Belle of the Week: Cassandra Jones-McBryde

Meet our Belle of the Week, Cassandra Jones-McBryde!

Cassandra Jones-McBryde serves as the Features Editor for DailyVenusDiva.com, the leading online lifestyle magazine for the plus community.


Cassandra is also the US Director of the International Fuller Woman Expo(http://www.thefullerwomanexpo.com/) and is responsible for bringing together a number of outstanding local and international speakers and celebrities, seminars and workshops that attract attendees, sponsors, vendors and exhibitors from throughout the world. The Fuller Woman Expo takes place every year in Detroit in September.

She is also the founder of the International Fuller Woman Network (http://www.fullerwomannetwork.org/) which highlights the women in the plus size community that are making a difference in the movement. The site also serves as an information resource for plus size women.

In addition to her duties with the Fuller Woman Expo and Network, Cassandra is also the founder and CEO of the Pretty Girl Project, an initiative based non profit that is geared toward helping girls realize their inner and outer beauty. The Pretty Girl Project, will host its 2nd annual Pretty Prom Princess event in an effort to help curtail or completely eliminate the costs associated with upcoming proms on Saturday, April 30, 2011.
Lastly, Cassandra is also the Affiliate Director of The Plus Academy-DETROIT a training and development program for aspiring plus size models.

For more information on Cassandra and her business ventures, please visit:
http://www.thefullerwomanexpo.com/
http://www.fullerwomannetwork.org/
http://www.prettygirlproject.org/
http://www.plusacademydetroit.com/

Belle of the Week: Kimbie A.

Meet our Belle of the Week, Kimbie, CEO & Founder of the Kurvy Kuties.

Kurvy Kuties began in Atlanta in 2004 on a mission to make the entertainment and modeling world aware of the full figured community and the talented and beautiful women who were a part of it. Kurvy Kuties believed that no matter what, it was imperative that companies marketing efforts and talent scouts included the full figured community when considering the direction they would take.


Kurvy Kuties is based out of Little Rock, Arkansas (with an office in Atlanta, GA) and is ran by Kimbie A., known simply as Kwnn. Kwnn, who began her modeling career as a Belle-Noir Belle, is quite excited with the strides that have been taken by the full figured community, all aimed at celebrating and appreciating the full figured woman. With companies such as Curve Appeal, SizeRevolution, DiMension, Exotic Elegance, Page 303 Modeling and others, working each day to ensure that the full figured woman is heard and not over looked, the "shape" of things in the entertainment and modeling world is starting to look very bright!

Kurvy Kuties continue to work hard on their mission. Comprised of models who act, sing, dance, perform spoken word, host events and more, they are also very focused on bringing the best events to their audiences. As the creators of Ms. Full Figured & Stylish, Model Mania, Explicit Lyrics, Little Rock Full Figure Fashion Week - The Kurvy Experience and many more, these ladies know about hard work, dedication and quality events that focus on elevating the full figured community.

Stay tuned to these ladies as they turn the industry upside, one runway at a time!

Keep up with the ladies of Kurvy Kuties on their website - http://www.kurvykuties.com/!


Do you know a woman who should be our next Belle of the Week? Is that woman you? Email us at belle [at] belle-noir [dot] com for more information.

Belle of the Week: LaShawnda Jones

Meet our Belle of the Week, LaShawnda Jones!

LaShawnda Jones is entrepreneurial author living in New York City. She released a new book this month titled The Process of Asking for, Receiving and Giving Love & Forgiveness, a study of biblical principles. Her prior work includes an autobiographical devotional, My God and Me: Listening, Learning and Growing on My Journey and an autobiographical volume of poetry, Clichés: A Life in Verse. LaShawnda’s writing and publishing work ranges from poetry, to blogging, to designing an annual full-figured fashion calendar. She was a contributor to a daily political blog during the 2008 presidential election and an anthology of letters addressed to First Lady Michelle Obama.


The Process of Asking for, Receiving and Giving Love & Forgiveness is the first book of a series titled The MeatyWord. The MeatyWord series will focus on foundational Biblical principles. The next volume will be on healing.

LaShawnda’s life is an illustration of transition – constant movement and growth from one point to another. She is ecstatic about moving forward on her journey with the LORD. She continues to grow stronger in her faith, wiser in her knowledge and more loving to people as she seeks to mirror exactly the Christ in her.
To keep up with LaShawnda’s journey, subscribe to her blog at www.mygodandme.info/blog.

