This portion of my blog is featured young black talent. Entrepreneurs, MUA's, barbers, youtubers, singers or rappers, photographers, you name it. This is here to spread the love and spotlight all black talent period! If you're interested in being featured, don't hesitate to contact me.
May
This week's first feature is Sydney Walker aka Sydthekid aka Sydwiththecam.
She is a UL Alumna, New Orleans Native, and a GREAT photographer. Here is her info, and please go check out her page. Twitter: @thesjwalker
June
Devin Espadron and Danion Green: Element Drink Company
Are you in YOUR Element?
It's going to be a hot summer! But if you live in Louisiana, you know hot is an understatement. It'd be really ideal to stay inside and soak up the oh-so convenient air condition..but sadly the majority of us don't have that luxury. Most of us are working, going to school, on the move everyday, or all of these! So what do you do when you exasperated and need something to quench your thirst. Ladies, what happens when your trade said he was going to take you on a snowball and crawfish date.. but last minute he cancels on you. Fellas, what ARE you going to grab to rejuvenate yourself after balling at the gym. It's simple. Get in your Element.
I was first introduced to Element at school. A good friend of mine was raving about this fairly new drink and swore up and down we needed to get on it. Now it was a cute drink, but I'm like, "Do I really want to try this." You know how black people always trying to get you to buy something. Anyway about a week later, I bought an Element drink. It was really good. Like, your grandma whipped it up in the kitchen and put it in a pitcher good. I know yall know what I'm talking about. A week later, I put my cousin on, and she put some friends on.
So I was very curious about this drink company. Especially since the founder of the companies were black and from New Orleans. I was wondering what inspired them and how this went from fiction to facts. So here's what you need to know about Element.
Devin Espadron, a New Orleans native, founded Element in 2016. He recalls it being a very hot summer, and he was at his dad's auto shop. Devin who was quite crafty, scanned the room looking for creative outlet. He wanted to create something but he didn't know what or where to start. His eyes then focused on the vending machine. Devin thought, "What about lemonade?" From there, Devin began experimenting and making various forms of lemonades. Through trial and error, he quickly realized just lemonade wasn't going to do it. He then added pineapples to his concoction. He was inspired to add pineapples because he said that his grandmother used them in EVERYTHING. From that point, he really began to focus on developing the brand Element. The rest is now history.
By this point, Danion Green, had partnered up with Devin. Danion, is Devin's friend from St. Aug. The two begin taking entrepreneur classes, and Danion began pushing Devin. He really believed in this dream and knew the company could be a success. The duo hit the lab and began sampling and trying different layouts and designs for the bottles. Then in 2017, Element became available in We Dat. As We Dat expanded, so did Element. The rest has been up since there. Element can now be found at locations such as Caseco's Market, Morrows, Lava Supermarket, Miracles to Go, and so many more places. In July, the drinks will be available in the airport and various Brother's Chicken locations. Who would have thought right?
"The team works very hard. We do everything from scratch, such as: capping the bottles, making the drinks, and much more. We want others to know you can do anything and everything you want to do as long as you have a plan," says Trenton "TK" King, who is the Vice President of Element drink company.
Check out the photos below of the team, drinks, and location where you can find Element:
