#166: Bee Happy, Bee Excellent (Friday, March 5)

I can't remember exactly when I met Joshua Bee Alafia (http://www.joshuabeealafia.com/www.joshuabeealafia.com/bees_bio.html); he was one of those people who it seemed just appeared one day on my Facebook, whom I accepted 'cos I "knew him from somewhere." He's not someone I hang out with on a daily basis, or even quarterly for that matter, but when I do run into him (for example on the eve of my 30th birthday), he always brings good energy, and ALWAYS has a smile on his face.

It wasn’t until one day a couple years ago that I realized how truly talented Joshua is. I ran into him in Harlem on his way to class. ("Class", I later learned, was the one that he was teaching, thank you very much.) Then I went to see a screening of a film called Cubamor (http://beeloved-creations.com/bio.html), which I found out was his creation and I knew he was a force to be reckoned with. But Joshua is not just a one-film pony; he has written and directed a few other great films (Bold As Love, The Seed, Maybe Dreams Can Come True, etc.) and documentaries like Havana Habibi and Dub Poet.

Almost as impressive is his list of projects that are in development (http://www.joshuabeealafia.com/www.joshuabeealafia.com/projects.html), which could use your support, so check out his website (http://www.joshuabeealafia.com/www.joshuabeealafia.com/home.html) and see if you want to become an executive producer. Personally, I'm feeling the Yard one, for obvious reasons. LOL.

If you're in Brooklyn tonight, Joshua is screening The Seed at 111 Front St & Washington Henry Gregg gallery in Dumbo at 7:30pm, if you're interested. Proceeds go the Shama Foundation fundraiser for homeless youth of Addis Abbaba.

Be excellent!

#165: Ups and Downs (Friday, February 26)

Najjah is a big personality. When he walks into the room, you know he's there. And he's not just a big personality, he's a fun, energetic, warm personality...which is far more important. My fondest memory of Najjah is the "harmonica story".

On one trip to Grenada, he brought a harmonica (which I'm not sure he knew how to play at the beginning of the trip). If you had been tempted to laugh, you caught yourself; Naj could make a ball of fire look cool. As a matter of fact, by the end of the trip, he had us all jamming to his harmonica tunes and there were even a few of us who thought of buying a harmonica on the return home.

He was born to be an entertainer. That's why I'm so excited to introduce his new music video, Ups & Downs. He also has a radio show called Najjah's World which has continuous live feed, and a new show every Thursday from 9 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. ET.

Check him out...I hope he inspires you to be excellent.

#164: The Sud Bar (Friday, February 19)

I first met Charmaine two years ago at a summer gathering. She had a great, friendly smile and a positive, vibrant energy that just lit up the room. And her afro was FIERCE. LOL.

Once I began speaking to Charmaine, I found out we had a few things in common: our fashion tastes were similar; she works in publishing; she's Jamaican and we both went to the same school in JA. But she's such an engaging person that it'd be easy to be friends with her, even if we didn't have anything in common.

Shockingly enough, I didn't find out that Charmaine was an entrepreneur until I accidentally discovered her site through Facebook. I wasn't stalking her or anything. LOL. The Sud Bar is Charmaine's own line of soaps, lotions, body washes and lip balms--all made by her, and all natural. And since she's a chemist and environmental scientist, she knows exactly what to put in her products to make your skin happy.

Check out The Sud Bar, order some products and give your skin a "happy hour". :)

#163: Capturing Life (Friday, February 12)

When I started my (now defunct) lifestyle magazine a few years ago, I had a dilemma: I wanted a top quality cover photographer, but like many startups I was on a tight budget. That's how I met Niya. A friend had highly recommended his work, and even though he'd worked with celebrities I'd only seen on TV, I decided that I wasn't gonna be intimidated.

My fears were completely unfounded. Not only did he live up to his recommendation, but my business partner and I found ourselves many a night lost in conversation with Niya who is an amazing wealth of information. Even after the magazine folded, Niya remained a very dear friend. And when he launched his photography site, I couldn't wait to send it along to my friends. He photographs people, places and events, and there's even some concept photography that you can buy (the Metropolitan series is my favorite; it just reminds me of quintessential New York)

But there's more. Niya's not just an amazing photographer; he's also one of the founders of the iconic Reggae Retro, the longest-running reggae party in Brooklyn, and the creator of the Retro image, which many people think is me or my sister. (Not a bad guess, I must say. LOL.) I didn't realize just how popular Reggae Retro was until I overheard people visiting from England talking about it on the train.

Check out Niya's sites and his businesses; hopefully it can inspire you!

#162: Revolutionizing the Rubdown (Friday, February 5)

I know such talented people! Really I do. Last week, I mentioned a friend of mine who does mobile massages in NY, and COMPLETELY forgot about my friend who has a mobile spa company that services clients nationwide.

Yup, Go Massage the brainchild of my super-talented friend Evan, who's a marketing whiz. Not only is he an accomplished TV writer and producer for multiple TV shows, including the Bachelor (which we won't hold against him...LOL), he was a rapper (and a good one, too) and is really a great guy. Seriously, every time I'm around him he makes me laugh...

But back to Go Massage...so Evan's the president, and his company works with masseuses and spas nationwide to provide mobile massages for private sessions, corporate events, sporting teams and other events. Whether you're traveling to a city for business and need a masseuse to come to your hotel, or you want to host your own sparty (spa party), Go Massage can provide the service. Pretty cool huh? And when you can count folks like Billy Ray & Miley Cyrus, BRAVO, E's Keeping Up With the Kardashians and FOX TV's House among your clients, I'd say you're pretty awesome.

So, if you ever need a masseuse, or wanna organize a sparty or a bridal event, check out Go Massage.com