Lodidthat

So excited to be at One Vision One Voice’s Power Up Youth Symposium One Vision One Voice with Black youth from across Ontario! Drove all the way to Oshawa this morning to lead a workshop and SPEAK vision, passion and purpose into these young people!

We all deserve to dream BIG, live FULLY and have guidance in our corner as we build great lives. Honoured to be part of the community reminding our youth in care that they are seen, valued, and loved!

Let’s get it! 🔥

OACAS
One Vision One Voice

Last Thursday evening, my guy Louis Frapporti and I had the pleasure of hosting the Mayoral Candidates Conversation at The Hamilton Club and what a night it was!

A room filled to the brim. Three leading mayoral candidates. Thoughtful questions, spirited responses, and an audience that listened with tremendous interest and intention. It was an evening of meaningful dialogue, civic engagement, and a shared investment in the future of our city.

This was our second time hosting a mayoral conversation at the Hamilton Club, having done so in 2022. The beauty of my friendship with Lou is that it has always been grounded in something far more enduring than agreement! It is rooted in genuine respect, understanding, and a shared love for this city

One thing weighs very heavily on my mind as we approach October 26! Over and above the candidates that brave their names on the ballot, Hamilton needs an engaged electorate!

Yes, who is running matters. Their vision, convictions, character, and capacity to lead matter enormously. But none of it matters nearly enough if the very people whose futures hang in the balance fail to participate in choosing that leadership.

We cannot continue to demand better while remaining absent from the very process that gives us the power to demand it! A 34% here, a 35% there, a 38% here, and an almost 40% there! We need to do better! The future of Hamilton is far too important to have anyone sit on the sidelines.

We must break the cycle of voter apathy and disengagement that has held our city back for far too long.

Hamiltonians must show up. We must pay attention. We must ask questions. We must challenge what we hear, examine what is being promised, and cast our ballots with conviction, not simply emotion.

In just a few hours, at 7pm, the Cable 14 mayoral debates will take place, and I am eagerly awaiting the hour to see what unfolds!

I hope you’re tuned in, Hamilton.

This is our city! Our time! Out moment! If we want to realize all the potential we keep saying we have, we must be willing to participate in creating it.

WE MUST SHOW UP!

Readaaaay for the Mayoral Debates LIVE at 7pm EST Tonight!

Happy to report that my watch party is MASSIVE! 😎

Watch on cable14.com if you’re not plugged in already!

Cable 14 C14 do we have a fact checker scheduled to join these candidates? We’re going to need one!

Let’s get it! 🔥

Just like that, I’ve hit Year 4 on the Board of the Hamilton Foundation for Student Success Hamilton Foundation for Student Success and I couldn’t be more proud of the work we’ve done over the last few years and even more excited about the work still ahead.

Led by our exceptional CEO, Sheryl Robinson Petrezzini, and Board Chair, Nair Cruz Nair Lacruz this is an organization that continues to show up for Hamilton Wentworth District School Board kids in very intentional and meaningful ways!

Tonight’s board meeting reminded me that while these may be challenging times, there is still hope. There is still tremendous value in the work. There is still impact to be made and there is still so much possibility ahead of us. So, we forge ahead, with enthusiasm, with passion, with resolve!

As I step into the next chapter of my term, I’m looking forward to continuing to shift, move, challenge what needs challenging, push against barriers and help make room for what’s possible alongside colleagues who are equally determined to deliver for students across Hamilton.

The future of this city depends on this work and we will be nothing short of excellent because our kids deserve no less!

Zoom, zoom! We’re moooving! Hope you are too! 🔥

beyoubeexcellent

Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed myself at Summit Station Dairy Milk & Cookies Festival on Saturday!

Earlier this year, I was invited to be a judge at the festival and, of course, it was an automatic YES for me.

First of all, Summit Station is hands down one of my favourite places in all of Hamilton. I love their products. It is quite literally the ONLY place I will buy ground beef from because somehow they have managed to perfect ground beef 😂. My family loves the cheese curds, the milk, visiting the cows and just spending time around the farm.

But more than that, we love the people! So very much!

The staff are wonderful, the space is welcoming, and there is such a genuine sense of community in what they have built. You feel it the moment you enter!

I had NEVER considered what eating and judging SEVENTEEN different cookies would feel like but what an assignment! As a sweet toothed foodie, I enjoyed every minute of it!

I had my family with me and my dearest friend Jesse Messervey of Ctrl + F | Strategic Web Development + Digital Marketing serving as my trusted videographer without whom all these videos will likely not exist! lol! 🙏🏾❤️

Let me tell you, Hamilton showed up!! The lineup stretched from the main road all the way up to the store. Families everywhere. Vendors SOLD OUT by noon. So much energy, so much joy and so much support for local businesses.

I absolutely love what Summit Station Dairy has built and what it continues to become!

Congratulations on an incredible festival!! Congratulations to everyone who participated and to all the vendors who showed up and showed OUT!! And shout out to my fellow judges for a jobs well done!

Lastly, a very special congratulations to this year’s Hamilton Cookie of the year winner, Cinny’s Sweet Treats that cookie was EXCEPTIONAL!! 🏆

Go Hamilton, GO!

