Kokayi Issa

Director of Less Talk More Walk LLC

Angie Tvarozek is an editor by day and electronica producer by night otherwise known as MerlinBerlin. Born in DC and raised in PG County, Angie LOVES food, gassing up her friends, the color black, being Black, hockey, and her two kitties: Kaiju and Gypsy Danger ("G," for short). Feel free to stop and say "heyyyy" if you see her twerking on a handstand during a trance set at Echostage.

 

Angie's favorite "Memoirs of a Shoppe Gal" chapters:

"My First Tattoo," "Ambition Looks Good on Me,"

and "Ittari Kitari Escapism"

Lead with Your Heart & Let Logic Follow

It's the Shoppe Gal Way

I feel validated as a black woman who has often been in male-dominated spaces who has had to make her own path toward success. Imani describes so many experiences that many women, especially black women and women of color, go through internally or externally. There were many passages I wanted to highlight, so many phrases where I audibly said, "Yasss!" It was powerful at points, funny in others. But it felt like it was coming from someone like me.

Imani's memoir was a fun read for me. I didnt want to stop! Not only did I learn so much about my friend, but I felt like I could connect to her even more through reading about her life and her journey as an artist. She's always been an inspiration for me but now that has grown tenfold after reading. Reading this made me want to awake the shoppe gal in me and take my world by storm.

Foreword by Miya Bailey