Just a reminder that Black is Beautiful yesterday, Just a reminder that Black is Beautiful yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Black is Beautiful in every shade and in every country. Black Lives Matter and they always will. If you aren't an anti-racist who constantly lifts up Black people, then this is probably not the space for you.
I was in first grade when I realized that no one w I was in first grade when I realized that no one who looked like me had ever held the office of President or Vice President. My heart is filled with joy for the young people who will never know that feeling.
🙌🏽 🙌🏽
Please remember to stay safe this week! There are Please remember to stay safe this week! There are a lot of things happening in DC and all over the USA. Stay vigilant, stay away from people whenever possible, and stay home if and when you can! Also, remember that is it perfectly acceptable to celebrate tomorrow. These past four years have felt like a lifetime. We still have so many steps to take to make this nation a truly accepting, fair, and free place but let's hold on to the little happy moments along the way until we get there.
As a born and raised Orlandoean (is that what we s As a born and raised Orlandoean (is that what we should call ourselves?!) I haven't ever really experienced a winter season. I've enjoyed winter many times while in many different cities including, Edinburgh, London, NYC, and Boston. But I've never lived in winter day in and day out. After a week it was always time to fly home to my palm trees and theme parks. This winter is the first time that I am experiencing cold temperatures daily and often experiencing grey skies. It's only been about two weeks and I have to admit that it is a huge adjustment. But I am doing my best to embrace the season and stay as cozy as possible. I am used to being outside as often as possible in winter while hibernating with the A/C running all summer. So I guess now I will be reversing those habits and bundling up until spring gets here.
For my birthday I wanted one thing and one thing o For my birthday I wanted one thing and one thing only, @hipcityveg. Although I still miss all my favorite Orlando foodie places, I am so excited to finally be so close to a Hip City Veg location. It's my all-time favorite plant-based restaurant and I have been craving this vegan milkshake for months! If you haven't been yet and you are in DC or Philadelphia, go right now!
I'm currently reflecting on a very wild year. This I'm currently reflecting on a very wild year. This last trip around the sun was during a very difficult time in our world but I can't personally complain much about the last 365 days. I thought I would be taking over as the lead on a contract at a Disney hotel as their main wedding photographer. I had been photographing weddings there for years but covid had other plans. Instead, I watched as the entire world shut down around me, only for the hotel to reopen as a part of the NBA bubble. So I decided to jump headfirst into running a product-based business. It's something I wanted to do for years and yet I could never quite seem to muster up the nerve to fully go after that dream. I launched my first collection of candles, sold out in days, and things have been steadily growing since then for @kismetandcharisma. After finally going after my dream of switching from service-based to product-based, I co-founded a nonprofit. This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl and the stars finally aligned to bring it to light. Along with my best friend, Anna, I co-founded @LoveDoesntHurtInc. It has already healed me in ways I never thought possible and I can't wait to see what our nonprofit does for other people. I also consistently recorded @heartandhustlepodcast all year alongside my ride or die, @studio404design. Outside of work, I adopted the sweetest little pup ever as a present for my husband's quarantine birthday (best present ever). I didn't finish writing my own book but I managed to read quite a few other books. I battled anxiety as usual but I managed to learn when to turn the news off and FaceTime a friend instead of continuing to doomscroll. I also convinced my husband to leave OCPS to work for a school district that would like to keep him alive during the pandemic, which resulted in us relocating to the DC area. Here's hoping that this trip around the sun is filled with the same amount of professional success but WAY more hugs.
Lately, I have been getting acquainted with some o Lately, I have been getting acquainted with some of the local coffee shops in DC and NOVA. You would never know that I don't like coffee by how often I am spending money in coffee shops. I do, however, love just about every tea I come across. Earthy, fruity, sweet, bitter, it doesn't matter. I love them all. Any other tea lovers out there? Do you like coffee and tea or just one or the other?
This year is off to a wild start. I literally star This year is off to a wild start. I literally started the New Year on the road, driving somewhere just south of Raleigh. We slept in Raleigh for a few hours and then finished the drive to our new home in the DMV. We have been here just over a week now which feels pretty hard to believe. In some ways, it feels shorter and in others, it feels much longer. I don't feel at home yet but yesterday was a beautiful day and definitely the best one that I have had since we moved here. It definitely has me feeling hopeful. I know that this year won't magically be better than last year but I am going to be doing everything I can to make it a better year for myself and everyone I know.
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Personal · March 9, 2017

