I Spoke 3 Times at Essence Fest! Here's My 2026 Recap 📱

I spoke on 3 places at Essence Fest 2026. In this video, I'm going to show you and tell you how I got the opportunity, how you can get the opportunity as well, and what my experience was like. I am Zaakirah. I am a brand cultivating strategist and a disability consultant. And I'm also disabled as well. I am blind in my right eye and I have a hearing loss as a result of a childhood eye cancer. So I just got off from my 3rd Essence Fest. My first one was actually in 2016. Essence Festival went to South Africa and that was my first time experiencing the culture over there. My second time at Essence Fest was in 2024 for the 30th anniversary of Essence Fest. Essence Festival was created in 1995 to celebrate 25 years of the Essence magazine, the magazine that commemorates and supports and showcases Black and African diasporan women. So it's been a cultural staple in New Orleans ever since. And so 2024 was my first time attending, so I got to really get to see the lay of the land. I did a recap video on that, and I can also make sure you have the link to that to compare the experiences as an attendee versus this time with me speaking. So how did I get the opportunity to speak? First, I want to say a huge thank you to New Voices New Voices Family, New Voices Fund, New Voices Foundation is part of the reason why I was able to speak not one, not two, but 3 places. New Voices is an entrepreneur program. It's a foundation, and they have their motto where they call it PACE: Purpose, Access, Capital, and Expertise. And so you participate in a virtual 3-month program. to continue to build your business, whether you are building, you're growing, or you're scaling. So as long as you have a business idea that is scalable, and as long as you look out, follow the social media channel to look out for the application when it opens, make sure that you apply for that. And it's a wonderful program with a very supportive community. I enjoyed the opportunity to be in the program. I remembered that when I finished the program, I got awarded the Excellence Award for the leadership, for being supportive, for being engaging. Make sure you follow New Voices Family to learn more about how you too can be at SFS. I have also set my intention. That is something I've always wanted to do. I didn't even realize it until most recently that not only have I absolutely loved the magazine growing up, I also really set the intention to be, um, in the space of Essence. So you have to really set the intentions of if that's something you really want to do, not just for fun, but is that something you want to do to get more visibility for your business? Set those intentions. And I also had 3 activations. So my opportunity came in 3 ways. So the brand that I'm building and have also been building and pivoting pretty much for the last 10 years is to see life differently. I see life differently because I see you in one eye. My right eye is a prosthetic eye as a result of a childhood eye cancer. But also, I literally have the gift of intuition and seeing things differently. So creating that brand also allowed me the opportunity to create a panel. I moderated a panel, but I also got to pitch the panel and pretty much choose the panelists and even continue to choose the panelists whenever changes in panelists. So it was really amazing to have the opportunity to have a 20 or so minute panel. on reimagining inclusion. There was a panelist who has a foundation on epilepsy because she has epilepsy. There was a panelist that is a Black audiologist and has a hearing loss. And then there was a panelist that was a former WNBA player and a gold Olympian who also prioritizes mental health and invisible disabilities. So that full video is also on my YouTube if you want to watch that. The second opportunity I got to do was they revamped the wellness section of the festival. Refinery29 is now a part of Essence, and so they had a session called Unbothered and Well. And so they had basically talking circles where people who have experiences talking about mental health and wellness got I got to basically have like 20 to 30-minute talking circles to facilitate conversation, to let people reflect. And so I was able to empower people to bring joy, bring joy back to their inner child and calm down a little bit. Because the beautiful thing about XFX is there's so much music. But for those with hearing loss like myself, or those who are neurodivergent, Sometimes it can be a lot. It was one of the few places outside of maybe the film festival section where you could just sit down and just enjoy the peace and quiet while also reflecting and having some reflective conversations. So that full audio will be on my See Life Different podcast very soon for you to listen if that's something that speaks to you. And last but not least, because I had the opportunity to be in New Voices, they had a wonderful I feel like it was revamped and a lot bigger than when I was last there in 2024. But they had opportunity for the, um, not just the ones who just completed the 2025 