Tyler James Williams, star of Abbott Elementary, knows exactly who he'd want as a guest star on the show: Solange Knowles.
In an interview with PEOPLE, he expressed his desire to have Solange be added to his on-screen family tree. “I would love to see Solange [Knowles] as a cousin. I feel like we look alike,” Williams told the publication. “It's like us and then my dad is Orlando [Jones]. Yeah, I think Solange would be great. Just add a family member.”
(L) Tyler James Williams / Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images; (R) Solange Knowles / Photo by Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images for ABA
Tyler James Williams, a three-time Emmy nominee, considers his role as Gregory Eddie, a first-grade teacher on Abbott Elementary, to be the most important of his career.
His portrayal of Eddie aims to represent Black male educators and Black men in general as positive and emotionally complex individuals who can also experience love — particularly through his character's developing romance with Janine Teagues on the show.
“The overall goal for me here is to show not only Black male educators in a certain light, but then also Black men in a certain light that are allowed to be emotional and have full emotional spectrums, and then also be in love,” he says. “It’s one of the most important things I've ever done in my career is showing this, especially with the platform that we have.”
With season 4 of the hit sitcom in the works, Quinta Brunson, the show’s creator, has teased a crossover episode that’s said to, “change television as we know it.”
While details of the sure-to-be epic episode are still under wraps, what Williams can share is hope for the relationship between his character, Gregory, and Janine, played by Quinta Brunson to find the “love” they “deserve” come season 4.
"I would love to see them in love," he says. "I think they deserve that at this point. I would love to see them just in it. Now we have to have the conflicts... but it would be nice to see them just head over heels for each other."
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While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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