Entrepreneur Karen Civil wants you to know that the #LiveCivil hashtag is something she truly lives by, and the quotes that she always shares on her social media channels are genuine and heartfelt. The entrepreneur donated $41,000 to Sow A Seed, a ten-year-old foundation that helps Haiti’s orphans. The money is going towards building the Live Civil Playground, a play space for kids at the school Ecole Nouvelle Zoranje, that will foster physical and cognitive development (the playground will also include interactive math games, climbing towers, swings, and slides made from recycled materials).

Karen was able to attract rappers Meek Mill, Nipsey Hussle, record label impresarios Joie Manda of Interscope Records and Mack Maine of Young Money Records, as well as Hot 97’s DJ Funkmaster Flex; DJ Steph Floss and partner Jameel Davis. The boxer Andre Berto also joined these music industry heavyweights in providing financial support for this project.

Kreyolicious reached out to Karen to get a first-hand account of her trip to Haiti, and to discuss her generous donation.

Kreyolicious: What did a playground mean to you when you were little?

Growing up, the playground was somewhere laughter and joy was shared with friends. A place where bonds, and smiles were formed.

Kreyolicious: I was watching the video from your trip. You had this ever-present smile on your face as you interacted with the girls who will benefit from the Live Civil playground. Why was it so important for you to be part of this project?

It was important to to give back to the community and home of which my parents were born…I wanted to give other Haitian children the same joys and opportunities my parents allowed me to have.

Karen Civil presenting Sow A Seed with a check.

Kreyolicious: Epiphanies come with travels. What’s the most important thing that you learned during your trip?

I learned to see the beauty in something that most people rarely see. People see Haiti as a place in turmoil…I got a chance to see the beauty in it, the educated children, the beautiful beaches.. the people committed to help change the lives of so many.

Kreyolicious: Was it easy getting folks like Nipsey Hussle, Meek Mill, Funkmaster Flex, Mack Maine, Joie Manda, and a host of others to collaborate with this initiative?

No. These are people who are not just industry folks. I consider them friends. They believed in my vision, and saw it with me. They came in and supported.

Kreyolicious: Kreyolicious readers know you were in Haiti for a special cause…but girl, did you get a chance to do some sight-seeing, and eat some good food while there?

Yes, I loved the Observatoire de Boutilliers restaurant. The view and food was amazing. I got a chance to see the beaches with Wahoo Bay resorts, and they showed me Haiti and all its beauty.

Kreyolicious: Karen Civil always finishes what she starts. Will you be involved in other initiatives whether charitable and artistic where Haiti is concerned?

The Ecole Nouvelle Zoranje school still needs help in other ways…I plan to continue to support them with repairs, activities and other initiatives.

CONNECT WITH KAREN CIVIL ON INSTAGRAM | VISIT THE LIVE CIVIL WEBSITE

[All photos courtesy of The Purple Agency ]

Kreyolicious Celebrity Sightings…in which…in which I track down our Kreyolicious celebrities and see what they’ve been up to.

Stella Jean was all smiles at Milan Men’s Fashion Week in Milan, Italy. The Italian-fashion designer showed off her own Spring/Summer 2016 collection.

Those ballerina flats she has on sure look comfortable on Stella Jean, don’t they kreyolicious cheries?

I like the fact that she’s wearing jeans on the runway. Those accessories on her wrists! The top she’s sporting is no doubt from her own collection. And the nerdy glasses…so Stella.

Ooh, let’s take a look at those jeans again! They are slightly baggy…almost hood-baggy, and Stella has the hems rolled up. Always had this impression that she was very petite, but I see she’s rather tall. Hey, she did used to be a high fashion model at one point! So kreyolicious.

One thing I’ve noted about Stella Jean is that she rarely has her hair sweeping her shoulders. It’s almost always in a bun or in a low-maintenance mode. That’s simplicity for you.

Garcelle Beauvais looked glamorous, and downright kreyolicious at the Hollywood premiere of the Warner Bros. film Magic Mike XXL.

For some, weary white is a scary thing. You never know when you might drop something on your dress…no matter how careful you may be. I like the straps on the dress, and I really, really adore Garcelle’s bob. That cheve is laid, kreyolicious cheries.

Garcelle had to show up looking her best at that premiere. The film Magic Mike XXL is all about being fit.

Ooh, look at that Egyptian mascara on Garcelle. She really has pretty eyes. Hard to believe that Garcelle is almost 50. That’s that Black/Haitian Don’t Crack combo at work. I remembered when I interviewed her, she had mentioned how she’s continuously working on herself. I will never forget that. Working on the inside, and on the outside.

