Buffalo Boss Babes: Rayna Moncrieffe & Yanava Hawkins
Today's Buffalo Boss Babes are Rayna Moncrieffe &Yanava Hawkins of Girl Gang Entertainment. GGE is a full service upscale event planning company run by two of the sweetest boss babes around. They throw some of the best parties and event in town and every time I check our their IG stories everyone is having the time of their life!
Photo by Lovern Photo!
(Yanava)
What made you start or brought you to where you are today? Tell us your story and what makes you a Buffalo Boss Babe.
I have been an athlete my entire life but started to lose the passion that I once had for it during my freshmen year of college after quitting the UB D1 softball team. After quitting the team I decided to try out for the step team at UB and became the events coordinator on their executive board with my best friend Rayna. During that time we realized that we loved stepping but we also loved the planning and execution of events, which lit a flame in both of us. We both finished up at UB and entered “the real world” still not quite knowing what we wanted to do. I ended up unemployed for a couple of months and during that time I had the pleasure of attending a friends business launch party event. At that event is where my reality settled in. I called Rayna as soon as I left that event and ranted about how we needed to just start our own business! We met that week and figured that we wanted to be sure whatever we did revolved around women empowerment and the entertainment industry. We launched Girl Gang Entertainment about a month later and been kicking ever since!
What does being a Buffalo Boss Babe mean to you.
Being a Buffalo Boss Babe means pursuing my passion unapologetically and representing Buffalo in a positive light.
Photo by Lovern photo
Who are your favorite people to follow?
Gabrielle Union and Janelle Ginestra (a professional dancer and entrepreneur)
What are your favorite things to do in the area (Buffalo and greater WNY)?
I love eating and riding my bike around the city in the summer time.
Photo BY Lovern Photography!
Tell me about your favorite collaborations or a dream collaboration?
A dream collaboration of mine would be work with a concert hall/event space and be able to plan after parties or events for the performing artists
Photo BY Lovern Photography!
If you could have coffee with anyone in the world who would it be?
Ellen Degeneres
What are your hopes, dreams, goals? Big or Small.
My dream is to be able to work Girl Gang full time and open up a lounge in Buffalo NY for the young professional crowd that attracts a diverse audience.
Tell us about your family (2 Legged , 4 Legged) ?
My family is from Buffalo. My mother is a dancer that was very instrumental in the growth and knowledge of African dance in Buffalo. My dad was a mechanic that owned his own business and sadly passed away in 2016. I have two older siblings that are also very integrated in the arts community of Buffalo.
Feel Good Five :)
Color: Pink
Food: Shrimp
Super Power: Putting smiles on 99% of the faces I interact with
Animal: Gorilla
Season of the year: Summer
Favorite thing about Buffalo: The creative community is so widespread and supportive
Photo BY Lovern Photography!
(RAYNA)
What made you start or brought you to where you are today? Tell us your story and what makes you a Buffalo Boss Babe.
I have been planning events ever since I was born. (It feels that way!) My mom loves event planning and I have always assisted her with planning our church and family events. From there I began planning events at City Honors High School while on their student council, then planned events for the UB Step Team all four years of college, and now starting my own event planning and consulting company.
What does being a Buffalo Boss Babe mean to you.
Being a Buffalo Boss Babe means being a phenomenal empowered women living out her dreams and putting Buffalo on the map in the process!
Who are your favorite people to follow?
Gabrielle Union, Tracey Ellis Ross, and Yara Shahidi.
What are your favorite things to do in the area (Buffalo and greater WNY)?
My favorite things to do in Buffalo is EAT! Buffalo is such a gold mine of delicious food from all around the world. From Caribbean food to Greek food and everything in between.
Photo BY Lovern Photography!
Tell me about your favorite collaborations or dream collaboration?
My favorite collaboration so far has been w\ Dominique (a Buffalo Native) from West Coast Naturals for our Nappy Hour.
If you could have coffee with anyone in the world who would it be?
I would have coffee with Diann Valentine, a famous event planner.
What are your hopes, dreams, goals? Big or Small.
My dream is to flood as much life and energy into Buffalo as possible (with talents of women) to bring it back to life and really create a city for college students who come here to want to stay and live.
Photo BY Lovern Photography!
Tell us about your family ?
I am a part of a big close knit family. I have an older brother that has been living in NYC pursuing his career in acting, and just got ENGAGED! I also have a little sister that just started her first semester at Brown University. My parents both still live in Buffalo and continue to support myself as well as both of my siblings!
Feel Good Five :)
Color: Gold
Food: Ice Cream
Super Power: Optimism
Animal: Elephants
Season of the year: Fall
Favorite thing about Buffalo: The one degree of connection that everyone has to each other in the city
Photo BY Lovern Photography!
You can follow along with their boss babe journeys on social media (IG@girlgangent) or check out their event planning services on their website https://girlgangent.com/. We are excited to see what the future holds for this boss babe duo!
Until Next time, Babes!
>>>>>Photos in this feature are graciously provided by fellow Boss Babe Alison Lovern of Lovern Photography. Lovern Photo specializes in documentary style photography that captures the candid moments of everyday life. <<<<< @lovernphoto
Buffalo Boss Babes is a woman run blog series featuring women in and around the city of Buffalo N.Y.
If you know someone doing amazing things for our community, past and present, young and old..... send us a message at buffalobossbabes@gmail.com
Be kind to everyone you meet.
Here's to strong women! May we know them. May we be them
