DEANNA BOBBI, Founder of The Pretty Girls Guide

What empowers you?

A fully checked off check list. Does that make sense? Like knowing that I have completely killed the to do list empowers me to do more. If it's not that however its knowing that I have the power to directly effect change and influence women of color to believe in themselves, their beauty and their ability to be more than they were yesterday. Having the ability to help other women know and believe they matter empowers me.

Who inspires you? 

Honestly I have to say other strong women inspire me, those that I can look to for direction and guidance. The first person that comes to mind is Ty or Gorgeous In Grey. She's done so much in her time in the industry and really inspires me to push for more. Other than that-- it may sound funny but, the women I hope to inspire actually inspire me. I just remember when I could have used motivation and a helpful word or just someone I felt like I could relate to and didn't have it...I want to be the person I was looking for to other women so they never feel like they have to go without.

What was your initial reason for getting into the industry you're in now? 

I sort of stumbled into youtube and blogging. My first ever youtube video was actually a response video to something someone had posted about dating while black/black women years ago. It was literally all trash that the guy was saying and I felt compelled to give my thoughts and defend women of color. The video go a lot more traction than I expected and i think thats when I realized, 1- I had good ideas and 2- that representation and and positive voices matter. From that point on I was hooked on sharing my real life experiences to educate and inspire others on all types of topics.

What do you love most about Baltimore?

Oh that's easy, I love that Baltimore feels like home. Everyone says it's a small city and it really is, depending on your community everyone is pretty much only one degree of separation lol. Everyone knows someone that knows your or is your cousin etc. I love that it feels so familiar.

What was your favorite song to listen to on set of the photo shoot?

DRAKE, DRAKE AND MORE DRAKE! I even requested it for this shoot lol I feel like in every Drake song I can find some parts of me. No matter which song it is, it gets me in a mood where I can relax, loosen up, be silly or become some alter ego and just really serve it up in the shoot. One way or another you will see my personality come out.

What's your ultimate goal career wise?

Gosh, ya know i'm really still sorting that all out. At one point I wanted to be on a talk show-- which I don't think is out the window. But as long as im still sharing my truth, helping women not feel alone and inspiring them to be great ill be happy. So for now let say i'll be doing some sort of consulting, mentoring and "blogging" in some capacity.

What do you want your legacy to be?

Ya'll are really coming with the questions. I want to make the world a better place (pageant answer) for women of color, no matter how small my impact may seem overall as long as I have touched someone, inspired them, made them believe in their beauty on the inside and out, helped guide them, helped pull them out of a dark place or hell just even made them laugh.