And a full photo of her look…Look at those arms! Boy, she looks like she be lifting bags of diri. So toned.

Didn’t I read somewhere that Garcelle is a descendant of a Haitian general…a Mr. Beauvais? Athlete on the war field, and an athletic body on the red carpet. These Beauvais seeds were born to kill it.

Ooh, how cool is it that she topped that all-white outfit with those green flats?

So, while Garcelle Beauvais was attending the Magic Mike XXL premiere of Magic Mike XXL” at the Chinese Theatre IMAX in Hollywood, blogger, journalist and social media influencer Claire Sulmers was showing off her intricate braids not too far away at the Mondrian Hotel in Los Angeles at the Tidal X: Meek Mill event.

There’s a reason whey she’s called The Fashion Bomb. Maybe it’s because she’s known as a fashion blogger, but I rarely see her being cited as one of the instigators of the natural hair movement. But she ought to be. She’s been rocking these blonde twists. I like how kreyolicious avant-guard she is when it comes to her look.

Karen Civil joined singers Tyrese and Kelly Rowland in Cali as part of Genius Talks presented by AT&T during the 2015 BET Experience at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Ms. Civil was the panel’s moderator. Look at those spiral curls on and wore a coral romper. Look for Karen’s book set to be released by Cash Money and Simon and Schuster this November.

[Photo Credit: Garcelle Beauvais—Frederick M. Brown and Kevin Winter. Karen Civil—Jerrod Harris. Claire Sulmers—Jason Merritt. Stella Jean—D’aprano.]

Karen Civil, the owner of Always Civil Enterprises, makes a minimum of $12,000 most weekends. In 2015, her brand grossed $500,000—more than a four-fold increase from the $125,000 she made back in 2010. How did she get to command so much money? And how is it that her brand has grown to such grandiose levels? Your girl Kreyolicious is here to answer all of this. So, let us examine the 5 Success Principles that we can learn from the life and career of Elizabeth, New Jersey-bred Karen Civil.

1. When people are ignoring you, and acting as if you’re insignificant, all it means is that you have to work harder.
When Karen Civil started her website back in 2008, getting interviews were difficult. Hip-hop celebrities would dodge her calls requesting interviews. Others would act as if they’d be doing her a huge favor if they returned her calls. Some would not acknowledge her calls altogether. This prompted Karen to shed tears, but after she wiped her eyes dry, she came to realization that all she needed to do was to increase her output. At the time she had started her site, she had already worked as DJ Funkmaster Flex’s assistant and worked with Dipset, a music-marketing company, but all that didn’t seem to be enough for some. So she worked, and worked some more at a capacity that made it impossible for anyone to ignore her, or her accolades. She stopped calling. Matter of fact, she didn’t have to make calls anymore. People and brands came to her.

People use outward appearance against you all the time in life, so you might as well make perception work for you.
The perception is that if it’s not shared online, it didn’t happen. So show them! Share with them…on a consistent basis. Grow your numbers on social media…say over 800K followers on the Karen Civil Facebook page alone. Build up your content. Publicize your accomplishments. Sometimes you just have to tell people how great you are, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Even when you have a corporate gig, never stop building your personal brand.
Once her site was getting attention, Beats by Dre came calling and offered Karen Civil a position as Social Media Manager. Would she shut down her baby? No siree! Karen recruited contributors to keep the site going, and continued to brand her lifestyle site Live Civil. While working at Beats in Los Angeles, instead of allowing Karen Civil the influencer to disappear, she employed strategies to keep her name and face in front of her social media audience.

Stormy weather? Hurricane? Unfair weather? Keep going.
When studying the mid-years of urban blogging, it’s easy to detect that were moments of uncertainty in the sphere. When you’re not following anyone else’s trails, there’s not really a GPS-friendly route. So you have to show faith…Move ahead, when your fears are accruing, and when your distance from your comfort zone is increasing with each move. Things get tough. But you just have to look ahead, and hope that your hard work will pay off. And things certainly did pay off for Karen, from endorsements from brands like T-Mobile for her Karen Civil brunch, to collaborations with Hollywood’s biggest movie studios and music’s most recognized brands.

Know that being in a position of high visibility will always earn you haters. But don’t let them rob you of the satisfaction that came from your hard work and success.
When people are debating on forums about whether you’re worthy of the attention and deals that you’re getting…When they’re wagging their tongues about your latest magazine feature…When they’re saying they can do better than you…when they say you just got lucky…When they’re saying…well…

Remember when you logged on religiously to your WordPress dashboard at 5 A.M. in the morning, when everyone else was asleep. When you continued that same regimen when you moved to West Coast time to keep up with East Coast…When you missed quality time with your family because you’re waiting on breaking news…When your dog Lola was your only friend…When you threw your website’s revenue back on to your website…without spending a dime on yourself…When…When you think of all these things, what detractors say can’t possibly matter.

