ThisNext Blog

A magazine beauty editor at Elle, Glamour, Lucky and Teen People, in 2005 Tia Williams said tah-tah to the glossies to “focus on my writing career. My first ‘chick lit’ novel, THE ACCIDENTAL DIVA, debuted in April 05, and also I co-wrote Iman’s beauty book, THE BEAUTY OF COLOR (Oct. 05).”

And Tia also runs  SHAKE YOUR BEAUTY, where she chats honestly about beauty for all ladies of color.

Check Tia’s beautilicious shopcast here, and read on as we play Q&A.

: Tell me how Tia met blog.

Tia Williams: I started my blog, “SHAKE YOUR BEAUTY,” in April 2005. I’d just left my job as Beauty Director of Teen People magazine, where I’d been one of the only black beauty editors in a mostly white industry. I didn’t want to lose that voice, so I started a blog as a kind of forum for black women to honestly talk about beauty.

: Why do you love your dot-com?

Tia Williams: I love that I can reach such a wide audience! I have readers in Malaysia, Ireland, Canada, South America—it’s amazing to think that so many people are reading what you write on your bed at 1:30am. And as a chick lit and young adult author, it’s definitely helped me develop a wider fan base.

: Why does your dot-com wake up in the morning?

Tia Williams: To provide black and Latina women with honest, real beauty advice. I also try to provide candid career advice to young women aspiring to be journalists or novelists, or looking for careers in the beauty/fashion industry.

:  ThisNext loves you, and you love ThisNext as…

Tia Williams: ThisNext can only help me get the word out on “SHAKE YOUR BEAUTY!” I think the site is fantastic; a brilliant idea.

: What’s next on your list of to-do’s, besides shopcasting away?

Tia Williams: I have an upcoming young adult novel called THE IT CHICKS hitting shelves in Spring 07, and another adult novel coming out in Fall 07. I was also a morning show co-host on Cosmopolitan magazine’s radio station (Sirius Satellite Radio, channel 111). And, of course, I write a blog called SHAKE YOUR BEAUTY.