Sheilah Vance

I and my multimedia company, The Elevator Group, kicked off a collaboration with Moxie Women Enterprises and Blondell Reynolds-Brown, former 5-term Philadelphia City Councilwoman At-Large, at the Madam C. J. Walker Luncheon, National Coalition of 100 Black Women (NCBW), in Philadelphia a few weeks ago.

Over 800 people attended this annual luncheon that was sponsored by an organiztion that I belonged to for over 20 years when I lived in Philadelphia.

Blondell and I teamed up to promote our new books, mine–http://www.thresholdtovalleyforge.com, which came out in Feb. 2025, and Blondell’s–Walking a Tightrope Backwards, In Heels, which is coming out later this summer. We’ve been good friends for some 40 years (hard to believe it’s been that long!), a friendship which began when we were part of the same political organization. We have walked though life together, facing the ups and downs, and always having each other’s backs.

Blondell’s book is a memoir and leadership lesson about her five terms as a Philadelphia City Councilwoman at large–the ups and the downs, the good and the bad, the outstanding accomplishements, and the times when she fell short of her goals. One constant in all of her life is that she kept moving forward with faith in God, friends, family, and a plan on how to achieve her goals. I was honored to be asked to write the foreword for her book, which I hope helps people know the awesome woman I am proud to call my friend.

We decided to pair up and go out on book talks together to empower, educate, and enlighten the community through our books and our companies. We kicked off this collaboration as vendors at the luncheon. It was great to see so many of the friends that we have made over these many years and to feel their encouragement for our efforts. See our collaboration flyer announcement.

One of the things we are going to do is The Coffee Shop Tour, where we meet people in the neighborhoods where they are and where they feel comfortable. Some of the topics I will be speaking on are How to Write Your Book, book publishing, and related to America250: African Americans in the Revolutionary War and the Philadelphia Campaign of the Revolutionary War. Blondell will be speaking on Leadership, Politics, Advancing Women, Mentorship, and America250: Herself as Living History.

We are booking now for 2025 and 2026. Contact me at svanceauthor@gmail.com and Blondell at moxiewomenenterprises@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you soon!