[Photo Credit: Rolling Out]

This concludes this episode of 5 Success Principles…tune in next time.

KAREN CIVIL ON INSTAGRAM

CLICK HERE TO READ OTHER ENTRIES IN MY 5 SUCCESS PRINCIPLES SERIES

Every blogger wants to be Karen Civil. Why wouldn’t they want to be her? She is an influential new media princess and the head honcho of her own digital media marketing agency, Always Civil Enterprise, and the creator of Living Civil bracelets. And her empire doesn’t stop there. She launched her own clothing company Civil Clothing, already touted as one of the best urban wear brands on the market; and she founded a lifestyle property, Living Civil. Oh, and Karen Civil TV, in which she shares exclusive video interviews—with such rappers as Big Sean, Tyga, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, Wiz Khalifa—should also be mentioned. No wonder so many look up to her. They may want her success, but it’s doubtful that they want to put in all the hard work that catapulted her to the highly coveted station where she holds court. Hard work…now that’s something that is in embedded in Ms. Civil—the way hemoglobin lines up blood.

Her hectic work days days consist of one meeting after another, trips to industry events, planning photo shoots, fielding phone calls and emails from industry folks and rappers vying for her attention. She also manages the editorial staff at KarenCivil.com. Based in Los Angeles, the civil-living entrepreneur can minimize the existence and importance of a rapper by ignoring him (or her) on her website Karencivil.com, or make him (or her) an overnight sensation by merely mentioning him or her on the website. Indeed, Karen Civil is that powerful.

In the late 2000s, most of the popular urban blogs had already been established. It seemed unlikely that there was place for new blood. But either Karen Civil was not dissuaded by this, or thought she could bring something different to the blogging game. Where there’s will, there’s a civil way. She had interned with some of the biggest radio and music brands in New York, and had made more than a handful of connections with talent and shot-callers in the music world. When rapper Lil Wayne went to serve a jail term, Civil teamed up with web designer Karla Moy to create a website to help the star keep in touch with fans.

Civil had assisted Wayne in keeping his brand intact. Now, the Brooklyn-born, Elizabeth, New Jersey-raised gal wanted very much to bring her own venture to life. She knew one of the primary principles of starting a business: start with what you already know and have a passion for. She knew she loved music, especially hip-hop…and she had some contacts. She didn’t want to be a digital sharecropper, as Nicholas Carr would call it…you know one of those types who help big brands build content, but don’t benefit in the long run. No, Karen Civil wanted to build her own brand. There were several highly-trafficked hip-hop blogs, but none were helmed by a female. She turned on the ignition on KarenCivil.com and has been driving on the success highway ever since, landing on Black Enterprise’s Top Blogger list, and being whisked by Dr. Dre to head the social media of his headphone brand. When big conferences want an expert on their panels, Karen Civil is one of the first names that pop into their heads.

Hanging out with Lil Wayne.

K. St. Fort: What are your memories of growing up Haitian?

I guess it would start in Brooklyn when I’d go to family parties and get-togethers. I have a very big family and getting the chance to spend time with them and see my cousins are some of the best memories I have. We had traditional foods and Haitian music playing when we would all come together.

K. St. Fort: Musical memories…?

At family parties, my cousins and uncles were always playing T-Vice’s music.

K. St. Fort: An internship was instrumental in getting you to where you are. When one gets an internship, what is the best way to stand out?

You basically let your grind speak for itself. You have to put in that extra work to show how dedicated up are… You have to stay longer and don’t become a crop watcher, so to speak. Let your grind and ambition show.

K. St. Fort: In the mid-2000s, you gave props to artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, long before the mainstream knew them. Or rather acknowledged them. Why did you try that approach, when maybe other bloggers weren’t really trying to touch anyone that hadn’t already gotten mainstream validation?

That’s what I built my site—for the purpose to showcase music that I like—not what necessarily has a large following yet.

K. St. Fort: You breathe music. Heck, it’s dripping from your nostrils. But who are your favorite artists. And no girl, this isn’t a trap question.

I mean it’s a variation of music that I listen to…everything and everyone. It’s hard to pick just a few, but I do love Andy Suzuki, Pink, some old school artists, and many many more.

K. St. Fort: What do your parents think about your career in the music world? Are they like, “Se sa Karen, se sa!”

They are proud that I am pursuing my dreams. I came from a family of hard-workers who all have good yet regular professions, so they are glad that my career in music is actually working for me.

