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2 months ago | 
designobserver.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton |Delaney Rebernik |Ellen McGirt |Jessica Helfand
When the author and advocate learned to live with — and do — less, she found so much more. Christine Platt never had any intention to start a minimalist movement, but when her first book, The Afrominimalist’s Guide to Living with Less, was published in 2021 — amid the global COVID-19 pandemic — that’s exactly what happened. “I tried to mimic mainstream minimalism, but it was boring. It was awful.
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Dec 2, 2024 | 
designobserver.com | Ellen McGirt |Delaney Rebernik |L’Oreal Thompson Payton
We ask too much of gratitude. We ask it to ease our existential angst, prepare us to face the day, help us meet sales targets, and retain our employees. We repeatedly turn to celebrities and hopefluencers to remind us that the secret to happiness lies in the beautiful things we already have if only we’d draw our attention to them. And write them down in a special place.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
designobserver.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton |Delaney Rebernik
For the executive vice president and CEO of IIDA, design is a “truly human-centered profession.” And the perfect pair of black pants is only elusive for now. Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA is no stranger to making history. As the first recipient of the Interior Design Hall of Fame Leadership Award, and the first Black woman to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, the executive vice president and CEO of the International Interior Design Association is accustomed to standing out in the crowd.
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Oct 19, 2024 | 
designobserver.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton |Delaney Rebernik |Aimee Allison |Ellen McGirt
In a 1975 keynote address at Portland State University, Nobel Prize winner and prolific American novelist Toni Morrison stated unequivocally: “The function, the very serious function of racism, is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work.
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Aug 14, 2024 | 
chicagobusiness.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton
Frustrated and disappointed with how Chicago is often portrayed in mainstream media as the “murder capital” of America, three Black Northwestern University alumni set out to flip the script. In February 2017, Tiffany Walden, Morgan Elise Johnson and David Elutilo created The TRiiBE, a digital media platform on a mission to “reshape the narrative of Black Chicago” and give ownership back to the people.
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May 28, 2024 | 
designobserver.com | Ellen McGirt |L’Oreal Thompson Payton |Delaney Rebernik |Shari Davis
ObservedMulti-Species Worlding is an experiment, for no more than twenty people, into the felt perspective of another species, in which participants will practice speaking as that species, and build shared worlds that serve all of life. This workshop brings together multi-species artists, architects, researchers, storytellers, communicators, educators, entrepreneurs, designers, and anyone curious about co-creating worlds where all species thrive.
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Apr 1, 2024 | 
curbed.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton
How five New Yorkers turned their closets into extra rooms. With the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan hovering around $6,000, it’s no surprise that many New Yorkers are opting to stay put in their studios or one-bedrooms even when they need more space. One solution that sounds hellish but can be game-changing: Clear out a closet and live in it. Five New Yorkers share the DIY transformations that have given their apartments an entire extra room.
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Mar 5, 2024 | 
designobserver.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton |CMM Support |Aimee Allison |Ellen McGirt
John Caleb Pendleton learned to arrange flowers as a creative outlet and a way to support his mental health. Now, his floral art and installations inform a movement for Black justice, memory, triumph, and joy. “Black joy means defiance, resilience, exuberance. It also means innovation.” John Caleb Pendleton is the founder and creative director of the Chicago-based floral company Planks & Pistils. Black joy is a sign, he tells Design Observer from his studio in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.
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Feb 1, 2024 | 
businesstravelerusa.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton
Questlove is looking forward to retirement. Not that it’s happening anytime soon. After all, this year the Academy Award-winning filmmaker, drummer, DJ, producer, director, culinary entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author and cofounder of the iconic hip-hop group the Roots is producing a documentary about legendary funk singer Sly Stone, releasing his next book, Hip-Hop Is History, and helping culinary arts students make their dreams come true.
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Nov 3, 2023 | 
businesstravelerusa.com | L’Oreal Thompson Payton
Sheila Johnson never planned on being a hotelier. But after a storied career as cofounder of Black Entertainment Television, Johnson discovered her next chapter in a small, idyllic Virginia town approximately 90 minutes west of the nation’s capital. Upon relocating from Washington, D.C., to Middleburg, Virginia, she thought the area could use an “economic engine,” and Salamander Middleburg—a 340-acre five-star destination resort and spa—was born.
