dramatic delivery, expressive reactions, and larger-than-life energy that define her content are, in many ways, simply extensions of home. But beneath the humor lies an understanding that her voice carries weight. When her channel experienced a major breakthrough in 2020, Courtney began to recognize that the things she said online could resonate far beyond her bedroom. “My voice is actually really important,” she reflects. That realization encouraged her to become more conscious of the messages she shares. Her goal, she explains, has always been to make people smile or brighten someone's day rather than use her platform to tear others down. For a Black woman navigating an internet that often expects her to be endlessly entertaining, outspoken, and available, this perspective is particularly meaningful. There was a time when Courtney felt pressured to make every video louder, funnier, and more dramatic than the last. Eventually, she realized that her audience wasn't simply subscribing to a format. They were subscribing to her. And that changed everything. For years, digital creators occupied a complicated space within the entertainment industry, commanding enormous audiences while still fighting for recognition from traditional Hollywood. Courtney understands that contradiction firsthand. She remembers moments when introducing herself as a YouTuber came with a slight hesitation, worried that others might not consider it a legitimate profession. But experience has given her a different perspective. “I've realized that I'm my own producer, director, editor, and actor. Like I am doing it all,” she explains. Her appearance at the Grammy Awards, courtesy of YouTube, offered a particularly memorable reminder of just how far the creator economy has come. Standing on the red carpet, surrounded by the machinery of music's biggest night, Courtney found herself reflecting on the unlikely journey that brought her there. “I could not believe that making YouTube videos in my room got me to this red carpet at the Grammys,” she recalls. It was surreal, certainly. But it also felt like confirmation that she belonged in spaces she once viewed as entirely separate from her world. And while Hollywood recognition is exciting, Courtney isn't interested in being celebrated solely for what she has already accomplished. She has much bigger plans. “My biggest goal in life is to be an award-winning actress,” she reveals. It's a dream that predates Courtreezy itself. As a child, she remembers begging her parents to relocate the family from Houston to Hollywood, convinced that Los Angeles held the key to her future in entertainment. Today, acting remains at the top of her aspirations, with film, television, and potentially hosting all parts of the picture. But unlike aspiring performers who wait for the perfect opportunity, Courtney has spent her entire career learning how to create her own. “What if I make my own short film one day?” she wonders aloud. “I'm honestly just not waiting for anyone to give me opportunities.” It's a mindset that feels particularly fitting for a woman whose career began with little more than a camera and an idea. If Courtney's early career was defined by persistence, her current chapter appears to be defined by discernment. As her visibility increased, so did the invitations, projects, and possibilities. For a time, she admits, watching other creators receive major opportunities left her questioning why similar doors weren't opening for her. But when those doors eventually did open, she discovered an unexpected truth: not every invitation deserved an acceptance. The more she said yes, the more she risked neglecting the very work that had created those opportunities in the first place. “I think it's okay if you don't do everything,” she says. It's a simple observation, but one that speaks to a larger evolution in her relationship with ambition. Courtney is no longer interested in appearing everywhere merely because she can. She's interested in being where she's supposed to be. To maintain that clarity, she has become protective of her solitude. Her mornings and evenings often include time away from social media, while Mondays are reserved for reflection, reviewing goals, and reconnecting with herself. That stillness is also deeply connected to her faith. “I also think that alone time allows me to hear God's voice louder,” she shares. Having previously lived in Los Angeles fulltime, Courtney understands how easily the noise of opportunity can drown out personal direction. Now, she is learning to trust the difference between what looks impressive and what actually aligns with the life she wants to build. It's a subtle but significant shift, from wanting every door to open to knowing which ones are worth walking through. There is a certain freedom that comes with realizing you don't have to remain the person the world first fell in love with. For Courtney, that freedom means allowing herself to explore new creative identities without abandoning the platform that made them possible. She wants to act. She wants to create. She wants to continue building a community. And perhaps most importantly, she wants to enjoy the process. When asked what she hopes her life will look like five years from now, she imagines a future filled with films, television projects, possible awards, and opportunities to stretch herself artistically. But her vision isn't rooted exclusively in accolades. “I want to evolve and be more than just someone making YouTube videos in their room,” she says. She is equally adamant that YouTube will always remain part of her story. The girl who once hurried home from school to watch strangers share their lives online has become the woman millions now tune in to watch. And yet, when asked what advice she would give someone hoping to follow in her footsteps, Courtney doesn't recommend an expensive camera, a perfectly curated brand strategy, or waiting for the ideal moment. “You have a phone, use it,” she says. “Open up that camera and just start recording.” It's the same philosophy that launched her own journey: begin with what you have, believe in what you're creating, and allow the rest to unfold. As our conversation comes to a close, I ask Courtney to describe the version of herself the world is about to meet. Her answer arrives in three words: fearless, confident, and determined. And just maybe, that's the most compelling thing about Courtreezy's next chapter. She's no longer simply the young girl hoping the internet will notice her. She's a woman who knows exactly who she is, and is giving herself permission to become everything else. The world has already met Courtreezy. Now, it's time to meet Courtney Adanna.

From Tyler Perry's Doing Life to her breakout role in G.R.I.T.S., actress Jasmine Sargent is embracing the beauty of perseverance, trusting her instincts, and stepping into her next chapter on her own terms. Words By Angel Neal | Disrupshion Magazine Photography by Brian Jones In Hollywood, the idea of an overnight success is often more fiction than reality. Behind every breakthrough performance are years of auditions, unanswered opportunities, moments of uncertainty, and the quiet determination to keep going when the spotlight feels impossibly far away. For actress Jasmine Sargent, the journey has been anything but instantaneous. Yet, with a growing résumé that includes ALLBLK's G.R.I.T.S. — Girls Raised in the South, appearances in Tyler Perry's Beauty in Black and House of Payne, and a role in his Netflix drama Doing Life, Sargent is finding herself in a season where patience and preparation are finally meeting opportunity. And while the world may be beginning to take notice, the actress is still catching up with the reality of it all. "I am 1000% still processing," she tells Disrupshion. "It's like I know what's happening, but I don't really feel what's happening. I'm just in the moment. It hasn't hit me yet. I don't know if it ever will." Perhaps that's the beauty of arriving at a destination you've spent years working toward. Sometimes the moment feels so surreal that all you can do is live in it. In Tyler Perry's Doing Life, which premiered globally on Netflix on October 2, Sargent steps into the role of Lisa, the protective older sister of Anika, a woman navigating difficult circumstances and complicated relationships. The film explores survival, redemption, and the possibility of finding love and purpose after life has taken an unexpected turn. For Sargent, those themes struck a particularly personal chord. Growing up, she witnessed how mistakes made early in life could follow people well into adulthood, shaping their opportunities and futures long after the original circumstances had passed. "I've known a lot of people to get in trouble for doing things that they shouldn't have done at a very young age, and that has now impacted them as an adult," she explains. Photography by Credit: Quantrell Colbert/Perry Well Films 2/Netflix That connection made the story feel familiar before she ever stepped in front of the camera. As Lisa, Sargent portrays a woman whose love for her younger sister occasionally manifests as tough criticism. Her intentions are rooted in protection, even when her delivery is less than gentle. "She's a protective older sister, and she wants the best for her sister," Sargent says. "It may not always have the best approach, but she ultimately wants the best for her." For the actress, bringing Lisa to life required more than simply memorizing lines. One particularly intense family scene challenged her ability to access difficult emotions within the demanding pace of production. The experience also reinforced something she believes deeply: people deserve the opportunity to grow beyond their mistakes. "Having a second chance means everything to me, because not a lot of people get it right the first time," she says. "I just don't believe that one person should be defined solely on their past." It's a sentiment that extends beyond the film's fictional world. In many ways, Sargent's own career has been shaped by the courage to keep trying. Becoming a familiar face within the Tyler Perry universe is no small accomplishment. With appearances across multiple productions, Sargent has gained firsthand experience working within one of entertainment's most prolific creative environments. But those opportunities didn't happen overnight. For five to six years, she consistently auditioned for Perry's projects before gaining the momentum she had worked so hard to achieve. "When I finally got a hit on one, then I started really seeing momentum," she recalls. "People think that it's a sudden thing, and for some people it can be, but that's usually not most people's journey and it wasn't mine either."The process taught her that timing matters just as much as talent. "Everything is done in stages and everything has always made sense for me," she reflects. Working on Perry's famously fast moving sets has also sharpened her instincts as an actress. Rather than overthinking every creative decision, she's learned to trust her preparation and embrace the authenticity of her first reaction. "It's 1,000% taught me to trust my instincts," she says. "Your first one is usually the best one, because that's the one that was innate." That confidence didn't always come naturally. The intensity of shooting emotionally demanding material in a condensed timeframe initially felt intimidating, but each experience helped her recognize just how capable she had become. "I was much more prepared than I thought I was. And that alone just made me a stronger actress."For Sargent, the lesson is simple: preparation creates confidence, but trusting yourself allows that preparation to become something powerful. Before Doing Life, audiences connected with Sargent through her portrayal of Keisha in ALLBLK's G.R.I.T.S. — Girls Raised in the South. The role offered something especially meaningful: an opportunity to revisit pieces of her own childhood."Playing Keisha allowed me to live out my childhood again. My childhood, my teenage years, because Keisha and myself have so many similarities," she shares. Like her character, Sargent grew up loving roller skating. The rink was where she experienced her first boyfriend, her first kiss, and some of the formative moments that would become part of her personal story. Beyond those nostalgic connections, she recognized herself in Keisha's ambition to leave a small town in pursuit of something greater. "I had big dreams of moving out of a small town to pursue dreams bigger than myself," she says. There were also deeper emotional parallels. Keisha's experiences with grief mirrored feelings Sargent had navigated in her own life, allowing her to approach the character from a place of genuine understanding. For an actress building a career through characters who reflect pieces of her own identity, Keisha became more than another credit. She represented the girl Sargent once was and the dreams she refused to abandon. Success stories often celebrate the moment everything finally works out. Rarely do they dwell on the moments when giving up feels like the only reasonable option. Sargent knows those moments intimately. During our conversation, she reveals that she has questioned