A BilliBossBabes Affair: Pop-up Shop & Music Showcase Recap

Davona Kirkwood, CEO of KagedLove brought Greensboro its first Global Pop-up shop and Music showcase of the year. An all-day event masterminded by herself and the founder of the BilliBossBabes, Greensboro’s own Takia Sanders, nail technician, and event planner. In short, the event offered vendors a place to sell their products and artist to showcase their talents. In addition to cash prizes, the winners of the showcase obtained resources that would help evolve their careers. 

The BilliBossBabes and Versatile Vendors

The event attracted a wide range of vendors. For instance, everything from candles to sex toys was on display and up for sale. ‘The Scent Spot’ was the first vendor on the scene. She had a wonderful display of candles and wax melts. Her cinnamon sugar and suite and tie candles are among my top recommendation. During the event, I purchased both.  

 

The By-Polar brand and Little Black Box table were certainly among the most intriguing of the vendors. Unique clothing with a dildo or two sprinkled amongst them provoked some interesting conversation. Visionary Catering, the lone food vendor (and caterer to the Beats & Brunch Day Soiree), their chicken wings, and chicken nachos were an instant crowd favorite. Meanwhile, as the pop-up shop converted to the artist showcase, ‘The Formula Bartending’ owned and operated by Telly Melendez had as many clients she could handle (including myself).    

The Showcase

When Jiwan Kapp, the host, introduced the showcase portion of the event as guests began to fill up the seats. The three judges, K-Town artist, and producer from Kansas City, Lacey, the CEO of Charlotte-based management company The Grim Agency, and myself took to our assigned table upfront and prepared for the show. The artists; Frank, Shoota, Kiiba, D-Stat, Kalenci, GQ Blanco, Yung Goddess, Miliano, and Mike Kamp gathered to meet with DJ Swale one last time before waiting for their chance to go. Each of the 9 artists put on a show. Frank surprised me the most with a spectacular talent. The artist GQ Blanco displayed tremendous heart. He inadvertently re-injured his leg hours before the event and still was the first artist to show. He even assisted in set-up. In the end, however, only 3 could win. I and the other two judges had a scorecard with 8 categories to grade. Creativity, lyricism, delivery, showmanship, appearance, originality, crowd response, and sound quality were the deciding factors.

In a tight race Yung Goddess, Kalenci, and Kiiba took home first, second, and third place respectively. 

Future of the BilliBossBabes

 For BossBabe, Davona Kirkwood, this was the first of many great things to come. The BilliBossBabes organization was built on the premise of women coming together to help other women build businesses. In addition to helping women start businesses, the organization provides a sisterhood for its members that they can rely on when things get tough. It began as a room before eventually becoming a club on Clubhouse, it evolved into a movement infiltrating several states in the U.S. Brandi from Oakland California, Jasmine from Kansas City, Missouri, and Jaye from Birmingham, Alabama who were all in attendance are just a few of the active BossBabes.

Speaking with Takia during the event she informed me there was plenty more we can expect from them. BossBabe retreats, Conferences with expert speakers, and workshops dedicated to helping women get their businesses going, just to name a few. In short, for this group of girls, things are just getting started. Moreover, stay tuned for our interview with the winner of the showcase, Yung Goddess.