PEPPER Magazine

2024 Trailblazer Award recipient K. Day Gomez of PEPPER Magazine

press.The 2024 Trailblazer Awards Texas Minority Fashion WeekSan Antonio, Texas As shared by PEPPER CEO & editor in chief, @kathleen.day.official :“I am honored beyond measure to announce that I have been named as a recipient of an illustrious Trailblazer Award for this year’s awards ceremony and event which takes place on September 14 during Minority Fashion Week.@txminorityfashionweek :“Fashion Artist of the Year Kat Day Gomez, 2024Congratulations are in order. The committee members of Texas Minority Fashion Week are proud to announce your selection as one of the 2024 Texas Trailblazer Awards Recipients.”I can’t easily express how much this means to me as an intersectional member of the LGBTQIA community and neurodivergent community. To be recognized among my industry peers for the hard work, dedication, passion and commitment to our communities (and to humanity as a whole) through our creative endeavors is a literal LONG TIME dream come true. Thank you to the board members, to founder Laverne Witherspoon @witherspoon.laverne for seeing the value and understanding the mission of my work through PEPPER Magazine and my other creative endeavors as a multidisciplinary artist @artist.kday , and most humble thanks to my dear friend and sister in heart, Miss Kirsten Thompson @kiri_elle_tee —who has believed in and championed me throughout the years without fail, and without whom I’d probably have flown under the radar. My heart is full and overflowing.”—K. Day GomezThis is big things for PEPPER Magazine as well—keep an eye out as we share more great things from Texas Minority Fashion Week to come!PEPPER MagazineEst. 2022SA / TX / USSUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital :https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

2024 MXFFIN MAN Contest

It was such an honor to be a judge for the 2024 Mxffin Man @mxffinmanofficial contest from Lxve Mxffin @lxvemxffin at @maeve_satx this weekend.All of the gentleman who participated are noteworthy individuals with an eclectic mix of talents and interests, who really exemplify the best qualities of our community.The showcase was spectacular and every individual presented with courage and confidence.I’m proud to share this city with such commendable folks who really love what they do and care about the experience of others in their presence—and that’s what the MXFFIN MAN initiative is all about. Thank you so much to Darronnette Curtis @bigswxxty for involving me on behalf of PEPPER Magazine @hello.peppermagazine .I can’t wait to see what comes next!

local. Texas Fashion Industry Initiative Night of fashion at The Ranch Motel San Antonio, Texas As announced by @texasfashionindustry : “August 5th at @theranchmotel —an evening of fashion by @mollyxniko @shopchictique & @ragparlorvintage Ceviche and oysters served courtesy of Chef Robbie Nowlin. Cocktails provided by @casalumbrespirits .” PEPPER Magazine was on the scene, along with our own networking liaison and multimedia journalist, Texas Fashion Industry Award nominee for Influencer of the Year, Miss Anita Verga @anita_verga_ . Here’s CEO / editor in chief K. Day Gomez with an introduction for the great evening that unfolded… PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US

A full circle moment…

prodigy. How about an entirely FULL CIRCLE MOMENT with child artist @av_citrine !?! Viewing her 2022 PEPPER Magazine article against the backdrop of her gorgeous new work as she’s grown…[we’re not crying—you’re crying!] This is why we do what we do. “Art by Ariel V. (now 13 year old—visit us every Saturday 10-3.” Reach out to @av_citrine for location details. On Her Terms Child artist Ariel Villareal San Antonio, Texas Painter Ariel Villareal resides in San Antonio, Texas and already at just 11 years old, she sells her incredible paintings in her mom’s shop at the famous Victoria’s Black Swan Inn. Ariel tells us, “I was like 8 years old when I started painting. I used crayons, pencils and paints.” Read Ariel’s story in Vol. 1, no. 5—ALL issues are always available via the link in our bio. photojournalist @creative.consultant.kday PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

