A Beautiful Gathering of Visionaries: The 2025 Creators Luncheon in Atlanta
Atlanta has always had a rhythm of its own, a place where creativity doesn’t just exist, it breathes. So gathering in this city, among women who are shaping culture through beauty, media, storytelling, wellness, and innovation, felt like a homecoming.
On a warm afternoon at The Gathering Spot, we hosted our Creators Luncheon, a space for rest, celebration, and truth-telling. No pretense. No performance. Just Black women being brilliant, soft, honest, and electric in a room that felt like it was holding all of us up.
We opened the luncheon honoring five women whose work has quietly — and sometimes loudly — shifted how we see ourselves and how we see possibility:
Imani Ellis, Mattie James, Leah Jones, Morgan Murray, and Ariane Ellsberry.
There was something deeply grounding about the way they shared. Not just the highlight reel — but the becoming. The in-between chapters that don’t normally get applauded. They spoke about rebuilding, redefining success, protecting mental wellness, and being called into new purpose. They didn’t pour into us from a stage — they poured into us from experience. And the room felt that. You could see women leaning in, taking notes, nodding, holding their chest the way we do when something hits the heart before it hits the head.
Honoring the Next Generation
One of the most meaningful moments of the afternoon was celebrating our 2025 Bold Futures Scholarship recipients, Chyna Beale and Madison Mobley, both students at Spelman College. Watching them stand in that room — surrounded by women who are building legacies in real time — felt like witnessing the future step forward. They are young, brilliant, intentional, and already carving pathways of their own.
We didn’t just clap for them.
We affirmed them.
We saw them.
We reminded them that their dreams are not too big, their voice is not too early, and they are entering a lineage of women who create culture, carve space, and make room.
The Season of Pivot
Later, Brandi Harvey guided a conversation that felt like sitting in your sister’s living room. She didn’t just moderate — she held the room. There was clarity in her voice, assurance in her posture, and a deep spiritual knowing in the way she allowed conversation to unfold.
She spoke with Kay Williams, Dayna Bolden, Tanika Gray Valburn, and Yunice Elir — women who understand what it means to pivot not because you planned to, but because life called you to. They talked about releasing identities that no longer fit. About rebuilding when the world shifts beneath your feet.
About courage. About faith. About letting joy return on its own timeline.
The Table
If you’ve ever been to The Gathering Spot, you know it’s more than a venue, it’s an ecosystem. Lunch was intentionally curated: warm dishes, fresh plates, a setting that allowed conversation to stretch without rush. People weren’t simply eating; they were connecting.
And because celebration is incomplete without a toast, we were graciously hosted by Crown Royal Peach at the bar, a sweet, southern nod to Atlanta itself. The Royal Peach Fizz and Royal Peach Tea were the favorites of the afternoon , bright, refreshing, smooth in a way that made conversations linger a little longer, laughs fall a little louder.
Try them:
The Room
The room was full of women who are building life on their own terms. Creators. Founders. Corporate leaders. Women in transition. Women rising. Women remembering themselves.
What Happened in Atlanta Was More Than a Luncheon
It was a reminder that our stories matter.
That our paths are worthy.
That our gifts are necessary.
And that when Black women gather, something sacred happens.
We left full — not just from the food and cocktails — but because the room reflected back a simple truth:
We are the culture.
We are the moment.
And this season is ours to step into — fully.
Atlanta, thank you.
We’ll be back soon. ✨