Photo Credit: Alberto Reyes/WENN.com

From Essence

For seven weeks this summer, TV personality Wendy Williams will step into the spotlight and play Matron Mama Morton in Broadway’s Chicago. But before she kicks it into high gear, the former radio host and powerful media player according to The Hollywood Reporter, will host the 2013 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards this Sunday.

ESSENCE.com caught up with Williams to chat about all things Broadway—from her upcoming debut and rehearsing to hosting this week’s fan-driven annual audience awards ceremony in New York City.

What she’s excited about when she hosts the awards show:

I love award shows where there are tables. I’ve never been to one, but I watch on TV—the Golden Globes—it just looks like everyone’s having a good time eating, drinking, having casual conversations at tables with friends, while going up to accept awards. I love that. So, I’m really excited to razzle dazzle the crowd with entertaining and hosting duties and sitting at the table with my glam squad, who I also adore.

How’s she’s prepping for her role as Mama Morton:

I start vocal lessons in two weeks and then we start rehearsals in three weeks. It’s something I wanted to do because I need to know how to change my voice. Even though my voice has been my money-maker my whole career from radio and now to TV, talking in regular tones for an hour on a talk show is easy. But I don’t want to test it by screaming on Broadway, where you have to talk a little bit louder. Then of course the singing number—I want to give it my all and that will mean perhaps blowing a vocal cord so I want to know how to pace myself to make sure that my voice is optimum.

How she’ll balance Chicago, her talk show and family life:

I will make it work. I’ve got cooperation with all the people around me, thank God—from my parents to my son, my husband and my staff. Every last intern, my producers, everybody understands that this is a great opportunity; I’m going to be doing it. But I’m also going to be counting on everybody to step up to the plate and do their part and I promise that I will step up to the plate and continue to do my part.

Say what you want about her but one thing for sure: Wendy is a hustler and she works hard. You can check out the full interview over on Essence.com.

Image: Comstock

A federal judge has ruled in favor of Jestina Clayton, who sued the state of Utah over its requirement that Clayton get a cosmetology license to braid hair, a side business that Clayton set up to help support her family. U.S District Judge David Sam ruled that Utah’s requirement was ”unconstitutional and invalid.” According to the judge, licensing is meant to protect public health, but the state never established the public health and safety concerns that hair braiding raised.

Clayton came to the U.S. from Sierra Leone, has three small children, and started braiding hair to bring in extra income as her husband finishes school. She says she learned the skill when she was five years old. She filed her lawsuit last year after the state said it would be illegal for her to continue.

There is no uniformity in the laws governing the need for a license to braid hair. Utah is one of six states that requires a cosmetology license while those braiding hair in California and Arizona don’t need a license at all. In other states, like Florida, some training is required, but not the full cosmetology coursework.

“Progressives are joining what had been a strictly libertarian cause out of concern that excessive licensing requirements disproportionately hurt poorer Americans and newly arrived immigrants,” writes The Oregonian. In Oregon, hair braiders are required to clock in as many as 1,700 hours in cosmetology school, which can cost up to $20,000. The article makes the point that much that’s taught in cosmetology school doesn’t even apply to hair braiding because there are no chemicals involved in the process. Oregon now has legislation on the table, the “Natural Hair Act,” which will come up in the 2013 session. It would change the requirements for hair braiding, bringing the oversight in line with the nature of the business.

(That article in The Oregonian includes the interesting story of Amber Starks, who is making a business out of teaching people, black and white, how to care for natural hair.)

“The Utah case is particularly interesting because Utah obviously doesn’t have a long tradition of African hair braiding as a local industry,” says Slate. That’s a big part of the issue. A lack of knowledge about hair braiding — how it’s done and what’s required — is likely what prompted the overly-strict regulations in the first place. It’s one more example of how diversity in government — at all levels — benefits the governed.

Weight loss and weight gain seems to be a consistent problem in the USA.   With so much focus on diet fads and weight loss programs, it can be tough to know what’s right for you and your body.  These celebrities have done it all with their weight: kept it off, then put it back on.

celebrityhealthfitness.com

Kirstie Alley

Who can forget our favorite lady from “Cheers” during the early ’90′s?   Kirstie Alley became a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig from 2005 to 2008, when she was almost 228 pounds. Before that, she would constantly go up and down with her weight.   Her stint on “Dancing With The Stars ” in 2011 has kept her in shape and even starting a weight loss campaign.  ”Cheers” to that!!

By Charlotte Young

Female inmates in Oregon and Washington are getting a second chance with LIFE–the Lifelong Information for Entrepreneurs course.

Started four years ago by the international development organization, Mercy Corps Northwest, the program is giving these women the skills they need to succeed after their release.

The seven month course teaches students how to set goals and take care of themselves while also equipping them with business training.

Graduates of the program have been able to open up courier companies, cosmetology businesses and sell crafts at farmers markets. One graduate now runs her own auto repair shop.

NPR reports that while Mercy Corps Northwest is not yet able to provide official statistics on the program’s success, only three of about 100 of LIFE’s graduates have reoffended.

The graduates express feelings of gratitude and happiness with what they say are “invaluable skills,” as they work hard to grow their businesses.

By equipping the former inmates with entrepreneurial skills, Doug Cooper, the assistant director of Mercy Corps Northwest, says that the correctional facilities can accomplish what they should be about, rehabilitation.

