Dec 16, 2015

I've been friends and a fan (fran?) of Christelyn Russell-Karazin for a long time. A mom of two, freelance writer and founder of BeyondBlackAndWhite.com, Christelyn has impressed/shocked me with her razor-sharp stance on interracial relationships. A black woman married to a white man, who also had an unplanned baby...

Dec 11, 2015

I'm a traveler. Starting at age 15 when I took off for a year of study in France, hopping on a plane, navigating around a new city, chatting up the locals and finding my way around a bus terminal or market is not only natural to me, but also one of my greatest joys.

I want to share that joy with my kids, and also, even...

Dec 10, 2015

When I was growing up in Sycamore, Ill. (pop. 10,000), I dreamed of moving to New York City to be fabulous: To have a fabulous career, attend fabulous events, and hang out with fabulous people.

My dreams came true, for the most part. Including the people part, even if I spend much of my free time with Betsy Smith,...

Dec 7, 2015

I first saw Cocoa Brown in Tyler Perry’s Single Mom’s Club, in which she plays a down-and-out mom with a husband and son in jail and struggling to find child care while she waited tables at the local diner.

In real life, Cocoa is a very real single mom of a 3-year-old, and she is killing it in her career as a...

Dec 4, 2015

Two years ago, Jenn Scalia, 34, was a recently divorced New Jersey mom, unemployed and living with her parents -- and miserable. This year she will bill $500,000  ($400,000 profit) from her coaching and business consulting business for female online entrepreneurs. One month she did $100,000 in sales.

What struck me...