Happy Tuesday, my people! 🫶🏾❤️

Save the date, Hamilton!

October 13, right here in our beautiful Ward 8, at Mohawk College from 3:00 pm-5:00 pm! I look forward to seeing you all OUTSIDEEE!

Excited to be joining Moral Courage Founder Irshad Manji on this panel discussion! Irshad will facilitate an interactive discussion, taking audience comments and questions throughout.

All are welcome to attend in person or virtually. You know the in person vibe is different, especially when Chief Bergen and I are in the same vicinity! 😁

Come through, let’s talk ALL the things!

Learn more and register here: https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/events/attend-moral-courage-achieving-unity-without-uniformity-irshad-manji

Moral Courage

Heading to church this morning with a very full and grateful heart.

I came into this week knowing it was going to be extremely busy and, it turned out to to busier than I anticipated but SUPER BLESSED.

Hit these Hamilton streets with Melanin Market to experience the beauty that is Hamilton Art!

I got to connect with my buddy Jerrold Hewson , who I haven’t seen in far too long. I was sooo happy to see the amazing work he and Marta Hewson . Photographer have put into the fabulous space that is The Revival Art Store My very first time visiting since opening and I already can’t wait to go back!

ArtCircuitHamilton was BUMPING! So much talent in this city. So much creativity. So much to be proud of as a Hamiltonian.

And I finally met Sese 🎨 in the flesh! We’ve been talking for some time, but getting to meet him and experience his inspiring work in person was such a joy!!

Had time to quickly pop on to see my peoples Good Nerd Gallery The vibes were high! Rafal Tomczuk on the beat, many people outside, drinks flowing, smiles widening!! I love to see it!

Two galleries. Lots of art. Great people. And no better evidence that it’s a great day than when Erin sticks her tongue out at you 😂

I am thankful. I am blessed. I am deeply grateful for the life I get to live and the people I get to experience it with.

Oh, and I VOTED! 🗳️ So here’s your reminder to do the same!

Make it a great day, friends. See you soon! ✨

I love me and I love what’s ahead of me!

In moments of frustration, look ahead and count your blessings! I certainly am!

The grief, the annoyances, the disappointments, they may be numerous but ain’t nobody trying to count those! So here we go! 😁

This week is beautifully FULL!

✨Styling a celebrity (yes I still style, exclusively for my premium clients and free of charge for youth via Excel In Style)
✨Quick trip to Ottawa for a fabulous wedding
✨Moderating the Mayoral Conversation The Hamilton Club
✨Finalizing some big plans for Excel In Style
✨Hosting the flag raising City of Hamilton for Nigerian Association of Hamilton Independence Day Ceremony
✨Joining Robin Lennox for “Clean Up The Soot” virtual townhall
✨ Hosting Eat & Argue Club
✨ Being a celebrity judge at the Summit Station Dairy Milk & Cookies Festival | one of the happiest places in this city!
✨ My mentor’s 50th birthday celebration!
✨ Et cetera, et cetera…

There will always be something that didn’t go the way you hoped. Something irritating. Something delayed. Something that takes a little more out of you than you wanted to give. Loss. Betrayal. People devoid of integrity…

But there is also SO MUCH GOOD.

And I refuse to let what’s frustrating me take up more space than what’s flourishing around me. If you’re with me, let’s do this! 💪🏾⚡️🥂

FORWARD March! See you OUTSIDE!!!

I may not know about you, but I know about this girl named Lohifa! 😁

Lohifa will be VERY serious when she needs to be. But when it is time to play…?? Lohifa will occupy ALL THE GROUNDS, JOYFULLY!!

Playground. Festival grounds. Common grounds. Higher grounds….If there is a ground available, consider it occupied!

It’s Supercrawl weekend!!! Supporting local is a lifestyle! Let’s live it!

See you OUTSIDEEEEEEEE! ✨⚡️🏆💪🏾

Last night’s private opening of Good Nerd Gallery was glorious!

I am so proud of my peoples, Erin and Rafal Tomczuk for making this dream a reality! Exceptionally proud of this new addition to the art scene here in Hamilton and the opportunities a space like this presents for the abundance of talent that we have in this city! Well done you two! Well done!!

It brought me maximum joy to see a lot of folks I hadn’t seen in a minute because this summer almost consumed me! lol! The most wonderful, ridiculously talented Professor Chris Hall The first friend I made in Hamilton Nathan Eugene Carson The lovely Marta Hewson . Photographer who is always a joy to be around! Georgie from I FIORI who I spent a bit of time chatting with but somehow didn’t get a single picture of 🤣 Sara Ernest in the most delicious colours and glowing energy… and sooo many more!

Mind you, lewis mallard has intrigued me for many years! How delightful to be immersed in his work on this beautiful night! I have a very funny picture of us from a Masquerade Gala event many years ago.. I should share it lol!

I love all of this! Love that we are so blessed in this city! Love that the art community is growing, thriving and connected, and I love that two people who I love have done something meaningful and wonderful in and for this community!

And then there’s Supercrawl this weekend led by a powerhouse Directaaaaa Lisa La Rocca whoooosh🔥✨

Sleep not, Hamilton! Rise, shine and immerse thyself! There is much to be had! Go have it!

See you outsideeeee!