Seagram’s Escapes sponsored its fourth and final installment of Cocktails and Conversations Women’s Empowerment Tour on Saturday, June 26. The virtual event, in partnership with rolling out, presented a conversation with influencers B. Simone (comedian, actress, MTV Wild ‘N Out), LaLa Milan (comedian, actress, BET’s Boomerang) and Claudia Jordan (talk show host, TV host, VH1’s Love and Hip-Hop Reunions) and moderator Nina Parker (entrepreneur, news correspondent, E!’s Nightly Pop, E!’s Daily Pop, E! News). The women discussed how they climbed the ladder of success in the entertainment industry, personal branding tips and how they conquered challenges.
Seagram’s Escapes partnered with Rolling Out for three previous virtual events over the past three months, with influencers such as Cynthia Bailey, Khadeen Ellis, Monique Rodriguez, Pinky Cole, Beatrice Dixon, Quad Webb and more.
This virtual panel was designed to highlight Black women entrepreneurs who have overcome obstacles they faced on their road of becoming innovators in the entertainment industry. Each of the women discussed their individual journey into the entertainment industry, and the hurdles they had to overcome to reach success. When asked the question if she feels continuous pressure to remain relevant in the world of social media, B. Simone passionately responded, “I feel continuous pressure to give something valuable to my consumer. I’m worried about continuously pouring in to people that support me. I’m not worried about going viral, I just want to make sure that the people who are tuned in for B. Simone are getting what they want from me as an entertainer. Because at the end of the day, I’m an entertainer and a business woman. So, if I’m selling you a product, I want to make sure that you like it. If I’m giving you a video for comedy or entertainment, I want to make sure that you laugh. I don’t think that it’s pressure to go viral. I think it’s pressure to make sure my consumer stays satisfied.”
LaLa was asked a similar question regarding if she always feel like she needs to produce viral content in hopes of people not forgetting about her. Her response was very confident in her skills as a content creator. “I used to [feel like I had to produce viral skits], but that was a while ago. Now, I don’t even bother doing skits as often unless it’s authentic to me. When I was in that phase of feeling a need to constantly produce, I was stressed out, and you can’t create fire content when you’re stressed out. One thing I’ve learned, is that you have to give your audience what they want.”
The conversation shifted a bit when Jordan was asked how she deals with social media trolls and how she maintains a level of calm and peace when it comes to not breaking under pressure. She jokingly responded that she drinks, but continued to say how she’s simply an unapologetic person in her life. “I remember when I first started getting [negative feedback]. It was out of nowhere!” She continued, “I rock with us so much! I mean I love Black people. So, when I got accused of being a colorist, or not liking Black women or Black men, I’d be like, ‘where is this coming from?’ I’m over here trying to be positive. I’m here for ya’ll. If I mess up, I will say sorry, especially if I offend our people. We’ve got to stop holding us in the media to an unrealistic standard that you guys could never maintain yourselves, it’s just not fair.”
The virtual series provides a safe space for honest conversations where female trailblazers share their stories candidly with others in similar spaces to inspire, encourage and share the knowledge needed to accelerate their entrepreneurial tracks. To find more details about this and the other tours, visit https://www.seagramsescapes.com/cocktails-conversations/.
