My Story

I  have been very blessed to have so many amazing people in my life who have championed me & supported me throughout my life - My Parents, Family, Friends & people who have just met me & believed in me, all because they connected with me. I'm thankful for everyone in my life. 

My Mom & Dad were musically inclined. They sang & played music together while waiting for me to come into this life. I believe that was the beginning of what cultivated my love for music.

They got divorced when I was 10 and I only saw my father on the weekends, most times. My mother & father had a special break up commitment to me. I could see my father anytime I needed him. They always stood strong together on what was best and important for me and that was music. 

Ever since I was a child, I centered everything I did around music & even when I tried to go in a different direction, I found myself coming back to that life. #MusicIsMyLife 

I finally accepted this when I was 12 and started getting involved with dance and dance music. In the 70s I fell in love with Rhythm &  Blues, Disco & Motown. I tried out for every dance competition in  school & joined my schools performing arts & Choir classes.  Anything entertainment, I was there.

 My passion for dance led me to working with a local performing arts center program that put on shows in the community. I got a free scholarship from my public school to attend the program. I learned Ballet, Modern Dance & Jazz from a former Dance Theater of Harlem dancer-turned teacher, Elisa Harris. I  danced all through my junior years.

My heart would break at times because my mom could barely afford to put food on the table. I knew my free courses at the center were numbered. Before long, they would start asking us to pay for lessons. That reality soon came to fruition and my scholarship was over.

 By that time, I was dating, fell in love & had got married. I had 2 beautiful children & my life was theirs but I still worked to help support my family.

 My second passion is Animals/Animal Care, specifically Gorillas. For years, I studied Primatology ON MY OWN. I didn't have the money to go to school but again, my passion led me to became a (non-certified) Vet Tech. I  was blessed to learn about Vet medicine on the job training. I had several opportunities to work with domestic, wild & zoo animals  including Gorillas. Again, I was in heaven. I worked & studied hard, ON MY OWN. 

Whatever I wanted to do, I found a way to do it & make it happen despite the road blocks I encountered. I wasn't going to let money/college stand in my way of learning the things I needed to learn. I've been a firm believer that if you love something enough, you'll do what it takes to get it. I fought hard & earned all of the opportunities I was blessed to be given in my life. Now it's time to help others reach their goals while I'm still reaching mine & still learning. We're doing it together.

Music NEVER vanished from my life. Working in the animal vet world, our family still would get together and have karaoke parties. Drinking & singing to wash the blues away. Music brings all walks of life together and it certainly brought our family together & even closer. 

My daughter, Kianna, was very shy but she had the gift of song. I couldn't sing to save my life, (I played guitar & drums here and there, nothing serious). You could always see my father playing guitar.  Mom  sung Gospel music on the radio and Kianna's father's parents sung in the church choir. 

When Kianna graduated, she started singing more openly and confidently. She surprised me one day & said "Mom, I entered a singing contest" and she won! From there, I met and worked with a music production company who anointed me Vice President ~ A&R of their company, Reel to Real  Productions. There I met & worked with several legendary singers, songwriters & musicians and recorded & released several songs for artists. 

By this time, I had worked on some very cool music projects. I helped with the grass roots campaign for the artists from the show, Rock Star INXS. I hosted a 16 week singing competition in my community, traveled around the country, and recorded at several legendary recording studios and   made the decision to leave my A&R position to become the CEO of my own company, Death By Lipstick Productions. 

I opened DBL in 2012, signed 2 artists to a record deal, and I'm working on signing more of my artists as we speak. DBL has been fortunate & blessed to have songs placements in several films and TV shows. DBL was grateful to be invited to create a song and music video for Chrysler (FCA). And most recently, we were fortunate enough to be asked to be apart of the Folktellers Universe music team in connection to the Folktellers Guidebook tv series trailer and have been crowned Folktellers Music.