Bunmi Laditan, is an award winning, Webby nominated writer. Most of you may know her by her moniker ‘Honest Toddler.’ Her debut novel, Confessions of a Domestic Failure, is a satirical, realistic look at motherhood. Bunmi has outdone herself with her latest book, : Honest Prayers to a God who Listens.
She had originally written this collection of poetry and prayers as a way of following her own spiritual journey. With candor, self-aware humor, and a profound insight, Bunmi saw that so many were struggling with similar journeys. And so with much humility, she agreed to publish Dear God. The book is for anyone seeking to reconnect as well as for those looking for a good word. Bunmi shares her journey, a journey of emotions that we all experience at different points in our lives – doubt, anger, love, desperation, gratefulness and more.
Dear God was featured on the Today Show and Bunmi is a contributor to Parenting.com, Mothering.com, iVillage.com, the New York Times and the Huffington Post. Bunmi lives outside of Montreal with her family. Her social media following is large. But more impressive is that there is communication between her and her followers, not just emoji’s. Bunmi relates and is not afraid of having a conversation, even with someone who disagrees with her.
A candid conversation with Bunmi:
Childhood and faking it
Marrying at 16 and converting to Judaism
Culture not religion
Identity as a Jewish wife and mother
Divorce and becoming a seeker
Struggles with depression and anxiety
Journey to reconnect with God
Raising her three children
The 1940s and 1950s saw changes to how women were portrayed in film. A change from the victim of the 1930s. Post World War II films introduced the ‘Femme Fatale’ and with it women characters who were mysterious and dangerously seductive, not victims. During the war, women had taken the place of men in the workforce, bringing an independence that for many, had never been experienced before. These movies were known as ‘Film Noir’ (French for ‘dark film’), classics of the 1940s and early 1950s.
‘The Queen of Noir’ Ann Chernow
So I turned my attention to ‘The Queen of Noir’, renowned artist Ann Chernow. Ann has been painting this genre for over a decade. She does paintings, prints and drawings always in the abstract capturing the essence of the ‘Femme Fatale’. Ann has gone from actual portraits of the films’ stars, to imaginary faces of film, to painting scenes from the films to inventing scenes from ‘Film Noir’ movies. Then came a night alone at an Italian restaurant in NYC and a bottle of wine. The evening resulted in creation of ‘Bad Girls’ – eight separate stories and eight separate images.
Film Noir and Femme Fatales have been with her ever since that evening.
‘The reason for women: everybody has a guess. It’s psychological. It has to do with the women in the films. The women in Noir movies all had fabulous clothing and the men just had gray suits and hats. There’s nothing to paint – just gray suits and hats, so the male figure is sometimes an abstract support.’
Meet Ann Chernow
Artist, ‘Queen of Noir’, Mother, Grandmother and Teacher. Ann has taught art for over 26 years. Born in New York City in 1936, Ann has been a resident of Westport, Connecticut, considered a haven for artists for the last 50+ years. Ann is a beloved leader in the extended arts community. She has worked in the mediums of lithography, silkscreen, etching and colored pencil as well as oil painting.
Ann’s second husband, Burt Chernow founded the Housatonic Museum of Art. He was an art historian and professor at the Housatonic Community College. Burt passed away in 1997. Ann later became the life partner of actor and documentarian, Martin West (d. 2020).
Ann’s work evokes a sense of veiled mystery. A veiled mystery that is the essence of Film Noir and Ann’s creativity.
I had the privilege of talking with Ann about our favorite genre of film, her beginning, her philosophy, the pandemic and her continued mining.
Age 3 ½ – the beginning
The RKO theaters and going to the movies at 11
Victims and Heroines
The ‘Queen and King’ of Noir
Femme Fatales
1930’s and Post World War II
Those clothes
The abstract
‘That looks like my grandmother’
Miss Bette Davis
How to get an invitation
Artists and life
Advice to young artists
Keep on mining
Who do Michelle Obama, Nicole Kidman, Emma Watson and Serena Williams have in common? Shilpa Yarlagadda, Founder of Shiffon.
