URBAN
Education and Empowerment Resources for the Entrepreneurial Community
VOL. 1; ISSUE 1 JULY 2017 $7.00 USD
The Business of Fashion spread: Melody Boykin, Cesar Rolon, Tony Long & More! UMAG HOW-TO: Legitimizing Your Hustle WELLNESS: Who is Dr. Truth?
Morocco Omari:
Anecdotes of an Actor
Cover Photo By: Ashley C. Brown, Urban Matrix Magazine, July 2017 Brown Rice Photography
Clara Hubbard: Connecting Seniors to Better Quality of Life Services
Cesar Rolon
Latino Fashion Week & Imagen Marketing Consultants Urban Matrix: Can you tell us a little about yourself? Cesar Rolon Jr.: Sure. My name is Cesar Rolon Jr. and I am the co-founder of Latino Fashion Week here in the United States. We’re the only one of it’s kind in the US with a nation tour in four other cities. And also the president of Imagen Marketing Consultants and Hispanic Festivals.com. UMAG: So where did the idea for Imagen Marketing Consultants and Latino Fashion Week come from? CR: Imagen Marketing Consultants was actually the brainchild of the magazine I produced called Nuestra Imagen Hispana - Our Hispanic Image. Once I sold the magazine, I actually kept the name Imagen Marketing. With respects to Latino Fashion Week, [it started because] I was in search of Latino designers and I couldn’t find any here in Chicago. There is zero support in the city of Chicago for Latino designers and models. I’ll give you an example with Kennedy King College. Do you know how many times I’ve reached out to their media department? Not once have they sent anyone to cover Latino Fashion Week. I’m like, how do you want these kids to get the experience? They gotta get there hands wet. Same thing with these fashion schools. UMAG: You’re explaining about the Latino models and designers in the city; how there was no space for them. CR: Yes, there was little to no support whatsoever. If you recall, years ago the city of Chicago had what was called the dress farms of Michigan Avenue. These
were dress farms that were designed by students from the fashion schools here in Chicago. So, I purchased the mannequin. I purchased my location as to where to get placed and I was told they could not find me a Latino student designer and that’s really where the whole brainchild of Latino Fashion Week came out. Of course I discovered a designer here by the name of James de Colon. Who now has a boutique in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the rest is history. Eleven years later we are the biggest fashion event in Chicago and we’re in multiple cities. We say we’re “By Latinos. For Everyone.” UMAG: When you guys started, what were the first steps you took? CR: The very first year in looking for sponsors, I couldn’t get anyone to sponsor Latino Fashion Week. But that year, Jasmine Gonzalez had just participated in America’s Next Top Model so we brought her and some celebrities in. UMAG: What do you love most about the work that you do? CR: Challenge. I love being challenged. Don’t tell me that I can’t do anything. Let me prove you wrong. But at the same time let me educate you. UMAG: What gives you the greatest inspiration for the work that you do? CR: Literally, it’s everyday life. I see what is missing, I see some of the challenges that we have to meet. Chicago is a unique town, in itself. As a Puerto Rican, myself, it’s very unfortunate that these general market agencies pigeon-hole all of us Latinos as ‘Mexicans’. And it’s very unfortunate because we have great demographics here in Chicago. At the same time I have issues with radio and television that don’t segment into our market. So again I meet those challenges. I also have a love for music. I had a record label where I produced house music. So, I come from that spiritual background. But again give me a challenge! I’ll take it every time. UMAG: Have you had any specialized training in fashion design, modeling, marketing business training? CR: I had zero training aside from my college studies, but 28 again, I’m a hoodrat. I’m from the street. So basically you learn
