Christina Flach Christina Flach, Founder & CEO of Pretty Girl Makeup“Victory is not always winning the battle…but rising every time you fall” From juggling to keeping a fine balance between her personal and professional life to proving herself as a Wonder Woman everywhere, Christina Flach has proved to be the epitome of hard work, dedication, and success! She is a widely acclaimed businesswoman of Pretty Girl Makeup and a wonderful mother of five. Confidence is what this successful makeup artist wears every single day! The Magic of Inspiration & Ambitions Diligence is the vehicle; ambition is the way to victory! Christina Flach has had her own share of ups and down while figuring out her career. Talking about her struggles, she says, “I was in a constant battle while driving my kids around drinking water, and trying to find a lipgloss that would stay on more than three sips of water. A lipgloss that wasn’t matte and drying, too thick, too thin. I couldn’t find one, so I thought that I would create my line.” She identified the correct textures and colors after a year of working with a beauty chemist, conducting experiments on herself, friends, and family members, and a lot of patience and feedback! Soon enough, she introduced Pretty girl with seven amazing shades. “My key goals, are to make PGM have the best quality products, profitable, hopefully making my customers laugh with funny names for my products and feel beautiful of course,“ includes Christina. As the CEO of Pretty Girl Makeup, she is shouldered with the duties and responsibilities of everything to make it extraordinary! Whether it is formulation, packaging, naming, marketing, or social media, she manages every little thing! Over the years she gained a lot of experience and kept discovering new aspects of her work. Although the list of problems was unending, she never gave up! She has been self-funding her business since 1999, and she is currently working with her partner Jordan Hall to build their new brand, ‘I’m Too Busy Cosmetics.’ Being Out of the Box! What makes Christina stand out in the world is her Art and Creativity! She is proud of herself as more than a business person she is an Artist! Pretty Girl is not only her business plan but a one-time solution to all her problems with a lip gloss! She successfully made her ideal lip gloss, which was long-lasting, moisturizing, anti-aging, and of course the perfect color for every skin tone. “It is also important to me that my customers know that every time they get a product that it’s going to be high-quality and then perhaps looking at the name on the bottom will make them smile for a few seconds out of their busy lives,” she adds. Her journey exemplifies the saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” Origin of the Name Pretty Girl Makeup You never know when a moment becomes a memory! Christina came up with a beautiful name for her brand while she was on a vacation with her family and friends in Hawaii. When she was sitting by the pool with her friends, one of her friends Claudia said, “Look honey, we’re finally pretty girls sitting by the pool!” They were chatting, reading magazines, and sipping iced tea while sitting there looking gorgeous! Flach felt as if everything was light and breezy during this delightful moment. As they say, the rest is history. Pretty Girl Makeup now makes ladies feel beautiful on the inside and out! Love what you Do, Do what you Love! Discipline and determination make your wildest dreams come true! And the most satisfying aspect of pursuing your dreams is having a goal! “I never in a million years could have dreamed that I would be the makeup artist for these fashion brands, celebrities, CEOs, athletes, TV shows, politicians, and models. I love going to new places, meeting these extraordinary people, that I get one on one alone time with, and on top of that I have my line of makeup,” shares Christina. She wants her children to see their work as worship, and pursue their passion! She wants them to make money out of the things they wouldn’t mind doing 24/7 because practicing something you don’t enjoy requires a lot of extra time, energy, and effort, which subsequently leads to business failure. “I think it is best not to know how hard your dream is, just to love each moment of it, even the worst moments, because the great moments are even sweeter!” Christina adds. Breaking a Dream into Milestones The past 20 years have been a roller coaster ride for Christina, filled with excitement and enthusiasm! Seeing her products used by celebrities, in magazines, people approaching her and complimenting her on how beautiful her lip gloss is, an increase in sales, no debt, presenting fantastic business plans to investors with great returns, and having agents represent her filled her with delight! Flach is proud of herself as she has worked for famous personalities who she had admired on TV shows and magazines! Seeing her work on magazine covers and insides makes her every day special! These are the milestones that keep her going and motivate her to emerge stronger every day! Striving for Improvement Christina’s experience running a business has not always been smooth; good things don’t come easy, and there have been many ups and downs! Funding her brand, formulation of products, learning how to deal with social media, hiring people, and marketing was not an easy task! Christina often gets inspired by Tyler Florence’s quote “If people knew how hard it was to be exceptional no one would do a damn thing.” Flach says that change is constant! One should learn how to adapt to different environments and situations. Things got worse as time went on, as she lost her baby on Christmas Day, then her husband died of sepsis twelve years later, which was a devastating blow for Christina, and then came

