Kwanzaa 2023: Day 4 UJAMAA- TGIF

Greetings Royal family! TGIF! Today is Day 4 of Kwanzaa and although the day isn’t over, I would have to consider this the Best Day Ever. I always felt that SpongeBob was my spirit animal. Lets talk about what today means for Kwanzaa UJAMAA- This represents cooperative economics. This is the ability to build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses. My good sis Queen of Press ATL, aka Michelle aka MS. MANAGER and I decided to collaborate our brands together! This is something we have been discussing for a long time but we both agreed that the timing had to be right! The time has finally come and I couldn’t be more happier!

When I was living in LA, Michelle was there for a lot of the crazy things I experienced. I’m still mad that I know what crack smells like after moving to Los Angeles. Before moving I never knew. 2022 was a tough year for me because I was homeless for most of the year. Now that I think about it, I was homeless for nearly 2 pregnancies. When my apartment burned down I never thought I would recover. Well today is the day I finally realized that joy comes in the morning. I won’t go into detail but I just want to express the value of sisterhood.

Women always get the label of being “too emotional” to stand on business, as the young people like to say. However, I’ve trained myself to become emotionless when it comes to handling business. I cannot allow my feelings to get in the way of something I value. Even if I make the mistake of doing so, I have to come to my senses. What I always desired most was to collaborate with other women and do business with them. I am in no way a control freak and I enjoy collaborative effort. I always knew that if you want to reach a certain level of success, you need a good team behind you. Like the old saying goes “There’s no I in team.” That may be true but there’s an I in Unity which is also important. As much as I tried to create unity amongst women I realized that it is a lot easier said than done. My love for people hasn’t diminished but I have felt the urge to be around them less and less. I felt the need to do things alone. I hate feeling like I need other people to thrive but it is impossible to think you can achieve things all by yourself. You need a TEAM. When I created MALON SALON, I was hoping to create opportunities for talented skilled professionals to work in an uncompromising atmosphere. I changed my mind. Now I use it as my performance/stage name for whatever entertaining thing I decide to pursue. My dreams for MALON SALON quickly died once I realized how difficult it was to bring women together for the sake of economic collaboration. I am grateful that I have Michelle because we worked together on numerous occasions before deciding to collab. With me turning 30 next week, I decided I want to celebrate but I’m going to wait to throw a party. My children’s book Birds in the Sky is a gift to myself. I would much rather create a party surrounding the release of Birds in the Sky. My 30th birthday can be a private celebration.

Once my children’s book is out, I will be able to collaborate with a lot of other businesses on economics. Getting the illustrations done took a huge weight off of the process. It’s my job to figure out how to publish this before my birthday next week. I am beyond happy to be at this point. Christmas came and went but Santa still came through. Even though he was late with my gift, I still appreciate it nonetheless. Now I don’t have to question how my 2024 will go. I don’t have to worry about sleeping in my car anymore. I can start saving up for my big ass house in Lithonia or Lilburn. As long as its in Decatur where its greater, that’s all I care about. I’m officially leaving all of my past trauma in 2023.

I have to say Thank you to God, my spiritual guides on my side and my beautiful loving parents for such an amazing year. Even while homeless, I am so happy for the year 2023; If I’m being honest, this was the best year so far of my life. I cannot focus on the negative parts nor can I dwell on it. I embrace it. If it wasn’t for the bad, I wouldn’t know how to appreciate all the good. All I have left is GRATITUDE.

2024 I’m doing a lot more. I cant believe I’m turning 30. The last thing I want to be is dirty. This will be a flirty, purrrrty, sturdy, nerdy year for me. As soon as my birthday weekend is over, I’m getting back focused

I hope you all have an amazing rest of your 2023. I cant wait for what’s in store for 2024

Happy Kwanzaa!

Love Always,

Malon Mahotiere