whether acting was truly meant for her on more than one occasion. "I've had, like, two moments like that," she admits. One particularly difficult period left her wondering whether she should continue pursuing the industry at all. It was a close friend who helped her regain perspective, reminding her of her talent, her purpose, and everything she still had ahead of her. "That's very important to who you keep around you because she could have been the one that kind of pushed me over the edge, but she was actually the one that pulled me back." Then came a remarkable turn. Approximately one week after that conversation, Sargent booked her first leading role in a feature film. The experience changed the way she views disappointment, particularly when speaking with other artists who feel exhausted by the pursuit of their dreams. "You're getting to that breaking point because you're literally getting ready to hit that peak," she explains. It's a perspective that feels especially relevant in an industry where rejection is routine and certainty is rarely guaranteed. Sometimes the breakthrough isn't preceded by confidence. Sometimes it arrives just after you've questioned everything. For Sargent, that realization has become a reminder to keep showing up. While her acting career continues to expand, Sargent is already imagining what comes next. And she's thinking big. "I'm very hungry to be a superhero," she reveals. "And I am very hungry to star in a sitcom." But not just any sitcom. "I want my own syndicated sitcom. I see it for myself already. I know it's gonna happen. I don't know if I'm gonna have to write it, but that is what I ultimately want for my career." It's the kind of declaration that speaks to an artist who is no longer waiting for permission to dream beyond the opportunities currently in front of her. Her ambitions also extend into commercial work. Recently, she appeared alongside Grammy winning artist Lil Jon in a national campaign for the Hyundai Palisade Hybrid, an experience she describes as nostalgic, energetic, and rooted in HBCU culture. Between the music, fashion, and lively atmosphere, the production offered a different creative experience from her film and television work. Outside the spotlight, however, Sargent's pleasures are refreshingly simple: time alone, catching up with friends, listening to audiobooks, lighting candles, and spending time with her elderly dog. Her approach to fashion is equally intuitive. Rather than defining herself through one signature aesthetic, she prefers to dress according to how she's feeling. "Sometimes I like a little heel, sometimes I like a little sneaker," she says. That freedom to move between different versions of herself reflects an actress who isn't particularly interested in being boxed in on-screen or off. As the conversation turns toward success, Sargent's definition is refreshingly grounded. For her, the ultimate achievement isn't simply fame, accolades, or being recognized in public. It's the freedom to earn a living doing something she genuinely loves. "Success for me is just making money doing what I love, feeling comfortable, and not feeling like my job is work," she says. It's an uncomplicated ambition, but one that speaks volumes about the life she's working to create. With Doing Life introducing her to Netflix audiences around the world, Sargent is looking ahead with renewed confidence. She's hopeful for a second season of G.R.I.T.S., has upcoming holiday commercial appearances, and is ready to embrace more mature roles as her career evolves. So, what does she call this next chapter? "I am stepping into my boss era," she declares. "I'm ready to show that side of me." And while she can't predict every opportunity waiting around the corner, she seems perfectly comfortable leaving room for the unexpected. "Only God knows the rest." That's what makes Jasmine Sargent's story so compelling. She's not presenting a perfectly packaged narrative of instant success. She's an actress who has experienced doubt, leaned on her community, learned to trust her instincts, and continued pursuing her dreams even when the outcome was uncertain. When asked what advice she would give a young girl watching her journey and wondering whether she could accomplish something similar, Sargent doesn't hesitate. "I would tell her that you absolutely can do it, because it's been done so many times before, and that you can do it even bigger." For Jasmine Sargent, the next chapter isn't simply about getting another chance. It's about recognizing what she's capable of doing with the opportunities she's earned. And if her determination is any indication, her story is only getting started. Tyler Perry's Doing Life is now streaming on Netflix.

Inside The Dorian Jihad Collective, emerging models Veronique, Jessica Sonia, and Adama are redefining what it means to make their mark in fashion. The runway may only last a few minutes, but the stories behind the faces walking it are often years in the making. As another season of New York Fashion Week comes to a close, the conversation surrounding fashion continues to evolve beyond the collections themselves. Behind every carefully constructed look is an individual carrying her own ambitions, experiences, and definition of success. For The Dorian Jihad Collective, the runway became more than a showcase of fashion. It was a platform for individuality, cultural expression, and emerging talent, bringing together models whose journeys are as distinctive as the looks they wore. Among those faces were Veronique, a nurse balancing the demands of healthcare with her growing modeling career; Jessica Sonia, a Las Vegas based model whose NYFW experience marked a significant personal milestone; and Adama, a West African model whose cultural heritage remains central to her identity and artistic expression. Though their paths into fashion differ, all three share a common understanding: modeling is about far more than being seen. It's about owning your story, embracing your individuality, and having the confidence to take up space. In an exclusive conversation with Disrupshion Magazine, the three rising models reflect on the experiences shaping their careers, the lessons they've learned, and what comes next. VERONIQUE The Art of Balance: A Life of Purpose, Passion, and Possibility For Veronique, the worlds of healthcare and high fashion may appear to exist on opposite ends of the professional spectrum, but both require discipline, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to one's purpose. By day, she dedicates herself to caring for others as a nurse. Beyond the hospital walls, she steps into another demanding environment, one defined by castings, cameras, and catwalks. Rather than viewing these careers as competing ambitions, Veronique sees them as complementary expressions of who she is. Her journey challenges the notion that success must be confined to a single profession. DISRUPSHION: As a nurse and an emerging model, how do you balance a career centered around caring for others with pursuing your passion for fashion? VERONIQUE: Balancing a demanding nursing career with the fast-paced world of fashion is an incredible feat that requires strategic scheduling, clear boundaries, and a strong sense of purpose. While nursing centers on selflessness and clinical care, modeling offers a creative outlet for self-expression, creating a unique synergy where both careers can fuel each other. The non-traditional hours of nursing are a big asset when booking modeling gigs, castings, and test shoots. I try to group my 12-hour shifts together to create four consecutive days off for modeling. I save my PTO for fashion weeks, modeling gigs, and multi-day campaigns. I also prioritize self-care. Both professions are physically demanding. One requires hours on your feet in scrubs, and the other requires hours in heels or under heavy lights. I protect my sleep and have mandatory buffer days to rest. DISRUPSHION: What has working in healthcare taught you about confidence, discipline, and resilience that you now bring into the modeling industry? VERONIQUE: Working in nursing teaches profound lessons in confidence, discipline, and resilience that translate directly into the challenges of the modeling industry. Confidence is built on competence and split-second decision making in nursing. Standing firmly by clinical judgments, communicating clearly with patients, and managing high-stress emergencies forces me to trust my instincts completely. In modeling, this translates into a grounded, unshakeable presence. Walking into a crowded casting call or stepping onto a high fashion set requires the same level of self-assurance. When confidence comes from overcoming real world pressure, rejections or critical feedback during auditions are much easier to navigate. Discipline is a matter of safety and precision in nursing. It means adhering to strict protocols, managing exhausting shift schedules, and maintaining meticulous attention to detail to ensure patient wellbeing. In modeling, the industry demands a similar level of rigorous professionalism. From maintaining physical stamina and skin health to arriving punctually for call times, the work ethic learned on a hospital floor translates into being highly reliable, organized, and focused on set. Resilience is forged through emotional endurance in nursing. I witness difficult situations, manage long hours, and must quickly bounce back to care for the next patient. In modeling, rejection is a constant element of the business. The emotional resilience developed in nursing provides vital perspective, allowing me to separate my personal self-worth from a casting director's decision. Ultimately, both fields require an incredible amount of stamina and a strong sense of self, making the core virtues of nursing highly transferable to the creative world. DISRUPSHION: As your modeling career continues to grow, what do you hope people take away from seeing someone successfully pursue two very different paths? VERONIQUE: I love this question because it hits at the core of what drives me. If there is one thing I hope people take away from watching someone navigate two completely different professional worlds, it is that you never have to compress yourself into a single box to fit someone else's definition of success. We are often told, especially early in our careers, that we have to choose a single lane and stick to it if we want to be taken seriously. But human beings are naturally multifaceted. You can be deeply analytical, technical, or business-minded, while also being highly creative, expressive, and passionate about aesthetics. One path doesn't dilute the other; in fact, they often feed and balance each other. Ultimately, a successful career path doesn't have to follow a traditional, straight line. You can build a fulfilling life by stitching together different passions, even if they seem completely unrelated to an outside observer. For Veronique, the message is clear: ambition does not have to come with limitations. Whether wearing scrubs or stepping onto the runway, she is proof that purpose and passion can coexist. JESSICA SONIA From Las Vegas to New York: A Dream Finds Its Runway Some dreams take years to materialize. Others arrive in a whirlwind of bright lights, backstage excitement, and the unmistakable energy of New York Fashion Week. For Jessica Sonia, traveling from Las Vegas to New York wasn't simply another professional opportunity. It was a chance to step into the fashion world she had envisioned for herself. From the anticipation backstage to the exhilaration of walking in front of an audience, Jessica experienced the magic of NYFW from multiple perspectives, both as a model and a front-row guest. And while the experience marked an important milestone, she is already looking toward the possibilities ahead. DISRUPSHION: You recently walked in several celebrity-filled NYFW shows. What was that experience like, and which moment made you feel your modeling career was truly moving forward? JESSICA SONIA: Walking in New York Fashion Week was an absolute dream come true! Just being backstage, getting glammed up, and experiencing New York for the first time was an unforgettable event. I wish I could relive it all over again. It was a moment I'll never forget, being behind the scenes with the other models, taking pictures, getting featured in interviews, magazines, and even on the runway, where I felt the spotlight on me. That's when it all hit me, I had made it to New York Fashion Week! DISRUPSHION: You also experienced NYFW as a guest. How did observing the shows from the audience influence your understanding of fashion, presentation, and your role as a model? JESSICA SONIA: Being a guest at NYFW was an incredible honor. Sitting in the front row of VIP, I had the privilege of watching the beautiful masterpieces. Being in the audience opened my eyes to a more creative perspective on life. I saw fashion from the designers' eyes, the photographer's perspective, the makeup artist's artistry, and even the models' unique viewpoints. This experience inspired me to be more creative in my own work. DISRUPSHION: As an emerging model building momentum in the industry, what do you hope designers, casting directors, and readers