Hey everyone! My name is Khera, and I'm a makeup + hair artist, beauty writer, and beauty podcaster. My why is cutting through the noise and overwhelm and making beauty feel lighter, more creative, and a fun contributor to our overall well-being. My brand pillars are: - Expertise: After 15 years as an artist, I enjoy sharing what I know and making beauty digestible while educating and equipping people with the information and tools to make informed decisions. - Enjoyment: Beauty can be a moment for play and expression; there are no rules, and I like to bring that energy when I’m working with clients and when I share information online.  - Ease: This pillar has a double meaning. First, beauty is unique to everyone depending on their lifestyle and their needs. I like helping people find ways to make their routines easy and enhance their lives, not overwhelm their lives. On a personal level, this word is important to me as I enter the next phase of my career and intentionally work towards a life with space for more ease in it. As for content I’m proud of, I have two pieces: - The first is a tutorial I made breaking down the blurred lip trend. - The second piece is a story I wrote for Byrdie explaining what cheek stains are and teaching readers how to use them. I loved this exercise! It really got me thinking. Thank you, Franchesca; very excited to be here!

Hey everyone! So, I decided to create a short-form script first (I'm working on a long-form idea but still need a bit of time). In this video, I'm sharing 3 reasons why a person's makeup may not be hitting despite having all the products and all the things. I think it's important to identify how you like to look first before getting into products and techniques, so this video is a starting point. Maybe it could be a series. In the spirit of experimentation, I added some zooms, photos, and a meme. I've created content with some bullet points that baaaarely made sense, but sitting and writing my idea out was really really helpful. Thank you so much, Franchesca, this really has been an awesome 3 weeks. Very open to feedback and excited to check out what you all created!

last year was the 50th anniversary of Arthur Ashe's third and last grand slam win. he is the first and only Black American man to win the largest title in professional tennis. as a Black history scholar and avid tennis fan, last year I excitedly drafted an essay/long form video that explores the connections between race/racism, sports, and politics, something that is ever relevant (re: Coco Gauff being targeted by racial abuse online just last month; the Howard tennis team receiving an email from UMD's tennis team with klan iconography). the script is about 12pgs long and explores Arthur Ashe's history/legacy, the racist history of tennis in the US, and connecting them to today/the two men poised to potentially break the drought and become the second Black American man to win a grand slam... i also want to do an exposé on the USTA and their racist/bigoted/transphobic past and present. possible titles i've come up with: - The Kingification of Arthur Ashe - The Dark Side of Tennis: The Illusion of Inclusion - Does tennis have a racism problem? - Will there ever be another Arthur Ashe? curious to hear other's thoughts about "combining niches" and talking about this topic while in my Minty Musing makeup. would it be too distracting? Or maybe I go the Olurinatti route and create a separate channel for these types of long form videos (that aren't specific to makeup). open to thoughts/opinions! also, if you're interested in reading the script, i'm happy to share directly! here are a few thumbnails i drafted...

I went back and worked on my Why and my Brand Pillars from Part 1. My why: I think there is room for more women in their 30s being visibly living and loving their lives, FULLY. I've curated a full, fulfilling, and colorful life for myself and I want other women like me to be encouraged and empowered to do the same. I strongly believe "The love of your life should be the love of your life." I couldn't decide on a third word, but two main ones Authenticity and Humor. No matter what I'm doing or where I am, I believe in being myself and, when appropriate, laughing deeply -- so I want that to be apparent in my content. ETA: I think Unruly might be my third word. I have become more unruly each year and I strive to be an ungovernable woman 🤣 and my family has had to deal with that.

"Do "mean girls" get better men?" This could either be topical since dating is a serious social issue/ concern at the moment but at the same time it could fall into evergreen so curious to see people's thoughts on the bucket it falls into! Script: Mean girls don’t get better men, mean people get everything because what we described as mean are actually are assertive, who are direct, who had boundaries, who have high standards for themselves and others therefore they not going to tolerate certain things they know what they want out of life, they not afraid to want better and go get better regardless of what it may mean or who it may mean leaving behind, and they will not tolerate anything less because they know what they want and deserve. They’re already willing, unable to cut off anything in their life that is not getting them closer to their goals Hopes dreams aspirations and have a certain standards for what they want out of life which extends to their relationship with people be they platonic or professional and onvioualt their romantic relationships with men. They have a lower threshold for BS and so it’s not that they get better than so much as they have found someone who is likely also has high standards for themselves or at the very last is performing very low on the bs scale so obviously if someone is sticking around, they’re meeting that woman’s high standards. It’s just that simple, you don’t have to be “mean”, you just have to have a firm set standards for yourself and know what you will and won’t tolerate in all areas of life. Video posted to TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thesashawhitney/video/7698062769697951007 Filmed on CapCut using the teleprompter feature and also edited on CapCut. Apologies for my croaky voice; I lost my voice the day before and was in the process of getting it back. Dating content typically isn't my bag but it's something that tends to trend with my audience so I wanted to approach it from the perspective of two of my brand pillars, smart and intentional, while infusing a touch of makeup since I also post beauty & hair content.