I’m telling you, this is one of my favorite places in San Antonio!You have to come check out this gorgeous dog-friendly accessible venue.As announced by @kikisonjones :“Kiki's Coffee & Spirits - the perfect venue for your next event! Our intimate and stylish environment promises to elevate any affair. Book now for an unforgettable occasion at www.kikisonjones.com”I just experienced my first Woman’s Wednesday and I’m completely in love with the concept.“LIVE. LAUGH. BE HOME BY 9Every Wednesday 6pm-9pm.A mid week gathering of female entrepreneurs focused on self care, empowerment and community at Kiki’s! Each Wednesday we will gather together to celebrate the highs, ruminate the lessons or simply exhale and support each other and laugh. Come for a chance to recharge, connect and prioritize your well being mid week with some delicious charcuterie and wine. Wrap it up & get to bed at a decent time. We work the next day!”RSVP https://www.kikisonjones.com/rsvpYou don’t want to miss out!

local.WOMAN’S WEDNESDAY featuring special guest K. Day Gomez of PEPPER Magazine at Kiki’s Coffee & SpiritsSan Antonio, Texas As announced by @kikisonjones :“𝓦𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷’𝓼 𝓦𝓮𝓭𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓭𝓪𝔂LIVE. LAUGH. BE HOME BY 9JUNE 26Happy Hour 5pm-7pmEvent: 6pm-9pmA mid week gathering of female entrepreneurs focused on self care, empowerment and community at Kiki’s! Each Wednesday we will gather together to celebrate the highs, ruminate the lessons or simply exhale and support each other and laugh. Come for a chance to recharge, connect and prioritize your well being mid week with some delicious charcuterie and wine. Wrap it up & get to bed at a decent time. We work the next day! RSVP :https://www.kikisonjones.com/rsvpThis week’s special guest! Come, meet & mingle with K.DAY GOMEZ @kathleen.day.official / PEPPER Magazine @hello.peppermagazine CEO & EDITOR IN CHIEF @creative.consultant.kday “We hope to see all of our women & femme identifying business professionals out there!PEPPER will have some freebeees going around.Don’t miss it!PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022SA / TX / USSUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital :https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

The making of our merch…

shop. PEPPER gear is here… • Totes $19.99 • Tees $29.99 [Available in black, white and blush pink.] DM @jag.enterprises to preorder. PEPPER Magazine has partnered with SA Imagine Print Designs @sa_imagineprintdesigns to bring you some long-awaited hot new merch. We’re supporting local small business & hope you will too. Keep an eye out for much more rad new swag AND our online shop which is currently in the works. Until then, hit us up for PREORDERS! PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

closeup. PEPPER Magazine x Pearl CoWork located at The Historic Pearl San Antonio, Texas PEPPER now has a secondary location thanks to @pearlcowork . CFO / CO Joe A. Gomez III @jag.enterprises has been working hard behind the scenes setting up workspace arrangements for our humanitarian-based project. This gorgeous space conveniently located in the prime location of the @historicpearl is a dream come true. Good things take time and we’re excited to share all the ways PEPPER is growing and improving. It is with our deepest gratitude for our readers, interview subjects and staff of contributors that we move into this next phase of growth. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Over-consumption PSA

disquiet. Over-Consumption PSA by Vinted As shared by @remakeourworld : “This is your sign to skip the Memorial Day sales and wear what you have! Such an interesting concept by @vinted . How would this change our relationship with what we buy and who we are? Find out by taking our 90-day summer leg of our #NoNewClothes challenge [link in the @remakeourworld bio].” Something to consider year round, though retail therapy can still be super helpful when you consider buying second hand, supporting sustainable and small business. Also consider shopping your closet by re-styling and even reworking the items you have on hand. Get creative and help the earth while you do it! PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Apple x PEPPER

closeup. Apple x PEPPER San Antonio, Texas We were stoked to have the Apple team walk us through gearing up for our PEPPER home office today. Our Chief Operating Officer & Marketing Director, Joe A. Gomez III also got a hands-on tutorial through VR with the Vision Pro and was absolutely blown away by the technology. The folks at Apple went above and beyond to help us modify and customize everything we needed. In the process over these months of coming to know what we do at PEPPER, they’ve become fans of our efforts. Something wonderful is brewing, and in the meantime, we look forward to this brave new era for our publishing firm. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US Keep an eye out for more announcements regularly! SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