Leon Abdullah El-Alamin Leon Abdullah El-Alamin, CEO of The MADE Institute Name: Leon Abdullah El-Alamin Company Name: The M.A.D.E Institute Designation: Founder & Executive Director of MADE  Have you ever made a mistake or completed a task after which you thought to yourself, ‘Maybe I could have done better?’ or ‘I should have done this instead of that?’ We all wish for second chances in our lives and those who get them are the lucky ones. When you do have the chance to redo something, you always make sure to do it perfectly. Leon Abdullah El-Alamin, the CEO of The MADE Institute, is an entrepreneur who is guided by these ideals and is transforming the lives of those who become victims of violence and who have been impacted by mass incarceration by providing them with an invaluable second chance! Turning His Passion Into His Profession We all face many challenging choices along the way, there is no denying that. You can either come to the conclusion that where you originate from doesn’t really matter in the end; what matters is the destination that you land upon, or you can blame your situation and the circumstances that you were born and raised in as the cause of your poor judgments and downfall. Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, Abdullah had humble beginnings early on in his life. It was not easy for him as his grandmother was responsible for most of his upbringing. His mother influenced his life later on in his teenage years. Leon was born and raised in a hostile environment, so it’s not unexpected that he chose the same path. During his adolescence, his surroundings influenced his choices, and for a while, he adopted that culture. Soon enough, he realized that his environment was a mess. He saw first-hand the damage that drugs, mass incarcerations, and structural racism in the institutions caused not only to the people actively involved in them but also to their families. It destroyed people and drove families apart. It was after observing all of this that Abdullah made up his mind, he was not going to be just another bystander, he was going to sit there and wait for change to come but he would lead the change himself. From that day onwards, he has made it his life’s mission to end mass incarceration and help rebuild marginalized communities and those who get caught in the cycle of violence! Education: The Most Powerful Weapon Leon Abdullah shifted his focus from the violence-ridden streets and all other negative aspects of his environment to positive things that would benefit him in the long run. The passion that drives him today is spirituality. It has had a profound impact on his life and helped him think deeper and develop a solid mindset. His love for the community, his family, and those riddled with violence guides him on a daily basis. He now addresses structural issues such as racial profiling, police brutality, mass incarceration, miseducation, and the economic exploitation of marginalized communities. He aims to hit these issues at their core and come up with solutions that will help eradicate them. Today, his organization The MADE Institute which stands for Money, Attitude, Direction, and Education is dedicated to serving the community. He is attempting to give a second chance to those who became negative products of their environment. A Community Development ReEntry Corporation, M.A.D.E offers comprehensive trauma-informed programming for juveniles and adults who have a history of crime but have the potential to recover and contribute to society. In addition to this, M.A.D.E also helps at-risk youth who are born and brought up in environments similar to that Abdullah was raised in. The institution attempts to do everything in its power to change the lives of these individuals around. M.A.D.E is committed to making people’s lives better than ever! From Convict to Clean Chit You can’t save anyone who wouldn’t save themselves if you weren’t there! We all know the extreme environment Leon was brought up in. He got caught up in it, and as a result of some poor choices and terrible timing, he was convicted and sentenced to 12 to 20 years in prison for drugs and gun charges. He served 7 years of his sentence after a drug law had changed in the state of Michigan. Abdullah’s focus shifted toward making a name for himself and working for the betterment of his community. After he was freed from prison, the first thing he did was visit North Flint, his old neighborhood. He made many investments in properties that he believed had strong financial potential and at the same time, held special significance for him. From here, The MADE Institute’s unofficial history began. Leon trained folks who had just been released from prison how to rehabilitate their houses, live better lives, and become productive members of society. What the MADE Institute Has in Store? The Government established community development centers do not offer as many facilities and programming that particularly focus on those who have been impacted by the war on drugs and the school-to-prison pipeline as M.A.D.E does. From offering workforce development and helping individuals learn new skills to providing transitional housing, the organization is fighting to better the lives of individuals. In addition to these skills, urban farming, financial literacy, required mentoring, job readiness with opportunities, health and wellness, research, technology, and advocacy are all undertaken by them. They aim at the holistic development of an individual to ensure that they are ready to stay away from a life of crime. The most popular course offered by M.A.D.E is their Life Skills program, a 10-phase program that lasts for 12-14 weeks. It aims to aid an individual to grow in all aspects of life. The course can be undertaken by people from all walks of life as there is no age restriction in place. It teaches students how to dress for work, how to construct a cover letter and resume, and how