Tionna—Pride Of East NY

I think my career is going to blow up because everyone loves an underdog—a Black woman from Brooklyn trying to make it despite what society says,� Tionna continues.

ENTREPRENEUR/WRITER OF THE DAY

Where She’s From: Lovely Tionna Smalls, writer and entrepreneur, whose Zodiac sign is Virgo, was born and raised in East New York, Brooklyn.

“That’s where I still reside,” she tells The Black Star News, with obvious pride. “I was raised in a two parent household; my mother and father are still together. I have learned so many things from my parents but the main thing I have learned is that you never settle and you should never, ever be a weak woman.” She is the author of, most recently, “Girl Get Your Mind Right!”

Tionna attended Public school and Junior High School in East New York, before going to the High School for Environmental Studies in Manhattan—she went to college in Stony Brook. “I launched my career as a writer all the way back in third grade and that’s why I dedicated my first book to my third grade teacher, Mrs. Janet Smith,” she says. “She was the one who always told me I would amount to something great. I love her for that.”

In terms of her career path, Tionna says, “I am at the stage of Jay Z right before Reasonable Doubt dropped. Like the beginning but it’s going to mold everything for the rest of my career. I am at the hungry stage.”

“I think my career is going to blow up because everyone loves an underdog—a Black woman from Brooklyn trying to make it despite what society says,” she continues. “I aspire to make my community better, uplift my people, get a talk show and guest star as a panelist on other people’s shows. I am going to do all this while keeping it real. Everyday is a challenge when you are young and trying to make it with no start up money and a dream. My life right now is a challenge but I am going to make it with the grace of God.”

Hard work and determination enabled Tionna launch he own business, La Smalls Concierge, when she was only 20.


Where She’s At:
“I was just telling a friend of mine that it’s sad but nine times out of 10, I will get to meet a certain person just because they like the way I look and then when they find out how smart I am, they realize that I am more than what the eye beholds,” Tionna, who indeed is accident-causing hot, notes.

So how does this fearless businesswoman prepare to step outside? “Well anyone that knows me knows that I love Juicy Couture and Pink from Victoria Secret,” she notes. “I am not really a perfume person but I love body Sprays from Bath and Body Works. I am a toiletry whore so whatever is current is definitely in my miscellaneous closet.”

Tionna’s Words Of Wisdom: “Stop the hate and Get the Hate.”
Tionna’s Secrets Of Success:  “Never giving up no matter what anyone says or no matter who in the world thinks I am crazy.”
Tionna’s Favorite Three Movies:  “Five Heartbeats, New Jersey Drive, and Rocky 4.”
Tionna’s Favorite Three Books: “Besides my own, Are You There God it’s me Margaret, by Judy Blume, Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki, and Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive, by Harvey Mackey.”
Three Black Leaders That’ve Most Inspired Tionna: Oprah Winfrey, of course; Beyonce, cliché but the average chick can’t do what she does; and, Andrea Ogunkoya, VP of Public Storage. She’s a marketing genius, look her up.”
The First Three Things Tionna Would Do As President: “End all poverty, invest in a cure for Aids, the leading killer in the African American community, and get our soldiers out of the war.”

To find out more about Tionna please visit

www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=57320131
   

 

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