The Red Room

fashion. Taking it back to a magical shoot from Vol. 1 by creative house, @currentlyglobal for PEPPER Magazine. HAVANAH photographer Elliot Carlyle of Current•ly Global & model Edwin Borquez Pierrot of Marilyn Model Management at Hotel Havana San Antonio, Texas You can find this visual feast of a fashion spread brought to you by the dynamic duo @elliotcarlyle & @edwinevangelistaofficial at @havanasanantonio in Vol. 1, no. 10—link in bio. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

PEPPER Cospace Office

closeup. PEPPER Magazine now has a co-space secondary location. CFO / COO Joe Gomez III has been working hard behind the scenes setting up workspace arrangements and funding for this humanitarian-based project. Good things take time and we’re excited to share all the ways PEPPER is growing and improving. It is with our deepest gratitude for our readers, interview subjects and staff of contributors that we move into this next phase of growth. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Close the Dream Gap

get involved. Close the Dream Gap! Worldwide “A powerful, thought-provoking campaign from #Barbie! The Dream Gap is the space in between young girls’ wildly imaginative ambition and their full potential—hindered not because they’re incapable, but by the society they grow up in. Conscious and unconscious biases try to water down their dreams early on, but the Barbie Dream Gap Project is on a mission to close the gap by challenging gender stereotypes and helping undo the biases that hold girls back. And while they’re driving awareness with this campaign, I think we all know it’s going to take an even bigger collective effort. We have a responsibility to close this gap for the next generation of girls—to nurture their #confidence, reinforce their abilities, and lift them up as dreamers and doers!” —Shared from @shelleyzalis [ @femalequotient & @barbie on @youtube ] As a neurodivergent woman-owned & led publishing firm, PEPPER Magazine is just one vehicle doing its part to close the dream gap. —CEO & editor in chief, @kathleen.day.official PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Dance Lessons BTS

closeup. Dance Lessons On set for a PEPPER Magazine culture shoot with Edwin Pierrot & Elliot Carlyle of the Currently Global creative team New Jersey As shared by @currentlyglobal : “MOVEMENT BTS of our latest editorial with @hello.peppermagazine feat. @the_diverse_effect for Vol. 2, No. 5 “Dance Lessons” photographer @edwinpierrotcreative journalist & editor @elliotcarlyle “ PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Earth Day 2024

get involved. Earth Day 2024 “We could bombard you with statistics, but there’s the internet for that. And you don’t need numbers to know that we’re in some serious peril. The publishing industry adds to so much of the world’s deforestation—and PEPPER Magazine refuses to be a part of that. One of the things we do that’s different is having chosen to make our magazines print-to-order; meaning they’re not printed until you order. We don’t do mass printing—at least not at this juncture. And in the future, when we do, we’ll continue to offer classes and workshops advocating for the reuse and recycling of our magazines via collage art, vision boards, and other artistic means. We know that ‘Earth Day’ is not just one day… It’s every day. This beautiful Earth—the difference that we can make is in the choices that we make right now. PEPPER Magazine is a collectible coffee table book. Collect us, create with us… Print wisely.” —CEO & editor in chief, K. Day Gomez @kathleen.day.official PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Cowboy Carter Celebrated Worldwide

culture. Beyoncé‘s Cowboy Carter album is a global sensation, and a cultural celebration of roots and intersectionality. If you don’t get the triumph in the anthropological and sociological bridges she’s building, you aren’t paying attention. As performed by @ghettokids_tfug : “This ain’t Texas ...This is Uganda 🖤 please Tag @beyonce should see this!” As a Texas-based global publication, PEPPER Magazine applauds the pathways Mrs. Knowles-Carter is paving here as the first Black woman to go No. 1 on Billboard’s top country album chart. Our current issue theme is “Flip the Script”, and Beyoncé is doing just that, on an entire genre and culture. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US Give these incredibly talented children a hand! TGK is an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) nonprofit with a mission of using music, dance & drama to help disadvantaged, street & orphaned children. [email protected] SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Protect Your Peace

