Sept 13

DRIVEN Is An Independent Production - Part 1

DRIVEN was an idea conceived after I spent an afternoon watching a series of Vogue’s a-day-in-the-life videos on YouTube. I thought: “What if I did something similar with women of color entrepreneurs?” The vision began to take shape in my mind and then on paper. I knew I wanted women who had businesses in diverse industries and who had unique and inspirational stories. So, my assignment for myself was to find them.

Casting DRIVEN

Instagram is my favorite "hunting ground" for sourcing talent. That's where I found Breann Cook, Sunny Jones and Lauren Stovall. I already knew Latricia Wilder because I had been telling her story for a while. I chose each woman for the following reasons:

Breann Cook: Her company, Ambition is the New Pink is a fun streetwear fashion brand. I have purchased Breann’s products in the past. I have also attended Breann’s sold-out pop-up events where she fostered commerce and community among black women-owned businesses and an enthusiastic and supportive audience. I knew that Breann had a formal fashion background which included an education from FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising). She also had industry experience prior to launching her brand. I wanted to get Breann’s input on the business side of fashion as well as learn about how she built her streetwear brand. Breann came through with all of that and more!

Sunny Jones: Someone that I follow on Instagram reposted one of Sunny’s reels. It was a cute profile of a black-owned butcher shop (Best Buy Meat Co.) that included an interview with the owner (Mr. Walter, Sr.) who has been running the business for 20+ years. He invented and patented “turkey chops” (watch the video for that amazing story). I immediately went to Sunny’s profile page and fell in love with the creative way that she used storytelling to market herself as a real estate agent. Real estate is one of my passions and it felt right to include an agent of Sunny’s caliber who’s thriving in the unique and ultra-competitive Los Angeles real estate market. What I didn’t know at the time was that real estate was going to be just one part of Sunny’s inspiring story.

Lauren Stovall: Honestly, I can’t remember how I found out about Lauren Stovall. What I do recall is scrolling through the Instagram feed of her family’s 100+ year old business, Hot Sam’s, the oldest menswear store in Detroit, and seeing a sweet video of one of the owners teaching a young man how to tie a tie.

For those unfamiliar with the Hot Sam’s story, the store was founded by a Jewish man in 1921. Many years later, Lauren’s father, Tony Stovall, and his friend, Cliff Green, worked as salesmen at the store. They ended up purchasing Hot Sam’s from the original founding family in 199_ making Hot Sam’s 100% black-owned.

Today, Lauren is playing a pivotal role in carrying Hot Sam’s black-owned legacy into the next generation. I am awestruck at the work Lauren is doing as a woman operating a menswear store. It’s a fascinating journey.

Latricia Wilder: Latricia and I go way back. We first met when Latricia participated as a featured lady in Women’s Work: Detroit Edition, a book of conversations with women entrepreneurs that StartHER TV produced and published. At that time, Latricia had just opened her fitness and wellness studio, Vibe Ride Detroit, in the heart of downtown after leaving a lucrative position with a $300,000 annual salary in media sales. Ironically, a few months after the book’s photo shoot, the pandemic happened and Latricia was forced to close Vibe Ride Detroit’s physical location for almost a year and a half. But Latricia pushed through. She held classes online and she even setup bikes on the sidewalk in front of Vibe Ride Detroit and had her instructors teach classes outdoors. When the Covid-19 restrictions loosened, Latricia was able to reopen Vibe Ride Detroit. However, a new obstacle presented itself. And, Latricia would now have to make some hard choices.

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Stay tuned, because next week in Part 2, I will share DRIVEN’s production process.

In the meantime, subscribe to the StartHER Weekly e-Journal for updates on when DRIVEN will be available for streaming. All new subscribers will receive a 10% discount on their DRIVEN screening pass. Click here to subscribe.