LOCnificent Fest is produced by Culture Unloc’d, a Brooklyn-based cultural events organization centered on black joy, diaspora identity, and community. Founded by Lovaeta K. Amoako, whose personal journey with locs began in 2010, the festival expresses her vision to create space where natural hair is not merely accepted—but
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Araceli Esparza's journey from a high school poetry circle to becoming one of Wisconsin's Most Influential Latinas wasn't linear, but it was inevitable. Growing up with migrant farmer roots, she learned early that storytelling isn't just art—it's survival, connection,
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When Talia Wolf quit her job at six months pregnant to launch her first online course, she had what she calls a "jaw-dropping moment" of realization: she would never work for anyone else again. That leap of faith during one of life's most vulnerable times wasn&
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When Adrienne Burgos was working as a brand ambassador in college to make ends meet, she loved the energy and excitement of bringing brands to life at events. But she also saw something troubling: a disconnect between what brands expected and what they were actually getting from staffing agencies. Communication
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When Katie Test Davis moved from Washington, D.C. to Raleigh in 2019, she thought she might take another traditional in-house communications role. Instead, her phone started ringing a lot. Former colleagues and new contacts across North Carolina were calling with projects, seeking the expertise of someone who had spent
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For nearly two decades, Anastasia Wright has been rewriting the rules of music marketing—not by climbing corporate ladders, but by building her own. As the founder and principal owner of Imperial Marketing Group, a cultural programming, creative, and marketing company centered around supporting underrepresented creative voices globally, she'
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When Anna Michaels-Boffy and Abby Leeper Gibson met in 2013 on the campaign trail, they were young idealists united by a shared passion for public service. Then they went their separate ways. Abby spent years honing her public relations expertise in the private sector as well as serving as the
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Ruby Veridiano's path has never been linear, but somehow, all the dots connect. She started as a spoken word poet, arts activist, and journalist working with young women in vulnerable communities. She studied Sociology of World Development, earned a Master's in Global Communications from The American
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Andrea Olmsted launched Sustainable Fashion PR shortly after her youngest child turned two. During postpartum, the majority of her time was given to her children, although she spent several nights a month freelance writing. It wasn't until her husband at the time had been laid off from the
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Amiee Watts spent nearly 20 years in senior-level positions at top PR agencies, managing major financial services clients like Federated Investors, Aegon Asset Management, and Thornburg, and overseeing more than $1.8 million annually in monthly retainers. She knew the agency world inside and out, and she also knew what
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Dr. Adia Gooden knows what it feels like to tie your worth to achievement. She earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Clinical Community Psychology from DePaul University. She spent four years as a staff psychologist at the University of Chicago
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Caroline Goyder studied English Literature at Oxford and assumed her love of words would make her a good communicator. Then at drama school they told her, "You're in your head, you have no presence." It hurt. But it made her determined to find it. She'