Luvvie Ajayi Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of I’m Judging You, and a speaker and podcast host who thrives at the intersection of comedy, technology, and justice. In Professional Troublemaker, she presents a hilarious and transformational book about how to tackle fear—that everlasting hater—and audaciously step into lives, careers, and legacies that go beyond even our wildest dreams. Luvvie will be live and in conversation with Kahlana Barfield Brown.
Although this event has passed, you can still purchase a digital pass to view it through March 26 at 7:30 p.m. The event will be available to watch until 12:01 a.m. (PDT) on March 27.
All tickets (except Student/25&Under, complimentary, and a limited number of Digital Pass/No Book tickets), include a copy of Professional Troublemaker. Books will be shipped straight to your doors in partnership with our partner bookstore for the evening, Queen Anne Book Company.
Luvvie Ajayi Jones is known for her trademark wit, warmth, and perpetual truth-telling. But even she’s been challenged by the enemy of progress known as fear. She was once afraid to call herself a writer, and nearly skipped out on doing a TED talk that changed her life because of imposter syndrome. As she shares in Professional Troublemaker, she’s not alone.
We’re all afraid. We’re afraid of asking for what we want because we’re afraid of hearing “no.” We’re afraid of being different, of being too much or not enough. We’re afraid of leaving behind the known for the unknown. But in order to do the things that will truly, meaningfully change our lives, we have to become professional troublemakers: people who are committed to not letting fear talk them out of the things they need to do or say to live free.
With humor and honesty, and guided by the influence of her professional troublemaking Nigerian grandmother, Funmilayo Faloyin, Luvvie walks us through what we must get right within ourselves before we can do the things that scare us; how to use our voice for a greater good; and how to put movement to the voice we’ve been silencing—because truth-telling is a muscle.
Luvvie Ajayi Jones is the author of the New York Times bestseller I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual, and her site, AwesomelyLuvvie, is where she covers all things culture with a critical yet humorous lens. Luvvie is the host of the top-rated podcast Rants & Randomness and is the co-host of Jesus & Jollof with actress and comedian Yvonne Orji. She is also co-founder of the #SharetheMicNow global movement and runs her own social platform, LuvvNation, which is a safe space in a dumpster fire world. See website.
Kahlana Barfield Brown, our moderator for the evening, has carved a niche for herself in the hyper-competitive world of fashion and beauty publishing. She began her career as an intern at InStyle before eventually being hired full time. Throughout her career at the magazine, she took on several key positions, including Beauty Director, and fulfilled duties that ranged from writing in-depth features to reporting live from the red carpet. She’s now a leading fashion and beauty expert who inspires a new generation of women to embrace beauty from within. She regularly appears on national television shows such as Today, Good Morning America, The View, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, and The Drew Barrymore Show. See website.