of Disrupshion Magazine remember most about you? JESSICA SONIA: I genuinely hope everyone remembers me as the girl who made her dreams come true. Traveling all the way from Las Vegas, this is just the beginning. I hope everyone remembers my journey, my spirit, and my name. This isn't the last you'll hear from Jessica Sonia! There's a refreshing optimism in Jessica's approach to the industry. While fashion can be notoriously competitive, she is choosing to embrace every milestone as an opportunity for growth. Her New York Fashion Week debut may have been a dream realized, but if her determination is any indication, it's only the opening chapter. ADAMA Rooted in Heritage, Walking With Purpose For Adama, fashion is more than an opportunity to wear beautiful clothes. It's a space to celebrate identity, honor heritage, and communicate a story without speaking a single word. As a West African model, she approaches the runway with a deep connection to her cultural roots, allowing her background to inform the confidence and authenticity she brings to every appearance. Her participation in The Dorian Jihad Collective offered an opportunity to step outside her comfort zone while embracing the creative possibilities of fashion. Experiencing NYFW from both the runway and the front row also gave her a renewed appreciation for the many artistic voices that bring a collection to life. DISRUPSHION: As a West African model, how does your heritage influence the way you express yourself on the runway? ADAMA: My West African heritage is a huge part of who I am, and I carry that with me every time I step onto the runway. It gives me a sense of pride, strength, confidence, and authenticity. I want people to feel my culture and my story through the way I walk, carry myself, and express my personality. For me, modeling is not just about the clothes, it's about the woman wearing them and the story she represents. DISRUPSHION: What did walking in The Dorian Jihad Collective mean to you, and what moment from the show stands out most? ADAMA: Walking for The Dorian Jihad Collective was such a special experience for me. It gave me the opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone, express myself creatively, and be part of something bigger than just a fashion show. One of the moments that stands out the most was stepping onto that runway and feeling the energy from the audience. Seeing everything come together after all the preparation was a moment I'll never forget. I was truly proud of myself and grateful to be part of the team. DISRUPSHION: This season, you experienced NYFW both on the runway and seated front row. How did those two perspectives shape your appreciation of fashion? ADAMA: Experiencing New York Fashion Week from both sides gave me a completely different appreciation for fashion. Being on the runway allowed me to feel the energy, pressure, and excitement firsthand, while sitting front row gave me the opportunity to really observe the creativity, storytelling, and details behind each collection. Experiencing both perspectives reminded me that fashion is so much more than what we see, it's art, expression, culture, and collaboration. It made me even more excited about my journey as a model and what's ahead. Adama's perspective is a reminder that the power of fashion often lies in the stories it allows people to tell. With her heritage serving as both inspiration and foundation, she is carving out a space where culture and creativity move together. THE NEXT GENERATION ISN'T WAITING FOR PERMISSION There is no singular blueprint for becoming a model, just as there is no one definition of success. For Veronique, it means proving that a career in healthcare doesn't have to exist at the expense of a creative dream. For Jessica Sonia, it means turning a journey from Las Vegas into a defining New York Fashion Week moment. And for Adama, it means carrying the pride of her West African heritage into every room and onto every runway she enters. Three women. Three different journeys. One shared determination to be seen for more than the clothes they wear. Through The Dorian Jihad Collective, their stories found a platform during one of fashion's most celebrated weeks. Yet what makes these emerging faces worth watching isn't simply their participation in NYFW. It's the individuality, perspective, and ambition they bring to an industry that continues to evolve. Because long after the runway lights dim and the final look disappears backstage, the stories of the people who brought those collections to life remain. And for Veronique, Jessica Sonia, and Adama, those stories are only beginning.

Beyond the punchlines, couture, and viral moments, O’Neil Thomas is rewriting what it means to be a modern creative icon. There is an art to being unforgettable. Some master it through fashion. Others through humor, music, or the ability to command a room without saying a word. O’Neil Thomas has found a way to do all four. Photography By: Folajimi @f0lajimi Words By EIC: Angel Neal @angel_stylistbehavior Fashion Stylist: Mickey Freeman @mickeyboooom Assistant stylist: Kris Fraser @krisfashion1 In the entertainment today, somehow along the way we’ve all become a little obsessed with categories, Thomas is proving that the most interesting creatives are often the ones who refuse to fit neatly into any of them. He is funny, unapologetically dramatic, fashion-forward, and increasingly fearless. His comedic sketches have reached millions, his cultural commentary has sparked conversations far beyond social media, and his theatrical approach to personal style has caught the attention of some of entertainment's most influential tastemakers. But beneath the couture, punchlines, and internet notoriety is something far more compelling: a storyteller learning to trust every dimension of his creativity. For Thomas, evolution has required stepping away from the very thing that made him recognizable. “I think for me, it's so easy to use comedy as that way to welcome in new people because that's my comfort,” he tells Disrupshion. “As a creative, there are things that I am a bit more at this point in my life, I’ll be honest, scared of trying out because of the fear of it not resonating in the same way.” That fear, however, has become less of a limitation and more of an invitation.“Being able to kind of step out of that box and allow myself just to dive in first and just see what happens, it's been one of the most rewarding things. As I push forward to reach my true potential.” And perhaps that is where the real story begins. The internet has an interesting relationship with fame. It can turn an ordinary moment into a cultural phenomenon overnight, but it can also make it difficult for the person behind that moment to become anything else. Thomas knows this duality intimately. Named one of Instagram's 2024 Creators of Tomorrow, the professionally trained actor and comedic creator has cultivated a devoted following through sharp observations, character-driven sketches, and an unmistakable personality. His popularity has reached the point where even a vacation is no longer entirely anonymous. During a recent trip to Jamaica, Thomas recalls being recognized by several people, only to return home to messages from others who had spotted him but were too shy to approach. The growing visibility is exciting, but what means more to him is the audience's willingness to embrace his evolution. “Personally, as a creative, I can't just keep seeing myself in one thing,” he explains. “I feel like we're all multi-hyphenated people. And that's not a bad thing. Do what feeds you.” It is a deceptively simple declaration in an industry that has historically rewarded predictability. For years, traditional entertainment operated through carefully defined lanes. The actors acted. Musicians sang. Comedians made people laugh. Social media creators were often expected to remain on their platforms until someone with institutional influence deemed them worthy of something bigger. Thomas belongs to a generation challenging that arrangement. “For the longest time in old Hollywood and traditional Hollywood and spaces, we constantly had to beg to be seen. We had to beg to be considered.” He pauses on the question that has increasingly shaped his approach to his career. “Why am I working so hard to hopefully be seen and be at this table when I can just create my own?” It is not simply about independence. It is about ownership of the narrative, the opportunity, and ultimately, the person he wants to become. Thomas's latest creative chapter arrives through music, with his interpretations of Labrinth's “All For Us” and “When I R.I.P.,” two emotionally charged selections from HBO's Euphoria soundtrack. For an entertainer whose audience largely associates him with comedy, the project represents a deliberate departure. The inspiration was deeply personal. Thomas remembers discovering Labrinth through Euphoria and being struck by the way the music became an essential part of the show's storytelling. More than background accompaniment, the soundtrack carried its own emotional narrative. He was equally moved by the artist behind it. “It was so welcoming and comforting seeing someone who looks like me, who also has a sound that is so different and so outside the norm,” Thomas shares. Labrinth's ability to turn musical individuality into an artistic strength resonated with Thomas, who had quietly been nurturing his own musical aspirations. Although he occasionally sang during livestreams with his followers, he had never presented music on this scale. Until now. The project became both a tribute to an artist he admires and an opportunity to introduce an entirely different dimension of himself. Yet the confidence visible in the finished work tells only half the story. “I will say when I pressed post, I was freaking out,” he admits. He had planned the release carefully, even deciding on the exact time he wanted the project to go live. But no amount of preparation could eliminate the uncertainty of revealing something so personal to an audience accustomed to seeing him through another lens. “I was nervous,” he continues. “As a creative person, we should never be comfortable. We should never feel comfortable for too long.” Rather than waiting for the fear to disappear, Thomas decided to move through it. “If everyone hates it, then so be it. I love it, and my team loves it.” The response was overwhelmingly encouraging, offering the reassurance he had hoped for without compromising the creative risk. And for those wondering whether music is simply a temporary experiment, Thomas makes one thing clear. “This was just step one. This was the first. This was the test. This was the feeler.” Original music is already in development, and Thomas is eager for audiences to discover his sound. The comedian is not abandoning comedy. The actor is not stepping away from acting. Instead, the artist is expanding the vocabulary through which he communicates. Of course, an O’Neil Thomas story would be incomplete without discussing the fashion. There are people who wear clothes, and then there are people who understand the transformative power of getting dressed. Thomas belongs decidedly to the latter. His style is expressive, theatrical, and frequently extravagant, embracing silhouettes and design concepts that challenge the conventions of traditional menswear. For him, fashion has always been an extension of identity. “I kind of feel like there's alter egos with what I wear,” he says. “So I use fashion as a way just to kind of show people who I am before I even say anything.” That philosophy reached a particularly memorable moment during Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter Tour, when Thomas collaborated with celebrity stylist Mickey Freeman on custom couture looks. The result was a fashion statement that caught the attention of Beyoncé's team and earned Thomas recognition on the superstar's official website. For a longtime admirer of Beyoncé, the moment represented something greater than being photographed in an exceptional outfit. “It felt like I was genuinely doing something right,” he recalls. The recognition affirmed his belief that creativity should never be limited by expectation. Beyoncé's own artistic evolution, particularly through Cowboy Carter, had already left a lasting impression on him. “That album made me feel so free,” Thomas explains. “She showed the whole world that you don't put me in a box. I'm not gonna put myself in a box.” Working with Freeman only amplified that spirit. Thomas shared his vision, Freeman returned with sketches, and the creative chemistry was immediate. The experience reinforced Thomas's belief that fashion can be both spectacle and personal liberation. His approach to style also offers a subtle rebellion against the restrictive expectations often placed on men's fashion. “I always try my best to go as theatrically as possible, as big and as avant-garde as possible,” he says. And if there is not enough room for that kind of expression? “I figured if there's not many out there who's doing it, I'll be the first.” It is a statement that could easily serve as the thesis for his entire career. While fashion makes Thomas visible, comedy has made his voice culturally