psych. Protecting one’s peace vs. becoming reactionary. A message from cinematographer& storyteller @keeganjasper : “let things be _ 172 I was reminded recently to work on allowing the world to eb and flow while paying less attention to the noise. Because the only thing that really matters is your inner-peace to help block out the noise and distractions. Learning to think before you act seems difficult at times, but can save you from a lot of stress and drama that could’ve been prevented otherwise. Protect your peace.” Our mental health, our overall wellbeing is more important than our need to be right or understood. Food for thought on handling situations with others who have been dismissive, aloof, or toxic toward us. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Story time with Tom Hardy

get involved. Tom Hardy is everyone’s favorite storyteller, and it’s no wonder why. The award-winning actor has been reading bedtime stories to children (and to the inner children of us who sorely need it) for years. Always accompanied by a trusted K9 friend, his thoughtful offerings have a calming and healing effect. As shared by @tomhardyvariations : “Happy first week of April to you! With much gratitude to CBeebies, who shared the full story on their YouTube, please enjoy Tom’s very funny and wonderful reading of ‘I Am A Tiger’ by @karl_newson and illustrated by Ross Collins. This story is all about a little mouse, who thinks they’re a tiger. Tricking their friends into believing the same thing, this read-along shows it’s all about who we think we are, and not about what other people think of us. (Go to CBeebies YouTube to watch Tom on full screen. It’s worth it!)” Thank you, @tomhardy , for giving this kindness to the world. Of all the wonderful things you do and are, your story times are our very favorite. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US What are some ways you can help spread kindness or brighten someone’s day in your own community? Share your best ideas in the comments. SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Alora Farm GARDEN

get involved. Alora Farm nonprofit Lakehills, Texas Alora’s Mission is to Provide Safe, Modern, Farm and Wellness Centers for Neurodivergent (Autistic) Teens and Adults to Live and Work. • Modernizing Quality of Life For Autists While Healing Our Planet • Alora is a female-led registered Texas nonprofit that is a soul-centered alternative to the current day activity and group home model and provides jobs to meet the challenge of under and unemployment in the autism community in Texas. “I had a wonderful experience volunteering as a mentor at the @alora.farm garden (for autistic teens and adults). I sit on the Advisory Board, and I’m hoping to regularly capture content, mentor and receive benefits of the garden respite myself. Next time I will need to capture the chickens and goats again. The garden is still in its beginning stages and very wild, so much of our time was spent pulling weeds and readying the raised beds for new vegetable plants and flowers. Our founder, @ava.dharma, has planted most of the current produce herself. If you are in the Lakehills area or adjacent and are interested in volunteering or donating (money or materials) please don’t hesitate to reach out and inquire via the Alora website : www.alorafarm.org .” —PEPPER Magazine CEO & editor in chief, @kathleen.day.official Creative Consultant K.Day PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe

Does Creativity Matter?

culture. Does Creativity Matter? a dissertation by actor Ethan Hawke with thought essay by Adam Roa @adam.roa : “It’s always amazed me at how hard it is to “sell” creativity. Sure, people will buy art. They’ll pay for music or movies or paintings. But most people don’t invest in their own creativity. That baffles me. Because your creativity is the key to everything you want. I’m not kidding. I’m saying that as someone who grew up thinking I wasn’t creative. I thought I was the analytical, logical minded one of my family. But that’s because I didn’t understand creativity. I didn’t understand the value of the creative process. I didn’t realize that EVERYONE is creative, they simply needed to nurture it. And because I didn’t know these things, how could I know how important it was? Look at me now, with a brand that is known for creativity. Traveling the world sharing my art. Making a living from sharing my truth. Helping millions of people through creative expression. This is the power of unlocking your creativity. Something that you can do for FREE. And it’s one of the most valuable investments you can ever make. Speaker: @ethanhawke “ Share your own thoughts about the importance of creativity in your life or in the broader sense in the comments below. PEPPER Magazine Est. 2022 SA / TX / US SUBSCRIBE to PEPPER digital : https://issuu.com/store/publishers/artist.katday/subscribe