Oftentimes, you don’t know what you need until you experience it, and every Black woman deserves the experience of being sistered on multiple levels.
Sisterhood comes in several forms. There is the kind that shares the same bloodline and DNA, dDay ones who you grow with and share formative years, secrets and intimate space; and then there’s the tribe you build with, who you unintentionally connect with through shared goals and trajectory. While each of these may overlap and fold into one another at some point, it is the latter that 30 women—of varying backgrounds and professions—engaged recently when we descended onto The Crane Resort in Bridgetown, Barbados, for the 6th Annual Support Your Girlfriends Getaway to commune July 11-15.
Support Your Girlfriends was established by PR darling Nikkia McClain in 2017 . McClain identified a void in professional and entrepreneurial spaces that high-performing Black women occupy—that is—a lack of community and network with people who look like themselves. The organization was also born out of personal necessity.
“I did it out of a need, not a want. It’s what I needed.” McClain shared.
McClain organized a getaway: one part retreat, one part educational, one part turn-up, one part church and all parts magical, with the Caribbean landscape as its backdrop. As rum punches and Prosecco flowed, the Glossy Posse, the name McClain affectionately calls her crew, wasted no time getting acquainted with one another. By the poolside, these ladies traded stories about their background, journey and what they hoped to take away from the retreat .
“It was important for me to attend this year’s Support Your Girlfriend’s retreat because I missed the past year and saw the elevation of community service and camaraderie amongst the attendees,” Kelly Jackson, a content producer, shared on the first night.
“I knew I needed to be more open and intentional with other like-minded Black women. This retreat was what I needed.”
On Friday, July 12, the five-day retreat kicked off the first of several sessions with “Morning Meditation” by the shore. Vanessa Moore guided the group through breathwork , goal setting, and aligning energy to manifest the life they desire.
Meditation was followed with “Give Me Money,” a Pow(H)er breakfast hosted by Crystal Etienne. The CEO of Ruby Love broke down the language and many variables of raising capital and how they compare to seed money. The session involved a mock execution of the funding process from pitch to deal.
The Glossy Posse then took an explorative excursion through Harrison Caves, one of the island’s natural phenomena. Members of I AM A GIRL, a girls’ advocacy group and mentorship program, joined the women at the cave site for lunch and Sherkera Green’s interactive workshop, “Don’t Let Your Money Cave You In.” Each Glossette partnered with a member of the Glossy Posse to discuss their goals , money management and SWOT analysis. The session wrapped with McClain giving the organization a $10,000 check on behalf of “Support Your Girlfriends.”
Later that evening, Lucinda Cross, founder and president of Activate Your Life, facilitated “The Big Ask” Power Dinner. Crosse gave counsel to her fellow Glossy sisters and coached them toward prioritizing their goals and transforming lives. She employed an interactive assignment that led a love circle that poured into two deserving members. Not a dry eye was in the room. Cross closed out the night with a soul-stirring sermon . She is a prayer warrior, indeed.
A visit to Barbados is incomplete without a trip to the ocean, and a Support Your Girlfriends trip ain’t complete without a turn-up. Complements of Barbados Tourism, Glossy Posse, indulged in a yacht experience where they soaked up 90-degree sunshine and partied that Saturday afternoon away on the Tianna Catamaran.
Sunday was spent on the beachfront with Natasha Leath of Talk To Tash. Tash prophesied over the lives of each of the 30 attendees during her session “Power Your Purpose.”
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Leath’s special brand of ministry brought several to tears, including the Support Your Girlfriends founder.
“As we’re growing in business, as we become wives, some of us become mothers and in that midst of growing, [there’s a misconception] that it’s lonely at the top. I’m a true believer that it doesn’t need to be.” McClain said.
“As we keep growing, you realize it is people that you need. They are your sisters.”
The conversation made its way poolside and continued with Shay Wood, who delivered a word on “Powering Your Legacy.” The founder of Wood Enterprises and Harlem Haberdashery shared her journey from humble beginnings in Harlem to evolving into an entrepreneur and tastemaker and giving back to her community. Wood implored her girlfriends to reconsider their journeys as the vehicle to building a legacy. Woods’ words were the perfect transition into the “Pool Pit” with Charreah Jackson, founder of Shine Army. Let’s just say Jackson delivered a much-needed church service with a celebration of community—and individuality.
Sybil Amuti rounded out the run of programming by “Redefining Sistership with Great Girlfriends,” imparting the pillars of sisterhood and, with McClain, welcoming newly inducted sisters into the Glossy Posse.
“I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you for the life you breathed back into me during our time in Barbados,” Andrea Osei said. The CEO of Andrea Osei Bridal was overwhelmed with gratitude and walked away from the Support Your Girlfriends retreat with a restorative experience.
“I was truly on the verge of giving up, and I got the encouragement and restoration I needed to forge on in boldness. I walked away with an indescribable feeling of reassurance.”
Osei shared that she is “overjoyed” and “back in the swing and taking private appointments” in her bridal business. An underlying gospel of Support Your Girlfriends is that “whatever you need is in the room.” Its fellowship and GLOTUS Nikkia McClain delivers on the mantra time and time again. McClain was on to something when she created Support Your Girlfriends . This magical network is built around sisterhood and designed to address members’ “unique experiences and challenges,” proving the support of their girlfriends, no matter how tall or minute the order, is a necessary good.
“My goal has always been to show women who look like me that real sisterhood exists,” McClain said.
“The narrative that women, especially in group settings, can’t get along [is] a lie.”
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