Dark & Lovely Hosts “A Black Girl’s Guide to Building Your Personal Brand” Masterclass in celebration of National Mentorship Day

On National Mentorship Day, Thursday, Oct 27, 2022, at 5:00 PM ET, Dark & Lovely, a leader in Black beauty for the last 50 years, will host a Mentorship Masterclass titled  “A Black Girl’s Guide to: Building Your Personal Brand” as part of it’s Building Beautiful Futures initiative. The virtual session hosted by L’Oréal Marketing Director Tenaj Ferguson will feature beauty & style expert and BrainTrust Founders Studio Head of Community Blake Newby and will provide actionable advice to young Black women about how personal branding can influence one’s career track. The event is open to everyone and free of charge. To register, please visit: https://hopin.com/events/buildyourbrand

In addition to the career conversation, Blake Newby will also announce a $5000 pitch competition on behalf of Dark & Lovely and BrainTrust Founders Studio. Participants will be invited to pitch their vision for the future of the beauty industry and share their ideas for how the beauty industry can support and inspire Black women and professionals. The winner will win a  $5,000 grant and a trip to Dark & Lovely’s headquarters in NY to go behind the scenes of what it takes to build and grow a brand.

“I credit my entire career to the power of mentorship. As I’ve matriculated through this industry, it’s been the impact of other dynamic Black women who took me under their wing that has cultivated me into who I am today. That’s why I’m so excited to be paying it forward with Dark & Lovely. I hope that those who attend walk away feeling empowered, encouraged and better equipped to grow and scale their own personal brands.” says Blake Newby.

The Dark & Lovely Building Beautiful Futures Mentorship Masterclass series is a curriculum-based mentorship initiative created in partnership with the NAACP. The session is part of an ongoing mentorship training series that engages young Black women in college or early career professionals with actionable tips and tools while inspiring them to achieve their higher education and professional goals. Earlier this year, the brand held “A Black Girl’s Guide to Mentorship,” hosted by MSNBC’s Symone Sanders, where speakers Storm Reid and NAACP’s Yumeka Rushing discussed the power of mentorship and advised young Black women on how to navigate their academic and career journeys.

“Personal branding is crucial for advancing your career and creating a lasting legacy. This session aims to equip young professionals with the considerations and tools to build a personal brand that is authentic and impactful” says Tenaj Ferguson. ” For me, personal branding has meant developing a brand not just for the products I work on in my career but treating my own existence as a brand, thereby having my own brand statement and values, and letting that drive decisions I make and opportunities I take. A personal brand means I’m clear on how to communicate my values, impact, and capabilities to others.”

Launched in January 2022, the Building Beautiful Futures initiative was developed to help bring educational and career equity to Black female college students and young professionals through scholarships, mentorship, and career coaching opportunities.

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Dark & Lovely, founded in 1972, was created to help Black women express and embrace their individual styles. As one of the first brands to celebrate the Black consumer, for 50 years Dark & Lovely has been known for offering innovative products and technology made exclusively for Black Women to address their specific beauty needs. As a subsidiary of L’Oréal USA, Dark & Lovely continues to unveil breakthrough hair innovations for women of color. For more information, visit www.darkandlovely.com.

Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons. Learn More: https://naacp.org/

With bylines in publications such as The Zoe Report, Allure, NYLON, BET and Cosmopolitan, Blake Newby’s love for beauty and style has catapulted her work across numerous platforms. She made her home as the Beauty & Style Director at ESSENCE Magazine where she continued to use her voice and platform to highlight Black women and Black brands making a difference in the industry. Pivoting industries, Blake now serves as Head Of Community for a beauty and fashion venture capital firm. It’s there that she bridges the gap between culture and capital — leveling the playing field for Black-owned beauty and lifestyle brands. She has worked with brands like Saks and Grey Goose.

PR Contact: Civic Entertainment Group | [email protected]