Currently

Travel

As anyone who follows me on instagram knows, my wanderlust is insatiable and I am constantly looking for my next adventure. With back to back trips to D.C. in January, John and I decided to keep things local in February and explore our own little corner of the world. Spring and Summer will include trips up north, a visit to the Carolinas, and Europe. I think it’s high time that John and I do a packing tutorial considering we continue to manage to cram all of our belongings into carry-ons and successfully avoid checked baggage fees.

Work

I recently on boarded a client whom I have wanted to work with for awhile. 725Creative has successfully taken over (well, started really) social media for Keep Her Safe. In addition to working with Keep Her Safe on social media, we are also helping them become more intersectional in their web presence. Husband and wife clients, Nicole Ami and Alex Ray just so happen to be heading to Europe at the same time as John and I which means our next social media training session will be in a British pub! One of my favorite clients, Apples + Co. is expanding their services to take on more weddings which means fun updates to the websites and even MORE fun branding photo sessions which include eating my weight in gourmet apples, pretzels, and cookies after the shoot.

Podcast

The second year (season?) of Heart and Hustle is in full swing and we couldn’t be luckier when it comes to our guest list. A lot of last year’s episodes just included the two of us so that we could establish our podcast style with viewers. With the success of the first year, we feel a little more confident about reaching out to guests outside of our circle. Upcoming guests include entrepreneurs as diverse as mixed media artists, famous activists, and celebrity wedding photographers. We are also relaunching the blog with an awesome, talented team of contributors. If you know anyone interested, send them here!

Health

Many of you have asked for an update regarding my health. I’m happy to say that it is improving! The second half of last year was stressful and scary at times but things are definitely better now. It looks like I may not need surgery at all. I’ve switched my diet about a million times to see exactly what works. So far, being vegan five days a week has been working for me. As a long time vegetarian, I thought making the change to being vegan would be easy but it’s actually more challenging that I imagined. Having two days to eat a vegetarian diet have been making all the difference in my sanity and the five days of veganism have been making all the difference in my health. In general, I have been avoiding soy, caffeine, and sugar every day of the week. In April I will have another test to see if the fibroid tumor has shrunk any further.

Reading

As usual, I have been reading everything I can get my hands on. I’m long overdue for a Well Read post but I am currently reading Negroland by Margo Jefferson.

Personal

Our best friends just had another baby so I am now an aunt to an adorable little boy! Expect a lot of pictures soon!

After listening to every episode of The Minimalist Podcast, I’ve been getting rid of everything in site. Having less stuff makes me feel more focused and while I’ll probably never be a full blown minimalist, I’m excited to see where this minimalism journey takes me.

What’s Next 

Europe is right around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited! Our days outside of London are very scheduled but our days in London our completely open so if you have any suggestions on food, tea, bookshops, and entertainment, send them my way!

On April 2nd, come see me at Your Story: Branding and Marketing in Miami. I’ll be giving a speech on branding and following it up with some actionable content for attendees. I would love to see you there!

 

In: Personal · Tagged: currently, health, Personal, podcast, reading, travel, work

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Hi! I'm Charisma, a creative entrepreneur who loves to help others reach their full potential. I'm a photographer, a writer, and the owner of Kismet + Charisma, an online boutique that pairs minimalist, cozy, boho style with activism. In my little corner of the internet you'll find my latest travels, what I'm currently reading, how I practing Black joy as resistence, and how I'm finding hygge in my daily life. Pull up a chair, grab a cup of tea, and stay awhile.