program, but if you have ever been a part of New Voices family or, um, you are a part of the inner network of the New Voices family, you got to not only speak, now have workshops, show off your product, pitch to win money, have office hours for mentorships. You also got to meet up with other people who were in the same program, no matter which year it was. So for me, it was amazing to meet the people in person that I had been seeing online on Zoom every single week for 3 months, and also reconnecting with people who I knew from other entrepreneurship programs. I've been in several entrepreneurship programs, mainly for the camaraderie and the community. And so it was very nice to see those people in person either again or for the first time. And I also enjoyed being able to be gifted some products from my fellow entrepreneurs. So I have some lip gloss. My lip gloss is popping in the video version of this, of this conversation. And I'm actually wearing one of the entrepreneurs that was in the same program that I was in. So her lip gloss name is Bomani. B-O-M-A-N-E. And it's vegan, cruelty-free, holistic. So I'm not a beauty person, but I make sure that I try to eat healthy and use healthy beauty materials as well. So I was able to get a handful. I wasn't one of those that if you saw it on social media, people love to go to the beauty con or beauty conference part of Essence Fest to pick up the free samples because that's usually the only time that most businesses either heavily discount their product or get free samples. So most people really love the BeautyCon aspect of it. Those lines were really, really long. I guess the unfortunate side is that they were trying to switch up other things that the lines were really, really long. So I didn't even bother. The only time I got to go was because I had a wristband from my fellow entrepreneur to get in and bypass the lines. And the same way for making sure that I got in on time to speak, because my session was the first session in the morning. So I had to have a specific wristband to get in and bypass the line. It's a little chaotic, but that's the beauty of festivals. You're going to have a little bit of chaos. You're going to have a little bit of fun. You're going to have a little bit of memories. I had all of the above. Then we were also thankfully, gratefully gifted floor seat tickets to enjoy the concerts. I only went to the Saturday night concert because I am a huge fan of Brandy and Monica. They are the soundtrack to my life. And I also got to see T.I. I have family roots from Atlanta, Georgia, so I got to witness a hip-hop trap music orchestra. That was a brilliant idea. And yeah, and, you know, I think you can't fully enjoy a music experience— if you are a concert music lover, you can't fully enjoy a music experience without crying at least once. So I did cry at least once during the songs. There's one song by Monica called For You I Will. I've loved that song since I was a child because I love basketball and I love the Space Jam movie soundtrack. So not knowing that that also was a song that is now close to Monica's heart because she also recently lost her father. I lost my father in April 2024. I did not know that I was going to start bawling, but sometimes you need a good cry. And the same thing for T.I. He performed a song that was not a single, but was on one of his best albums called Live in the Sky, and it featured Jamie Foxx. And there's been a few other people that have passed away recently in my life. And again, I was crying, but that's a part of the experience. You laugh, you cry, you learn, you— it's all of the emotions. So if you have never experienced Essence Fest, definitely do so. It's entering a new era for sure because Teyana Taylor was one of the music curators. So there was something called a super lounge, which is like a very intimate concert. And I feel like it's like a campaign for other artists to become on the main stage. That's the way that I see it. But it was also nice to really just be amongst, you know, neo-soul style R&B. And so Teyana Taylor was the curator to bring that specific type of lounge back. And it was really nice to be able to— go there. And so, but I'm saying all that to say that Teyana Taylor's company name was The Aunties, and at this point it's my generation now. I am the auntie. So if you've never been to SNFest, it's definitely a vibe. And I think what makes it so different is because the convention center is completely free, most of the off-site events that the creators are having are completely free. So you literally have to Just plan ahead, plan your own finances and be grateful because everything is free. A lot of people, it's also the easiest place to build your content, build content if you want to be a content creator. And it's also the easiest place to learn more about other businesses and meet new people as well. Building content. Speaking of building content, one of the things that I have been pivoting into is to become more of a brand strategist for accessible content. Over the last 10 years, I've been helping tons of