From The Archives: Woman on Top: Shannon T. Boodram
Every once in a while I like to look back on favorite pieces I've written. It's interesting to see what interested me in the past and what was happening during that time. I started the Woman on Top series in 2011 specifically because I was so intrigued by women making moves in their respective fields. Below is the very first Woman on Top I wrote, a feature on Shannon T. Boodram.
Since writing this piece half a decade ago Shannon has completed her advanced degree in clinical sexology and has exploded on YouTube. Check out my response when I discovered her for the first time.
"Many of you may know that I am obsessed with hair. As a lifelong natural beauty I surf the web constantly for new techniques, hairstyles, and creative concoctions. While getting caught up in a web of *right click* + "open in new tab" I found a YouTube Channel called Those Girls Are Wild. I only meant to watch a short video on how to nurse heat-damaged curls back to life but I got caught up viewing their other videos then I stumbled upon this:
I literally watched this video all of ten minutes ago but was immediately inspired. Her passion for what she does and the light that she exudes mirror how I feel about my own endeavors. Shannon has taken her ideas and what she has to say about life and shared it with the world. Her book LAID: young ppls experience w/ sex in an easy-@ccess culture, completed at age 23, has been published all over North America. She has won numerous awards including the Centennial College award for Most Successful Recent Graduate in the Past 5 Years and achieved a plethora of professional accomplishments such as capturing photos for Nivea and Clinique, keynote speaker at UCLA, and guest on FOX News and ABC.
What I find most striking about Shannon Boodram, aside from her beauty (gorgeous hair!) and tangible achievements, is her unabashed zeal to pursue bigger and greater things each time. In the video she describes her career as D.I.Y or do-it-yourself which I really took to heart. Anything that I may want I can, should, and will go get for myself. Shannon's unbridled enthusiasm reminded me that armed with intelligence, passion, and a little common sense, anything is attainable.
How's that for late night web-surfing? I was just looking to get my hair did!"
xx
Miss Suber
Woman on Top is a series created by Simone Suber to celebrate the beauty, power, and complexity of women.