On July 9th, I had the opportunity of attending an event titled Women Empowerment Workshop at the Hotel Indigo in Newark, NJ. This event was hosted by Sasha Barnes. She collaborated together with her older sister Shennell McCloud to bring this event to LIFE for the second time. I added in this particular event onto my Calendar for TruthByBella. I had the chance in speaking with the  photographer of the event, Sasha Barnes. What was amazing about speaking to her prior to the event, I got to know more about why she wanted to do this event. 

Hearing "Women Empowerment" automatically grabs the attention in wanting to know what's it all about. Let me spill some details on this workshop! The purpose of this workshop was to encourage women to embrace their sense of self-worth and empowerment. Every female participated & worked together to engage in positive affirmation through various exercise and goal sharing. Activities such as self-reflection and drawing a tree of life along with a family talk at the end. What I appreciate the most about this workshop was Sasha offered a makeover sessions provided for emergence. Three were three makeup artists, I had the chance in speaking with all 3 of them. I knew two of the makeup artists, Lucy and Jessica already. I met the third makeup artist Jamillah after the photoshoot was over. It was amazing to gain insights from different women that day. 

Being an event planner student, I couldn't help but give critique and feedback on some aspects of the event. The first thing that was the location: Hotel Indigo in Newark, NJ. I arrived early to see the prep and it's a habit of mine to not be late. The Hotel Indigo workers were not the most pleasant people to interact with in the morning. I could imagine how they are at night. When I got the room, I spoke to Sasha about the location. She informed that the rooms when she checked in was not cleaned. Regardless of how the night was before checking in, Sasha managed to have the location neat and presentable. I had the chance in helping her set up for the event. One room was set up for the workshop and the other was set up for the photoshoot along with makeup stations.

Shennell had the ladies in the first part. We set ground rules for how everything would go. Also we got comfortable with wearing socks. Of course, I chose my favorite color: Purple :). As peaceful instrumentals played, it helped all of the females get comfortable and focus on the questions being asked. We introduced our partners instead of ourselves. I met an Accountant from Audible named Dominique. She was very lively which had lighten my mood. Afterwords we had the chance of reflecting on our lives, drew tree of lives, and shared it with a subgroups. I added onto my tree on how I plan on keeping my life filled with Positive Vibes Only. A lot of the ladies agreed on that. Women staying together is much stronger than competing against each other. Sasha took photos of each lady that was apart of this experience after their make up was done. I caught some behind scene footage for that.

In the video below are behind the scenes footage and recap photos for the Women Empowerment Workshop. It was amazing to be apart of this experience. Having a chance to build bonds through a workshop also. Look out for a possible 3rd Women Empowerment or Men Empowerment Workshop. :)

Check out Sasha's site & portfolio: http://sasha-shalaan-barnes.format.com

Thank you for your time, 

Isabella, TruthByBella