Belle of the Week: Stephanie Penn-Danforth

Meet our Belle of the Week, Stephanie Penn-Danforth

As the Editor In Chief of DailyVenusDiva.com, Stephanie Penn-Danforth is responsible for articulating the vision for the daily online magazine and its content, tools and online community. Mrs. Danforth works closely with the publisher (V.I.E. Thrive) to provide the infrastructure and development assets necessary to deliver the content, feature set and tools to the consumer in the most effective fashion. She also supervises and works closely with editors and writers to develop ideas and oversee direction of features, blogs, videos, social media, etc.


A proud advocate for the Plus size community, Stephanie serves as the Co-producer of the Detroit edition of the International Fuller Woman Expo. In this role she is responsible for securing vendors for the event and ensuring their needs are met so they have optimum exposure and success on the day of the event. She is involved in the process of enlisting volunteers to assist with the planning as well as serving as a point of contact for attendees at the Expo.

Last, Stephanie is the President and Co-founder of Pretty Girl Project whose mission is to celebrate internal and external beauty of girls in her hometown, Detroit, Michigan. Stephanie is responsible for day to day operations and ensuring the mission of the organization is adhered to organizing various events and initiatives including their annual Prom Princess Event.

Everything that Stephanie does is done with a purpose. Uplifting and encouraging those around her is what keeps her motivated. Her personal mission is simple; "I'm blessed, now it's time to bless others."

For more information, please visit:
DailyVenusDiva.com- http://www.dailyvenusdiva.com/

The International Fuller Woman Expo- http://www.thefullerwomanexpo.com/

Pretty Girl Project- http://www.prettygirlproject.org/

Do you know a woman who should be our next Belle of the Week? Is that woman you? Email us at belle [at] belle-noir [dot] com for more information.

Belle of the Week: Denise Best

Meet our Belle of the Week, Denise Best of Blissful Elegance Events.

Blissful Elegance Events has been dedicated to increasing self love, self acceptance and self assurance within the plus size community since 2005.

With Denise Best as Chief Operating Officer, Blissful Elegance Events has played an integral part in educating and entertaining the plus sized community. Denise Best has focused her energy on emphasizing the beauty and confidence of plus sized women all over New York City with the intentions of revolutionizing negative media images and placing positive reinforcements on a much publicly discussed topic: acceptance of plus sized women! With events like Diva for a Day and Victim to Victorious, she has focused on educating & inspiring plus sized women in the New York City region.

For more information on Ms. Best and her upcoming events, please visit:
Website: http://www.blissfulelegance.net/
Meeting In The Ladies Room Series: http://www.mitlr.info/
Health, Wealth & Self Expo: http://www.behwsexpo.info/
Twitter: @blissfuleleganc
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Blissful-Elegance-Events/113521429127

Do you know a woman who should be our next Belle of the Week? Is that woman you? Email us at belle [at] belle-noir [dot] com for more information.

Belle of the Week: Theresa “Sparkle” Randolph

Meet our Belle of the Week, Ms. Theresa "Sparkle" Randolph

A trailblazer and trendsetter, Ms. Theresa “Sparkle” Randolph has carved a unique career niche since she began. The New Jersey native created and has produced the wildly popular Ms. Full-Figured USA, Ms. Full-Figured and Ms. Full-Figured New York pageants and has been going strong with them for the past 19 years. Her January 2009 pageant will represent her 20th year as a successful pageant promoter.


A full-figured model and beauty contest winner herself, Sparkle does sparkle! The unforgettable young lady energetically crafts the pageants into the most spectacular extravaganzas to be seen. Her highly anticipated sold-out events are a must-see!

Sparkle's pageant winners have gone on to successful careers in the full-figured modeling industry. Both inspirational and educational, her pageant experiences enhance the beautiful plus-sized lady's life in numerous ways. Featured on tv shows such as Good Day New York, Your Morning On CN8, MY9 News and the CW11 Morning News, as well as in the NJ Star-Ledger newspaper, the NY Amsterdam News and NY Beacon, she and her contestants are a glamorous addition to the scene, wherever they go. They are often special guests at various events, owing to their grace, poise and beauty, that definitely light up the room!

Over the years, Sparkle's pageants have been graced by appearances from various celebrities, including r&b superstar Freddie Jackson, “Last Comic Standing” finalist Roz G, r&b songbird Mikki Howard, r&b group Full Force member Bowlegged Lou, r&b crooner Kieran and “Mo'Nique's F.A.T. Chance” reality tv personality Sharon Quinn.