What do Michelle Obama, Nicole Kidman, Emma Watson and Serena Williams have in common? A Shiffon Duet Pinky Ring. They believe in the symbolism of the ring: the power of mentorship between women. Each of these women unite in showing the beauty behind this gem. And the ‘Pinky Promise’ to pay-it-forward.
What is Shiffon? A fine jewelry company Shilpa started in her dorm at Harvard University.
In 2017 looking for something to do in her downtime at Harvard, Shilpa started googling. The two areas that interested her the most were fine jewelry and women entrepreneurs. Two major discoveries took place: Discovery #1 – fine jewelry has a large markup. Discovery #2 – a large gender gap in the field of entrepreneurship exits. Armed with this information, Shilpa lowered the overhead by selling directly to the consumer. And embarked on a mission to close the entrepreneurial gender gap, ‘one pinky at a time’. All while she continues finishing her studies at Harvard University.
The Four Events
Four events by Shilpa took place simultaneously:
Attending Harvard University
Launching Shiffon and the Duet Pinky Ring
Launching the non-profit, Start-Up Girl Foundation – funding women entrepreneurs
Donating 50% of Shiffon’s profits from the Duet Pinky Ring to the Start-Up Girl Foundation
Featured
Forbes has named her in their list of ’30 under 30′. The Wall Street Journal featured Shilpa in, ‘The Crazy, True Story Behind the Pinky Ring Loved by Nicole Kidman, Michelle Obama and Serena Williams’. And CNBC did a story on her: ‘How a 20-year old college student launched a jewelry company whose rings are worn by Michelle Obama’.
The Duet Pinky Ring – a symbol of female solidarity and a promise to pay it forward. Since launching Shiffon Co., Shilpa and Shiffon have funded 11 female entrepreneurs. And it doesn’t stop with money, it continues with mentoring.
An Inspiring Conversation
Listen to my inspiring conversation with Shilpa and:
The entrepreneurial gender gap
Why a spiraling ring
Paying it forward
Emma Watson and perseverance
Doing one thing and doing it well
Sustainable business model
The network of powerful women supporting each other
What’s next
‘Bringing what’s written on the page to life with just your voice.’ – Therese Plummer
This week’s conversation is with a very inspiring woman, Therese Plummer. Therese has performed over 400 audiobooks.
The performance of audiobooks and a candid conversation
A very candid conversation with an amazing actor, storyteller and all around extraordinary woman. Therese has helped many of us to be able to escape, even for just a little while during these wild times. Amazing, but it was her mother who pushed her into this field.
But her mother was a librarian!
Storytelling without using expressions or moving or using your hands?
How can you tell a story with just your voice?
A wild child and teenager – really?
She’s been to the bottom – how did she clean herself up?
Crisis Center, Drama Therapy and conveying the emotional life and journey of each character.
Bringing books alive for those who have trouble reading.
What’s next?
Meet Therese Plummer
Therese Plummer is an actor and award-winning audiobook performer. She has recorded over 400 audiobooks for a variety of publishers. Therese won the 2019 Audie Award for her work on the Multicast Sadie by Courtney Summers. She was nominated for the Multicast Any Man by Amber Tamblyn and for her solo narration for the Rogue Planets Shaken by Lee W. Brainard. In addition, Therese was awarded for her work on Sourdough by Robin Sloan by the American Library Association as part of the 2018 Listen List: Outstanding Audiobook Narration for Adult Listeners.
You may recognize Therese as the voice of Maya Hansen in the Marvel Graphic Motion Comic Ironman Extremis, Dr. Fennel in Pokemon and various Yu-Gi-Oh characters. And let’s not forget her Television Guest Star Roles on the Good Wife, Law and Order SVU and the Netflix series Virgin River.
Therese spent five years as an adolescent counselor where she used Drama Therapy techniques in individual and group settings. As a result of her years as a counselor, Therese is able to bring to characters to life in a very real way. She shares a passion of creating, helping and entertaining Therese recently adopted a rescue named Butterfingers. She now lives in Bloomfield, New Jersey with her husband and of course, Butterfingers.
It’s a New Year. Let’s Welcome It! Saying Goodbye to 2020 2020, I remember welcoming it in with such joy. The buzz was to make sure you date everything with the complete 2020 and not just 20. If only that had been the most important item to have on our...