resonant. One of his most widely recognized moments came through his viral Bad Bunny content, which attracted attention from outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, AP News, and People. What began as a lighthearted video evolved into a broader conversation about language, cultural appreciation, and connection. For Thomas, the response was particularly meaningful because of the cultural climate surrounding it. “It was during a time where humanity was constantly being questioned and threatened,” he reflects. What moved him most was not the media coverage or the viral numbers, but the way strangers came together in the comment section to celebrate the effort of understanding another culture. “I had no intention of it blowing up the way that it did, and it blew up in the most beautiful way of welcoming other cultures and appreciating other cultures as well too.” It is an example of what Thomas does especially well: creating humor that allows people to participate in a conversation without feeling excluded from it. Still, the responsibility of having an influential voice is not without complications. In a digital culture where context can disappear in seconds and opinions are often reduced to opposing sides, Thomas has become increasingly aware of the pressure to explain, defend, or qualify every thought. “We are living in an age of a lack of nuance,” he observes. Rather than allowing that reality to silence him, he is learning to trust his own intentions and recognize that not every disagreement requires a response. He also understands the importance of knowing when a conversation is not his to lead. It is a perspective that reflects a growing maturity in how he approaches influence, not merely as visibility, but as discernment. For all the glamorous moments and growing recognition, one of the most revealing parts of Thomas's story has little to do with fame. It begins at home. Raised by Jamaican parents, Thomas grew up witnessing the sacrifices his mother made to provide stability for him and his brother. There was no glamorous lifestyle or guarantee that a career in entertainment would ever become a reality. What existed instead was a mother's determination to give her children the foundation they needed to dream beyond their circumstances. “I've seen her sacrifice for me to have a normal life,” he shares. Like many parents, particularly within immigrant households, his mother initially approached the idea of an entertainment career with understandable concern. The arts offered no obvious promise of stability, and the possibility of failure was frightening. With time, Thomas came to understand that her hesitation was rooted not in a lack of belief, but in a desire to protect him. Today, being able to give back to her is among his greatest rewards. During a recent trip to Jamaica, he brought his mother home to celebrate her birthday, a gesture that carries more meaning than any professional accolade. “It's always a blessing to be able to give back to the woman who has dedicated her life to give my brother and I just a sense of normalcy.” It is here that Thomas's definition of success begins to shift. The numbers, recognition, and opportunities are gratifying, but they are no longer the only measures of a life well lived. The ability to create freedom for the people who helped make his dreams possible has become equally important. There is a quiet irony in building a career around being seen: the more visible someone becomes, the easier it is for the world to forget that they are human. Thomas is learning to navigate that contradiction. Behind the elaborate productions, comedy sketches, red carpet appearances, and musical ambitions is someone who occasionally wants to do absolutely nothing. “I’m human, y'all. I'm human,” he says with refreshing candor.“Sometimes I feel like I have to be a machine and constantly put things on it, constantly show up.” It is an admission that feels particularly relevant in an era where creative success is often measured by consistency, output, and an almost impossible expectation of constant availability. For Thomas, staying grounded means unplugging, spending time with family and friends, and allowing himself moments that do not need to become content. He is also learning the importance of grace. “I think we are living in this very sensitive hustle culture,” he reflects, acknowledging how easily ambition can become an endless pursuit of the next accomplishment. His advice is simple. “Give yourself grace. Give yourself grace.” It is advice he is still learning to practice himself. Maybe that is what makes his evolution so interesting. Thomas is not merely trying to become a bigger star. He is learning how to build a bigger life without losing the parts of himself that make it meaningful. When asked what comes next, Thomas does not hesitate to dream out loud. A collaboration with Schiaparelli is high on his fashion wish list, drawn by the house's surrealist approach to couture and the imagination of creative director Daniel Roseberry. In entertainment, he hopes to expand his television and film work, with Quinta Brunson among his dream collaborators. And then there is the music. More original material. More performances. Eventually, perhaps, a tour. These are not ambitions he speaks about as distant fantasies. They are possibilities he is actively working toward. But perhaps the most powerful part of Thomas's story is not where he wants to go. It is what he has learned about getting there. “This career that I have now is because I bet on myself, and I constantly bet on myself, and I never let no be the defining answer. It's always just a redirect.” That belief has carried him from comedy sketches to cultural conversations, from social media fame to couture fashion moments, and now toward a musical future that is only beginning to unfold. His message to anyone standing at the edge of their own creative ambitions is equally clear. “Never let a no be the reason why you just decide not to, because that's just one no. There's millions of other yes’es that are waiting to be seen.” For someone who has built a career out of refusing to be confined, the sentiment feels fitting. And while Thomas continues to pursue the next opportunity, the next creative experiment, and the next version of himself, he is beginning to understand something that ambition can sometimes obscure. Success does not always exist somewhere in the future. Sometimes, it is already happening. “Before I used to define success as a metric, and now I'm realizing that I am success and I am living in my success and I don't have to keep moving a goalpost to consider myself successful.” It is a striking realization from someone whose career is still unfolding. Because in a world constantly demanding that creatives become more, O’Neil Thomas is discovering the freedom of being everything he already is. And that may be his most compelling performance yet. Wardrobe Credits: Trench Coat: Namilia Pants: Hugo Boss Tie: Kiton Belt: Dolce & Gabanna Top: MM6 Maison Margiela Boots: Hakan Akkaya & Saint Laurent YSL Gloves: Dents Gloves

After three seasons of Beauty in Black, Xavier Smalls is stepping beyond Angel, and deeper into his purpose as an actor, filmmaker and storyteller. There is a phrase Xavier Smalls remembers from acting school: “It’s not in your bones.” It was the kind of critique that could stop a young actor in his tracks. A good idea wasn’t enough. Technique wasn’t enough. For something to truly connect, it had to come from somewhere deeper, somewhere honest. By Angel Neal | Disrupshion Magazine Photography by Jorden Keith Years later, that lesson has become something of a creative compass for Smalls. Whether he is standing in front of the camera as Angel in Tyler Perry’s Beauty in Black, writing a deeply personal short film about identity and belonging, or developing his next project from behind the camera, Smalls is increasingly interested in work that reaches beneath the surface. The story, he believes, has to be in your bones. And perhaps that is fitting for an actor whose own story began almost accidentally. Before studying theater, before moving to New York to train at the William Esper Studio, and long before millions of viewers would come to know him through Netflix, Smalls was a biology major at Sacramento State. It did not last. He moved into business with thoughts of eventually pursuing real estate, but an introductory theater class, and the promise of some much needed extra credit, changed the trajectory of his life. Smalls volunteered to perform in a student directed 10-minute play. The audience was tiny. His nerves were enormous. “I was terrified,” he remembers. “I was so scared, but it gave me this adrenaline rush, this high that I had never really experienced before, and it was addicting.” He made theater his minor. Soon after, it became his major. “I was like, you know what, this is what I really want to do,” he says. “I’m the one paying for my own college… I felt like if I gave it my all, I could do this.” So he did. Looking back now, Smalls laughs at what the younger Xavier would think of everything that followed. “What? You on Netflix, bro? That’s crazy,” he says, imagining the conversation. “He would be stoked. He would be hyped.” But the journey between Sacramento and Netflix required something beyond ambition. At New York’s William Esper Studio, Smalls found the foundation that would ultimately reshape his understanding of acting. Sacramento State had helped him become comfortable performing, but Esper taught him how to become present. “It’s everything. It’s literally everything,” he says of his training. There, acting became less about Xavier Smalls and more about the person standing across from him. “Getting your attention off of yourself and putting your attention on your scene partner, making your scene partner more important than yourself,” he explains. “If you’re focusing on yourself or you’re focusing on your lines, it doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t look real.” Instead, he learned to listen. To respond. To become, as he describes it, “moldable clay.” That training would prove invaluable when Smalls entered the fast moving world of Tyler Perry Studios. For audiences of Beauty in Black, Xavier Smalls is Angel: unpredictable, complicated, emotionally vulnerable and, at times, frustratingly desperate for acceptance. But after three seasons inside the character, Smalls has developed a different relationship with the man audiences see onscreen. The biggest change has been confidence, not necessarily Angel’s, but Xavier’s. Season one arrived not long after Smalls filmed Madea’s Destination Wedding. Suddenly, he was staring at a 16-episode production schedule, appearing throughout the series and working within Tyler Perry’s famously rapid production style. “You get like one to two takes max,” Smalls says. “Most shows, they shoot out of order, so you have to carry the weight of circumstances from previous scenes. You have to know where you are.” Early in the first season, Perry challenged him to dig deeper during a scene. Smalls took it personally at first. “I remember I just got super down on myself,” he recalls. Then came the internal correction: “No, he believes in you, Xavier. You need to step it up.” During that first season, Smalls became intensely focused before scenes. Headphones went in. Conversations stopped. He emotionally prepared himself for whatever Angel needed to carry into the next moment. By season three, something had shifted. Smalls understood the rhythm. He no longer needed to disappear from the entire world around him to find Angel. He could step away when necessary, prepare, rehearse and enter the scene without carrying that tension throughout the entire day. He had learned to trust his process. Still, one thing apparently has not changed. “Angel still Angel,” Smalls says with a laugh. “Angel is still wild. Angel is still biting.” What makes the role particularly interesting is how different Angel can be from the man playing him. Smalls describes Angel as uncertain, emotionally fragile and possessed of what he jokingly calls a “pick me mentality.” Those qualities are foreign to him. “I’m the furthest person from pick me,” he says. “I’m the type of person that’s like, ‘Oh, if you don’t want to pick me? Okay, watch this. Now I’m gonna go show you why you messed up not picking me.’” That distance gives Smalls room to explore. In season one, audiences primarily saw Angel alongside Kimmie, revealing an almost brother and sister loyalty between the two. Season two exposed a different side, money, selfishness and behavior that complicated the audience’s understanding of him. By season three, Smalls sees those versions colliding. “You get to see the repercussions of Angel’s actions while still seeing certain elements from season one,” he explains. And like the audience, Smalls does not always know where Angel is going next. “You never know what Tyler’s gonna write,” he says. “Every time I read it, I’m just as shocked as a lot of audience members are when they watch it. I’m like, ‘Wait, what?’ And then I turn to the next page.” Working inside the Tyler Perry Studios ecosystem has also given Smalls a front-row seat to the discipline required to operate at an enormous creative scale. He has watched Perry move between what Smalls calls different “zones.” When Perry is directing, there is complete focus. “He’s lasered in,” Smalls says. Outside of that directing mode, Smalls describes him as attentive, funny, kind and intensely present. He has also had opportunities to hear Perry discuss his writing process and the periods of quiet he uses to allow new ideas to develop. For Smalls, the lesson has been bigger than simply observing how a successful filmmaker operates. It is about learning when to focus, when to create, when to listen and how seriously each part of the process must be taken. Those lessons matter even more now because Smalls is no longer content to exist solely in front of the camera. To understand the filmmaker Xavier Smalls is becoming, you first have to understand the questions he has spent years asking himself. Who am I? Where do I belong? And what happens when the version of yourself that the world sees changes depending on which world you happen to be standing in? Those questions became the heartbeat of his short film Double Stuff, an autobiographical exploration of his experience growing up multiracial. “It was like gnawing at me, the idea,” he says. “You don’t really get to see that side of things when it comes to particularly being Black and white, just sort of that feeling of belonging, but you don’t really belong.” Growing up in Sacramento, one of the country’s most diverse cities, Smalls became fluent in moving between different spaces. In predominantly Black environments, one side of his personality emerged naturally. In predominantly white environments, another could appear just as instinctively. “That sort of code-switching element, two different identities, but like, where’s my own true identity?” he says. Making Double Stuff forced him to revisit those questions from the perspective of an adult who now sees himself differently. “I know who I am now,” he says. Looking through old videos recently with his wife, Smalls found footage of himself at 18 and 19 years old. Hearing the way he spoke a decade earlier was almost surreal. It was evidence of evolution. Evidence of the long process of becoming comfortable with oneself. For Smalls, that evolution is inseparable from faith. Ask Xavier Smalls what sits at the center of his life and there is little hesitation. “My faith is everything.” His relationship with Christianity shapes how he views career, ambition and even success itself. “The world’s success and God’s success are two different things,” he says. “The world’s success has a lot to do with status, money, achievements, fame, what you’ve done. And God’s success is like, okay, who are you? Are you dying to yourself? Are you denying yourself? Are you a servant? Are you kind? Are you loving?” At the time of our conversation, Smalls was on his fourth reading of the Bible, finding new meaning in passages he had already encountered multiple times. The difference, he says, is where you are when you return to them. “You just get different perspectives, different revelations,” he says. “God talks to you in different ways depending on where you’re at in your life.” It has given him a framework for navigating an industry often defined by the next role, the next headline, the next level of visibility. Smalls still has ambitions. He still has things he wants to accomplish. But he is learning not to make them the foundation of who he is. And that shift is becoming increasingly visible in the stories he wants to tell. Directing was not part of Xavier Smalls’ original plan. In fact, it only entered the picture relatively recently. Smalls recalls having an unusually vivid dream in which he felt God was telling him to become a director. Initially, he wondered whether that meant abandoning acting altogether. Instead, he came to understand it as an expansion. “The more I explore directing, writing and just taking matters into my own hands, the more obsessed I am with storytelling as a whole,” he says.There was also a practical frustration fueling the transition. As an actor, Smalls was tired of waiting for someone else to decide when he was allowed to work. “I wanted to act way more than the opportunities I’m getting,” he says. “I just need to be acting. I need to do storytelling.” Creating his own work gave him that freedom. Then something unexpected happened. He fell in love with directing. What began as a way to create more opportunities for himself became another artistic language entirely, the chance to see a story from conception through execution and watch all of its moving parts become one world. His next major project may be the clearest expression yet of that evolution. Smalls describes his developing project Symmetry as a modern retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel. At its center are two brothers. One dreams desperately of becoming a male model but seemingly lacks the physical qualities the industry expects. The younger brother, meanwhile, is a charismatic college football player who appears to possess everything effortlessly. Then they walk into the same modeling agency. The younger brother gets signed. The older brother does not. What follows is a descent into envy, jealousy, comparison and the dangerous lengths someone might travel in pursuit of an identity they believe should have been theirs. For Smalls, the project combines several worlds he knows intimately: faith, identity and modeling, an industry he worked in for several years before his acting career took hold. “It’s been a passion project of mine for almost a year now,” he says. With actors, a cinematographer and producing collaborators already coming together around the project, Smalls says financing remains a critical piece in moving the production forward. He believes deeply in what the story can become.“If done right,” he says, “it’ll shake up the industry. I don’t doubt that.” The confidence is striking, but so is the foundation underneath it. Because Symmetry is not simply an idea he believes could make a compelling movie. It is personal. And Xavier Smalls has learned the difference. Double Stuff taught Smalls something about the filmmaker he wants to become. A story cannot simply be clever. “It has to be connected to your heart,” he says. “It can’t just be a good idea.” He remembers his acting teacher, Suzanne, challenging him whenever his choices felt intellectually interesting but emotionally hollow. “She would say, ‘It’s not in your bones.’” That phrase stayed. Today, Smalls applies the same philosophy to filmmaking. His experiences with race and belonging informed Double Stuff. His Christian faith, former modeling career and observations about beauty, comparison and identity are woven into Symmetry. “The story has to come from your heart,” he says. “How you mold it is with your head.” It also explains why identity continues to fascinate him as both an actor and filmmaker. “I feel like my bread and butter, particularly as an actor, is characters who struggle with identity,” he says. Who am I? What is my purpose? What happens when I don't know the answer? They are cinematic questions, certainly. But they are also profoundly human ones. And Xavier Smalls understands that because he has lived some version of them himself. The young man who entered Sacramento State thinking about biology, then business, could not have predicted this version of his life. He could not have known that an extra-credit theater performance would eventually lead to New York, rigorous actor training, Tyler Perry Studios, Netflix, Beauty in Black, marriage, filmmaking and an entirely new chapter behind the camera. But maybe the through line was there all along. Three seasons into playing Angel, Xavier Smalls is increasingly interested in showing audiences Xavier. Not simply the actor. Not simply the Netflix face. Not simply the character audiences think they know. But the artist underneath it all, a man thinking seriously about faith, purpose, identity and the responsibility that comes with telling stories. Angel may still be wild. But Xavier Smalls is becoming increasingly grounded in exactly who he is. And whatever comes next, he knows one thing: It has to be in his bones.

For many young people, beauty begins as a form of creativity and self-expression. At Diamond Beauty Academy, it becomes something more: an introduction to science, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, leadership, and the possibility of building a career. Founded in Philadelphia, Diamond Beauty Academy is working to expand the way young people see themselves within the beauty industry. Rather than simply teaching students how to apply makeup, the academy introduces them to the ecosystem that exists behind the products on store shelves, from cosmetic chemistry and product development to marketing, finance, brand ownership, and executive leadership. The vision behind the academy, however, began with a deeply personal turning point. After spending years building a career in corporate finance and eventually becoming a CFO, Diamond Beauty Academy’s founder Danielle McLane experienced a stroke at just 34 years old. The experience forced her to reconsider what she wanted the next chapter of her life to represent. “Diamond Beauty Academy was really born from my own journey,” she shares. “After experiencing a stroke at 34, I started looking at my life differently. I knew I wanted to build something that combined my business background, my love for beauty, and my passion for creating opportunities for young people.” In Philadelphia, she recognized no shortage of young people interested in makeup, cosmetics, and beauty. What was missing, in many cases, was exposure to just how many careers could exist behind those interests. “Beauty is our vehicle, but education and economic mobility are the foundation,” she explains. That philosophy has become central to Diamond Beauty Academy. Students may initially walk through the doors because they love makeup, but the curriculum is designed to help them discover possibilities far beyond artistry. “I wanted young people to understand that they don’t have to just be consumers of the beauty industry,” she says. “They can become the chemists developing the products, the entrepreneurs owning the brands, the makeup artists working behind the scenes, and the executives making the decisions.” Students receive exposure to makeup artistry and cosmetic formulation alongside financial literacy, entrepreneurship, public speaking, workforce readiness, leadership, and business development. Traditional academic concepts are also connected to practical, real-world scenarios. Math becomes understanding production costs, profit margins, and pricing. Writing and communication become developing a business pitch and confidently presenting an idea to potential investors. The goal is to make education feel tangible, and to give students skills they can actually envision themselves using. “Ultimately, I want every student to leave Diamond Beauty Academy knowing, ‘I have options, I have a voice, and I can create opportunities for myself.’” Talent Is Everywhere. Access Isn’t. Access remains one of the most important pieces of the academy’s mission. Traditional beauty education can come with financial, transportation, networking, and other barriers that make pursuing the industry difficult for talented young people. Diamond Beauty Academy was created in part to make sure those barriers don’t become the deciding factor in someone’s future.Talent is a single event. “For me, one of the biggest ways we give back is simply through access,” she says. “We’re creating a safe educational environment where young people can learn, create, make mistakes, find mentors, develop leadership skills, and be exposed to opportunities they may not otherwise encounter.” It’s an approach that challenges students to think about success as something larger than individual achievement. “I tell my students that as they grow, they have a responsibility to reach back,” she says. “I don’t just want Diamond Beauty Academy to produce great makeup artists or entrepreneurs. I want us to develop leaders who understand that their success can create opportunities for the next person.” And perhaps that is where Diamond Beauty Academy’s impact is most visible. Beauty may be what initially brings students through the door, but what they are being encouraged to build is much bigger: confidence, ownership, opportunity, and a vision for what their future can become. “I tell my students that as they grow, they have a responsibility to reach back,” she says. “I don’t just want Diamond Beauty Academy to produce great makeup artists or entrepreneurs. I want us to develop leaders who understand that their success can create opportunities for the next person.” And perhaps that is where Diamond Beauty Academy’s impact is most visible. Beauty may be what initially brings students through the door, but what they are being encouraged to build is much bigger: confidence, ownership, opportunity, and a vision for what their future can become. To get involved and figure out how you can support checkout Diamond Beauty Academy on their website to refer a young professional interested in elevating their beauty career.

