With excitement in my soul, I am finally getting back to my roots, internet radio and writing blogs, reconnecting and connecting with great indie artists and entertainers…This is where my soul is fed and my passion is felt. Why was it such a struggle to get to this point in Vegas?
Thinking through the last 2 1/2 years in Vegas and what have I accomplished as Lady Flava, not much…but I have accomplished a lot for myself as Susan. I have never lived away from Seattle, my children, my family and friends, everything that is familiar to me. I thought I was coming to Vegas and would immediately get involved in exciting projects and work towards my own dream and purpose. Soon reality hit, and it came down to work and survival, I became drained mentally and physically.
With God by my side and whispering in my ear, I began to focus on my health, understanding the importance of eating more whole foods and naturally, thanks to the encouragement of my dear friend, Sherry Gordy. She got me into juicing every morning and encouraged me as I daily got in the pool or walked in my neighborhood. It felt great to be able to set up a fairly regular routine of all around health and wellness, to be added to my morning and evening prayer and meditation.
Hey that seems like a good life huh, but something was missing. I found myself dying in Vegas, little by little. I am used to be sought after as Lady Flava, The Indie Artist Cheerleader. Plotting and Planning radio shows, showcases, artist bios, EPK’s and more. The life of Lady Flava was exciting and fueled my soul back in Seattle. I thought for sure that moving to Vegas would enhance what I birthed back home, as The Indie Artist Cheerleader.
Vegas is a different life. Everyone is trying to find a niche, angle to stay in people’s presence with a goal to stay relevant. To me it feels like a Hustle to Survive. I get it, I really do get it… but I feel like there should be a different approach to keeping Black Entertainment Alive and Thriving in Vegas. I soon became bored with the same ole same ole every week. This statement does not take away from my deep respect for the great talents within the Black Entertainment Community, because I am in awe of their talents…I just want to see more from them and see them come alive with passion and purpose, creating their own lane of exciting Live Entertainment in The Entertainment Capital of The World, Las Vegas, NV.
I came to Vegas with a dream, a dream to create a showcase for Creative Soulz to present their authentic, original music and more. I found a location that I fell in love with, it screamed Lady Flava all over it, Eclectic and Unique with a variety of looks and flavas. But due to some bad dealings with people, the owner changed his requirements to use the venue which included pretty high deposit which I did not have on hand. This is when I realized that it was going to take a significant amount of money to get my showcase going. The plotting and planning came to a halt and I went straight in and took work from 3 different avenues, just to take care of my personal needs and to create an account to build my financial foundation from. Soon it felt like all I was doing was working and my dream, my purpose was dying. My spirit was dying.
But I never let go of my faith and understanding that God brought me here, to Vegas for a reason. I have learned to stand on my own two feet. I have learned to not depend on anyone else to help me make my world work. I learned that people don’t care what you did in the past, but are more concern with what you are doing now…Show and Prove yourself, than talk about who you used to be. I have endured racism and in a roundabout way bullying. Being put down in my mannerisms, my race and skin color to, feeling I need to defend how I was raised and who I was raised by and around.
Depression set in, and I was still trying to hold onto my faith. If I did not have my faith in God and the teachings of Jesus Christ, life in Vegas would be unbearable for me. Another thing is, being an empath…I am so sensitive to energies especially here in Vegas. It is challenging for me to go to certain locations and be around certain people, and I have been known to stay away or to walk out of places because of a dark feeling or vibe. I am a caretaker by nature and have been my whole life, so here in Vegas I do ElderCare and Patient Safety which I am good at. Due to this type of work and being an empath, I can become physically and emotionally drained…needing time to myself to relax and recharge. This to, is a present obstacle that I face when wanting to attend certain events and just not feeling up to it.
I’m trying to breakout of the funk that I have been in, and find my joy again by getting back to writing blogs and getting back on the radio. This excites me. I had the opportunity to go into the studio with colleague, a real professional recording studio in a business park and not a homebase studio. Watching and listening to what I was allowed to witness spark an excitement that I had not felt in a long time. I had the opportunity to speak about what I witnessed and to express my sincere respect and appreciation I have my my colleague and his talent. I felt like this was a God send that I was able to have this experience and to have it with this person. I walked away with a newly found understanding of my long awaited calling in Vegas.
Now it’s time to trust my faith in God and myself and turn this funk of mine into my passion again. So as of today, this blog site is now attached to my domain name of flavanews.com and I reopened my radio station under Flava’s Lounge Radio https://www.blogtalkradio.com/flavaslounge and will soon be back on the air playing great Indie Music and having talk shows around Indie Artist Topics and Featured Interviews with amazing Creative SoulZ.
My name is Lady Flava and my passion and purpose is to find creative ways to show support to some amazingly talent people here where I live in Las Vegas, NV to my hometown of Seattle, WA to across The United States and around the Globe.
I’m Back and It Feels So Good!
You can find me all over social media under “Lady Flava” or “ladyflava206” or “Flava’s Lounge”
My website for Flava’s Lounge is: flavaslounge.com
What I do is not about me, it’s about great Indie Talents, ones that are doing it on their own. Let’s connect and see what we can do together.
Flava is A Taste, A Style, A Feeling…What’s Your Flava?
Lady Flava News 