BOLD & SAVVY Magazine November-December 2016 | Page 13

Her Style : Adrienne & Brittany , Fashion Editors She is comfortable in her skin . Leslie Jones is a dark skinned woman , who has embraced her beauty , skin tone and isn ’ t afraid of being the center of attention .

Her electric smile radiates any room . Leslie ’ s smile indicates that she is confident for who she is .
Her fashion style is daring . She ’ s not shy about trying styles and / or colors that others may feel are not complimentary to her height or skin tone . She can wear a fire red or burnt orange and slay !
Trend setter . She is becoming the face of the black woman . Her daring style of clothing and choice of hairstyles are admired and duplicated by others . Captivating eyes . Leslie ’ s eyes are mysterious , seductive and inviting . Her eyes speak of independence and creativity .
Wrapping It Up Leslie Jones , The Actor : Carol C . Bailey , Editor According to imdb . com , Leslie became the oldest person , at age 47 , to join the cast of the iconic show , Saturday Night Live ( SNL )! Did you know that ? This is huge because these shows tend to skew towards adding more youthful players .
I remember the first time I saw Leslie Jones performing ; she was on BET ’ s Comic View . She was not only hilarious but she drew one ’ s attention because she was statuesque . She commanded attention , standing at six feet , and her material was just rolling off of her tongue . You could tell that she had prepared her material well and most of all that she was having a good time .
Leslie did not start out as a performer . Since her father was in the military it meant that her family moved a lot and lived in many different cities . As a college student , she changed her major several times as she was deciding which career path to take . her college friends signed her up for the “ Funniest Person On Campus ” contest .
Let ’ s just say that the acting bug bit Leslie . She left college and began performing in clubs . Success did not come overnight so she worked at both Roscoe ’ s Chicken and Waffles and United Parcel Services ( UPS ) to get by .
Leslie showed resilience in pursuing her career . Even with unfavorable reviews she never gave up . In fact , she moved to New York City to further work on her craft . However , the reviews were not getting any better so she decided to take some time off . She stopped performing for the next three years .
Her return to performing took an exciting turn . Saturday Night Live held a casting call as they were looking to add at least one African American woman to the show . Leslie Jones auditioned and was hired as a writer . She continued to hone her craft and was promoted to the cast as a featured player .
She has placed no limits on what she is able to do as can be seen in her role in the recent reboot of the Ghostbusters move . A more vivid example shone forth during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil . Leslie live-tweeted her take on the games and even showed videos of her reactions . This caught the attention of a friend of an NBC Executive who promptly invited her to join the team covering the Olympics . She accepted the invitation , flew to Rio and covered several events .
As you have read , Leslie Jones is a hard worker who is dedicated to career . She stands out , not because of her height , but because of her resilience in pursuit of her passion no matter how long it takes .
I am encouraged to keep pressing towards the goals set before me and I hope you are too .
With her impressive height , she considered playing basketball overseas , because the Women ’ s National Basketball Association was not in existence in the USA at the time .
One of her plans during college was to become a lawyer , among other things . She did settle on pursuing a degree in communications . It was during this time that
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