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Just a reminder that Black is Beautiful yesterday, Just a reminder that Black is Beautiful yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Black is Beautiful in every shade and in every country. Black Lives Matter and they always will. If you aren't an anti-racist who constantly lifts up Black people, then this is probably not the space for you.
I was in first grade when I realized that no one w I was in first grade when I realized that no one who looked like me had ever held the office of President or Vice President. My heart is filled with joy for the young people who will never know that feeling.
🙌🏽 🙌🏽
Please remember to stay safe this week! There are Please remember to stay safe this week! There are a lot of things happening in DC and all over the USA. Stay vigilant, stay away from people whenever possible, and stay home if and when you can! Also, remember that is it perfectly acceptable to celebrate tomorrow. These past four years have felt like a lifetime. We still have so many steps to take to make this nation a truly accepting, fair, and free place but let's hold on to the little happy moments along the way until we get there.
As a born and raised Orlandoean (is that what we s As a born and raised Orlandoean (is that what we should call ourselves?!) I haven't ever really experienced a winter season. I've enjoyed winter many times while in many different cities including, Edinburgh, London, NYC, and Boston. But I've never lived in winter day in and day out. After a week it was always time to fly home to my palm trees and theme parks. This winter is the first time that I am experiencing cold temperatures daily and often experiencing grey skies. It's only been about two weeks and I have to admit that it is a huge adjustment. But I am doing my best to embrace the season and stay as cozy as possible. I am used to being outside as often as possible in winter while hibernating with the A/C running all summer. So I guess now I will be reversing those habits and bundling up until spring gets here.
For my birthday I wanted one thing and one thing o For my birthday I wanted one thing and one thing only, @hipcityveg. Although I still miss all my favorite Orlando foodie places, I am so excited to finally be so close to a Hip City Veg location. It's my all-time favorite plant-based restaurant and I have been craving this vegan milkshake for months! If you haven't been yet and you are in DC or Philadelphia, go right now!
I'm currently reflecting on a very wild year. This I'm currently reflecting on a very wild year. This last trip around the sun was during a very difficult time in our world but I can't personally complain much about the last 365 days. I thought I would be taking over as the lead on a contract at a Disney hotel as their main wedding photographer. I had been photographing weddings there for years but covid had other plans. Instead, I watched as the entire world shut down around me, only for the hotel to reopen as a part of the NBA bubble. So I decided to jump headfirst into running a product-based business. It's something I wanted to do for years and yet I could never quite seem to muster up the nerve to fully go after that dream. I launched my first collection of candles, sold out in days, and things have been steadily growing since then for @kismetandcharisma. After finally going after my dream of switching from service-based to product-based, I co-founded a nonprofit. This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl and the stars finally aligned to bring it to light. Along with my best friend, Anna, I co-founded @LoveDoesntHurtInc. It has already healed me in ways I never thought possible and I can't wait to see what our nonprofit does for other people. I also consistently recorded @heartandhustlepodcast all year alongside my ride or die, @studio404design. Outside of work, I adopted the sweetest little pup ever as a present for my husband's quarantine birthday (best present ever). I didn't finish writing my own book but I managed to read quite a few other books. I battled anxiety as usual but I managed to learn when to turn the news off and FaceTime a friend instead of continuing to doomscroll. I also convinced my husband to leave OCPS to work for a school district that would like to keep him alive during the pandemic, which resulted in us relocating to the DC area. Here's hoping that this trip around the sun is filled with the same amount of professional success but WAY more hugs.
Lately, I have been getting acquainted with some o Lately, I have been getting acquainted with some of the local coffee shops in DC and NOVA. You would never know that I don't like coffee by how often I am spending money in coffee shops. I do, however, love just about every tea I come across. Earthy, fruity, sweet, bitter, it doesn't matter. I love them all. Any other tea lovers out there? Do you like coffee and tea or just one or the other?
This year is off to a wild start. I literally star This year is off to a wild start. I literally started the New Year on the road, driving somewhere just south of Raleigh. We slept in Raleigh for a few hours and then finished the drive to our new home in the DMV. We have been here just over a week now which feels pretty hard to believe. In some ways, it feels shorter and in others, it feels much longer. I don't feel at home yet but yesterday was a beautiful day and definitely the best one that I have had since we moved here. It definitely has me feeling hopeful. I know that this year won't magically be better than last year but I am going to be doing everything I can to make it a better year for myself and everyone I know.
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