As Told By Calynn M. Lawrence

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an amazing, empowering event alongside my mother, at a location that holds immense memories for me. This was the Finding Ashley Stewart Tour Stop Chicago at Ford City Mall. I don't even quite know where to begin so I'll just start with a huge thank you to Ms. Stacey Hall-Williams, a Store Manager for the brand, for giving me the invitation to attend and cover the competition! She treated my mother and I so well and even gave us front row seats for optimal viewing. She is awesome! Also, thank you to Ashley Stewart for hosting the event because I believe the entire concept is fantastic, to say the least. The competition itself is a wonderful idea that gives curvy women the chance to strut their stuff and receive long-deserved recognition in the fashion industry. As both someone who has worked in fashion her entire career since my days of being a 15-year-old Nordstrom intern AND as a plus-size girl myself, I felt a...

Hi guys! Thanks for reading and I hope that you're all doing well. I am reporting to you all about the amazing experience that I was blessed to have, attending the exclusive Chicago Premiere Screening for Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists!  The event was a collaboration between Freeform and Refinery29.  Where do I even begin? I had such a great time with my play sister, Lovely Arielle , that I am almost lost for words. Let's start at the beginning. From the moment we walked in, were greeted with smiles and impeccable treatment on behalf of the staff. From checking us in and distributing our free merch (Thanks for the cool T-shirts, BTW!) to serving us the free snacks, beverages and getting us seated, they were phenomenal! They deserve a reward. Moving forward to the actual show. I have quite a few thoughts that I want to cover. First, I thoroughly appreciated the fact that The Perfectionists centers around young adults in college, as opposed to high-s...

In a world where so many great entrepreneurs and artists can become famous at the act of one viral video online, it's easy to get lost in the misconception that with social media's "power," anybody who is talented is already known. After all, it isn't as difficult to gain exposure and "get big" as it was 20 years ago before the Internet's Massive Media takeover, right? Partially yes, however, social media also makes the market 10x as saturated as it was 20 years ago. Thus, are you really that much further ahead if all of your competition has the means to one-up you, free of cost and inconvenience, just by posting to their online accounts? It's a lot to think about. That is why we here at The Fresh Faces Project work hard to make sure that the artists and entrepreneurs and do-gooders who are underrepresented and don't get the fame and acknowledgment that their talents merit are given a platform. That platform is us. When creating thi...