Bevy Smith Talks ‘Dining With Bevy: Life With Vision’

Dining With Bevy: Life With Vision, Bevy Smith, Brunch, Media, — Source: Photos Courtesy of Regina Fleming / Dining With Bevy: Life With Vision

How do you live a life with true vision and intention, one that makes you feel like you’re living at the core of your purpose? Bestselling author, actress, and TV host Bevy Smith asked herself these very questions over two decades ago when she decided to take a leap of faith at age 38. In 2005, she quit her prestigious role as a fashion advertising executive at Rolling Stone. Smith wanted to live life on her own terms, and that incredible drive pushed her to become the successful media maven we know and love today.

Reflecting on the pivotal moment that led her to transformation, Smith—now 58—told MadameNoire that she had been yearning for “freedom” and agency over her own career long before officially saying goodbye to the advertising world. That reckoning began at age 33, while she was still the senior director of fashion and beauty advertising at Vibe magazine.

She had just arrived in Milan to attend several fashion shows. On the outside, everything looked perfect: the magazine had placed her in a fabulous suit, she was on a first-name basis with the crème de la crème of the fashion and music worlds, and she had been showered with gifts from some of her favorite designers. But on the inside, Smith knew something was missing.

“When I got into that room, I just collapsed in tears, and I was like, ‘This cannot be my life’. I didn’t know what to do,” the Bevelations radio host recalled. “I didn’t have anyone to talk to because there was a six-hour time difference between New York and Milan, and that was miserable. I was just thinking, what can I do to change my life? I know this cannot be it, even though once upon a time, it was my dream to get to where I was. I was miserable.”

That night, alone in her room, Smith created a personal manifesto centered around three powerful questions that would ultimately help her design the life of her dreams: “Who am I at my core? How am I being perceived? How would I like to be perceived?”

It was a manifesto she clung to for seven long, grueling years before landing her first TV show, Bravo’s Fashion Queens, in 2013 at the age of 45—after leaving Rolling Stone. The same questions would later guide her into acting, where she shined in the role of Aunt Tammy on Amazon Prime’s Harlem, and shaped her journey into becoming the beloved author, media powerhouse, and inspirational “auntie” figure she is today.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I’m like, ‘Wow, you did it,’” Smith said, smiling from ear to ear. “It’s so funny because when I was 33, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I just knew I didn’t want to do that. That’s the first step, acknowledging that there’s some dis-ease, there is some uncomfortability, even if to the outside world it looks perfect.”

Dining With Bevy: Life With Vision.

On her climb to success, Smith remained intentional about pouring back into her community. She maintained strong relationships within fashion, music, and entertainment and prioritized fostering fellowship so that others could build their dream lives, too. That passion culminated in the creation of her Dinner With Bevy series, which she launched in 2007, an event connecting musicians and moguls to sought-after tastemakers in fashion, entertainment, and media. Past attendees have included names like Musiq Soulchild, Kerry Washington, Pharrell Williams, and Solange Knowles.

As the dinner series gained traction online and among her fanbase, Smith decided to open it up to her broader audience, so that fans could “pick her brain” about her tried and true blueprint to success. In 2012, she launched Dining With Bevy: Life With Vision, a version of the event designed to bring together some of the brightest minds across industries, not just to network, but to build true community, create new friendships, and pursue purpose, just as she had done.

To attend this life-changing event, prospective guests must answer the same three manifesto questions that once guided Smith’s own transformation, and submit both a resume and a detailed bio. This year, the exclusive gathering will take place on Oct. 25, where 50 lucky individuals—personally selected by Bevy herself—will join her for a chic and inspiring brunch in her hometown of New York City. Attendees will enjoy a 30-minute meet-and-greet with Smith before brunch, but the day promises more than just great food. Guests will also be fed with powerful inspiration during a keynote speech from Smith’s former mentee, Tai Beauchamp, a globally recognized transformational wellness advocate, TV host, and entrepreneur.

Smith said she puts extraordinary care into crafting the seating chart of her coveted event, knowing that deep, meaningful conversations often happen when people are nudged outside of their comfort zones. For Smith, that’s the real key to building a fearless life filled with purpose and dreams realized.

“I want to sit you next to people that I hope will become collaborators, co-conspirators, or maybe just plain old friends,” she said. “I know how to foster community. I know how to be a conduit to connectivity. That is the goal of Life With Vision.”

Dare to dream big.

The self-proclaimed “mutha” also hopes guests leave the event with a renewed sense of purpose and a reignited spark. According to Smith, many of her attendees are people who are already successful in their own right but have found themselves at a crossroads, having “hit a roadblock” or in search of something more.

“Maybe they feel like I did. Maybe they feel stifled. Maybe they feel like, ‘I’ve gotten to where I wanted to go, but is that all there is?’ Most of the people that come to Life With Vision have already hit their stride on some level, and they’re looking for a way to dig back into their spirit and reclaim their passion, and also to look at what their dreams are. Because one of the things that I’ve realized [doing] Life With Vision, is that most people forget to dream at a certain age.”

With the right community and a solid plan, Smith believes nothing is impossible, and she wants everyone to dream big. Despite her fame and success, she’s “still dreaming.”

“I’m successful. I’ve done a lot of things I’ve set out to do. If you ask me what my EGOT strategy is, I have it right on top, because I dare to dream and I dream big,” she told MadameNoire. “That’s one of the biggest things that we teach at Life With Vision: the idea of dreaming big and bold, not having any kind of guardrails on your dreams or your passions.”

Looking back at her “Broke But Blissful” chapter, Smith is in awe of the woman she’s become. She always believed success would eventually find her if she kept pushing—but, she explained, you have to be aware of the signs. Between the ages of 40 and 45, Smith struggled to make ends meet, appearing sporadically on VH1 and BET as a pop culture commentator—often unpaid—while waiting for her big break. Yet, even in the most unlikely places, the universe sent her signals to keep going, including a trip to housing court.

“I remember I had to go to housing court to stave off eviction. When I get to housing court, a woman sees me and says, ‘Aren’t you that woman that’s on TV?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’ And she said, ‘What are you doing here?’” Smith recalled. “I said, ‘Same thing you doing here, girl—I’m trying not to get evicted.’ Now, people—most people—would have been devastated. They would have felt ashamed. But you know how I took it? I took it as a sign from the universe that I was on the right track, because I wasn’t even a regular TV host. I wasn’t a part of a show, nothing. But yet, I had made such an impact that this woman recognized me in housing court.”