All creative and visual development by Roberto Gotti | GRart'hè. The submitted image files and accompanying materials are intended for the approved COSTRETTA feature in Disrupshion Magazine, for print and online publication. CONTACT Roberto Gotti GRart'hè Creative Studio Website: www.grarthe.com Instagram: @grarthe Email: info@grarthe.com Roberto Gotti | GRart'hè

From competitive figure skating and Disney on Ice to motherhood, advocacy and a new vision for television, Mariyah Gerber is learning that the most powerful dreams are sometimes the ones we allow to evolve. Words By Angel Neal | Disrupshion Magazine Photo credit: Amanda Riley Photo For most of her childhood, Mariyah Gerber knew exactly what success was supposed to look like. It looked like ice beneath her skates, years of training behind her and, somewhere in the distance, the Olympic rings. Gerber began figure skating at five years old after her grandmother enrolled her in lessons, expecting it to simply be another childhood activity. It wasn't. When the rising cost of skating eventually meant choosing between dance and the ice, Gerber remembers standing at the top of the stairs and settling the decision the way only a child could: eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Ice skating won. The choice would shape the next two decades of her life. Gerber competed for 12 years, carrying an Olympic dream that, at the time, felt like the only possible destination. At 17, however, her grandmother presented another possibility: an audition for Disney on Ice, which was searching for performers to portray Princess Tiana. Suddenly, the world beyond competition became visible. “I was like, wow, okay, there’s more to ice skating than an Olympic dream,” Gerber recalls. What she initially imagined would be one year with Disney became five, followed by another five years performing with other touring productions. The girl who once saw skating as a singular road to the Olympics instead found herself traveling the world, building a career and eventually meeting the man who would become her husband. Today, Gerber's life looks markedly different. She's a mother of two, a lifestyle creator, an advocate and a woman preparing to take her storytelling ambitions beyond social media and into television. Yet the ice has never really left her. There may be no better metaphor for Gerber's journey than one of the first lessons figure skating taught her: falling is inevitable. “You fall every single day. I don’t care how good you get,” she says. “I think it really taught me how to fall down and get back up.” That resilience became especially important as Gerber learned to navigate a sport where she rarely saw herself reflected. Growing up in figure skating meant entering rinks where the coaches, advertisements, posters and imagery surrounding the sport offered little racial diversity. Gerber says those visual messages can quietly tell a young athlete whether or not a space was designed with them in mind. “You really get this inkling of like, okay, maybe this sport is not for me,” she explains. Her grandmother became an essential countervoice, constantly affirming Gerber's beauty and reminding her not to allow a judging system, or the color of her skin, to determine her worth. Still, confidence did not make her immune to the psychological effects of existing in an environment where appearance itself was being evaluated.“I definitely went through years and have had to do therapy to really get over what it’s like to be in a predominantly white sport and really go through my own journey of self-love and finding myself again,” Gerber says. “It’s taken years.” She can now hold two truths at once: figure skating gave her something beautiful, and parts of the culture surrounding it left wounds she would only fully understand as an adult. “It’s such a beautiful sport, and I learned so much,” she says. “But I do think when you are in a sport like that, there is a lot that you go through mentally, not feeling pretty enough, not feeling like you’re being picked, really being judged.” That experience now informs what Gerber wants younger skaters to understand. Her advice is deceptively simple: put the blinders on. “Know that you are worthy and you deserve to be in this space, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise,” she says. “However you want to wear your hair, whatever kind of makeup you want to wear, whatever kind of tights you want to wear, do not look around and let other people make you feel like you don’t deserve to be in this sport, because you most definitely do.” Gerber's professional career gave her another education entirely. Disney on Ice may appear seamless from the audience, but Gerber remembers a world behind the curtain where broken skate laces, malfunctioning costume zippers and last-minute emergencies existed alongside the magic. “Behind the curtain is a whole other ball game,” she says. “You might see 10 skaters on the ice and 100 people backstage making that happen.” It taught her something about performance, and, eventually, social media. What the audience sees is often only a fraction of the reality required to create it. “As soon as you step in front of that curtain, the audience has no idea,” she says. “It’s like two different worlds are happening at the exact same time.” When COVID brought touring to a halt, another world began opening. Gerber had not documented much of her life while touring, something she now wishes she had done. Once she began exploring social media, however, the performer accustomed to communicating through movement had to learn to communicate through her own voice. “I think through content, it has truly helped me grow as a person and also really find my voice,” she says.That growth hasn't always been comfortable. “There were a lot of things I was afraid to say, a lot of things I was afraid to be,” Gerber admits. “There were a lot of times where I was conforming and not truly being myself.” Content creation gave her something skating never could: the ability to watch herself evolve in real time. She could look back at older videos, examine what she said and ask herself whether it actually represented the woman she was becoming. “Yeah, no, Mariyah, you weren’t being authentic or you weren’t being your true self here. How do we fix it?” she recalls asking herself. “I think it’s just cool to be able to see your growth in real time.” Perhaps no chapter has reshaped Gerber's understanding of ambition more than motherhood. Initially, she believed becoming a mother meant her own professional aspirations should move to the background. “When I first became a mom, I was like, I just need to be at home with my kids fully,” she says. “I didn’t think that I could have a career, really.” Her thinking evolved. Gerber began looking at her own mother, who raised her while working as a single parent, differently. She also began considering what her sons would learn not simply from what she told them, but from what they watched her do. “I want my kids to see me pursuing my dreams,” she says. “If I have dreams and I’m not pursuing them, and then I’m telling them to go out and chase everything that they’ve ever wanted to do, then I’d be contradicting myself.” Motherhood hasn't made Gerber less ambitious. It has made her rethink the route. Elite athletics trained her to focus on the finish line. Parenting has taught her that life rarely moves in a perfectly straight direction. “I might have to be okay with things being a little bit squiggly on the way up,” she says. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that the things that you want aren’t achievable. It just might look a little different.” That philosophy also shapes how she and her husband are raising their boys. Gerber is intentional about the language spoken inside their home, particularly after spending so much of her own formative years in an environment built around judgment. “I am constantly reaffirming for them how amazing they are, how great they are, really just building their confidence at home as much as I can,” she says. She rejects the familiar childhood saying that words can never hurt you. Her own experiences taught her otherwise. “People don’t realize how powerful words are, and how hurtful they can be, and how long they stick with people.” For Gerber, raising confident children and raising compassionate children are not separate responsibilities. Teaching her sons to value themselves must exist alongside teaching them to acknowledge and respect other people. Gerber's relationship with wellness has changed, too. For someone whose body was once trained for competition and professional performance, wellness today is less about pushing physical limits and more about protecting her internal world. “A huge part of wellness nowadays for me is mental health,” she says. Gerber openly discusses pursuing therapy, including EMDR and hypnotherapy, along with meditation, walking and becoming more mindful about the media she consumes. Motherhood, she says, can come with constant stimulation, making it easy for women to lose touch with themselves amid the noise of caring for everyone else. “I really try to pay attention to that,” she says. “Right now in this season, I’m like: mental health, mental health as much as possible.” If Gerber's early career depended upon judges, casting directors and gatekeepers deciding whether she belonged, her current chapter is built around a radically different idea: she doesn't have to wait to be chosen. That distinction is particularly meaningful when she considers representation in skating. Gerber remains critical of the narrow image of the “ice princess” that she believes continues to dominate much of skating's representation in entertainment. She wants audiences to see different faces, different experiences and different stories attached to the sport. “Something that I love about social media is that you no longer have to wait to be chosen,” she says. “You can choose yourself and get up, get in front of a camera, set it up yourself, post it, and then hopefully reach a whole new audience.” And audiences have noticed. Gerber says people have told her they wish they had seen someone like her skating when they were younger. Those messages have made the mission larger than her own visibility. “I think [it’s about] really disrupting the controlled media of what ice skating should look like,” she says. “I really am trying to push beyond that barrier.” Now she wants to push it further. Gerber is developing a television pitch centered on bringing a different demographic of skaters to a larger audience. Moving from a phone and social platform into network pitch meetings is unfamiliar territory, and she doesn't pretend otherwise. “I’ve never done this before, and it’s very intimidating because it’s a lot of steps,” she says. But intimidation has rarely stopped someone who learned at five years old that falling is simply part of learning something new. “This version of me is going to be the version of me that’s kind of stepping into her boss-girl era,” Gerber says. “Let’s go in these rooms, let’s put on a suit, let’s tell the people why this is important.” The vision isn't simply to become more visible herself. “The more visibility you have, the more you can do. The more people I can uplift, the more doors I can open for others,” she says. “As I elevate, I’m leaving room for there to be more people with different ideas to come up behind me.”There is a particular kind of grief that comes with dedicating more than a decade of your life to a dream that doesn't happen the way you imagined. Gerber doesn't minimize that. “As someone who had an Olympic dream that didn’t really come true, it’s very devastating when you spend 12 years training for something and you just really believe it with your whole heart: I’m going to go to the Olympics.” But somewhere between competition, touring, marriage, motherhood, social media and advocacy, Gerber began to understand that losing one definition of success didn't mean losing success itself. “I think redefining what my Olympic dream is has been really a beautiful process,” she says. The Olympic dream became touring the world. Touring led her to her husband. Another chapter brought motherhood. Another brought a social media community that grew into the millions. Now, another dream is waiting in television. Each version required letting go of the belief that she had only one opportunity to become somebody. “I’m not defined by just one thing,” Gerber says. “I can continuously evolve. I can continuously be a different version of myself, and every single version of myself that I have become, I’m so proud of.” Perhaps that is Mariyah Gerber's greatest disruption. Not simply challenging what a figure skater is supposed to look like, or who gets to occupy the ice, but challenging the idea that any of us must remain who we once believed we were supposed to become. Today, she describes herself simply as a woman chasing her dreams, a mother who wants her children to witness her doing so and a creator who wants the people watching her to question the limitations they've placed on themselves. “I really hope that when people think of me, they think about how incredibly limitless they are,” Gerber says. “For so long I saw myself as being in a box, and I saw success only being one thing.” She's no longer interested in the box. “I want my kids to feel limitless. I want them to feel inspired. I want them to feel like they can do anything.” For the woman who once believed the Olympics were the only destination, that may be the most fitting legacy of all: the dream didn't disappear. It got bigger.

