We all have girl crushes, no matter what we may tell each other. As an influencer who is working to encourage other women to be unapologetically themselves, I absolutely love sharing with you guys the amazing #girlbosses that inspire me to keep going. For years, I have had a crush and allover admiration for Kahlana Barfield– her style, power play, and allover amazingness have consistently led me to continue fighting, continue working, and continue perfecting my craft.
She’s definitely an amazing woman to aspire to, and the new mommy is even fly post-pregnancy as she commands the lights, camera, and eyes of all looking for some encouragement. So, you could say she’s pretty amazing.
Kahlana Barfield first stole my heart as a graduate of Howard University, where she then went on and moved to New York to pursue a career in magazines. Barfield has never strayed from telling her story of how she got to the top and has inspired an entire generation that hard work and paying your dues is crucial to career success. So exactly how did our #StyleInspiration chick rise to her current role of Editor-At-Large at InStyle Magazine?
After setting foot in the Big Apple, Kahlana turned heads from many of her family members when she took an internship making $15 a day with a startup publication instead of an actual job. She has cited sleeping on air mattresses at houses and working a second job just to make ends meet. But this didn’t discourage the tenacious Kahlana who set out to prove she was about her business.
Applying for an internship with InStyle, Kahlana initially worked as a general intern before she serendipitously had to fill the shoes of one of the beauty director’s assistants position while she was gone for a week. In that week, Kahlana showed what she could do, and the rest is history. Initially heading back to Seattle when no positions were open at InStyle, the surprise call came in that notified her that an Assistant Editor position had opened up and had her name on it. Six promotions later, Kahlana Barfield now runs all things Beauty and Fashion related with InStyle magazine.
The beauty has won over the hearts of many young Millennial women like myself, attempting to reach the stars and universe that she has so flawlessly done. Yet always remember, nothing in this world is worth having without a bit of hard work and stamina.
As a woman who loves style and beauty, I constantly look around and wonder, when is my time coming? Though no man can give me a timeline, seeing inspirational brown women like Kahlana achieve her dreams shows that with hard work, your wildest dreams certainly can come true. So we welcome the struggles and welcome the hard work. Who knows? You might just be the next Kahlana.
