As successful as Bozoma Saint John has been, she will never be a “porter for secrets.”
That is why, after a stricken career as a marketer at companies such as Netflix and Uber, created Badass workshopAn online course designed to give women real, specific tools to become more confident and successful in the workplace. “I am really proud to be transparent in my conversations, both publicly and privately, and I think people have appreciated it,” says Saint John in an interview with PS talking about Her partnership with violife. “People often asked me,” How should I negotiate a raise? “Or” How did you climb to the top? People always give you these weird, vague answers. Do it. ”
I want to be able to put people in positions whose stories have not seen before. And it feels fulfilled to me.
When she joined the role of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” season 14 last year, she didn’t look for fame or money – she simply wanted to represent another type of “housewife”. “Maybe we think, maybe I’ll get fame or maybe I’ll get awards or what not,” she says. “But it comes with the territory. You put yourself there and people will know you. They will know your name; they will know your business. But I want to get more than that. I want to be able to put people in positions whose stories have not seen before.
Saint John describes his role in the role of “one that I know who has not yet seen” on the franchise: “I am a self -made, business leader who is a single mother and a widow trying to expand her family and find love again.
Her desire to expand her family is something she knew was influencing to share in public. On the show, Saint John underwent surgery to remove a fibroidLater to discover that she actually had 12 to increase her chances of potentially getting pregnant in the future. “Women go through things and feel shame as a result of it,” she says. “It is so puzzling to me that we live in a society where something that is a health problem can be seen as shameful because it affects your reproductive ability.”
It was important for her to let viewers raise awareness of fibroidsWhich is more common in black women than any other breed group and changes stigma around women’s health problems. “I wanted to make sure they saw someone like me, who people look at and think,” she is such a baddy and she is a company, hard woman who has competed up these ladders and she has things to go for her, “says She. “And I am, no, I’m fighting too. This is part of my life I have no control over and I just try to get better and have an opportunity to fix something that is problematic for me. And there is no shame in it at all. ”
Saint John’s introduction to the franchise also marked her entry into entrepreneurship. In November she launched Eve of BozA hair care and perulin line for women in color. She has always loved hair and embraced it in all forms, especially after the crown law passed. “At first, I was really angry that people would talk about my hair so much, whether it was public or in meetings,” she says. “You would not imagine the number of conversations I have had about my hair. But it almost felt like revolution for me to wear my hair in what kind of condition I wanted while I was very visible as a business manager.”
But before she started the business, she wanted to make sure that she contributed meaningfully to the hair care space. In her research, she found that black women and women in color did not have “any representation” throughout the production, innovation and delivery process, even though they were 80 percent of the consumer base. “I was as if I jump in here and try this, I have to go all the way,” she says. She built a factory in Ghana to make wigs and hair care; She collaborated with a female chemist in LA to integrate ingredients from all over Africa; And she financed the business entirely herself.
When it comes to her future at “Rhobh”, Saint John has no plans to leave the show. Although a cryptic Instagram post last month hinted that she “quit slightly” Caused speculation, she has now confirmed the big news: she actually ends dairy.
Who is your place (SHE/HER) is the function editor at PS, where she writes, assigns and edits has stories and helps to shape the vision for special projects and identity content over the entire network. Originally from Seoul and currently based in New York City, she is passionate about raising different perspectives and spreading cultural sensitivity through the lenses for lifestyle, style, wellness and pop culture. A degree from Syracuse Universities Newhouse School, she has over six years of experience in women’s lifestyle space.