At 40, the actress, filmmaker, singer, songwriter and activist is embracing every part of her creative identity, and building the kind of career that no longer requires anyone else's approval. Interview by Angel Neal Photography by: Brie Childers Social Media @malyndahale For much of her career, Malynda Hale was confronted with a question familiar to anyone whose ambition refuses to fit neatly inside a single box: What exactly are you? Singer? Actress? Filmmaker? Activist? Storyteller? For years, Hale tried to give the industry the kind of answer it wanted. Today, she has a different one: all of the above. "I've never seen them as separate paths," Hale says. "Music taught me about myself, acting taught me how to step into somebody else's story, directing taught me how to shape a story with intention, and activism taught me how to take all of it and turn it toward something bigger than me." It's a realization that feels particularly fitting as Hale enters a defining chapter of her career. Having recently turned 40, she's no longer interested in shrinking the scope of who she is to make her career easier for someone else to understand. "I think I've been a multi-hyphenate not because I was restless," she says, "but because I was looking for the room that was actually built for someone like me." That relationship between identity, belonging and legacy sits at the center of Bull Street, the drama in which Hale stars as LouEster Sadie Gibbs. For Hale, the connection to LouEster was immediate. The film, written and directed by Lynn Dow and inspired by Dow's own family history, follows a battle over something whose worth cannot simply be calculated in dollars. But it was LouEster's relationship with her grandmother, Mrs. Big-Gal, that made the character feel especially personal. "It really reminded me so much of my relationship with my own mother," Hale explains. "The fun, the laughter, the wisdom, and the protection." Then there is the land itself, and what it represents. "LouEster is also fighting for something that has no monetary value," Hale says. "Land and legacy that is suddenly needing to be defended in a courtroom because the right paperwork was never filed. So many Black families in this country are still living that." The role also placed Hale alongside veteran performers Loretta Devine and Amy Madigan, an experience she describes as both a dream and a masterclass. What stayed with her wasn't simply their talent, but their generosity. "Nobody was interested in being the best person in the scene," she recalls. "They were interested in the scene being good." Watching the women reinterpret text, adjust between takes and remain willing to discover something new reinforced an important lesson: longevity doesn't require ego. It requires curiosity. Hale's relationship with Devine would eventually extend beyond Bull Street, with Hale later directing the legendary actress in her own short film, Au Gratin. Stepping behind the camera changed Hale's relationship with storytelling, and with power. "I honestly just love being able to control what I make and being my own boss," she says. "When you're only acting, you're waiting for somebody else to decide if you're right for something, and I did that for a long time." Directing offered her something acting alone couldn't: a view of the entire ecosystem surrounding a performance. Suddenly, lighting, pacing, framing and the choices made outside an actor's close-up became part of how she understood a story. It made Hale a different actress, too. "Now when I act, I'm thinking about the whole frame instead of just my close-up," she explains. "It's made me a more generous scene partner and a much more patient one." That desire for creative autonomy also led Hale to establish JMV Entertainment. The motivation behind it is refreshingly straightforward. "JMV exists because I got tired of waiting for opportunities and permission to do my own thing," she says. "At a certain point, you realize nobody is going to hand you the infrastructure, so you build it yourself." And Hale knows exactly what she wants to build. Hollywood has long found space for Black trauma and exceptional Black triumph. Hale wants room for everything in between, the ordinary, messy, hilarious, intimate experiences that make up actual life. "What I think is missing is ordinary Black life," she says. "There aren't enough films featuring a Black family arguing over a holiday dinner. Or a woman in her thirties who still doesn't know what she wants." For Hale, the everyday is worthy of the screen precisely because it is everyday. When deciding whether a story deserves her energy, she asks whether it needs to exist, whether it can make someone feel seen, and whether it can normalize an experience too often treated as niche when it is actually universal. "If it checks those things," she says, "I'll fight to get it made." Long before Hale was directing actors or building a production company, she was learning how to tell stories through music. Songwriting became her first classroom. "You sit down to write, and you don't always know what's coming, but you just follow it," she says. "That's the same thing acting needs. You have to be willing to go somewhere before you know what it looks like when you get there." Music also taught her economy. Every lyric has to earn its place, a discipline she now carries into filmmaking. Sometimes a beautiful moment still has to be cut because it doesn't serve the larger story. And sometimes a creative idea simply has to wait. Hale keeps notebooks spanning two decades. Recently, a poem she wrote at 20 finally found its way into something she's creating now. "It sat there for two decades before it finally had a home." Perhaps that is also an apt metaphor for Hale herself. The singer didn't disappear when the actress arrived. The actress wasn't abandoned when the director emerged. The activist doesn't have to overshadow the artist. Instead, each identity has been collecting tools for the next one. Hale's willingness to engage with conversations surrounding race, identity, faith and social justice has made advocacy an important part of her public voice. But she rejects the idea that every piece of art created by a marginalized person must arrive carrying a lesson. She already has spaces for direct commentary. Her art doesn't always have to do the same job. "Au Gratin is a comedy," Hale says. "It isn't teaching anybody anything. It's funny, specific, and true, and sometimes that's enough." That distinction matters. "The pressure to make every piece of art carry a lesson is its own kind of trap, and it mostly gets put on people of color," she says. Instead, Hale is interested in work that allows marginalized characters simply to be, without constantly translating their existence for an audience outside of their experience. "What I actually want are stories that refuse to make marginalized people explain themselves," she says. "We've spent a long time creating work that has to justify its existence to people who weren't the primary audience anyway." For all the audiences Hale hopes to reach, two of the people watching her journey most closely are at home: her daughters. Motherhood has added another dimension to what building boldly means. "I want them to know their voice matters without needing the world to confirm it for them," Hale says. "I want them to be proud of moving through this world as beautiful Black women." Her oldest daughter is six and already understands a simple but powerful fact about her mother: Mom makes things. Hale wants creation to feel normal to her daughters. So does taking up space. "I spent a lot of years standing outside rooms explaining why I belonged in them, and I don't want that for them," she says. "I want them to just walk in." It's difficult not to hear Hale speaking to a younger version of herself in those words, too. She doesn't describe betting on herself as the biggest risk of her career. If anything, she believes the greater loss was waiting as long as she did to recognize everything she was capable of. The unconventional route, music, acting, activism, directing, producing, ultimately gave her the skills to create independently. "I kept trying to focus on one thing because that's what I was told I needed to do," Hale reflects, "but I think the path I've taken has allowed me to acquire so many skills that being able to do this on my own has made the journey much more meaningful." Ask Hale what she wants to disrupt within entertainment and her answer comes without hesitation:"The idea that you need permission." I love that. It may be the sentence that best explains this entire era of her career. Entertainment is built around gates: the manager needed to secure the agent, the agent needed to access the audition, the credit needed to earn the meeting. Hale knows what it feels like to spend years waiting outside of those gates. So she began building alternatives. "Every door I've walked through I either built myself or I made myself impossible to ignore," she says. She built a production company with her husband so she could direct stories she cared about. She built platforms for conversations she didn't see happening elsewhere. And while independence hasn't necessarily created the easiest road, it has created one she can recognize as her own. "What I want disrupted is the direction of it," Hale says. "People building their own thing and making the industry come to them." That philosophy feels especially potent now. Forty isn't inspiring Hale to reinvent herself. It's inspiring her to stop editing herself. When asked to finish the sentence "Malynda Hale is entering an era where...", she doesn't need much time."Malynda Hale is entering an era where she stops asking and starts doing." After two decades of being patient, agreeable and easy to work with, Hale says turning 40 feels like the end of waiting to be recognized before moving forward. Her next chapter isn't about choosing between the artist and the advocate, between meaningful work and work capable of reaching larger audiences, or between the many titles that have followed her name. It's about finally allowing them to coexist."I want this next chapter to show people that you don't have to choose between depth and reach, or between being an artist and being an advocate," Hale says. "I'm building a body of work that holds all of it at once, because that's who I actually am." And perhaps that's the most disruptive thing Malynda Hale can do now: stop trying to find the room that was built for someone like her. She can build it herself. And I personally love that for her.

From celebrity placements and custom creations to grillz and creative direction, the Philadelphia based jewelry brand is building a world where individuality takes center stage. For the founder of Shay Jewels Co, jewelry has never simply been about accessorizing an outfit. It’s about identity, storytelling and the confidence that comes from wearing something that feels distinctly your own. Born from a lifelong appreciation for pieces with meaning, Shay Jewels Co blends custom craftsmanship with the kind of high-impact glamour made for a red carpet, without losing the personal connection at the heart of the brand. “The inspiration behind Shay Jewels Co came from my lifelong love for pieces that tell a story,” she shares. “My vision was to merge timeless elegance with a modern edge, designs that feel personal yet bold.” That balance has become the foundation of the Shay aesthetic: refined, glamorous and unapologetically statement-making. Whether creating for a celebrity appearance or designing something meant to become part of a client’s everyday wardrobe, intention remains at the center of the process. The brand’s momentum began to shift when Shay Jewels Co was booked to provide jewelry for a promotional shoot for Zeus Network’s Bad Boys. The opportunity opened the door to additional bookings, including fashion runways and local productions, and eventually the jewelry began appearing on celebrities she had admired for years. Then came a red carpet moment that made the growth feel undeniable. “A major red-carpet look featured one of our popular necklaces, and suddenly the brand’s name started circulating in conversations I had only dreamed of being part of,” she recalls. “It was surreal.”But for Shay, visibility alone wasn’t the defining measure of success. It was watching customers connect with the jewelry and incorporate the pieces into their own identities.“That’s when I knew Shay Jewels Co had become more than a brand; it had become a statement of personal style and confidence.”It’s an ethos deeply connected to Philadelphia, the city Shay calls home and one she credits with influencing both her creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. In a city where history, art, music, grit and innovation coexist, she sees many of the same contrasts that define her designs. “Philly taught me to value authenticity, resilience, and storytelling, and those values are embedded in every piece I create,” she says. “The city is full of love!” As Shay Jewels Co continues to expand, the challenge is maintaining creative freedom while building a sustainable business. For Shay, that means understanding that luxury can take on different forms depending on the person wearing it. Celebrity clients may call for oversized, attention-commanding pieces designed for cameras and red carpets, while another customer may be searching for something subtle enough to become part of their daily uniform. “Balancing creativity and business is always a careful dance,” she explains. “I’ve learned that true artistry thrives when it’s paired with strategy.” Listening has become just as important to her process as designing. Each client brings a different story, lifestyle and point of view, and the goal is to translate those elements into jewelry that feels uniquely theirs. That approach has also inspired Shay to incorporate more simple, everyday pieces into the collection, broadening the brand without abandoning its signature glamour. “Creativity isn’t limited by scale, it’s about making every piece feel intentional, luxurious, and uniquely theirs.” While Shay Jewels Co has already made its way into celebrity spaces, there are two names at the top of the designer’s wish list: Drake and Summer Walker. The choices are personal. Both artists provided a soundtrack to pivotal moments in her life and creative journey, making the prospect of seeing them wear Shay Jewels Co about far more than celebrity endorsement. “Their music has been such a huge part of my journey, both personally and creatively,” she says. “During some of the most defining moments in my life, their lyrics and energy really spoke to me and motivated me to keep going.” Their ability to remain authentic while continually evolving also mirrors what she wants Shay Jewels Co to represent. “Seeing them in my pieces would feel like everything coming full circle, because their work helped shape the woman and designer I’ve become.” The next era of Shay Jewels Co is shaping up to be its most expansive yet. New collections are in development, with an emphasis on bold, contemporary silhouettes grounded in the craftsmanship and detail that established the brand. Shay is also expanding into custom grillz, bringing her approach to luxury and individuality into a new category. But the evolution isn’t limited to jewelry. Shay is stepping further behind the camera, directing shoots, styling and becoming more involved in how the brand’s visual stories are created. Collaborations with artists and influencers are also on the horizon as she looks to introduce new creative perspectives into the Shay Jewels Co universe. It’s a natural progression for a founder whose vision was never just about selling jewelry. Shay Jewels Co is becoming a vehicle for creative expression, from the statement necklace around a client’s neck to the custom grillz in their smile and the imagery that brings it all to life. “Everything we do is about pushing Shay Jewels Co forward while celebrating individuality, luxury, and timeless style,” she says. And as the brand enters its next chapter, that commitment to individuality may be its greatest signature of all: creating jewelry that attracts attention, but ultimately leaves room for the person wearing it to be the real statement.

