Mother and Daughters Rip The Runway at The 2013 Nzuri Natural Hair Health & Beauty Festival

Congratulations to Natural Beauty Sista Shea Dionne for winning 2nd place in the 

Nzuri Natural Hair Health & Beauty Full Figured Foxy Competition!

(Shea Dionne )

Congratulation to her daughter Chole' Symone, 13  for winning 1st place in the 

Little Miss Happy Head Teen Competition &

Madison Skye',5 for winning 1st place in the Little Miss Happy Head Little Girl Competition! 

(Madison Skye',5 & Chole' Symone, 13)

Q&A of Natural Beauty Sista Shea Dionne talking about her girls 

& herself's pageant experience at Nzuri 

Q: What inspired you and your daughters to be a part of The Nzuri Natural Hair Health & Beauty Festival Beauty Pageants?

A: Hmmmm, I'll try to make this long answer a short one :).  I actually showed up at the Nzuri headquarters in 2012 to register my little Madi for the Little Miss Happy Head pageant.  The staff assumed that I was also there to register and handed me an application too. I said no, I'm just here to register Madi.  I am not a model! They all looked at each other and I was then told and I DO mean TOLD honey, that I looked great, to fill out the application, and to get ready for a mini runway rehearsal with the runway coach *Bing, Bam, Pow*! Talk about thrown for a hot loop but in a good way :).  I then settled my nerves and put my fears aside and did just that.  A few weeks later, I received a text saying that I was selected as a Full Figured Foxy contestant and Madi had officially been registered for the Little Miss Happy Head pageant(Btw....I won Miss Congeniality 2012 and Top ticket sales and Madi won 2nd place)

(Madison Skye',5)

By this time I was a 3 year natural, already LOVING my Kinks & Curls.  For me, the decision to go natural was Freeing and Liberating. I wanted my daughters to know that the hair that God gave them was beautiful as well. My decision to join the Nzuri family was about Self Love and Liberation.  It was about learning to embrace our Natural Being.

So fast forward to this year’s Nzuri beauty pageants.  I was ecstatic about returning to compete again as a Full Figured Foxy contestant this year.  I also registered Madi and managed to successfully "encourage" my oldest daughter Chloe to join us.  It was officially a Family Affair!

( Chole' Symone, 13)

Q: How was the pageant experience for you and your daughters leading up to the show and the day of the show?

A: I was a little more relaxed this time around being that I was a repeat contestant. I had also been in a number of fashion shows throughout the city and as well as San Antonio. Madi was cool a cucumber (she oozes pageantry and loves every minute of it) & Chloe was a wee bit nervous because this was her first pageant experience. 

( Chole' Symone, 13)

Q: What was going through your mind and how were you feeling, when you found out both of your girls won 1st place in the Little Miss Happy Headed Teen and Little Girl Competition?

A: I was OVER THE MOON and on CLOUD 1000 filled with Joy over their wins! This was BIG! All of their “our” :) hard work of dance rehearsals, pageant requirements, and outfit preparations had truly paid off.  It was also a great sense of accomplishment for me as a single mother. I experienced first-hand the fruits of my labor!

(Madison Skye',5)

Q:  How did your girls feel when they found out their mommy won 2nd place in the Full Figured Foxy Competition?

A: My girls were happy for their mama.  All they saw was a trophy in my hand and that was spoke winner to them!

(Shea Dionne )

Q: Will you and your daughters continue to model in the future? If so, what are some of you and your daughters' modeling goals?

A: Yes indeed, we will all continue to model in the future.  For now, we are concentrating on their one year pageant queen reigns as Miss Happy Head Teen & Miss Happy Head Petite.  They will be involved in making public appearances, community service projects, radio interviews, and much much more. As for me: Follow me on social media for all the GREATNESS to come: *Facebook: Shea Dionne - Plus Model *Instagram: Shea Dionne *Youtube: www.youtube.com/SheaDionne

(Shea Dionne )

Thank you so much Natural Beauty Shea Dionne for sharing you and your daughters' Nzuri Pageant experience with us! 
We look forward in watching you and daughters blossom into national super models.

Natural Beauties, if you have a story to share with the group please feel free to email me at tierra@tierranicole.com.

-Here to inspire others to embrace their natural beauty through hair, fitness/health, fashion, self-confidence, motivation and life. Do what comes naturally. You can find me at www.tierranicole.com or “Like” my page on Facebook Tierra Nicole http://www.facebook.com/tierranstith .
 Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @Tierranstith For inquires tierra@tierranicole.com  

Your beauty comes from within. You are who You are & You are Natural♥

 ~ Tierra Nicole

Receive Your Holiday Gift from ME to You!

