Luvvie Ajayi Jones

Hey LuvvCousin,May has come through and I ran my way through it. This month has been a blur. I dropped my first kids’ book, did a tour, appeared on TV a couple of times, hit the NYT bestselling list… VICTORY NOTES 🙌🏾. Grateful and spent!It’s ending on a high note cuz this week, I ended up on a small group Zoom call with Muva Oprah Winfrey to get a sneak peek at the new trailer for the musical adaptation of The Color Purple. Not only did I make her laugh on the call, she complimented my fit...

A year ago today, my first children’s book Little Troublemaker Makes a Mess dropped into the world and it is my favorite book of all that I’ve written. What was wild was as I was publishing the book, I was firing my whole team. This is what I’ve dedicated my newest season of the Professional Troublemaker podcast to. THIS tea. And it is cathartic to talk about because as I was going through it, I was ready to cuss everyone out. Anywho, if you haven’t listened to the first episode, check it...

With the first quarter of the year in the rearview mirror, I took last week completely off grid to fill my cup back up and embraced the full, unadulterated glory of recharging. 🔋We’ll talk more about why this matters in a bit, but even if you can give yourself a few hours at a time, get rest scheduled on your calendar. 🗓️💤 With the relentless hustle of everything around us, scheduling downtime is the most boss move we can make. ⏳🛌 Let’s jump into what’s on my mind this week. RANT The...

I have been DEEP into COWBOY CARTER this week and let me tell you from first listen it blew me away - like socks knocked all the way off. 🧦🚀The way Beyoncé transcends genre is something worth studying. And I love how she doesn’t take for granted the fact that she’s highly regarded because the ways she innovates over and over again is bar none. She deserves EVERY accolade that will come her way. ⭐ And I’ve been replaying “PROTECTOR” over and over again, because ain’t it aligned with the inner...

I have been completely unfocused this week. Meanwhile, I’m under all sorts of deadlines (including one big book-related one, but I’ll talk about that in future issues). Let’s jump in (because getting this newsletter out this week was truly a feat and I almost ain’t make it!) RANT I’m wondering if we’re in a simulation.So hear me out (and I'm perfectly sober). What if we are in a simulation?Like how we play 🎮 The Sims (I’m a longtime Sims girly), somebody's playing us, and the system has...

Last week, I told you I made Angela Bassett cry. Well, it was at the Leading Women Defined Conference and I was chosen to be one of six people to do a short tribute to her.I had 2 minutes, so I talked about one of my fave on-screen quotes from her: “I am the queen of the most powerful nation in the world and my whole family is gone! Have I not given everything?” 👑 And how much it made me feel seen as a Black woman. And then I read the oriki I wrote for her last year, after the Academy Awards...

I’ve been in California for this last week and lemme tell you. Being in PST (Pacific Standard Time) has me feeling behind the world. Cuz it’s 2 hours behind Chicago, so every morning that I’ve been waking up, it feels like I’ve overslept. 😴And this last week has been so action packed because I was at one of my fave conferences of the year (Leading Women Defined) that I haven’t been able to recap because I just don’t know where to start. So I’ve done nothing. I will say this, doe: the iconic...

Happy Leap Year Day! Just like that, February is about to be out. That went quick AF and the fact that we’re 2 months into this year is blowing my mind. TIME is acting like it stole something so it’s hauling ass. 🏃🏾♀️💨Speaking of TIME, last week, I was at the TIME Magazine Closers event, and being in that room with those luminaries was A TIME. Sorry. I’m not allowed to say “time” again in this newsletter issue 😅😅😅. I am endlessly grateful to be thought about to be in spaces like that.On this...

Hey,I’ve been sharing that this is my year of being committed to my mental health and creating space for new things in my life. One habit that I started in January that has been a game changer for me is putting my phone away an hour before I go to bed and reading books instead of doom scrolling on my phone. 🛏️📵 Reading is one of my favorite hobbies, and I can’t believe how long it’s been since I made time to read on a regular basis. So I’m so glad to be back to it. 📖Sometimes, it’s a little...

Hey there,I’ve spent all week cackling about the fact that folks said Jermaine Dupri showed up at the Usherbowl dressed like "Boss Baby." 💀💀💀Like… it’s been almost 5 days and I’m still unable to can. I CANNOT. The times when I love the internet, it’s usually because we’ve all gotten together to CLOWN as a collective about some awards show or major event. And lemme tell you: this one was the SUPERBOWL of shenanigans.Whew. I’m still crying laughing and now cannot unsee this. 😅😅😅Anywho, let’s...

Hey Reader,This week kicked off with a bang, as I pissed off all the Swifties by pointing out the unavoidable reaches of whiteness when it comes to success. But I stood on business and I said what I said. It’s actually right on time because Black History Month is HERE and it’s a leap year and we got one extra day so we gon let folks feel it! 💪🏾When I say we won’t shrink, I mean it. The truth often hurts but who said it needed to be palatable to begin with? That brings me to today’s rant: RANT...