I started SwagHer because I was tired of watching powerful women shrink themselves to fit into narratives that never saw them fully.
In rooms where we led teams, built businesses, and held families together, we were called strong — but not always seen as soft, worthy of care, or complex. I wanted to change that. I wanted to create a mirror where Black women could see the fullness of who they are: brilliant, layered, and deserving of joy that doesn’t require explanation.
At SwagHer, we’ve always believed in keeping it real, telling the truth about leadership, love, ambition, and healing without polishing away the humanity.
And along the way, I learned something humbling — telling other women’s stories teaches you just as much about your own.
Learning to Lead From Within
Running a magazine that celebrates women’s empowerment is, in many ways, an act of leadership. But it’s also an act of surrender.
Leadership requires you to believe in your vision. Surrender requires you to let go of control — to trust others to help shape it.
There was a time I tried to do everything alone: edit, pitch, promote, protect. I equated independence with strength. But over time, I realized that real leadership has less to do with doing it all and more to do with inviting others in.
That realization mirrored my journey outside of work, too. Love — whether romantic, familial, or communal — requires the same humility as leadership. It asks you to listen, to collaborate, to believe that vulnerability doesn’t weaken your power, it deepens it.
The Beauty of Collective Strength
One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned through SwagHer’s partnerships — especially through platforms like The Maids, a Gladly partner who centers community and care — is that service is leadership.
When you lead with empathy, you don’t just lift others; you make space for them to rise beside you.
That’s what storytelling does, too.
Every feature we publish becomes a small act of service — a reminder that our voices matter. And when women see their reflections in another woman’s courage, it creates a kind of quiet revolution: I can do that too.
That’s how change begins — not with applause, but with recognition.
When Work Becomes Ministry
There’s a moment, somewhere between publishing a story and hearing a woman say “that helped me,” when you realize this is more than media. It’s ministry.
Not in the religious sense — though faith has always guided me — but in the way service transforms both the giver and the receiver.
Every interview, every article, every PR feature we create becomes an offering. It says, You’re seen. You’re valued. You’re not alone.
It’s the same intention we see in partners like Second Life Candles, a women-led brand that hand-pours soy candles in repurposed vessels, turning everyday light into acts of renewal and community care.
That’s what drew me to collaborate with Gladly. Their mission — to bless lives through purpose-driven partnerships — echoes what we try to do every day: use visibility as a form of healing.
Redefining Strength and Softness
As women, we’ve been told to choose: to be strong or to be soft, professional or personal, ambitious or emotional.
But the women I meet every day through SwagHer prove that those aren’t opposites — they’re allies.
Your softness fuels your empathy. Your strength protects it.
When we embrace both, we show the world that grace and grit can coexist — that compassion can sit comfortably next to power.
This is what I believe it means to live and lead with swag: not just to shine, but to shine in a way that helps others see themselves more clearly.
A Final Reflection
If you’ve ever doubted that your story matters, I want to remind you — it does.
The moment you speak it aloud, you give someone else permission to heal, to hope, to believe again.
That belief is the heartbeat of SwagHer Society and the broader SwagHer community, a space built for women who want to be visible, supported, and unapologetically themselves while keeping it real about the journey.
At SwagHer, that’s what keeps us showing up.
And through Gladly, we’re honored to join a collective that believes in the same truth:
that good business is personal, that visibility is service, and that telling the right story at the right time can bless more lives than we’ll ever know.
About SwagHer Magazine — A Gladly Voice
SwagHer Magazine is a lifestyle and empowerment platform celebrating Black women’s brilliance, resilience, and purpose. Through storytelling, partnerships, and media, SwagHer transforms visibility into empowerment — helping women lead in business and life with confidence and compassion.
Powered by a network of contributors and anchored by SwagHer Society, the brand remains committed to keeping it real while creating spaces where intentional Black women can connect, grow, and be seen.
As a Gladly Voice, SwagHer continues its mission to bless lives by showing that leadership, love, and service are all forms of the same purpose.
Partner Mention: In this piece, SwagHer draws inspiration from The Maids, a Gladly partner whose commitment to care and community reflects the same principles of service-driven leadership we champion through storytelling.
