Sharief Johnson was born in Bayonne NJ April, 20, 1993. Sharief split his youth between Georgia and New Jersey. Growing up in unfortunate circumstances he found happiness in creating laughter! No matter when or where he was, he was always was looking to make people laugh! This mindset eventually brought him to a popular club in NYC shortly after high school, where he started his comedy career!

It was a beautiful day to Strut the Skies on August 15, 2020. Amanda Witkowski and Alyssa Lego spearheaded yet another magnificent event filled with fashion, entertainment, fundraising and more! Of course, this event looked much different than their events in the past, given the pandemic and finding a safe way to bring attention to the cause they have dedicated themselves to- bringing awareness to Autism and raising funds to help individuals on the spectrum.

Anna Nyakana is an award-winning and best-selling author, speaker, and entrepreneur. Her book “Niyah Zuri and the Pharaoh’s Throne” focuses on representation and bringing diversity to the classroom. Truly turning the curriculum on its edge to ensure children of color learn about actual history beyond Black History Month . With a fearless Black heroine leading the way, Anna’s Niyah Zuri mission also focuses on girl-empowerment, including inspiring young girls to love themselves and their natural hair. “Your hair is an extension of your spirit; a gloriously kinky and curly crown,” just like her main character Niyah Zuri, as well as herself.

Search engine optimization (SEO) involves a variety of tasks. Every task is equally important to the health and strength of your website. Backlinks are essential elements of SEO because they contribute to building your website's domain and page authorities, which directly affects search result rankings.

Joey Raimondi is an entertainer who began hosting and organizing live events as a teenager. His journey in the industry allowed him to perform in various creative projects in both film and music all across the country. Joey's passion and ambition inspired him to start the Ultimate Platform - a digital Hollywood community where members can upload/share their own original content while receiving favorable royalties, network with others to collaborate and/or pitch projects, and even host and attend live industry events (Film Festivals, Casting Calls, Workshops, Premieres, and private screenings). The Ultimate Platform is a place for talented individuals to unite as one community, providing the support and freedom to mold our virtual world into a frontier of limitless creative expression. #dreamBIG!

In this episode of The Craft, we sit down with four up-and-coming directors to discuss their work and experiences within the film industry. The directors reflect upon their transition from a pre-professional track to a now professional process. They note the need to be kinder to themselves and allow room for mistakes. It is the mistakes that are the most vital to building any process. Additionally, the directors push back against formulas especially when it comes to standards. They find this adaptability to be critical when working with tight budgets - a harsh reality many young filmmakers face. But it is within those moments that they recount their most innovative and collaborative experiences.

Hey Vocal readers hope you are doing well in these continued unprecedented times. As my blog series continues on the Vocal Creators platform I am pleased to present to you Kenyetta Miller who is the Owner of FaceCARD Glasses LLC. I am dedicated to highlight and feature business owners like Kenyetta who are making their mark in the world. We have to support eachother more than ever as we continue to uplift and fight for the betterment of all black lives. Congrats to Kenyetta on all of her success so far. We here at Vocal wishes her an amazing continued journey as a BOSS. Please enjoy our interview!

Have you ever met the full-figured diva who has taken the business world by storm and won BIG? Well now you have! Precious L. Williams, also affectionately known as the #KillerPitchMaster, can help you #slayallcompetition with her “killer” elevator pitches, media pitches, and investor pitches. Precious is a world class master communicator who works with successful entrepreneurs and speakers and helps them take their professional pitching and speaking skills to the next level. With over 25 years of experience in creating unique speaking and public speaking techniques, Williams is also known for her innovative training programs and services to her clients and sales teams at Fortune 100 companies. These companies include Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, eBay, etc.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Liv (over Zoom, thanks 2020) about her incredible growth on Tik Tok and where she gets all her ideas.

Nadege Fleurimond is a creative entrepreneur, speaker, author and business strategist living and working in New York City. A graduate from Columbia University with a degree in Political Science, Fleurimond ditched her 9 to 5 job to launch a catering company 18 years ago and hasn’t looked back. She was a contestant on Food Network’s “Chopped”, and her work as a chef and entrepreneur has been featured in Food and Wine, Epicurious, NY Daily News, BET, and many more. Her catering company, Fleurimond Catering, has catered at the White House and for organizations such as Ann-Hauser Busch, Columbia University, New York City Hall, BET News, The Colbert Report, Dr. Mehmet Oz’s organization Healthcorps as well as notable individuals such as Al Jareau and Vivica A. Fox.

Eric Vollweiler is an entertainment sales professional with a niche focus in selling advertising, sponsorships, and fundraising for both major and developing film festivals along with film & TV events. In conjunction, Eric has been hired to engage industry professionals and bookings for the industry panels held at respective indie and industry events.