Essence Fest 2026 Recap As a Speaker And How to Become One

Zaakirah recaps her third Essence Festival experience — this time as a speaker across three different platforms. She breaks down how she landed the opportunity, what she covered on each stage, and gives a full budget-friendly itinerary for anyone planning their own Essence Fest trip. In this episode: 0:00 – Intro: Who is Zaakirah & what See Life Different is about 0:42 – Overview: Speaking on 3 stages at Essence Fest 2026 0:58 – Zaakirah's backstory: childhood eye cancer, vision/hearing loss, and her Essence Fest history (2016 → 2024 → 2026) 1:27 – History of Essence Festival & the Essence magazine legacy 1:49 – How she got the opportunity: shoutout to New Voices Family (PACE program) 2:50 – Winning the New Voices Excellence Award 3:13 – Setting intentions to be part of Essence Fest 3:53 – Speaking opportunity #1: Moderating the "Reimagining Inclusion" panel 4:42 – Speaking opportunity #2: Wellness talking circles with Refinery29's Unbothered & Well 5:53 – Speaking opportunity #3: New Voices community programming 8:31 – Gifting & networking with fellow entrepreneurs 8:07 – Beautycon lines & wristband access tips 8:31 – Concert Floor seats: Brandy & Monica, T.I.,  10:24 – Why accessibility (captions, sign language interpreters, wheelchair access) matters at events 12:39 – How to work with Zaakirah as your brand/accessibility strategist 14:13 – Budget travel breakdown: hostels, flights, the airport express bus 17:12 – Planning your itinerary using the Essence Fest app 18:34 – Friday: off-site events, Sprout Social meetup, Sister Song concert 20:19 – Meeting Lachi for Zaakirah's upcoming documentary project 23:11 – Catching a live podcast taping of Because We Feud 24:17 – Friday night networking dinner & prepping for speaking day 24:36 – Food recap: Daily Beets, True Food Kitchen, Cafe du Monde, po'boys & more 26:13 – Sunday: exploring the DMV community presence & Baltimore mayor session at convention center 27:14 – Fun fact: descendant of Frederick Douglass via Stephen Bailey 27:36 – Mario Performance at the Coca-Cola stage 28:41 – Touring Black New Orleans & the Ninth Ward 29:20 – Recap & what's next: goals for the next Essence Fest 29:48 – Outro & how to connect with Zaakirah Connect with Zaakirah: 🌐 Website: https://zaakirahnayyar.com 📱 All social links: https://zaakirahnayyar.com/social Learn more about New Voices Family: https://www.newvoices.family/ https://smart.bio/newvoicesfamily/