Rooted in Haitian values, shaped by Miami and New York, and inspired by a mother who never stopped working, Craig turned an unexpected opportunity into one of Brooklyn’s neighborhood destinations. For Craig, entrepreneurship wasn’t necessarily a childhood dream. It was something he grew into by watching, learning and understanding early that relying on one stream of income was never going to be enough.Long before becoming the owner of Savvy Bistro, Craig was a young boy watching his mother navigate life as a single parent, working multiple jobs while finding ways to create opportunities of her own. Those early lessons,combined with his Haitian heritage and an upbringing that stretched from Miami to New York, would eventually become the foundation for how he approaches business today. Craig spent part of his childhood in Miami during an era when the city was being heavily impacted by the drug epidemic. His mother worked hard to keep her children sheltered from what was happening around them, keeping home, church and family at the center of their lives. Eventually, she made a decision that would change their trajectory: she moved the family to New York in search of a different environment and stronger educational opportunities. That willingness to make difficult decisions and keep moving forward became a philosophy Craig carried with him. When asked how his Haitian heritage shaped his approach to life and business, his answer is simple: “Just never giving up. No matter what the challenge is, make sure you keep focused and stay true to the vision and the goal, regardless of any turbulence throughout that journey.” Some of Craig’s earliest lessons in entrepreneurship didn’t come from a classroom or business book. They came from watching his mother. As a single parent, she worked multiple jobs while also building side businesses, exposing Craig to the reality of entrepreneurship at an early age. Her example taught him about sacrifice, independence and finding ways to make things happen with what you have. One lesson in particular still sticks with him: “Don’t take credit.” Craig didn’t immediately decide that he wanted to follow in her footsteps as a business owner. Instead, entrepreneurship naturally became part of the way he viewed financial independence. “My mind was always like, learn from other people’s experiences, whether it’s good or bad, and just make my own decision,” he explains. “I always knew you’ve got to make money. You can’t just work for corporate America and excel to a certain degree or be independent. So I always said to myself, "I've got to make sure I have a side hustle at the same exact time.” That mindset would eventually lead him into an industry he knew very little about. The restaurant business wasn’t part of some perfectly mapped out career plan. Craig remembers reading about how Americans were cooking at home less frequently and increasingly turning toward takeout and prepared food. To him, it signaled something important: opportunity.Then came the chance to become part of the changing landscape along Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn. Despite having no real background in the restaurant industry, Craig didn’t allow inexperience to stop him. Instead, he approached hospitality the same way he approached other challenges, learning what you don’t know and figuring it out along the way. That leap eventually became Savvy Bistro, a Caribbean comfort food destination where food is only part of the experience. “Savvy, I think it’s a vibe, plain and simple,” Craig says. Between regular DJs, Friday karaoke, weekend energy and Sunday brunch, Savvy has cultivated a community of repeat customers who come for more than dinner. “You come there, you’re going to have a nice vibe, have good food and just enjoy the atmosphere.” Finding Savvy Bistro’s culinary identity took time. The restaurant initially explored a mixture of Southern influences before becoming more firmly rooted in Caribbean comfort food. The challenge was creating something culturally familiar without simply duplicating what neighboring Caribbean restaurants were already offering. “We just found different ways to have nice Caribbean comfort food, different from everybody else, but still similar to home as well,” Craig explains. That balance, familiar but distinct, has helped Savvy establish its place within Brooklyn’s competitive dining landscape. But Craig quickly learned that operating a restaurant requires far more than putting together the right menu. One of his biggest early challenges was understanding people. “Mainly learning everybody’s habits and temperaments,” he says of navigating his team and business partners. “Who’s really down for the cause? Who’s going to come to bat? Are we going to be able to overcome any issues between one another?” It was a crash course in leadership: learning that building the right team can be just as important as building the right product. Over time, Savvy Bistro began establishing itself as more than a neighborhood dining destination. For Craig, some of his proudest moments have come from watching the restaurant become a space where community, business and civic engagement intersect. Savvy has hosted fundraisers and events involving local elected officials, including New York City leadership and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. For someone who entered the restaurant business without an established network, seeing influential community figures choose Savvy as a gathering place represented something bigger. Craig had built a space people wanted to be in. Still, the realities of restaurant ownership remain unpredictable. Slow seasons happen. Customer habits change. Operating costs don’t disappear simply because foot traffic does. Craig’s response has been to diversify. Instead of relying solely on customers walking through the restaurant doors, Savvy has developed its catering business as another revenue stream, another example of the entrepreneurial thinking Craig learned long before becoming a restaurateur. Ask Craig what advice he would give to aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those growing up in immigrant families, and there is no complicated formula. “Just keep fighting. No matter how hard the challenge is, keep fighting.” But persistence alone isn’t enough. “Make sure you have a good team,” he adds, emphasizing the importance of surrounding yourself with people who remain committed when circumstances become difficult. It’s advice that mirrors his own journey: from watching his mother work and build businesses, to navigating two vastly different cities, to entering an unfamiliar industry and learning it in real time. And Craig isn’t finished. Savvy Bistro continues to evolve, with seasonal menu additions in development, including dishes such as branzino and a lobster roll, while Craig continues thinking about what comes next for the business. Through every stage, however, his mentality remains remarkably consistent. “I’m just a go-getter,” Craig says. “No matter what the challenge is, I’m just going to make it happen.” Perhaps the most telling moment comes when Craig is asked what the little boy who once watched his mother hustle at flea markets and street fairs would say if he could see him now, running his own restaurant and creating opportunities of his own. His answer is brief. “Keep going. Don’t stop. Keep going. It’s more.” And in many ways, that sentence tells Craig’s entire story. For him, success isn’t the signal that you’ve arrived. It’s simply proof that there’s more to build. Make sure you check out Savvy Bistro and Bar, in Brooklyn: WHERE THE BREEZE OF THE CARIBBEAN MEETS THE SPICES OF THE SOUTH, FEARLESSLY FUSING TWO CELEBRATED CUISINES. Head over to https://savvybistro.com to book your reservation and tell Craig Disrupshion Magazine sent you.

SMILEY VEGAN ESSENTIALS WAS FOUNDED IN 2020 AS A LATIN-BLACK OWNED BUSINESS WITH A FOCUS ON VEGAN, HANDCRAFTED SELF-CARE PRODUCTS. WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START THE BRAND, AND WHAT PERSONAL EXPERIENCES SHAPED ITS MISSION? What inspired me to create the brand was the over use of chemicals in the beauty industry, I wanted to create products that are less harmful to our skin tissues and mental health. The personal experience that shaped that mission is my unique balance of being both a clinical behavioral expert and runway fashion model. I'm able to blend both my personal career with the my experience in the fashion industry to create a unique balance with each handcrafted product: CLEAN INGREDIENTS, CONSCIOUS BEAUTY, COMPLETE WELLNESS. Smiley Vegan Essentials creates vegan, handcrafted self-care products designed to nourish your skin and support your mental wellness. YOUR PRODUCTS ARE DESIGNED TO SUPPORT BOTH SKINCARE AND MENTAL WELLNESS THROUGH ORGANIC INGREDIENTS AND AROMATHERAPY. HOW DO YOU APPROACH CREATING PRODUCTS THAT NOURISH NOT ONLY THE SKIN BUT ALSO PROMOTE RELAXATION AND SELF-CARE? Yes the products are designed to enhance both skin care and mental health. The first step is to do research in the specific oils, and the next step is to pick a specific essential oil that creates the aromatherapy experience such as lavender, lemongrass, sweet orange. Which many of our hand selected oils help decrease symptoms of anxiety, depression, insomnia and mental coordination. Rooted in transparency, authenticity, and care, every product is crafted to help you feel good inside and out. “Self-care isn't just a moment, it's a lifestyle.We create products that care for your skin and your mind.” Smiley Vegan Essentials creates vegan, handcrafted self-care products designed to nourish your skin and support your mental wellness. IN TODAY'S BEAUTY INDUSTRY, CONSUMERS HAVE COUNTLESS OPTIONS. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE SETS SMILEY VEGAN ESSENTIALS APART, AND WHAT VALUES DO YOU HOPE CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE EVERY TIME THEY USE YOUR PRODUCTS? What I believe sets us apart is transparency and a humanistic personal approach. Each product is customized based on the client mental and skin needs, for long term clients in our website there a section for a skin care quiz that most costumers answer before purchase. We also provide real organic ingredients no harsh chemicals unlike many other organic brands, we mainly use organic coconut, jojoba, argan and almond oil as base oils for each products. AS YOUR BRAND CONTINUES TO GROW, WHAT ARE YOUR LONG-TERM GOALS FOR SMILEY VEGAN ESSENTIALS, AND WHAT EXCITING PRODUCTS, COLLABORATIONS, OR INITIATIVES CAN YOUR SUPPORTERS LOOK FORWARD TO NEXT? As our brand continues to grow we are open to collaborations with artist, commercials, brand ambassadors opportunities and billboards publications. In addition will be launching seasonal for the winter 2026 holidays and spring 2027 collections.