Abiola Abrams is a first generation Guyanese-American author, columnist, speaker, filmmaker and multimedia personality who was raised in New York City. Also a certified wellness coach, Abiola gives heartfelt, no-nonsense, stigma-free advice on self-esteem and self-worth, body image issues, healthy relationships, mental health, sexual health, and how to live with verve.
The first person in her Guyanese family born in the U.S., Abrams was bullied in her African American neighbourhood for being “the wrong kind of black” while attending a prestigious all-girls prep school as a child and teenager. Today, she accords her unique perspective on culture, community, empowerment and identity to this rich, albeit conflicted, background.
On her Facebook page she describes herself as a “New Yorker daughter of Guyanese parents, and professional big mouthed goddess! I came to this planet to share the secrets of living with more passion and zest than you ever thought possible. For the past 10 years my work has been about women getting to be who we really are. Let’s do it. Life is not a passive experience. It’s a passionate experience!”
Abrams writes books, blogs and columns, and broadcasts TV and web shows about love, lifestyle and pop culture. Current projects include: BBC Radio Entertainment correspondent reporting on celebrity news and relationships, MTV teen dating empowerment coach on the reality series “Made,” blogger and editor on her lifestyle site “Abiola’s Passionista Playbook,” and host/producer of her own award-winning web series and advice blogs.
Abiola’s book, “The Passionista Playbook for Rockstar Living”, is part humorous memoir, part fun handbook, about living with passion. “Dare” (Simon & Schuster), a hip hop love story; Abiola’s popular debut novel was taught at Amherst College, and her essays have been published in anthologies such as ‘Behind the Bedroom Door’, ‘Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopaedia of Sex, and ‘A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer’.
In the past, Abiola has hosted TV shows like BET’s “The Best Shorts,” HBO’s “The Buzz” and NBC’s “Source: All Access,” starred as “Miss Picky” on VH1 reality series “Tough Love” and appears as a pop culture talking head on networks like FOX. Recent press includes being interviewed for a feature in Essence Magazine, being quoted in The New York Times about Fashion Week and talking about the Person of the Year on The Judith Regan Show on Sirius XM Radio. Abiola has written for and been written about in publications from Gawker and Jezebel to Paper Magazine and Self.