entrepreneurs, nonprofits, small businesses, startups to build their digital presence and use social media. But what's still missing is knowing to use captions on social media for those who not only are not in an environment where they can actually listen to the video, but also people like me who are hard of hearing and may not fully understand what's being said. I have to, you know, put some headphones in, or some people have Bluetooth now in their hearing aids to be able to actually hear the video, what people are saying. So a lot of businesses are losing out on clientele because they're not having captions on their video at the bare minimum. The good thing also accessibility-wise, they have improved since 2024 to have a lot more sign language interpreters. You may have seen it on the social media feed that there's actually theatrical storytelling with the sign language when it comes to the music portions. But there were a few sessions that I sat in when I was not speaking and I wanted to go support and learn from others that actually had sign language interpreters. Now I do wish that I knew ahead of time either that they were live streaming part of the festival so that it could actually have captions and I could know where to go to see the captions. Otherwise I was using my phone, my Samsung The same thing for physical disabilities. I saw a lot of elders who had their motorized wheelchairs or had a wheelchair that needed to be pushed, but they did not either know where to go very clearly or they had to push through other people and there was still not a separate entrance for them. They are very important people too, just like all the many talents that we have. You Yeah, I think that's a know, really good point. and celebrities that come through. So I know there could be lots more improvement for accessibility, but we all learn, we all learn every single time. Okay, so because I also have a background in— I'm also a travel advisor part-time as well, kind of just getting back started to doing that. I'm also now going to tell you just kind of from the itinerary side of things. How my experience went. But before I do that, if you are— you want to either build your brand confidently to speak on stages or you want to make sure your content is more accessible, make sure that you connect with me by going to my website, which is my first name and my middle name dot com. So zaakirahnayar.com. And, um, I have my own little Linktree or link in bio where you can choose your pathway. Choose to book a mentorship call with me where you can actually talk to me one-on-one about what it is you're actually trying to build so that it can be clarified and you can actually take action for it. Or if you want to also go straight to the link to watch the Full panel. If you want to also go straight to the link to listen to the podcast episode that will be coming out at the time that this is finished about the soft storage reset, how to reset, it's a 30-minute conversation. It's probably going to be less than that, but no more than 30 minutes to just reset. And also, if you want to include me as The one to make sure that your events and your workspaces are also accessible for those with disabilities. So be sure to connect with me at my website, zaakirahnayar.com/social, to find all of the places. Okay, now from the itinerary side, if you're trying to figure out how to make this New Orleans trip happen, either during Essence Fest weekend or not, here's what I did. Now keep in mind, because this was not a paid speaking opportunity, I had to budget. And I've been traveling a lot, so I had to really be on a tight budget. So this is what I ended up doing. All right, so I ended up spending a whole week, because what happens is everybody's— especially because the conference is always on a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the 4th of July weekend, that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is always booked up. Those hotel prices are going to be Extremely high. So either book it very early, um, if you have points you've been acquiring or you want to buy a point, do that. Um, make sure that you secure either if it's going to be a hotel, if it's going to be an Airbnb, um, or if it's going to be a hostel. I decided to do a hostel. Now hostels have had bad rep because they're normally for, um, it's college, you know, dorm life, right? But it's the few hostels that are actually really accommodating for all ages as well. So I ended up choosing a hostel. It was actually not really bad. You know, I just, I paid for my bed basically. I paid for my bed. I paid to shower because I'm never going to be there anyways, right? I don't want to pay for a place where I'm never going to be. So keep that in mind when it comes to the hotels. There's plenty of them in walking distance, especially if you bring a fan. Have an umbrella, have your raincoat, have your poncho. Most of everything is walking distance from the 2 places where they normally have most of the events, the convention center and the Superdome. So what I did though, when I flew into the New Orleans airport, I