【推荐1】Fisayo Longe started her fashion label Kai Collective to celebrate all female forms—not just the western idea of beauty. “I feel my clothes transform you into a woman who is more confident,” says Longe.

Born in London and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, before returning to the UK when she was 15, Longe’s original outlet for her love of fashion was her blog Mirror Me. Having a passion for travel, Longe would pick up fabrics from the countries she visited and make clothes for herself, which she posted on social media. As her creations started to become a hit, the seed for her own brand was planted.

“I wanted something I could put 100% of my creativity into, something that belonged to me and women like me,” explains the business owner, who recalls going into a high street store and the jeans not fitting her body very well.

Longe says, “I’ve always wanted to build that kind of community of women because, having grown up in Nigeria, I feel some women are made to feel they have to dim (使暗淡)their light—we don’t realize our power. Things are all centred around men and marriage. I want to build a community that focuses on ourselves and our confidence.”

With no formal fashion training, Longe set up Kai Collective four years ago with money borrowed from her mum. Longe is the first to admit she was rather “naive” when she started, giving an example of heading to Turkey with her mother to find a company to produce her designs. “That’s not the way to find producers,” she says. “It’s much better to go to trade shows.”

But whatever she’s doing, it’s obviously working, with the brand featured in an Elle magazine cover shoot with the model Adwoa Aboah, as well as in Beyonce’s black-owned businesses list.

【推荐3】I went nose-to-nose with a mouse last week, and I’d rather not say who won.

I was taking a meal to a friend recovering from an operation when my cell rang.

“There’s a dilemma,” she said, “and it involves you. My cat found a mouse and I don’t know how you feel about cats with mice, although I have the impression you are afraid of bugs.”

“Your impression is wrong,” I said. “Bugs are afraid of me. And I will get the mouse, but there may be screaming.”

The mouse was under the fridge when I arrived. The cat was standing guard, slowly swishing its tail. I tried to put a broom handle beneath the fridge to force the mouse out, but it didn’t. My friend pulled up chair at the table and I pulled chair beside the fridge, armed with a plastic box as my trap.

It was a good plan, but like most plans, it didn’t go according to plan.

As we were chatting, the mouse came out. I slammed the box down, closed my eyes and internalized a scream. However, the only thing inside the box was the mouse’s tail, still connected to the mouse, which was now spinning its little legs in an attempt to escape. More internal(体内的)screaming. The cat just sat.

Meanwhile, I had the impression my friend was going soft on the mouse. “Don’t you dare name it,” I said. “Once you name it, this is over.” The mouse climbed up on the broom handle I’d used earlier, and we were now eyeball to eyeball. If I’d wanted to-and I didn’t-I could have caught it with my teeth.

My friend handed me another box. I lowered box two over the mouse’s body, still on the broom handle, with his tail still in box one. Despite my two-box move, the mouse escaped and ran back under the fridge.

I told my friend to leave the kitchen light on and maybe the mouse would stay under the fridge and not wander into her bedroom at night.

Shortly after I left, she found the mouse. It was in her bedroom bathed in a patch of sunlight. The cat was sitting next to the mouse, soaking up the rays as well. She said they were a cute couple. Learning from my mistakes, she got a box-and a lid(盖子)-and said the mouse almost jumped in the box and help her close the lid. She threw him into a field.

His name is SHAME.

【推荐2】I became aware of my stutter (结巴) when I was around 9, in the fourth grade. I began to see how other people viewed me. When the teacher asked the whole class questions, I never raised my hand though I knew the answer, because I knew I would stutter. Some kids would tell me that I talked funny, ask why I didn't talk normally, or laugh at me. As soon as that started to happen, I became more introverted (内向的).

It wasn't until the summer of 2015, before freshman year at high school. All my friends and my parents encouraged me to join the high school football team. I owed much to them, especially Coach Lane who taught me how to play football. He took the time-and had the patience-to actually teach me what to do, how to do it and how to understand the concepts of play.

In junior year, I started my first game for the high school team. I had a very good season and in January 2018, I signed the University of North Carolina. The older we get, the more of an understanding we have about the world and other people. So the first time my teammates in college heard me talk and heard that I stuttered, they did not say a thing. That was a big deal to me because I was so used to people making comments. My teammates actually tell me to slow down because talking faster causes me to stutter more. It's really helped me develop confidence.

Whenever I go back home to Georgia, I volunteer with children at my church, including those who have learning disabilities. I like to do that to inspire them with confidence. I had confidence issues when I was a kid because of my stutter, so I just don't want them to have to go through what I did. In the future, I would like to start a foundation to give back to people who stutter and create a program where kids all across the world who have a stutter can have a safe space.