Dominique B. Fluker

New York City will always have a special place in my heart. From being mesmerized by the billboards in Times Square to hustling to catch the C train to my uncle’s bakery in Brooklyn, New York is definitely my second home.

So, of course I was excited when I learned that I would be spending a week training with my social media team in the NYC HQ. My New York minute looked like this, working by day in the chic and lofty Chelsea district then hurrying to meet friends and mentors in various parts of the city.

I always discover something new on each of my New York trips. 

Eats + Cocktails + Coffee…

A couple of weeks ago, I successfully completed my first solo trip to Sedona, Arizona. Traveling solo to Arizona, has been a bucket list item that I’ve been wanting to cross of my list for a while now. Although, Sedona, Arizona seems like a random place to travel alone to, I knew I wanted to explore the beautiful scenery by hiking, venturing to the Grand Canyon and reveling in my solitude. I knew I needed to heal and take a breather from all of my many responsibilities.

I’ve been off of work for a couple of weeks. Today will be my first day at a completely new job with exciting opportunities to grow. Even though I’ve had a nice long and much needed break, I’m ready to get back in the game!

Last weekend, I decided to do something that I rarely do…relax. After helping my mom refill her medicine and brunch, I went home and took a nap. Oddly enough, I wasn’t able to remember the last time I was able to take a nap during the middle of the day.

2017 so far has been very uncomfortable for me. From shifting deeper into adulthood to moving into my first apartment, 2017 has been a year of beautiful but difficult first moments. I found myself becoming latched onto fear instead of faith.

Last night, I was able to finally meet a woman that I’ve looked up to for about two years, Sequoia Blodgett, Tech Editor at Black Enterprise. I first became familiar with Sequoia when I started writing for her wellness platform, 7am.life. Through ColorComm’s Phenomenal Women Action Campaign, we had the unique privilege to hear about Sequoia’s career journey and important lessons she’s learned on the way.

Mercury Retrograde hit me like a ton of bricks over the past couple of weeks. I was a mess and felt myself spiraling out of control. It seemed like nothing in my life was connecting or even making sense. I was hanging by a thread in all aspects of my life, from work, personal relationships, financially to my spirituality. I knew something was shifting in my world for a reason, so I submitted to what God and the Universe was doing and ultimately relearned some key principles.

I love a good brunch. Who doesn’t? Brunch for me is an ongoing tradition that celebrates the end of the week. When I’m not learning how to cook breakfast in my own kitchen, I’m definitely brunching with my friends around town over the weekend. Bottomless mimosas and Frosé are always a must!

In preparation for Jesmyn Ward’s new book Sing, Unburied, Sing, which will be released next month, I wanted to share 10 of my favorite books written by African-American authors.

My experience at the C2 Conference was life-changing, transformative and needed. I was yearning to see women of color in my field that I could resonate with and grow from and I got to see over 400 of them. I was able to attend sessions hosted by top global PR agencies, like: Ogilvy, Fleishman Hilliard, Burson Marseller, and Edelman. I gained invaluable advice from each session and definitely had some fun in the sun, brought to us by the Ritz Carlton of Key Biscayne and of course, BET. However, the biggest takeaway from the conference, was the beauty of believing in myself and the magic that I possess.

Towards the end of 2016, I made a promise to myself to improve all aspects of my life and to actually commit to doing some self-work. I decided to purchase Myleik Teele’s “This Is My Year Journal” to streamline areas in my life that needed more attention and goals that I wanted to accomplish for 2017.

Towards the end of 2016, I made a promise to myself to improve all aspects of my life and to actually commit to doing some self-work. I decided to purchase Myleik Teele’s “This Is Your Year Journal” to streamline areas in my life that needed more attention and goals that I wanted to accomplish for 2017.

For my self-werque series, I’d like to share certain obstacles that I’ve overcame throughout the year and things that I’m currently working through. 

The past couple of months leading into Summer 17’ have been a whirlwind for me. Work has gotten more challenging and new leadership/mentorship opportunities have come to the surface. Honestly, I’ve been having a difficult time accepting and leaning into changes at work and in my personal life so I had no choice but to call on my set of mentors. Yes, I said set. I’ve learned early on in my career that it’s imperative to have more than one mentor to call on for advice. Now that I’m a mentor, I understand on a deeper level how mentorship impacts growth, development and success.

A few months after I graduated from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) I came to Google as a “New Grad” in August 2014. I’ve always been ambitious and I remember during my freshman year at Howard University, that someone told me “freshmen aren’t offered internships.” I took that as a personal challenge. I was so determined and ended up accepting an internship offer from Travelers Insurance as a Claim Leadership Development intern, completing not one but TWO summer internships.

So I began my career in media while at Spelman College. I had a few internships throughout college but my biggest opportunity came my Junior year when I got the chance to work for Cartoon Networks digital team at their headquarters in Atlanta. That's when I first realized that I had a passion for both television and digital media. After graduation in 2013, I moved to New York to start the NBC Page Program, a post grad program for those wishing to pursue a career in media. I then left NBC in 2014 and moved over to Showtime where I had the chance to help manage their e-commerce site for fans of their shows and their internal sales teams. 

Acting has just about always been what I've pictured myself doing, and I have growing up in a family of creatives to thank for that. My father is a vocal coach who has toured both as a coach and as a performer with tons of artists. He also holds classes here in NYC, where countless aspiring artists from all disciplines and all over the world come nightly for training. He has sustained our family with this artist life, so I always knew a career in performing arts could be just as realistic as any other career.

Today it’s May 5th, 2017. I am currently 24 years old. As I reminisce on simpler times, like my childhood, one of the fondest memories I am able to recall is shopping for back-to-school clothes at the Gap. In 2004, I was in the 5th grade and the Gap was my retail store of choice. Why you might ask? It was easy for me. In the late 2000’s Gap’s television commercials were marketed towards children that looked like me, the actors had their own individual style, and danced to a catchy theme song to highlight the simplicity and movement of Gap’s clothes.