K. St. Fort: Were you ever tempted to go the celebrity bashing direction with your blog?

No, because I have been that kid that was picked on. I never want to be that person.

K. St. Fort: So while you’re heading KarenCivil.com, you get tapped to be Social Media Director for Beats by Dre. How did they ever pull you away, chile?

They didn’t pull me away from anything. I am just doing more than one thing. It lets me be creative and I get the best of both worlds.

K. St. Fort: Studying the history of your brand, it surely grew quite fast. And it grew at a time when most thought that music blogs, urban blogs had hit their apogee. What do you attribute that to?

I’ve been doing it for a few years now. I have tried to be consistent, but I still don’t feel like it is where it needs to be. I try to give you a vision of the artist with interviews and new music exclusives.

K. St. Fort: How important do you think image is to a blogger?

I can’t speak for the next blogger, but for myself I take care of my body and mind. I try to get out more often and love to stay in shape. I can’t just throw on sweats if I want to. I have always cared about my appearance, but now I especially take extra care of my personal image.

K. St. Fort: You tend to emphasize a vision board a lot. Out of all the dreams and goals that you had on your board, that you have since accomplished, which one proved to be the most astounding—even to you, who believed so ardently that you would accomplish it?

I think making the Ebony Power 100 list last year with amazing women like Oprah was incredible to me because I wasn’t expecting it at all. I definitely can’t just pin-point one thing, but every day something new is happening for me and I am being acknowledged by my peers which is accomplishing.

Interviewing Wiz Khalifa for Karen Civil TV.

K. St. Fort: You made a statement once about the U.S. music industry: “Everybody got a Haitian on the team. It’s the standard.”

I mean our work ethic is like no other! We are all hard-workers, just think about Busta Rhymes and Missy Elliot had Mona Scott. [Rapper] 50 had Sha Money XL and so on.

K. St. Fort: Do you feel some sort of partisanship with others of Haitian descent in the music industry?

Of course, I love Sha Money XL, and have so much respect for Mona Scott. We all have that bond and it feels like we are family.

K. St. Fort: What Haitian artists and bands do you like?

Rap-wise I like Jeezy and [konpa-wise] T-Vice. Usher—whenever he decides to admit his roots.

K. St. Fort: In web world, there is sometimes slander, and it’s spread like nothing else in the world. How do you handle rumors and online slandering?

I mean—I am human and it does affect me, but I have amazing friends who remind me that certain people don’t matter and you can’t take anything personally.

K. St. Fort: Do you have plans to work with Haitian artists in a genre like konpa?

No, not that I know of—yet.

K. St. Fort: The music industry is known for being fast, and for being artificial. Some might even use the word “plastic” to describe it. How do you keep yourself civil and real?

It comes with any business, and you’re going to have to face the phonies. I come from a well-rounded family—which is why I have remained grounded.

K. St. Fort: Speaking of which…Can you spot a user from a mile away? Or is face contact required?

It takes time to spot a user because they tend to blend in.

K. St. Fort: Out of all the honors you’ve gotten, industry-related or not, which one means the most to you?

My mom’s blessing is what means most to me.

K. St. Fort: You have Civil Clothing and Civil bracelets. At which point did you realize it would be a good idea to expand your brand?

I think there comes a point in every business person’s career when you need to create those tangible items that set you apart.

With rapper Drake. Karen Civil was among one of the first bloggers to give her stamp of approval to Drake before he blew up in the mainstream.

K. St. Fort: Did you have any qualms about having your name as your brand? And putting your face in front of your brand?

No.

K. St. Fort: When was the last time you went to Haiti?

About two-and-a-half years ago, when my aunt graduated from college.

Karen Civil and rapper Nippsey Hussle.

K. St. Fort: It’s no doubt mentally taxing to be at the head of all these brands. How do you make sure you take care of yourself?

I meditate daily. I love to stay in shape and I am into yoga and my daily workouts. Som I make sure I am mentally, spiritually, and physically alive.

K. St. Fort: It would seem to most that the next big step for you would be for you to head a record label division or something along that line.

You never know what the future holds.

K. St. Fort: What’s next for the Civil Brand?

I will continue to look for new ways to grow. I am working on my book that is coming out next year and planning the annual Live Civil Brunch.

Karen Civil kicking it with Rick Ross at an industry event.

Be sure to visit Karen Civil’s flagship site by CLICKING HERE.

This has been another segment of Yap Mennen/They Ballin’—in which overachieving boys and girls of Haitian origin and their accomplishments are highlighted.