Patrice Grell Yursik: On Becoming Afrobella, Understanding Authentic Influence and Embracing Evolution

Patrice Yursik was already a pint-size beauty aficionado at 8-years-old when she worked at a boutique in her native Trinidad. But writing also called her and eventually she was able to merge her two interests when she launched one of the first natural hair beauty blogs, Afrobella, in 2006. Patrice explains how she not only learned tech to build her blog but how she built a community pre-Twitter and IG.

Patrice explains how she leveraged the business opportunities that came her way, and how she felt about the changes in the industry once influencers became the preference. She points out the difference between having influence and being a photo-a-day influencer, why boundaries became essential for her and how she has chosen to evolve both herself and her brand. She shares how she is back to writing for media outlets like Zora, Food & Wine, and Reader's Digest, as well as why she launched her own copywriting business.