Happy Holiday's Natural Beauties! My holiday gift to you is to send you a FREE sample of Cantu Coconut Curl Cream & A Cantu Coupon! I want you to try The New Cantu Coconut Curling Cream with shea butter plus coconut oil minus harsh ingredients (@cantubeauty).

Comment Below with your email address & I will send you an email, 

so you can receive your sample before the holidays!

"The Daily Motivator" - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 Offer encouragement

You cannot force other people to do the right thing. What you can do, and what is extremely effective, is to encourage them.

If you offer threats, intimidation and low expectations, you’ll get resentment and poor performance. When you assume and expect the worst of others, you’re very likely to get it.

A better choice is to expect the best, and to offer opportunities for those expectations to be met. Though it’s true that people won’t always live up to your positive expectations, it’s also true that most people would prefer to do what’s best for everyone concerned.

Just about everyone responds positively to positive, genuine encouragement. Let others know, clearly, precisely and in positive terms, what you expect, and let them know you have faith that they’ll meet those expectations.

Instead of looking for ways to control, look for opportunities to support and encourage. Instead of conducting detached transactions, seek to build ongoing relationships.

Offer the encouragement to do what is right, what is good, what is valuable and positive. Expect the best, in a supportive way, and it is much more likely to happen.

— Ralph Marston

One of A Kind Pieces by Jhari Designs

Jhari Designs features crocheted items with some of the most interesting yarns, arresting colors, textures, & stitching. Each design is one of a kind & carries a bit of a very special lady in its crafmanship. Hand crocheted offerings include: Hats, Scarves, Jewelry & MORE! 

Q:Where do you get your inspiration create Jhari Designs?

Jhari Designs is a family affair.  Mom, Harry is the crochet artist.  Her three daughters act as business manager, marketing, and finance managers.  The family works together in all aspects of development, production, and sales.  At the end of the day, running the company is a labor of love.  Harry’s daughters are her biggest fans and enjoy sharing Mom’s needleart with the world.      

    

Q:When did you realize you wanted to become a fashion designer and how long have you worked as a designer?

Harry has crocheted since the age of 10.  Her mother was a knitter and a neighbor showed her how to crochet.  She’s always enjoyed challenging herself to work with unusual patterns and yarns.  The designs began as gifts for friends and family.  In high school and college, friends began to ask the girls about their unique accessories.  People began to request pieces for themselves. 

This evolved into small weekend craft shows, and eventually the brand that the company has become today.

Q: Describe the general process you go through to design each crochet piece ?

In creating our signature pieces, we are constantly on the lookout for the quality, eye catching yarns.  It’s the most important part of the design process.  Once, Harry has found the materials she wants to work with, she decides what she will make out of it.   The yarn dictates the items she creates.  Since the yarns we find tend to be rare, there is often just enough to make 2 or 3 pieces. 

Our Naturalista Line came about fairly recently and took a couple of years to develop.  Harry had already begun to sell her crochet, when one of her daughters transitioned to wearing her natural hair.  Making a hat that would comfortably fit was a new challenge. She experimented with patterns that would fit over braids and ‘fros.  As always, people began to ask her daughters for the new hats. Harry worked to develop patterns that have a consistent look and fit as she duplicates each one by hand. 

Q: How would you define your personal style?

Timeless.  Our family has always believed in investing in quality.  Trends come and go.  You can always update your look by accessorizing with hot new items, or adding a piece here or there.  We’ve always been big believers in standing out in a crowd, rather than blending in.

Q:What are some of Jhari Designs goals?

We’ve worked to build our brand and create a following for our products.  Our Jhari Design fans are pretty faithful and often surprise us with their willingness to invest in a variety of our apparel.  We continue to listen closely to our clientele and offer pieces that appeal to their tastes. 

In 2014, we want to begin posting styling tutorials on our YouTube channel.  Often customers express interest in wearing our line, but say “I’m not a hat person” or they have no idea how to wear an infinity scarf or cowl.  It can be intimidating.

Women don’t realize that a great look is a result of styling.  Sometime you have to experiment and play around until you find a way to express your own personal flair. 

Q: Where can readers purchase Jhari Designs?

Shop at our online boutique at jharidesigns.com. You can stay connected with Jhari Designs on Facebook: www.facebook.com/JhariDesigns & Instagram @Jharidesigns 

Natural Beauties if you have a small business and you would like be featured on my website/blog or would like to sponsor a GIVEAWAY please feel free to email me at tierra@tierranicole.com.

-I am here to inspire others to EMBRACE their natural beauty through hair, fitness/health, fashion, self-confidence, motivation and life. Do what comes naturally. You can find me at www.tierranicole.com or “Like” my page on Facebook Tierra Nicole www.facebook.com/itstierranicole  . Follow me on Twitter/Instagram @itsTierraNicole For inquires: tierra@tierranicole.com Your beauty comes from within. You are who You are & You are Natural♥

 ~ Tierra Nicole