Frances Moffett is a successful business owner who recently designed and launched black girl, create, a blog that centers on encouraging black women to utilize their imagination in the reenergizing economy that is now open to people from all walks of life, and more importantly, female entrepreneurs, allowing them to cultivate their talents, and to hone their creativity when launching a business. Black Girl, Create is the perfect blog to turn to for advice when considering the challenges, benefits, and general information on how black women can become empowered and turn their skills into profit.
What is the mission behind black girl, create?
I started the blog so that creative black women of all ages have a place to go and read about other creative black women (and also my random musings). Black girls have to realize their full potential, but even more so, the creative ones have to be able to cultivate their originality. Oftentimes, if your creativity isn’t directly related to a line of income, it’s dismissed. But creativity and innovation change the world, especially when you’re able to confidently express it. We have to keep telling our black girls to create.
You recently launched and one of your first posts, “7 Things No One Tells Black Girls about Their 20s,” instantly went viral. Why do you think that is, and how are you coping with the success?
I try not to dwell on success, so I don’t see it as going viral; I see it as a piece of writing that a bunch of girls could relate to because it helped them realize they weren’t alone, and so they told somebody else about it so they wouldn’t feel so alone either. I got so many comments and e-mails from girls just being open about what they were going through and how they thought they were going “crazy” because they hadn’t gotten to where they thought they would be in their lives at that point in time. I always thought that the motivational saying “Life is a journey, not a destination” was a load of crap, but man, it’s so true. We’re not taught to enjoy the journey, but we have to. We have to start.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced as a blogger, a blogger of color at that?
I haven’t had many. The biggest realization I’ve had is that when you’re telling your story, which can quite possibly offend people, those you thought “got it” or even people you’re cool with don’t want to hear it, don’t care, or don’t think it’s valid. But that’s the current atmosphere we’re in in this country. People are speaking their stories, and no one wants to believe them because it makes them uncomfortable. But we’ve got to keep talking and causing that discomfort if we want anything to change.
How do you handle the competition of the large variety of bloggers out there?
I’m a big believer that you should know who your competition is and what they’re doing, but you have to stay in your own lane and create your own niche because if you don’t have a unique voice, no one’s going to listen to you. If you don’t use your real voice—everything you are in real life—no one’s going to pay attention. If all you’re doing is adding more noise to the world, they’ll continue to tune you out. So, I’m a writer, and I decided that I want to tell my story—that of a black girl overachiever feminist with tattoos who loves to write, cuss, talk shit, and be sarcastic. I figure that if I stick to being about those things, then I won’t have to worry much about competition.
Tell us five things everyone should know before becoming a blogger or what to expect?
1. You should be yourself no matter what.
2. There will be some people who don’t agree with you.
3. It might take a while before you gain a consistent following.
4. You should know what you’re trying to accomplish up front. (Is your blog meant to inspire? Educate? Are you trying to sell something? Pick your mission and stick to it.)
5. Your family members will come to you and say things like, “So I read your little blog the other day . . .”
In what ways do you use social media to your advantage to promote your blog?
Because I’ve done this so much on a professional level (through the 9–5, through my own previous business ventures), I’m keeping everything so simple and organic now. I don’t even have a schedule at this point, which is a bit terrifying, but it works because I consider this an experiment (which I don’t advise if a blog is your sole source of income). I am doing some bootleg A/B testing on my own with posts via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (my personal accounts), and playing with blog post titles, captions for when I share the article, times of day, etc. I’m having fun with it, which is a good perspective to have if you just want to see what sticks. And I try to keep everything separate.
My Facebook is more personal, so it’s private, whereas my Twitter and Instagram are public. I always hate following a person who has a business/brand and he/she posts all their personal stuff on a page that’s shared with professional connections. There should be a separation because people start to subconsciously judge you when you’ve reached out to them for a business partnership, and they just read your latest rant about your relationship problems.
Must-follow blogs . . .
This is horrible, but I don’t read many blogs. I follow writer Demetria Lucas D’Oyley, and I read just about anything she writes because I love her. I read Very Smart Brothas often. I do listen to a ton of podcasts, though.
Here are my favorites (on iTunes):
HBR IdeaCast (which is Harvard Business Review’s podcast and is terrific if you’re in management or are managing people in your own business), as well as:
Girlboss Radio with Sophia Amoruso
TED Talks
The #AskGaryVee Show
2 Dope Queens
So Money with Farnoosh Torabi
How does it feel being the new kid on the block and choosing to talk unapologetically about being “the black girl”?
