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Ashley Everett We Stan For Her Barefoot Campaign

Source: Courtesy of Barefoot / c/o Barefoot

In the months since civil unrest erupted across America, numerous companies have been called out for their lack of action, and more so, the lack of demonstrated value and commitment to their Black customers. Many have struggled to truly uplift Black voices without looking performative at best. Barefoot, on the other hand, found a unique, yet on-brand means of amplifying Black women’s voices and stories without co-opting them. Rather, the wine company brought in three powerhouses to explore the Black woman experiences across beauty and entrepreneurship.

Ashley Everett, Jordin Sparks, and Melissa Butler were tapped to host Barefoot’s four part kiki (read: web-series) called We Stan For Her. These shorts see Everett, Sparks, and Butler discussing beauty standards and entrepreneurship from their different walks of life.

Everett, Beyoncé’s dance captain and current dancer on The Masked Singer, told HelloBeautiful she was thrilled to take part in a campaign that felt like a genuine celebration of Black sisterhood.

“I was just number one excited… I heard who else was involved and I was like ‘I have to.’ I know Jordin. I don’t know Melissa personally, but she’s super inspirational, and just another woman of color who I support. We always support each other and it’s just really cool to come together in that way.”

Each episode in the mini-series sees Everett, Sparks, and Butler delve into another sensitive topic in the Black community — hair, heritage, representation, and self-love. Again, something one wouldn’t expect a wine company to give a care about, but it looks like Barefoot does.

Considering the age-old sentiment that there’s only room for one Black woman at the table, if at all, it is refreshing to continue to see Black women root for one another.

Everett, Sparks, and Butler praised one another for breaking barriers and shattering glass ceilings in their own right. “Even though we’re all in the same industry doing the same thing, sort of, you know, but yeah it doesn’t feel competitive feels like genuine support,” Everett said.

As much as the series seeks to they encourage, inspire, and inform Black female viewers to chase their dreams, the experience proved to be just as beneficial to Everett, too. The dance professional who is also a budding entrepreneur with her own swimsuit line Phae Designs and a dance-infused fitness course FitChoreo, took away a few gems from Butler and Sparks.

“I think both of them just never gave up on themselves and their passions, you know, and that’s something that I also never did either but it just like inspires me to do that in new ventures that maybe I’m not so confident in,” she explained.

We Stan For Her is the type of project that many companies can learn from. Safe spaces that allow Black women to stand in their truth on their own terms.

All four We Stan for Her episodes can be viewed at barefootwine.com/we-stan-for-her.

Ashley Everett’s Teams Up With Barefoot To Create A Space For Black Women To Talk About Hair, Representation & Self-Love  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com