Sade Parham is from Brooklyn and currently lives in Oakland California working at Facebook. On the side, Sade has a weekly podcast called Black Girls Texting. To Sade, self love is the epitome of being powerful. This story was submitted in collaboration with ENVSN.

What did you study in school and why?

 I studied at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. I chose Trinity because I wanted a liberal arts education and a small school environment. I also liked the balanced energy of a work hard and play hard school.

What is your job/career?

I currently work at Facebook as an E-commerce manager and have had a career in retail, specifically in the digital space for the past 5 years.

What is a challenge you have faced or currently face and how are you overcoming it?

I moved to California last year for a new role, and it was an extremely challenging transition in my life. I didn’t know many people and found myself feeling lost and confused about the decision I made to move. I am in a much better place and to overcome that obstacle I leaned on my group chat and my girls from our podcast Black Girls Texting. Our weekly recordings were like therapy for me and allowed me to open up and share my feelings with my friends and it was through that process that I realized how important a strong friend group can be.

What does it mean for you to be powerful?

I believe power lives within everyone and to be powerful you truly need to believe in yourself and to love yourself. Self love is the epitome of being powerful.

Do you have a favorite product or item you love that makes you feel great?

I absolutely love Kiehls Midnight Recovery Oil. I use it everyday and it makes me feel so good to take care of my skin and have that product in my routine.

What are your passions, hobbies, interests?

I am very passionate about learning different languages, I am a bit of a language nerd. I think it stemmed from me being a nosey child, but it has grown to a love for travel and culture. My new language venture is French and it is a lot harder than I thought.

Is there anything else you would like to share?

I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you all to check out our podcast Black Girls Texting! We are a weekly podcast that covers everything from dating, to career advice and so much more so please check us out!