Shaunie O’Neal is going beyond the TV screen to reach independent women.
The mother of five recently launched her Let’s Talk About It series where she travels the country offering panel discussions and mixer events.
Already, she’s had Mielle Organics founder and CEO Monique Rodriguez, Single Wives Club founder Koereyelle DuBose, TV producer Stella Bulochnikov, and Basketball Wives‘ Evelyn Lozada and Tami Roman on her panels.
“I know a lot of people will say it sounds so contradictory to the show you have on TV,” O’Neal told Black Enterprise about her empowerment series.
“They don’t want to see too much good—you can sprinkle a little good in there, but they want to see some drama, tears, and fights and things like that. So, I think that’s what’s shown, despite some good being done, a lot of times it doesn’t even make it because that’s not what sells good television. But in my personal life, it’s so very important to me to do this—to do something that empowers other women because that’s who I am.”
In addition to career advice, the ladies talk about parenting, health, self-esteem, love, and awareness. O’Neal hopes to empower but also encourage women to get along— which she’s constantly attempting to do on her explosive VH1 reality show.
“I definitely hope they will take away that we actually can work together, we actually can uplift each other, and it’s OK to compliment each other. It’s OK to share your knowledge with one another.”
“Maybe it can just start to peel away at the BS that we deal with just as women working with each other, especially women of color. And I find that it’s not just women of color, but it’s just women, in general, being able to work together because I feel like men can do it so easy. They seem to be able to work together so much easier than we can, and we have to do better, and maybe this could be a start—a little piece of a start—of peeling away the BS.”