Maryam Basir is an actress, model, and beauty entrepreneur, best known for her role as Lacey McCullough on ALLBLK‘s “Lace.”
She plays a dedicated attorney in Los Angeles who has no limits when it comes to her clients.
Basir opened up about the inspiration behind her character and what ALLBLK and her brand Maryam Beauty mean to her.
Where do you find the inspiration for the character Lacey McCullough?
I get my inspiration from many places, I have a friend who’s an attorney who’s this young, Black beautiful woman, and I called her. I asked her a lot of questions about her experience and I recorded her telling me about her experience as an attorney. That was one huge inspiration. I also pull from women who I find are strong or even men as well, who I find are just strong figures. You can draw from a lot of places.
I am an entrepreneur as well, I have a line of beauty products called maryambeauty.shop, and as an entrepreneur, I know how it is to be able to have to navigate an entire operation. From my own experience and studying marketing and business in college … it gives me the kind of understanding of what it takes to run a business and run an organization, as well as the mindset it takes. The same persistence, that Lacey has to have to be successful is the same thing that we have to have as actors and entrepreneurs. To be able to work those long days and long hours.
What is it like being featured on ALLBLK, and having your own Black-owned brand?
Well, ALLBLK’s slogan is stream where you’re celebrated. You want to be involved with people who appreciate you, you want to be able to create your own and have your own. Black ownership is very important to me. I believe in seven streams of income. Acting is one thing, modeling is another thing, as well as entrepreneurship and real estate. All those things make you more powerful and provide generational wealth for offspring, as well as continuing that so we can grow as a people. It’s extremely important.
This interview was conducted on July 12, before the SAG strike began.