(Businessweek) — Jessica Johnson did not have time to mourn her father’s death in 2008. “He passed on a Saturday, the funeral was the next Thursday, and Friday was payday,” she recalls. “We had 16 families depending on us and five clients who needed our services. We had to figure out a way to make it work.”  The unexpected death left Johnson, 36, and her brother in charge of their third-generation family business, Johnson Security Bureau in the Bronx. Although neither had prepared for succession, both left jobs to work in the company their grandparents had founded in 1952. “I went to business school, but that really prepared me to go to work for somebody else,” says Johnson, who had worked in pharmaceutical sales.

Read More…

(Washington Post) — Rocky Cintron remembers his first day as a salesman like it was yesterday.  It was the early 1980s. His desk was a card table in a hallway at Computer Data Products in Rockville. He had never sold anything in his life. No training. He read computer magazines to learn about the products. He wasn’t happy. “I hated that,” said the entrepreneur. Cintron located a membership directory for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and started dialing. Within weeks, he was earning $5,000 a month.

Read More…

(Financial Times) — The Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK privacy watchdog, has this month been given greater powers to levy up to £500,000 in fines for serious breaches of the data protection act. Its increased powers underline the growing pressure that financial services companies and government departments are under to safeguard the huge amounts of sensitive customer data they hold.

Read More…

(AP) – A video has surfaced showing accused Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab training with al-Qaida in Yemen.

The video, obtained and broadcast Monday by “ABC World News,” shows the 23-year-old Nigerian firing weapons and speaking in Arabic about his impending attack. He is shown reading from the Quran and saying, “God said those who punish you must be punished.”

Read More…

Will this finally be YOUR year? It can be! Stick with me and I’ll show you how!  We are fast approaching the second quarter of the year.  How are you doing on the New Years’ Resolutions you declared?  Well, if you have slipped a bit, that’s okay.  With the help of these articles, we will get you back on track and well on your way to your place called THERE!  Remember THERE is your ideal place in life.  THERE may be a physical location, an emotional state of mind or a dream realized.  The journey is the path you take to reach your Destination THERE.

When we last talked, I promised to share 10 Tips for Getting THERE over the series of my next few articles!  So let’s jump right into the first of our 10 Tips.  This is important, so grab a pencil and a pad of paper!  Better yet, find a notebook or journal that you can dedicate to capturing your thoughts and notes.

Tip One: Be Specific.  Identify a specific goal to accomplish.  You will want to spend some time alone with your thoughts to acknowledge the true area(s) of your life where there are opportunities for improvement.  While you are thinking and brainstorming with yourself, write your thoughts in your journal.  The key to this tip is getting to the true essence of where you want to be in life:

·        What exactly do you want to see differently in your life?

·        What commitment(s) will you make to yourself to achieve your success?

·        Once you reach your THERE, what exactly will change?

It is important to clearly and specifically state your goal.  If your goal is too broad or too complex, then how will you know in what areas to focus your attention?  You don’t want to spend your time and energy working towards something that ultimately still does not fix the problem or get the results you desire.  The key to being specific is thinking through exactly what it is that you want. Here are a couple examples of how to be specific about your goal(s):

·        Say you want to be more physically fit.  The goal you set to get to what you actually want may be to stop smoking or enjoy eating more healthy foods or to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.

·        Say you want to have more money in this year. Perhaps your goal is to afford a family vacation each year or to move from renting to buying a home.  Perhaps you want to have more money to send your children to private school or college.

Will this finally be YOUR year? It can be! Stick with me and I’ll show you how!  We are fast approaching the second quarter of the year.  How are you doing on the New Years’ Resolutions you declared?  Well, if you have slipped a bit, that’s okay.  With the help of these articles, we will get you back on track and well on your way to your place called THERE!  Remember THERE is your ideal place in life.  THERE may be a physical location, an emotional state of mind or a dream realized.  The journey is the path you take to reach your Destination THERE.

When we last talked, I promised to share 10 Tips for Getting THERE over the series of my next few articles!  So let’s jump right into the first of our 10 Tips.  This is important, so grab a pencil and a pad of paper!  Better yet, find a notebook or journal that you can dedicate to capturing your thoughts and notes.

Tip One: Be Specific.  Identify a specific goal to accomplish.  You will want to spend some time alone with your thoughts to acknowledge the true area(s) of your life where there are opportunities for improvement.  While you are thinking and brainstorming with yourself, write your thoughts in your journal.  The key to this tip is getting to the true essence of where you want to be in life:

·        What exactly do you want to see differently in your life?

·        What commitment(s) will you make to yourself to achieve your success?

·        Once you reach your THERE, what exactly will change?

It is important to clearly and specifically state your goal.  If your goal is too broad or too complex, then how will you know in what areas to focus your attention?  You don’t want to spend your time and energy working towards something that ultimately still does not fix the problem or get the results you desire.  The key to being specific is thinking through exactly what it is that you want. Here are a couple examples of how to be specific about your goal(s):

·        Say you want to be more physically fit.  The goal you set to get to what you actually want may be to stop smoking or enjoy eating more healthy foods or to incorporate exercise into your daily routine.

·        Say you want to have more money in this year. Perhaps your goal is to afford a family vacation each year or to move from renting to buying a home.  Perhaps you want to have more money to send your children to private school or college.