Ms. Randolph began her career as an Ebony Fashion Fair model. She has also been a fashion show commentator and tv show host, having hosted the cable favorite “Image TV” for many years.

“Fabulous” is Theresa “Sparkle” Randolph's middle name. Her full-figured pageants are glittering expressions of diversity in beauty. Her motto is “Size is no barrier to beauty” and she certainly lives by that!


Ms. Randolph will be producing her next "Ms. Full-Figured USA Pageant" on Sunday, March 6 at the Robert Treat Hotel in  Newark, New Jersey. For more information, please contact: Mary Moore, So Much Moore Communications at MryLinda@aol.com.

Belle of the Week: Nanthale Collins

Meet our Belle of the Week, Nanthale Collins!

Nanthale E. Collins fashion carrier started with her own wardrobe. She always had a flair for great fashion and was complemented on her clothing selections wherever she went. Like most consultants she started her carrier by giving advice and styling tips to her friends and family. She grew her styling and people skills while working in a retail store. She perfected her skills in color selection, fitting and customer confidence. Her manager noticed her ability to teach customers and that knowledge made them come to their store more often. She started completing wardrobes & preparing outfit for her retail clients and gave workshops on fashion and dressing for success.


Nanthale's experience led her to work with a number of designers backstage at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week NYC, Full Figured Fashion Week in NYC, Bridal Fashion Week and other fashion show production companies.

Even though she graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in management and marketing she wanted to further her knowledge of fashion and enrolled into The Fashion Institute of Technology Certification Program. After completing her Certification in Image Consulting she took her knowledge of fashion, communication & shopping and started NEC Fashion and Image consulting in 2007.

The goal of NEC Fashion & Image Consulting is to improve a persons way of life through showing their best image. We help people and business do this in three ways.

1. Teaching individuals and group about fashion through personal styling, workshops and fashion articles

2. Consulting fashion professional in having a better image to increase their business

3. Working with designers to present the best fashion shows possible

N.E.C. image and styling clients included lawyers, actors, fashion designers and local politicians. But, the labor of love is the young adult groups in the inner city. Teaching them to dress for success and interviewing skills is our way of giving back to the community.

N.E.C. fashion workshops are done for retail stores, private companies and even in clients homes. We have styled photo shoots, assist on editorials for Glamour magazine and conceptualize fashion shows for designers all over NYC.

Our motto: “When a person looks their best they do their best. I see how fashion builds confidence and with confidents anything becomes possible.”

Belle of the Week: Delali Haligah

Meet our Belle of the Week, Delali Haligah!

Delali Haligah is the creator of Osun Designs, which creates one of kind Art-to-wear that draws heavily on the Afrikan experience, (both inAfrika and in the Diaspora.)

The designs are a combination of contemporary style with a distinctly Ancient flavour. This fusion of hand painted, indigenous graphic images, striking fabrics, and Osun’s signatory “simple yet elegant” shaping—makes each creation feast for the eyes!!!!!

Delali Haligah was born of Jamaican parentage in London. She spent her formative years in New York, returning to the lush island of Jamaica for her summers. Later in life, she lived and/or worked as a Designer in several countries including Ghana, Portugal, Nigeria, England, Kenya, France and Tanzania.

Delali is an actor, singer and accomplished dancer who has performed on Broadway, in television, and in movies. She is a former member of the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G) and the Actor’s Equity Association (A.E.A). She it is her exposure to different experiences, along with the Blessing of her talents, which makes her style appeal to several types of people.

OSUN Designs have previously been featured in publications such as: The Guardian Weekend , Pride, Black Hair, Woman 2 Woman magazines (London).

More recently, OSUN could be seen as a featured Artist in The New York Times, the NY Daily News and also on NY1 for her newest project-Queens Fashion Week. This year's Queens Fashion Week is taking place February 10-13, 2011 in New York City.

She feels her greatest accomplishment to date is the raising of her 12 year old son of whom she is extremely proud.

For more information, please visit:
Osun Designs: http://www.osundesigns.com/
Queens Fashion Week: http://www.queensfashionweek.com/



Do you know a woman who should be our next Belle of the Week? Is that woman you? Email us at belle [at] belle-noir [dot] com for more information.

Belle of the Week: Brenda's Child

Meet our Belle of the Week, Latoya Bosworth aka Brenda's Child!

Brenda’s Child , also known as the "Queen of Self-esteem" has made it her life’s mission to inspire people through poetry and stories and through leading by example with courage, confidence, and integrity.