think it was new. I don't remember seeing it or hearing about it or anything from the last time I was here, but there is now a— just about an express bus that can take you from the airport to downtown New Orleans. So bus 202, I was able to, you know, I bring my luggage. I actually intentionally brought carry-on only luggage because I'm like, I'm not trying to carry all the things. But some people do that. They literally bring extra luggage because they know that this is one of the only times that they'll see a certain entrepreneur in person, so they bring extra luggage to go shopping. like it's a flea market. But I was like, let me not do all that, so let me just bring my carry-on. So I actually took a Jetabout Express bus from the airport to downtown New Orleans. And so I originally got a hotel just, you know, just for me to decompress because I knew I was speaking on Saturday. So let me make sure that I have a hotel just for me, let me decompress, comfortable bed. See, breakfast bar or close to other places like an Uber food delivery and do that. And then I— then I— let's see what else. Yeah, again, most places are walking distance, but when you do Uber and Lyft, I think it's just helpful to maybe eventually study a map or pay attention to social media to know when it's Close by. Like, don't map it to the actual venue because everybody's going to be going to the venue. There's going to be a lot of traffic. So of course, avoid traffic, avoid high fees by making sure that your Uber or Lyft goes to a nearby destination, not the actual destination you're going to. And I keep saying long lines and a lot of traffic, so you definitely got to factor that in. If You are not a fitness person, make sure you are getting some exercise and eating healthy before you get to Essence Fest because it will wear you out. You'll get the most steps you've ever gotten. And then they thankfully had an app this time around. They always have an app, but they're improving their app regularly. So Essence Fest for now has an app. It served one as your entryway to get into the convention center, which again is free. But also it served as a partial guide and a map to know where the sessions Now, I will admit, I believe it needed to have some improvement because even I was a bit confused. So I had to make sure that I got in early so I can just know where everything is, look at the app, and then look up and see, okay, now I see where I am. But I do feel like we all could have done more better content-wise to make sure that we know where to find people's booths. That kind of affects entrepreneurs a little bit because there's some people that wanted to see me and they missed it either because of the long lines it because they couldn't find where it was. But when you have the app, it'll tell you all of the things if that's happening. So that was how I was able to plan my itinerary. So I made my own notes of what I wanted, the intentions I set, and what I wanted to get out of attending these events. So I ended up attending a Thursday event that was offsite. It was basically usually the first day of SNFest. So the first ever event I attended was by Sprout Social. Sprout Social is building a network for those who want to create create content and get paid for it. So they had an intimate content creator meetup to talk about the product, but also answer all the frequently asked questions about how do I even break into this industry, or how do I pivot, how do I get money, how do I do this. That event really set the tone because a lot of these offsite events did not have enough food. They had a catering company that had delicious Southern food. Um, it was a nice villa-style content creator house that had plenty of space if I needed to just need some peace and quiet. Of course, there was music going, but of course, anytime I hear a song by Usher, I'm gonna, you know, take a moment to enjoy and sing along because that's my— Usher is one of my favorite male artists, R&B artists. Um, that really set the bar because they actually had full meals that I could actually enjoy. And I actually had a minute also to be able to sit down, plenty of places to sit down, um, and, and just either relax or network or people watch. Or actually, I had a minute where I needed to respond to messages and emails either relating to freelance social media clients that I have or my speaking engagements that are coming up, um, you know, being a moderator for my panel, make sure that everyone's set. So that really set the tone, but that all offset off-site experiences are like that, so be prepared ahead of time. And then second thing was attending another off-site concert by SisterSong. It was at the Joy Theater and Keri Hilson was performing. So the theme this year was to really trust Black women, and SisterSong is part music, part public health, part political empowerment and education. So it was really nice to really see the concert before going inside the activation once I got to the convention center the next day inside of the Global Black Economic Forum activation of the convention center. And then by