how to survive. I look at just the 101’s of Business Management. Marketing, selling, advertising -- it all intertwines, as long as you know how to speak. Having a dual language of course is a benefit and knowing communities. I understand the thoughts and the sales of the Polish community, the Asian community, the African-American community. UMAG:What are your overall goal for Latino Fashion Week? CR: My overall goals for Latino Fashion Week is exactly what we’ve done already and that is to create more awareness. To open up doors for our designers, for our models, for our stylists, for hair - for our makeup artists and to most of all; really challenge the big box retailers. Because we buy, we shop there, we want to see our own. So, that’s my goal. UMAG: What about Imagen? CR: My consulting firm I re-invent myself all the time. Right up to social media everything changes. So I just opened up an office in Puerto Rico in December so I’m really happy about that. I’m going to be creating lifestyle events in Puerto Rico. And we have many platforms that we are launching; like the halo cam. The halo cam is a selfie platform that we developed for events. But starting next month we now have the halo vanity and we’re launching it here in Chicago and the opportunity there. We can actually install these halo frames these vanity frames in restaurants and people can actually take their selfie and captures their data. If you’re not capturing data you’re no longer in business. Everything. Everything is data captured nowadays It’s the only way that you can communicate with your end user. UMAG: What advice can you give? CR: Keep it real. Be true to yourself, and learn. I mean really just learn, but that’s about as best as I can say. Keep a strong base within yourself and learn how to be a little bit more spiritual, as well. We want everything too fast and we just want it at the blink of an eye. Sometimes you have to look a little deeper to really understand who you are and what’s your purpose. Also, if you don’t know ask questions.
We are trained professionals in Marketing Strategy, Project Management, Direct Mail, Web, PR, Experiential and Activation.
www.imagenconsultants.com 312.896.7977
A Full Service Experiential and Activation Marketing Resource Agency Urban Matrix Magazine, July 2017
UMAG REVIEWS
Five Nights in Maine REVIEWED BY: Vickie Simmons, Web Diva/Contributor DIRECTOR: Maris Curran SYNOPSIS: When Sherwin (David Oyelowo, Interstellar, Selma), suddenly loses his wife Fiona (Hani Furstenberg Loneliest Planet) in a tragic car accident, his world falls apart. His overwhelming grief leads him to a life of drinking and smoking cigarettes, anything to numb the pain of the loss of his wife. Until one day, he gets a call from Fiona’s mother Lucinda (Dianne Wiest The Odd Life of Timothy Greene, The Big Year) to visit her in Maine. WHO’S WHO: David Oyelowo - Sherwin Dianne Wiest - Lucinda Rosie Perez - Ann Teyonah Parris - Penelope Hani Furstenber - Fiona Bill Raymond - George
M
aris Curran took the time to highlight and express the levels of grief that accompany losing someone you love. Sherwin struggles to find a way to, somehow, move on without his beloved wife, and seeks comfort in Fiona’s mother, Lucinda. However, Lucinda, as one would expect, is also hurting from the loss of her daughter. Dealing with her own worries of cancer took a toll on her and she lashed out on the one person with whom she was closest - Fiona. Both Sherwin and Lucinda must travel down the path of dealing with and healing from the hurt of losing Fiona so suddenly. For me, it was great to see how Curran used the baggage formed when Fiona was alive to accent the pain losing her caused for those around her. I loved how the story flashed back to the intimate parts of the relationship between Sherwin and Fiona leading up to her death, where Sherwin consistently questions Fiona about having children.
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Mother and daughter relationships are so hard to balance. Sometimes, we, as mothers, can be so wrapped up in the hurt of our own lives that we forget to show our children how much they mean to us, which, in turn, could result in said children feeling loveless and abandoned. Clearly, without her mother showing love and support for her choices, Fiona’s own decisions to become a parent were negatively affected. The casting for this movie was truly perfect and the actors did not disappoint. It was especially interesting to see Dianne Wiest in this type of roll. This movie is an emotional journey, from start to finish, as it tackles the grieving and healing processes one-step at time. In the end, it seems that Sherwin and Lucinda found the right path to move on after their five days together. If you are dealing with the loss of a loved one and you are not quite sure where to start picking up the pieces of your life, this movie with give you some tears but it’s accompanied with courage, hope, faith and love to move forward towards healing.
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