It’s easy because I have an unapologetic personality. It’s gotten worse (or better, depending on who you talk to) over the years. If you’re not honest with the people you care about, then what’s the point? Be honest about what matters to you. Being black and a woman and being creative matters to me. And I’m too old to care about who’s offended by the things I care about and write about.
“Who run the world? Girls!” (singing in my Beyoncé voice [chuckles]). Why do you think women, especially black women, are increasing in numbers so rapidly in the entrepreneurial market?
I can write a whole thing about this! The National Women’s Law Center tells us that by 2014, black women who were working full-time year-round were only paid sixty cents for every dollar paid their white male counterparts. Yeah, we’ve made significant strides over the past fifty years when it comes to the wage gap and women in the workplace, but how long until we have true equality? Who has time to wait for that? We don’t (clearly). Our generation realizes we don’t have to solely work a 9–5 for forty years to be successful, and I think that now is a time when black women feel more empowered than ever. Why not create our own opportunities? Why not take hold of our ideas and make a dollar while we do it?
You recently dissolved your public relations business. Can you tell us why and what brought you to the decision?
One of my best friends and I started the business a few years ago while I was getting my master’s in PR/Advertising. She already had a background in this, and one random day we were literally at our respective jobs texting each other like, “I think we should start a business.” “You think we should do this?” “Yeah, we should do this!” We were super excited and hit the ground running—not running, sprinting! During this mad sprint, we never had time to actually focus on us and how we were trying to run the business (what we were trying to accomplish). Just client after client, doing fun, cool stuff until (at least for me) it wasn’t fun or cool anymore. And then we both decided it didn’t feel like us anymore; in other words, we weren’t being ourselves. So we took a break (and dissolved that venture), brainstormed, and figured out what the hell we really wanted to do. Which is still in progress. In the meantime, we’re taking advantage of our personal interests and trying to make some cool stuff happen.
With two kids, a job as a magazine editor, running a blog, what does a typical day look like for you?
Unbelievably boring. My days are a series of bullet lists (give the kids a bath, cook, write, rub the husband’s back—you know, the important things). I have to compartmentalize my time; otherwise nothing would get done. I once heard an entrepreneur on a podcast say that we all have twenty-four hours a day, which (if you break it down) means you have eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work, and (give or take) eight hours to do what you want. So I keep that in mind as I figure out how to spend my time.
What advice would you give to young girls today who are consumed with social media and the misrepresentation that comes with it?
Don’t get me started on this! Social media allows for a curation of people’s lives (I didn’t make that up; I read that somewhere, and it stuck with me), meaning people pick and choose what they want to post. For the most part, they only post the good things: the vacations, the engagements, the “bae” moments. Generation Z has been growing up on these platforms even more than we millennials have. We can remember a time before it, and they can’t, so I would imagine it’s hard for them to understand how it all works, how fake people can be when they’re online. Our girls today have to keep their minds open and realize that you can’t believe everything you see because you’re always only getting a piece of the picture. It would be detrimental to us girls if we gave in to the widespread social norms and stopped being our weird, eclectic, beautiful selves.
How do you empower women?
I don’t know if I do! I hope I do. If someone comes to me for advice, I tell them the truth. If someone needs help, I try to help them. I’ve learned that being honest, open, and nonjudgmental will get you so far when empowering others. My main goal with this blog is to empower somebody. Even if one lady is inspired by the mess I write, it has served its purpose.
If you had a direct link line to First Lady Michelle Obama what would you ask her?
If she wasn’t married to Barack, what would she be doing right now?
What does the next year look like for Frances and black girl, create?
More shit-talking. Other than that, I have no clue. And that’s the beauty of it all.
the VIRGO GIRL FIVE THINGS TO ASK:
What would you tell your 21-year-old self?
To calm down. My overachieving behavior was at an all-time high in my early twenties.
I start my day with . . .
Thanking sweet baby Jesus I woke up, a nap on the Metra train on the way to work, and then a Grande iced coffee sweetened from Starbucks!
If you could invite any woman to dinner, who would it be?
Shonda Rhimes. Because she’s my soul mate. And also an amazing writer.
Best advice you have received?
My grandma was the type of grandma to give you a handshake and slyly hand you a hundred-dollar bill. I’d always try to turn her down and she’d say, “Girl, you don’t ever turn down a dollar.” Which I didn’t from then on (of course), but as I got older, I kept that as “you should never turn down help or be afraid to ask for it.” Black girls tend to hold it all in and think asking for help is a sign of weakness, but it’s not.
Life motto you live by?
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” This is attributed to playwright George Bernard Shaw. It’s also tattooed on my right forearm.