Friday, Friday the first official day, and I knew I wanted to meet One person who I could interview. So I do have my own podcast. I haven't had guests on my podcast in a while, but that's going to change very soon. But one of the things I have been working on is building a documentary. So I have been working on a documentary really since my book came out. My mom and I wrote a book in 2019 about what it was like to survive cancer, often being the only Black woman Muslim women, disabled women in these spaces. And that was really the start of all of these things. This book technically was 18 years in the making because it was journal entries from my mother and then my perspective. So mother and daughter perspective on that book. The book is still available on Amazon and you can get it as an ebook or audiobook to really learn really the full backstory of all of it. How did the See Life Different ecosystem come about? So the book came first, then the podcast, and then virtual summits, and then, you know, panels and speaking opportunities and TEDx talks. So now what's happening next is going to be a documentary about those who also have eye conditions. Every place that I've gone, I've really realized that there's not enough documentaries or documentary series about those with eye conditions. And having had my background, my background really was in photography first. And then it went into videography and then social media marketing. I basically now at this point have been acquiring all of the skills to make my own documentary. So I say all that to say that I was very excited to be able to interview someone who was also speaking. She released a book this year, so I got to just get some of my own content of her speaking at the book festival side of the Essence Festival. And I look forward to including her interview in the documentary that is still in the works, still raising money for that. And you can also learn more about that by visiting my website, zaakirah@nyar.com, if that's something you want to support or just simply learn more about. And then I wanted to make sure that I support one of my other entrepreneurs that was in the same program as me, who is in the music industry, and she's building basically a music licensing company. So I support and record content for her, for her speaking engagement as well. And then I was really excited to catch a live podcast taping. One thing that Essence Festival added this year is more podcasters and more content creators because they understand that that's the future. Everybody's building their own platform nowadays. So they gave the platform for people to record conversations live. You may have seen on social media about Keke Palmer and Michelle Obama Obama doing that, but there are actually smaller podcasts that I actually follow, such as Because We Feud. I think I just found out about them last year. They started posting their videos on YouTube. So it sounds just like Family Feud, and it is Family Feud, but it's for Black culture. And the founder, he calls himself Damon Harvey. He has this adhesive mustache to make him look like Steve Harvey. He has a bald head like Steve Harvey. So they— that the whole tribe, so Hod and Trell and Damon of The Cuzzy Feud had a live taping of their podcast, but more like a game show edition of their podcast to also be inside of the Black Votes Matter booth in the Global Economic— Global Black Economic Forum of the convention center. And it was so much fun to see a podcast in person. So that was fun. And then I was able to go upstairs to witness another panel about creator and content creation and management and all of that since I am building, you know, I want to expand my media company, like not just to include the fact that I published a book, I've had TEDx talks, I've had podcasts, I've had virtual summits, but now how to help others, especially if you're Black, Muslim, and disabled, to be able to do the same thing. So it's wonderful to be able to learn and get clarification, reiteration that I am doing the right thing. And then the speakers, anyone who was ever a part of New Voices got to also have full meals. So there was a dinner, a networking dinner Friday night where we actually got to eat full meals and got to meet up with each other and network. So I did not go to the conference on Friday night, again, because I was speaking. However, I did make sure that I went to the FedEx Kinko's before they closed for the holidays. I can get some postcards for people to continue to connect with me. And yeah, then I just went back home just to get ready. I made sure before my speaking engagement to eat healthy. Now, I did not eat too, too, too much, again, being on a budget. But I did make sure to eat healthy. I remember eating at one of the places called Daily Beats, which had a very filling, like, rice bowl. I had avocado and beets and carrots, vegetables, rice, quinoa actually, and smoothies. I love smoothies. So I was grateful to have a very full meal from Daily Beats in New Orleans. And then I also ate at a franchise called True Home Kitchen. And then I also had the