I’m gonna start with, I love this site and app. FitMenCook is super easy to navigate and extremely functional. I never expected to actually like it but a buddy of mine recommended it because I’m terrible at making healthy food choices and asked him about his lunch.

I know, you’re probably thinking, “you’re so skinny, you probably don’t eat much… blah blah blah.” Well here’s a confession, last year my New Year’s resolution was to give up canned chili. You read right, canned chili. I love canned chili. I mostly love it with chips, cheese and jalapeños. I definitely love it over rice. Wolf Brand and Hormel are my favorites and I know it’s not great for me but I don’t care. I’d say my love for canned chili is worse than my Chef Boyardee ravioli obsession and those perfectly greased Jack In The Box tacos that I’d practically vacuum up during my teen years. I fiend for my special chili dip like every couple months or so these days, but  it used to be pretty bad. I thank God for a high metabolism and newly found common sense. I only eat it every couple of months and this is precisely why I needed the app. I have to get more creative with my seasonings and dinner choices if I don’t want to die of high blood pressure and clogged arteries.

I Hate Working Out

Let’s get to the nitty gritty though. I hate working out. I hate it because it feels like a routine I can never finish and since I don’t see many changes, I don’t feel motivated. Now food, I love, and I think it’s a brilliant plan to change my body with something I love. Food is something that I can commit to and FitMenCook is a wonderful website with a bomb app you can download to get recipes ranging from quick and easy to complex and showy. You  can even use a the Healthy Habits Challenge calendar to hit personal goals. It’s pretty impressive how thought out this site it. I highly recommend taking a visit and finding a dish to start with.

15-Minute Pineapple Pepper Chicken

With how cool the site and the app was, I had to try it out for myself and decided to test the 15-Minute Pineapple Pepper Chicken recipe for my first attempt. Kevin, supplies you with a grocery list that even helps guide you down the aisles of where you can find the ingredients. I will say, it was a bit of a scavenger hunt but I located everything I needed. When I got home, I followed the directions and added spinach for my veggie. Then, voilà, a tasty meal I could enjoy for about 3-4 days! It was well seasoned, easy to portion out and extremely satisfying. You should definitely try it out for yourself.

If you decide to test out any other recipes, feel free to share them with me here or on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook! <3

-D.Wright

Music lovers, have I got something for you! A friend of mine introduced me to my new favorite thing, and it’s a music discovery app appropriately named Discovr.

There are so many music streaming and sharing services out there to a point where it can be a little overwhelming to try and find new artists to check out these days. My music go-to’s have always been blogs or friends with amazing taste in music…but what if you want something even simpler than that? Discovr might be the answer for you.

With the Discovr app, you can:

• Search thousands of artists
• Play newly discovered music from the app
• Open an artist’s music in Spotify or iTunes
• Share your new discovery with other music lovers

You start by downloading the free app on your iOS or Android device, search a familiar artist you like, the tap on their name and discover other similar artists through a dgized music tree. It’s pretty cool and really simple to follow.

Another great feature being able to pull up your  music in either Apple Music or Spotify! It’s extremely intuitive and easy to use and did I mention…free?! You can’t get any better than that.

I’ve been using it for a few days now and have found talents like Jessie Ware, DVSN, Parachute and a few others to dive into. If you’re adventurous or just searching for someone new to check out, Discovr offers you a sure fire way to learn about artists you might have never heard of from all over the world! Of course the music nerd in me is pretty stoked. Feel free to share your new discoveries with me — happy listening. <3

-D.Wright

For one whole summer, I had a West African goddess as a boss…
her name is Bozoma Saint John.

Photo courtesy of Business Insider.

I first saw her, like many Apple fan boys and girls in 2016 presenting the big UI update for Apple Music during the much anticipated WWDC. I promised myself somehow, someway – I would end up on this woman’s team. Months later, that’s exactly what happened, but this story is less about me and more about celebrating the power moves this boss chick is making while sprinkling her Black Girl Magic all over the tech industry.

Boz has had quite the track record, totally Googlable, but I have to mention how she’s contributed to some of today’s most iconic pop culture moments through collaborations with an army of A-list musicians like Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Drake. She’s even won multiple awards, titles, and spots on coveted tech and music industry lists to back up her growing accomplishments. She’s pretty cold.

Zane Lowe, Boz Saint John, and Larry Jackson photo courtesy of COMPLEX.

My first day on campus and the first time I’d sat in on weekly meetings, I saw this unicorn of a woman sitting tall at the head of the table. I couldn’t believe it was the same lady I just witnessed, in that bomb pink dress, rapping “Rapper’s Delight” in a room full of hipster nerds and tech geeks. Her presence was absolutely awe-inspiring and I’d never seen anything like it outside of the movies. She was brilliant, fashionably fabulous, had the most amazing flawless skin, was practically an Amazon, and a straight shooter with amazing jokes. The cherry on top…she was actually nice! I will never forget her kindness and willingness to engage the staff. Her energy just made you feel like she striving for greatness and demanded you to do the same.

Photo courtesy of Fast Company.

News broke on last Friday that she would no longer be with Apple Music and many folks were surprised. Regardless of “the signs” and her growing demand, many of us felt hopeful to see her commit a few more years to Apple and bubble her way up the music executive chain. I mean, in a pretty short span of time, she started the path as a culture changer for Apple and her star power was definitely on the rise. She was also, notably, one of the few executives from Apple to keep up a blossoming personal brand outside of the tech giant. But though all the planets seemed to align for her reign, her departure just felt inevitable. My girlfriends and I would sit and discuss the business moves of many of her colleagues. We just knew she was going to have something big up her sleeve within the next two years. Monday June 5th, two years became 6 months and the inevitable became a reality. Boz resigned from her Head of Global Marketing role to enter a C-level position as the Chief Brand Officer of Uber.

Photo courtesy of Billboard.

Now let’s talk about how major this is for a split second. We all know Uber has had a rough couple of months over the last year but they Bat-Called a Black woman to save their image and brand. She’s literally Olivia Pope-ing the technology industry one company at a time! Killing it #fortheculture! Pause…you need to soak that in. Apple Music’s subscription numbers have increased immensely while under her expertise and marketing guidance (also Googlable). Pepsi, (pre Kendell-gate) was on an all time high with epic music marketing activations and performances that further exposed the company to it’s thirsting millennial customer base. So considering what little I knew of her pretty cool career…I realized, Boz doesn’t leave dumpster fires. She leaves rainbows and butterflies with every move she makes. (You’d know exactly what I’m talking about if you ever met her.)

So while I’m sure she’ll be sorely missed at Apple, she has the opportunity to leave her biggest glitter bomb yet at Uber where they desperately need her reinvention  magic to keep them in the game. And for that, we all wish you nothing but success Boz! We’re rooting for you. Make those Boz moves girl! <3

-D.Wright