Introducing The Next Generation Of Leaders And Thinkers

Meet Kayla Newman — The Girl Who Should Be Paid For Creating “Fleek”

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]leek. We’ve seen & heard it everywhere – from being plastered on corny T-shirts from Forever 21, to making room for the phrase on popular rap songs (ie, Feeling Myself by Nicki Minaj). But behind the scenes, people haven’t seemed to notice the lack of recognition the creator gets for creating the term.

Meet Kayla Newman – the 18-year-old Chicago native who first coined the term in a popular vine back in 2014. Since then, her phrase appeared on popular songs to even celebrities using the word. All of this, and she still hasn’t received any compensation for her work. “I believe I should’ve been compensated, or at least gotten recognition for the phrase”, she says. “I feel great about the movement I have created because it’s been positive and influential to many people”

“I believe I should’ve been compensated, or at least gotten recognition for the phrase”, she says. “I feel great about the movement I have created because it’s been positive and influential to many people” 

It’s hard to understand how someone as influential as Kayla hasn’t been in the spotlight. The mediocre meme of “Damn Daniel”, in 2016, was so popular that the people who created the joke landed a seat on the Ellen show, along with a feature on Youtube Rewind. This is clearly the result of the lack of recognition black women receive for their work.

Newman is currently working on opening a cosmetics line, “My makeup line would be different as it’ll cater to all skin types – I plan on having a range of eyeshadows & eyebrow pencils since that is the main target, but I plan on including foundation soon enough”, she says. “I feel great about the movement I have created because it’s been positive and influential, I didn’t expect the word to be so pervasive at all!”

She has a GoFundMe page for raising money towards launching her new cosmetics line. Be sure to share it on social media to give her the spotlight she deserves!

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