I love empowering women to show them that as women, we can accomplish and do all things through Christ that strengthen us.  I like to say that God has a sense of humor because he placed in my heart to create my Visionfriends Network (which sponsors a single mother on a paid vacation), before I even became one.

I am truly blessed. My most important role besides being a servant of God is that of being a mother. I am a single mother of 5 children (Mani eighteen years old: currently in her second semester of college and made the Dean’s List her first semester; Josh sixteen years old: junior in HS; Bria twelve years old; Jordon eight years old; Kimora 5 years old).

Professionally, I am a Regional Sales Manager for a major health insurance company and oversee between 300-500 brokers across three states.  I am a college graduate with my B.A. and Master’s.  I actually had my oldest the end of my third year in college.  I had my daughter at the end of March and took April off, returned in May and took my final.  One of my professors held my daughter in his arms, while I sat in his office to take my finals. (My daughter graduated high school with honors and theUniversityofAlbanyhonored all the local students in the newspaper and held a ceremony at the university.  The very same professor was in attendance to see this honor bestowed upon my daughter.)

With my third child Bria, I worked full-time and attended my Master’s program full-time; ran a marathon while I was three months pregnant with my fourth child Jordon, for the American Stroke Association to honor my grandmother who died from complications of stroke (I started to train and discovered later that I was pregnant, received my doctors blessing, so I ran).

I love sharing with women the art of not giving up or to give in to life’s circumstances.  I could not have accomplished anything without my faith in God and constantly inquiring of Him for guidance in all that I do. I want to share how to overcome rejection, how I ran a household being a single mother, the principles that I hold close to my heart and the importance of loving and respecting your children as little people who will eventually become grown adults.  Tools were implemented with inputs from my children to get good grades and how to overcome bad ones. The older ones are all “A” students, with the younger in fast pursuit.

I love to share with women how I became financially independent by shopping wisely and taking control over my finances. Now I am not saying that I didn’t make some mistakes, but throughout my life, I have learned to recognize that obstacles enter our lives for us to learn from them.  I have learned to embrace obstacles, but most importantly, to learn not to make the same mistakes over again, because it always brings us back to the start until we get it right.

I want to share my belief in God and show how I implement biblical principals to overcome life’s circumstances by constantly asking for guidance and believing God’s word that “faith without work is dead.”

University: Florida State University

Major:  Communications with a concentration in Media Studies, Editing, Writing and Media Production

Age:  20

Hometown:  Miami, Florida

Describe your style inspiration: 60s and 70s Fashion. Not necessarily “hippie” but I love the idea of long flowy skirts and wideleg pants.

Live music is played at several locations throughout the Park. Some of the galleries offer refreshments and hors d’oeuvres. Larger galleries may feature exhibits from a variety of artists while smaller ones display their own new works. The belly dance studio may put on a show and a drumming circle enlivens the evening. This is a place where many collegiate students from Florida State, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College can come and really engage in some artistic activities. There are a variety of different shops that one can visit, from thrift shops to food vendors to art galleries. There is something for everyone no matter your artistic interest.

Follow Devyni on twitter @devyfashionista

Actors Anthony Mackie and Sanaa Lathan had hosting duties while the award show honored diversity in the arts.

This year’s Hollywooddarlings Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer were the night’s big winners, taking home best actress and supporting actress honors, while their film The Help won for outstanding motion picture.

The night was full of tributes as actors Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte presented the President’s Award to the Black Stuntsmen’s Association, which was formed in 1967 to create opportunities for black stuntmen in film and television. Samuel L. Jackson presented George Lucas with the Vanguard Award while Jennifer Hudson and Ne-Yo sang the filmmaker’s favorite song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” Cathy Hughes, the founder of RadioOne and TVOne accepted the Chairman’s Award at a ceremony inNew Jerseythat was also broadcast from the award show.

The most stirring tribute of the night was for Whitney Houston. Footage was shown of the singer in 1994 accepting the award for outstanding female artist. She was honored by Yolanda Adams who sang “I Love the Lord, He Heard Me Cry.”

Other winners included Tracee Ellis Ross and Malcolm Jamal-Warner for their roles on “Reed Between the Lines,” and Regina King was named outstanding actress for her role on “SouthLAnd.”

Gospel singer Kirk Franklin closed the show with a rendition ofHouston’s “The Greatest Love of All” before going into his song “Smile.”

Check out the full list of winners here.

By: Brittney Fennell

“Grammy-winning and multi-platinum recording artist, Eve is set to guest star in an upcoming role on NBC’s Whitney. In this episode, Whitney has a confrontation with Eve’s character and comes to the realization about her relationship with boyfriend Alex (played by Chris D’Ella). It all leads to a pivotal moment in the series,” said Tracy St. Pierre, Senior Director of NBC Entertainment Publicity.

Whitney is a comedy series that stars Whitney Cummings and is based on her real life experiences.

Eve’s first foray into television was with her UPN series Eve, which lasted for three seasons up until 2006. She also recently starred in two episodes of Glee.

TheGrio.com contributed to this article.

Do you want to see Eve make a return to television?

 By: Brittney Fennell

For some reason, it’s the most easy, on this day, to wallow in self-pity in regards to a reality that was there on the 13th and will be there on the 15th.  The actual day doesn’t bring or remove any significance to your day and if you’re coming off of what you thought was a true love, here are some tips to let go of those love-worn blues.

Make Moves to Move Forward- Part of getting past a love is truly mourning it.  In order to move on and be successful, one must understand why it didn’t work, understand it, and accept it.  Until you do, you will always bring the hurt and baggage from that same relationship  to a new one and never be able to start anew.

Make YOU Happy- The sooner you understand that you, solely are in charge of your own happiness, the better off you will be.  A relationship doesn’t make you happy.  You make you happy.  If you don’t have your God-given joy, then you’ll never be truly happy; whether alone or as a unit.

Getting Better- There is no better feeling or realization than to know that you are ten times better after a relatonship, then you were before.  Women, sometimes tend to get lodged in a negative space.  Do the opposite of what you feel and get back up!  Continue on with your goals and do your best to exceed them.  No one should keep you from achieving your dreams!

For more life coaching tips from Stephanie Benoit, follow her on twitter: @stephaniebenoit

Wesley’s life makes an unexpected change when he meets struggling single mother, Lindsey (played by Thandie Newton), who works for his company’s cleaning crew and he offers to help her get back on her feet.

By helping Lindsey, Wesley is pushed outside of his comfort zone and he gains the courage to not do what’s expected of him, but to spend his life doing what he really wants,

Good Deeds also stars Gabrielle Union, Phylicia Rashad, Brian White, Rebecca Romijn and Eddie Cibrian.

Check out the trailer below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Will you be seeing ‘Good Deeds’ when it hits theaters?

By: Brittney Fennell