Born Latoya Bosworth, she began writing poetry at age 14 to cope with the death of her maternal grandmother, Ga-Ga. She dubbed herself Brenda's Child at the age of 21, in honor of her late mother Brenda Kay Swinton, and began performing spoken word locally. Brenda's Child has performed all over from her hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, to Philadelphia, and across the coast to San Diego. She has graced all types of venues from nightclubs, to churches, from colleges to community organizations. Her poetry is currently featured in the Pen&Ink column of the community newspaper "African-American Point of View". In April of 2007 Brenda's Child self-published her first book of poetry entitled "A Piece of My Mind...Poetic Confessions of a Self-Proclaimed Diva" Since then she has published 4 more titles, including her most recent, "The Right Amount of Sunshine...Culitvating Little Girls into Young Ladies" in which she pairs her professional and personal experience to promote self-esteem building. Brenda's Child also uses her Diva status to host the Bi-annual Diva Pageant, a self-esteem exhibition for at-risk girls 13 to 17.


For more information on Brenda's Child, please visit:
http://www.brendaschild.com/

http://www.mykyds.org/
http://afampointofview.com/pen_and_ink.htm

www.youtube.com/missbrendaschild

www.facebook.com/brendaschild

Belle of the Week: Author Caramel Vixen

Meet our Belle of the Week, Author Caramel Vixen!

Caramel Vixen is a native of North Carolina, where she resides with her family.

Caramel Vixen’s debut short story “Ready For Love” was featured in the anthology Mocha Chocolate: A Taste of Ecstasy. “Ready for Love" is now a novella available online at www.ladyleopublishing.org/readyforlove-caramelvixen.html. Also available at Lady Leo Publishing by Caramel Vixen is “No Matter What”, “Mr. Magic Fingers”, “I Found Joy” and "Sistas Need Love 2".

Caramel‘s debut Novella “Office Affairs” was originally published in e-book format from Lady Leo Publishing. Ms. Vixen is extremely proud to announce that her “baby” "Office Affairs" is now a novel available now from Xpress Yourself Publishing.

Ms. Vixen’s latest work is short story, “Merriest Time of All” featured in After Dark Delights anthology available now. She is currently working on her next novel, "Things I Learned from His Father".

She is co-founder of Thick Madame Publishing, where fuller figured women are featured in a positive light.
For more information on the BBW Erotica Princess visit:
http://www.caramelvixen84.webs.com/
http://www.officeaffairs.webs.com/

Follow Caramel Vixen on Twitter :@caramelvixen84.


Do you know a woman who should be our next Belle of the Week? Is that woman you? Email us at belle [at] belle-noir [dot] com for more information.

Belle of the Week: T. Gabrielle Barnes

Meet our Belle of the Week, Ms. T. Gabrielle Barnes!

T. Gabrielle Barnes who is affectionately known by her friends as the “event planning diva” is fully prepared to endure until the end. This 33 year old entrepreneur understands that she is fearfully and wonderfully made and refuses to waste a second of this precious life, by not living up to her full potential.


Through her own needs, an amazing organization developed…


Gabrielle has always had a knack for coordinating events for friends and family. It wasn’t until she was planning one of the most memorable days of her life, that she realized event planning was more than just a hobby, it was her calling. That moment was the crux of her ambitions and determination. Never one to shy away from hard work or “paying dues”, she began at the bottom and has worked her way to the top. Gabrielle went from volunteering for 2 years as an event assistant to starting her own event planning firm.

Gabrielle is the founder and president of Divas in the City (DITC), a social and professional networking organization for today’s do it all woman…the Diva. DITC provides women with outlets to connect online through their “virtual club house” and in person through an array of entertaining, educating and empowering public events. Divas in the City offers numerous components, and with so many women’s organizations sprouting up they continually strive to be the best and not classified as just another “one-size-fits-all” network.

Her most recent endeavor is Canvas 7 Events – A full service special events boutique firm. From product launches and fashion shows to cocktail parties and charity galas to weddings, Canvas 7 Events has experience in both private and corporate event planning.

Watch out world, this Diva is destined for greatness and fully committed to building her “Diva Empire”.

Gabrielle currently resides in Brooklyn, NY. Always the motivator Gabrielle encourages every woman to “Embrace your inner Diva and always, Be Blessed. Be Fabulous. Be YOU!”

For more information on Gabrielle and Divas in the City, contact her:
website: http://www.divasinthecity.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/divasinthecity
Twitter: @DivasintheCity