I had lunch with Beyoncé!
I had lunch with Beyonce
… well not literally but the next best thing – her lunch events for entrepreneurs as part of the Black Parade Route part of the BEYGOOD Foundation (Beyonce’s charity entity).
Beyonce World Tour
You may have missed the fact that Beyonce recently completed a world tour. I am not sure how you could miss it if you did, because clips were on every social media platform imaginable. This was also the first tour in which Blue Ivy, Beyonce oldest daughter joined the tour crew as a dancer.
Black Parade Route
You may or may not know this (because I didn’t know this before) each city Beyoncé performed her tour in she also does a luncheon for 50 black businesses, as part of her drive to give back. As part of this lunch 10 businesses are each given £10,000 to wards developing and growing their business.
I – Dr Denise Maxwell of Lensi Photography was chosen as one of these 50 businesses nationally. I wasn’t a Dr then but at the time of writing this I am now.
How did this happen
I saw an advert in the MSDUK Newsletter asking Black run Businesses to apply. It was a really simple application, so as always I thought, why not?
Email – You Are in!
About a week later I received an email saying my application had been successful and that I would be one of the people at Beyonce lunch!
I wasn’t quite sure that it said what it said I read it over and over a few times and then once it sank in that way I was really going to this lunch I may have screamed a little and jumped up and down a little also.
The Actual Day
It took place at the four seasons Hotel in London where we were under strict orders not to leak this to the press or to anyone else and the only those with a ticket would be able to attend there was anticipation about whether or not Beyoncé would be there, however, if I had looked at previous events for the Black Parade route I would’ve been able to cull my disappointment because Beyoncé does not attend these.
However her whole team does her manager friends other employees and on this one her father attended and gave us some absolute gems in terms of running a business and how Beyoncé approached becoming the most famous female artist in the world.
The afternoon started with networking and drinks photos and some video content. We then went into a function room at the hotel where the room was laid out for a three course meal we were treated to Entertainment and to a fireside chat with Beyoncé’s father Mathew Knowles who was her manager in the early days, and then 10 entrepreneurs were awarded with the money.
The atmosphere in the room was electrifying I can only imagine what it would’ve been like if Beyoncé herself had turned up. Again experiences like this helped me to reflect on the fact that I started this career by default by accident I never meant to become a photographer and I never thought I would become the photographer that I am, as I stand in a room full of other entrepreneurs a room of only 50,000 from the whole country it is one of those moments that dawned on me about the success of my business.
You can see a highlights reel of this day on the IG page of Ivy McGregor who is the Exec Director of the Foundation.
Keep reaching for bigger and better on your businesses, I am still living dreams I did imagine.
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Introducing Doctor Denise Maxwell