FFFWEEK 10 Year Celebration

FFFWEEK 10 year celebration was epic. It’s just that simple. How can you be in NY and not have a good time?The weather was perfect & the sky was blue. My fight to NY was great; the young lady next to me was from Greensboro. She moved to NY for a change of pace, as we continued talking she shared how she has been afraid to live her passion. In my head, I asked the Lord if He was playing tricks on me & of course He said no. After listening to her, I shared the quick version of my story and told her to "Come to herself". Before leaving the plan she looked back and said thank you with a warm smile I responded Go Live Your Life! 

Thirty minutes and $50 later, the UBER driver who talked all the way from the Bronx to Manhattan dropped me off at my home for the week and man-oh-man was I glad to step into a peaceful & quiet space...LOL. I almost had a moment  like the character in "Daddy's Little Girl". When Julia told the driver she did not want to fraternize... LOL. But I kept my cool and let him talk. Afterwards, I found the rooftop of my building, had the best Georgia peach of my life & took a nap. Once  my travel boo Tiearny arrived we did what we do best, we did NY. 

But wait... Before we met, I left the rooftop in search of a bathroom. The building where our condo was located didn't have a public bathroom. I looked around and almost said a few choice words or a not so nice nature. I immediately started walking to the closest corner in hopes of finding a facility; I went into  different shops and no one had a public bathroom. Mind you, in NC bathrooms are required if you serve food. I don't know where the employees use the bathroom in NY, but I was 99 HOT and I have to tinkle. I don't know what happened when i turned thirty something...but whatever happened, happened. After Dunkin Donuts disappointed me, there was a salad shop across the street. Through the glass I could see a bathroom sign on the door. What a perfect match, a salad and restroom under one roof! As you can imagine, after being angry my emotional state lifted and all was well with the world again. Ha! 

So let's get into FFFWEEK! 

Gwen DeVoe, founder of FFFWEEK never disappoints. I remember learning about FFFWEEK three years ago, saying "I’m going". The time came and quickly went; unable to attend 2016, I had to settle with the fact it was not my time. I told myself that next year, I'm going and I'm going to sponsor and guess what? I did both! As an event producer, we make hard decisions, invest blood - sweat and tears into people and production. A lot of people think it's an easy thing you can put together in a day...2 days. News flash, it takes months and sometimes a little over a year. Needless to say I have huge respect and love for Mrs. Gwen, I could write all day about how in such a short time, she has really changed my life for the better. Let this be a lesson to you, if the people you allow into your life don't make you a better individual, why are you allowing them to take residence?  

The gag is, people say women don’t work well together, women don’t support each other…All Lies.  I met Gwen through the power of social media and knew immediately she was all things business and beautiful. My Bible says you know the spirit by the spirit, and I feel blessed to call her friend to this day. She welcomed me in, offered me great advice and she sponsored one of my events in 2015 before we ever met face-to-face. As leaders and women we have to know we are strong together! When you win, I win and I want all the people I love to win. Business & life combined are hard enough there is no reason why anyone should choose to make it harder. I get so much joy from supporting my sister friends across the globe. It’s a beautiful thing and I am looking forward to even more.

It’s a great feeling to find a place you can call home. The plus community has become my family and within it I’ve meet great people I call friend. Learning about FFFWEEK happened at a pivotal point in my life. I was working hard in NC to build a platform for plus women to shine showcasing their talents. With 15 years of production experience, a lot of people don’t know that I am a thespian and love the arts. I saw a need in my community and created I Rock My Curves the best in 2013 as an awareness and empowerment brand. As the years went by I started wondering what am I going to do next? Do people appreciate this opportunity? I was getting burned out, I was losing money and at the end of each production I’m left holding the bag full of questions and receipts. The one thing I wished my community appreciated more was the arts. For three of the 5 years, we would be in production season for 9 out of 12 months to prepare for our annual show. That’s a lot of time, money and energy. But after connecting with others in the community, listening and following the path God has for me, I was excited about what was to come.

FFFWEEK has been many things to many people. The platform has changed a lot of people lives. The heart, purpose and vision of FFFWEEK is what I think drew me to it. I saw the bigger picture. To be in any industry for 10 years is a huge accomplishment. Each year as a producer you try to outdo yourself every year offering your guest an enjoyable and memorable experience. If you missed the 10 year celebration, you missed a good one. This year was like FFFWEEK homecoming. The people you love were happy to see you and you were glad to see them. The events and workshops were well planned and there was something for everyone to enjoy and let’s not forget the white cruise. Some of y’all tried it this year…LOL. The cruise always sells out; there were many broken hearts when the post went up SOLD OUT. Gwen gave plenty of time for everyone to lock in a ticket…Don’t play around next time, get those tickets early.

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Hanna & I at the White Cruise. She made this
beautiful dress. Thanks again Hanna, catch her on IG @Hannahccouture 

To the right, founder of FFFWEEK, Gwen DeVoe. Follow on IG @FFFWEEK 

One thing I love about life...is relationships. Relationships mean a lot to me. I feel super blessed to have several subfamilies within my community. This year I was honored to represent Big Fig Mattress at FFFWEEK. It’s always great to do what you love with the people you love. I tell people all the time, Big Fig is my family; Andrew, McKinzie and Lisa are the new homies. They have a great team and even better than that their Big Fig promise gets me every time I get in bed. I literally stand on Big Fig… catch them next at TCF Expo in Atlanta August 18. Take a spin, it will change your life. Use the Code KENYATTA at checkout and save $100. 

Until the next adventure...Live - Love - Laugh & Most of all be good to yourself. 

XO, 
​Lady Kay 

You can't go to NY & not have sticky wings with good girlfriends at Dallas BBQ's and at midnight!