opportunity to eat at Addis Ethiopian food at Addis Nola, but that was not until after Essence Festival. But as far as if you're curious what did I eat, what type of food is there to eat, of course make sure you go to have a beignet, um, and coffee au lait. Make sure you do that. I've been to New Orleans 3 times at this point, so I've had it already, but make sure you do that if it's your first time coming New Orleans, and make sure you also have a po'boy and make sure that you also have any one of the seafood dishes as well. Okay, once I was in the convention center though, they had maybe like a— if you've been to amusement parks or outdoor fairs, they've had those little bowls of food, if you will, and so they had Jamaican food and One, I grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but also I have Caribbean roots, so it was so exciting to have just a slight taste of home. And I had a— I think I had the greens and rice and peas and plantain at the food festival portion of Essence Festival. Okay. Moving on to Sunday. Sunday was a very slow day, and luckily we didn't have any trouble with lines because, um, not as many people were there on Sunday. But, um, that was my time I could really wander around a bit and witness a couple of other, uh, speaking opportunities. And so one thing that I did notice is that people from the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area were heavily in attendance, um, so much so that there may have been conversation on social media about if SCA was ever to leave, where should they go? I would vouch for them coming to Maryland or the DC area. A lot of people who came from— there were a lot of stands about historically Black colleges, a lot of vendors from historically Black colleges there, a lot of alumni from historically Black colleges from the DC, Maryland, Virginia area in attendance. And even the Baltimore mayor, one of the youngest mayors who has really transform Baltimore from the stereotype that you know of it to actually being a place where people can thrive. The Baltimore mayor was there, and then right— I went to see that session. So it was a really interesting Sunday of back-to-back Baltimore. One more other fun fact about me is I am a descendant of Frederick Douglass, but on the Stephen Bailey side of the family. And so it was a complete honor to be having all my speaking engagements on the American Independence Day, but also when I spent Sunday having back-to-back Baltimore, because if you know the history of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass settled in Maryland. And so I— what did I do first? Okay, I supported someone, one of my fellow entrepreneurs The one who had the lip gloss, she's also a doctor, like an actual physician. So she actually had a talking circle in the Unbothered in World Activation. So I sat in on her session and then saw her booth. And then on my way to just kind of interacting with her, I ran into one of— a Baltimore native who's the founder of Black Women Marketers. And the only thing I got to do between that was then go to see the mayor of Baltimore speak. And then as soon as I left that session, Mario, the R&B singer from You Should Let Me Love You song, was performing at the Coca-Cola Stage. So Baltimore was back to back. And that was the other thing too, there are performances in there are performances inside the convention center too that are completely free. So definitely always check out the Coca-Cola stage because they always have the upcoming, or maybe they're the OG R&B singer, but they've been, you know, not getting as much visibility in a while, so they also get to perform. So that was wonderful to see as well. And Then Monday was not convention center day, but I was still in town because again, I know flight prices are— let me wait a little few days after the week and then not every— not the flight prices are not, you know, so high. So I got to explore Black New Orleans, the Black side of New Orleans, the 9th Ward, and with the original places of segregation and street art. I love street art, so I would— I got to be toured around by another connection that I got to meet in person from a different conference that I spoke at called Women in Travel Summit, and she had been living in New Orleans for 10 years, so she was able to drive me around to all of the places, get a little driving tour. So that was a wonderful experience as well. And then that was pretty much the week. Yeah, that wraps up Essence Fest. Okay, great. So in summary, I had a great time at Essence Fest. A huge thank you to New Voices family for giving me not one, not two, but 3 opportunities to showcase my expertise and be in the presence of people and see where my gaps are, where I can continue to build my media company. And I'm manifesting it now that the next time I will be at EssenFest will be for the film festival portion, even the podcast creator section. That is my goal for the next EssenFest. And if you want to continue to learn more about me or to work with me, make sure to go to my website, zaakirah@nyala.com. And thank you for watching and listening.