Ericka Young

For months I stood in the wings, an understudy waiting for my time to shine. I never imagined he would be in the audience that night. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Talented. Fine. Before I could catch my breath, everything changed. I went from backstage Broadway to center stage Hollywood. From being unknown, to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone's lips when Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic. But stars shine brightest in the dead of night. Forbidden attraction, scandal and circumstances beyond my control jeopardize my dream.

For months I stood by, an understudy waiting in the wings, preparing for my time to shine. I never imagined he would watch in the audience that night. Canon Holt. Famous film director. Fascinating. Talented. Fine. Before I could catch my breath, everything changed. I went from backstage Broadway to centerstage Hollywood. From being unknown to my name, Neevah Saint, on everyone’s lips. Canon casts me in a star-studded Harlem Renaissance biopic, catapulting me into another stratosphere. But stars shine brightest in the dead of night.

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything. It couldn’t save their marriage. Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she’s finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Making excellent money as a paid speaker is not about how well-known you are. Instead, it’s about how you package your speech and present yourself. In Speak Your Way to Cash®, entrepreneur and professional speaking coach Ashley N. Kirkwood takes you behind the scenes and unlocks the secrets to landing high-paying five- and six-figure corporate speaking contracts using her firm’s proprietary P.A.I.D. Method™.

Yvonne Orji has never shied away from being unapologetically herself, and that includes being outspoken about her faith. Known for interpreting Biblical stories and metaphors to fit current times, her humorous and accessible approach to faith leaves even non-believers inspired and wanting more. In Bamboozled by Jesus, a frank and fresh advice book, Orji takes listeners on a journey through 25 life lessons, gleaned from her own experiences and her favorite source of inspiration: the Bible.

This summer was supposed to be my pre-graduation reward, doing nothing but catch up with all the fun my friends had while my nose was to the academic grindstone. Instead, I’ve been guilted into helping out with the family’s cleaning business. At least there’s a consolation prize. My client is fabulously successful, insanely rich Chadwick St. Clair. We have sort of a history. As a pigtailed kid, I lived to torment him. When I grew old enough to notice his hard-as-steel body, warm eyes, and gentle voice that talked me through some hard times, I crushed on him. Hard.

Austin Channing Brown’s first encounter with a racialized America came at age seven, when she discovered her parents named her Austin to deceive future employers into thinking she was a white man. Growing up in majority-white schools and churches, Austin writes, “I had to learn what it means to love blackness,” a journey that led to a lifetime spent navigating America’s racial divide as a writer, speaker, and expert helping organizations practice genuine inclusion.

Lead Like an Ally facilitates positive change by including six leadership strategies, such as clean up the culture, stretch talent equally, establish ally networks, manage meeting behavior, promote belonging, and measure success. Leaders - now, more than ever before - are wrestling with how to attract and retain diverse talent and be inclusive leaders. Despite the best of intentions, very few organizations are reaching their equality goals, even those deeply committed to diversity and inclusion.

The author of cult classics The Pumpkin Plan and The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur offers a simple, counterintuitive cash management solution that will help small businesses break out of the doom spiral and achieve instant profitability.

With a sensibility that recalls her beloved screen characters, including Yvette, Queenie, Shug, and the iconic Cookie from Empire, yet is all Taraji, the screen actress writes of her families - the one she was born into and the one she created. She shares stories of her father, a Vietnam vet who was bowed but never broken by life's challenges, and of her mother, who survived violence both in the home and on DC's volatile streets. Here, too, she opens up about her experiences as a single mother.