Welcome to the Socialhood my good sis. Get comfortable. Grab a glass of whatever you usually sip on, and let’s get into the real, about everything.
I am Elayne Meshell, and I’m the pen behind the blog! When I first began blogging, I was fresh out of undergrad, had just moved to Houston, TX, and I was ready! For what? Lol who even really knows. But, at this point I had put my time in and you couldn’t tell me nothin’! I was an HBCU Summa Cum Laude graduate, Wildcat basketball team captain, Senior Class President, pledged the greatest sorority on earth, waitressed part-time (so I always kept a little bag) and was for the most part cool with everybody. I was really in my bag in 2016. I was who I wanted to be and the next thing for me to check off my list was move to the city. So, I packed my car up after graduation and drove straight to the city that had nothing but opportunity, fine men, and good food, Houston, TX. I moved into an apartment on the southwest side of town off of Alief with my college roommate and was on cloud 9. I wanted to do it ALL when I got to Houston, and for a little while, I kind of did. Until I realized, I wasn’t really feeling it.
Your 20s are supposed to be this amazing period where you thrive, but I was in a weird space more often than I’d like to admit. Your twenties are funny like that. One day you and your crew are rushing to put on clothes to be there by 11 with no real cares and then the next day you’re wondering how your credit works, how to balance your mental health, how to survive and thrive in the workplace, how to build and keep meaningful relationships, and how you’re going make your next move your best move. It just happens one day. Your twenties are a true period of transition. There’s so much information, life-lessons, tid-bits of advice, and inspiration that we soak up in this decade and I wanted to create a space that gives women the opportunity to share those things with each other.
The Socialhood Sis has been an idea in progress since the beginning of 2016! I eventually launched a blog called The Lounge — a one stop shop for women where I spent most of my time crafting posts to motivate and inspire women. And while that was a noble cause, I realized the reason it was so hard to remain consistent with that blog was because I wasn’t really using my voice to its full potential. I had more substance to offer.
While my work was thoughtful and well intentioned, it wasn’t impactful. I have real experiences to draw from, real thoughts on the state of our world, and real input that adds value to the conversations that we as women, especially black women, are left out of. It took a minute for me to understand that experiences are how we connect as people and it’s how we will make a difference in our lifetime. We have to share our experiences and learn from them and each other.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved putting people on game. I appreciate being that go to girl when people don’t have the answers they need or aren’t quite sure how to navigate a situation. I love being the hype-woman for my sisters! I love seeing the light that we all carry inside shine when we come to a new revelation. I love when we figure out how to use the power we possess because the more we know, the more we grow.
So, I fell back and did a little more growing and now I’m ready to share again. The Socialhood Sis is a community for women who are on their personal and professional journey to becoming the best version of themselves. You can expect to be informed, inspired, and motivated with resourceful and meaningful content. My only request is that of you is that when you find something of value to you, share it with another good sis outside of here!
Finding a way to truly express my voice in its most authentic state has been a journey, but I’m finally here. And, I can’t wait to chop it up with yall!
XOXO
Elayne Meshell