The "No Phone" Zone

This was one of the most popular pictures I have posted and It's because so many people deal with the same issue at family gatherings - whether on a daily basis or special occasions like Thanksgiving. 

Right before we were going to bless the table, my sister-in-law, Carolyn, who had been preparing our special meal for days, handed us a woven basket with a note taped to it that said, "No Phone Zone". She then told me, my mother, sister, nephews and brother-in-law that no cell phones were allowed at the Thanksgiving table. Our reaction (minus my nephews) was "great!". We hadn't seen each other in so long, why wouldn't we want to talk to each other instead of talking to someone else who was probably with THEIR family who was trying to get them off their phone too?! It was a wonderful idea and it worked also. We talked. To each other. No distractions. Except getting up for seconds (or thirds). 

Election Day

Our ancestors fought and died for our right to vote. It is a disrespect to their legacy if we don't go to the polls. #SheVotes

Wonderful Friends

I'm so blessed to have supportive friends to encourage me throughout this journey. I met Tamar Davis 10 years ago through my friend, Prince. She was a protege of his who processed an absolutely God-given gift with her voice. And, as fate - or FAITH - would have it, she was a finalist on last season's The Voice. Tamar has the biggest heart. She flew in from Houston to perform at the LA launch of my new foundation and she brought the audience to tears. I'm so grateful to her. Love you, Tamar! 💕

LA Launch of S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls

This was such a wonderful day! This was the LA launch for my foundation - the S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls. The dessert company Polkatots made an amazing cupcake display for the occasion including a beautiful purple magnolia replicating my logo. So yummy!

Hidden Heroes

I am so honored to be chosen as one of CBS's Hidden Heroes! The show spotlights celebrities who are working to improve lives through their philanthropic work. We spent the day filming at my house and the crew interviewed two of my mentees. Was an amazing day! 

Being interviewed my CBS Hidden Heroes

The Empowered Girl

What an amazing day! My new foundation  - the S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls - gave its first grant to Detroit-based charity, Alternatives for Girls, which helps rescue girls from human trafficking. The day was kicked off by a panel discussion titled, "The Empowered Girl: How NOT to be a Victim of Human Trafficking. An audience of girls and young women were in attendance and heard important advice from women who are on the front lines fighting human trafficking, including survivors who shared their powerful stories. The event, which was held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, was sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund.  

Presenting the grant to Alternatives for Girls

#savingourgirls

Mykonos

On the second day of my birthday vacation in Mykonos, we took a combination walking/bus tour to see as much of the island as possible. 

One of my favorite things to see up close were the iconic 16th century windmills that the farmers used to mill wheat. 

Windmills of Mykonos  

Loving my Grecian birthday vacation! 

Santorini

We finally arrived! After an Uber to the airport (first car didn't show up), a flight from LA to NY, then NY to Athens and then from Athens to Santorini, then a shuttle to our hotel...we are kicking off my birthday vacation! My mom Joanne and sister-in-law Carolyn are the traveling trio.

So wonderful to spend this time with family. Our hotel is right on the beach against the Mediterranean Sea. Simply beautiful! 

Ready to hit the beach! 

My Birthday Vacation

Today I am embarking on a journey. It is so hard to leave because I want to stay connected to what is happening in our society surrounding the senseless violence we have seen. However, God made things called birthdays as a reminder that our time is finite and to find the joy in each day. So...Where in the world is Shaun going for her #birthdayvacation? 

Can you guess? 

Empowering Girls

I have been so overwhelmed with JOY these past couple of weeks because I finally launched a passion project of mine! It's called the S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls. It's my new non-profit that I formed to empower girls and young women. It is a grant-making foundation that will support small, grass-roots charities that are doing work in five key areas of girls' issues: (S)TEM, (H)EALTH, (A)RTS, (U)NITY and (N)EIGHBORHOODS.

I truly feel that if we invest in girls, we will empower her to change the world!

I will be sharing more about the S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls in the coming weeks so, go to our website to get more information: shaunfoundationforgirls.org. And thank you for your support! 

I truly feel that if we invest in girls, we will empower them to change the world!

I will be sharing more about the S.H.A.U.N. Foundation for Girls in the coming weeks so, go to our website to get more information: shaunfoundationforgirls.org.  And thank you for your support! 

Getting out of our own way

My mother has always taught me to have faith and that "All is Well'.

That is oftentimes a very difficult philosophy to have, especially in these changing times. Fear can keep us immobile in its grips. Fear can lead us to some habits that sabotage our growth. I read that we may know that we are doing self-destructive things because we feel that we don't deserve love. We become involved with people who don't have our best interests at heart or we abuse our bodies or just neglect our own needs.

We can, no doubt, see that we are getting in our own way. But, we have to have faith in a power much greater than us and we have to step-aside and let that power in. But, sometimes we don't want to let go. We'll do the same thing over and over again and keep ourselves stuck because we fear change. But, once we let go, we can realize that there is power greater than us - we can have a spiritual awakening.

Someone once said, "we possess a gift and that gift is FAITH. Faith in our ability to change and grow. They said, that we are children of God. "All the creative power of the universe streams through us, if we don't block it."

 

Saturday Afternoon Tea

  

Saturday afternoon tea celebrating my girlfriend's birthday. Hats required! Beautiful day with a bed of roses as the backdrop for this picture.  

Bibiana

I met an extraordinary young lady recently at a fundraiser held at the home of my friend. Her name is Bibiana. She is 17-years-old and was born in Tanzania. In her country, there are witch doctors who believe albinos possess magical powers. When she was only 9-years-old, some men broke into Bibiana's house where she and her sister were sleeping. The next thing that happened was simply horrendous. While one of the men held Bibiana down, the other cut off her leg and part of her fingers presumably to use in some potion or ritual that they believed would give them the powers they felt albinos possessed. They were also after Bibiana's sister but, the screams woke others in the house and the men fled. 

Bibiana survived that attack but, other albinos in Tanzania aren't so lucky. Bibiana was flown to the United States to be fitted for a prosthesis courtesy of the organization, African Millennium Foundation. They are doing amazing work helping Albinos and educating people about how they are mistreated in their homeland. Hope you can check out the work they are doing. ~Shaun

Your Goals are Your Own

If you follow me on social media, you know that I love to share inspirational quotes with my friends. I get these quotes from all different sources - my mom, from the gazillion inspirational books that I have, various social media sites and many times they will just pop into my head.

I just came across one that I thought was very cool and wanted to share with you. It is attributed to "Zero Dean" and I think it has a great message that will resonate with anybody who struggles to achieve their goals but, who gets frustrated along the way.

"Never give up on what you desire in life just because someone else appears to a have an easier time getting what they desire or is making progress more quickly than you are. 

Remind yourself as necessary, that life is not a competition and that some people will always make progress more quickly than others. That's life.

But, your life, your circumstances and your goals are your own.  Don't let the simple fact that others are working on and achieving their goals deter you from working on and achieving your own."

Isn't that powerful? When I read it, I thought that it was a great message because, let's face it...we often measure our success based on what others have and how quickly they got it. But, the author of that message is right...life is not a race. At the end of the day, when we look over our life, it's not going to be about whether someone else got more. THEIR success has nothing to do with you at all. Keep focused. Keep working hard and keep your eye on YOUR prize.