Every loss is an opportunity to level up. Just ask Ryan Destiny, who has been securing every bag in sight even after the cancellation of the show that jumpstarted her career on the small screen. The 25-year-old actress recently teamed up with Footlocker and Nike for the Evolution of Swoosh Project, joined the cast of Grown-ish, and will star as the lead in the upcoming boxing biopic, Flint Strong, proving that there's a good in every goodbye.
In a recent interview with ESSENCE, Ryan opened up about her recent career transition, and according to her, the secret in staying grounded is having faith in God's process:
"After a show [Star] you're starring in gets canceled, you definitely get a little shook. But you've got to trust God's process. The opportunity to have opportunities is a huge blessing."
Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com
In Flint Strong, Ryan will play Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, the first woman in history to win the Olympic gold medal for boxing and it is her full intention to come out swinging. Although we're used to seeing the actress as a pop star on the rise as Alex in her breakout role on Star, Ryan says that she's bringing an entirely new energy to her performance in her upcoming film:
"It's a huge challenge and that's why it's such a blessing to me. I want to be pushed to grow more and more in my craft. It's the only way. This role will definitely be a side of me no one has seen, but honestly, a side that I've always wanted to show."
2019 may have been all about securing a bag, but Ryan knows that 2020 is all about securing space for women who look like us to thrive and her upcoming endeavors are a way to do exactly that. When asked how it feels to be an inspiration for so many Black women, Ryan had this to say:
"It means more than anything, honestly. I hope I can keep making people proud. I hope I can help open up doors and eyes. Us being seen is all we want. I'll always fight for that."
While Ryan may have her hands full with other projects at the moment, she doesn't want us to give up on the idea of her character, Alex returning for a Star finale or even a spin-off.
"I always loved the idea of diving into Alex's passion in a more organic 'music business' way. Seeing her possibly write [or] produce for other artists would've been cool to see while still doing her own thing."
In the interview, Ryan also dished about her must-have beauty products, and for this budding star, a little goes a lot way.
"For hair, when I'm letting it breathe, I'm always mixing Cantu products in there somewhere. Skincare, I can't live without my Mario Badescu spot treatment. [It] saves lives. Lastly, for makeup, [to] make sure I'm always fresh looking after long days, I need my Fix+ spray from Mac."
To read the full interview, click here!
Featured image by Joe Seer / Shutterstock.com
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Skylar sees things differently. At the time, she was shooting content on her iPhone. Temi came into the picture with a new perspective, an understanding of tech, and, eventually, a camera. “He doesn't give himself enough credit,” Skylar says. “He wasn't just my tripod. He wasn't just standing behind the camera and going ‘click.’ He was giving advice. He was giving me insight to how I could look at things from a different perspective. And I was like, 'Oh, he’s an artist.' I think it was maybe a heartbeat of that kind of energy of like, ‘Baby, can you take this picture?’ And it turned so quickly into, we're partners. We can work together in a way where we're advancing each other's creative thinking.”
The pair often says they’re two sides of the same coin. Skylar is an Aquarius. She attended art school, paints, and loves poetry. She’s more than happy to let the couple’s management firm and agency, Kensington Grey, handle their admin work. And, she loves to sleep in. Temi, on the other hand, wakes up early. He’s a Virgo. He loves a to-do list and regularly checks in on the couple’s brand partnerships spreadsheet to make sure everything is on track.
Because his storytelling was steeped in his love of technology, he didn’t always think of himself as a creative person. “Where I [am] the dreamer who wants to pluck things out of the sky and spend all day with my head in the clouds, Temi [is] so good at grounding me and helping me figure out how to make things make sense on paper. We just work together in such a complimentary way,” Skylar says.
It’s been more than six years since Brooklyn-based couple Temi and Skylar started dating, and nearly four since they cemented their working relationship. On TikTok and Instagram, the couple’s travel, fashion, and home content regularly rack up hundreds of thousands of views. They’ve worked with brands such as Coach, Aesop, Away, and Liquid IV, bringing their vibrant perspectives to every campaign they execute. Still, nearly two years since both Temi and Skylar committed to full-time content creation and creative directing, the couple says their romantic connection remains their priority.
“We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting,” Skylar says.
Working from home can make it hard to separate work from personal life for any entrepreneur. It can be even more challenging when your business partner is also your lover. Temi and Skylar had already used couples therapy as a tool to help them effectively communicate with one another. When they ran into challenges while working together, their therapist helped them set physical boundaries to help combat the issues.
"We told each other we would much rather go back to full-time jobs and preserve our relationship than to be full-time freelancers, barely getting a night's rest [and] barely kissing each other because we're so busy shooting."
“It actually took us doing very specific physical things to create boundaries between work and play in our relationship,” Skylar says. “So, for instance, we will only have conversations about work when we're out of bed or we're at the table or in the office. Initially, when we started, we had to light a candle to say that, 'Okay, this is a space where we're connecting, we’re not talking about work.' We needed really hard boundaries at the top. And then it became a little bit more organic.”
The boundaries have been crucial to implement, especially because the couple began working together so naturally. When the pair first met, Skylar was NY-based a social strategist for BuzzFeed and was using content creation to drive business to her lingerie company. She was shooting her own content. Temi was working for Microsoft in D.C. He’d recently traded in his DJing equipment for a camera. “I've always loved taking pictures,” he says. “Even when I was a kid, my African mother would wake me up at 3:00 a.m. [during a] party, and be like, 'Come take the family picture.'”
Growing up, Temi says he watched his parents support each other and be the true definition of partners. He knew he wanted the same for his own relationship. But, the couple also wanted to make sure they were being financially responsible. The pair didn’t quit their traditional jobs until they’d saved up two years' worth of their cost of living. And, Temi received his Master of Business Administration from New York University with the knowledge that it could either help him advance in his corporate career or be applicable to his business with Skylar.
Temi and SkylarCj Hart @hartbreakToday, they say their working relationship is more of a “quiet dance.” They still implement some of the boundaries they learned in therapy, but they also lean into their natural strengths and deep love for one another. When we speak, Temi has planned a date for the couple to see Princess Mononoke in 4K IMAX and added it to their Notion so they can factor it into their busy schedules. “I fully plan to date for the rest of my life,” he says.
Skylar says the couple doesn’t just wait for date nights to check in with one another, though. This often happens in the mornings, after Temi has made her peppermint tea and poured himself a cup of coffee. When they ask each other how they slept, she says, it’s not just a “nicety.” It’s a genuine question meant to foster connection.
“A lot of it happens during the day in the midst of work. We'll stop and we'll hug. Or we’ll slow dance in the kitchen,” she says. “Sometimes it's hard to set a whole date night when you have 7,000 things going on. So, we must grasp these moments and check in when we can. And I think it's become so organic to us that I actually didn't even realize how often we do it. But all day long, we're like, 'Are you good? I felt like your energy shifted,' because we're best friends, we just know. We just feel it happen.”
What’s better than being in love? Building wealth while doing it. Watch Making Cents here for real stories of couples who make money moves together.
Featured image by Cj Hart @hartbreak