“She looks like me, therefore I can be” one of the quotes that represents color herstory.

Simone Hufana is a Bay Area native with a very diverse background. During her time in the Business Academy at San Leandro High School. She created “Color Herstory” which is a coloring book that educates and focuses on powerful and influential women of color. It really makes you wonder why there hasn’t been a coloring book like this before.

Simone has seen some great success with her creation. She participated in NFTE's Entrepreneurship 2 National Business plan competition. She won the regional competition in the Bay Area and went on to be chosen to compete in New York City! winning $10k in seed funding for her business Color Herstory.

Simone Hufana is in First place! Read the interview below to learn more about her story!

Introduce yourself

Student. Creator. Vessel. Homegirl. Sister. Peace y’all my name is Simone Hufana and I’m born and raised on Ohlone land, also known as East Oakland, California. I am the creator of the world's first coloring book based on influential Black, Indigenous, Women of Color, Color Herstory. Alongside running my small business I am involved in community efforts and dance hula as well.

How was it like growing up in the bay area?

Liberating, to say the least. To be born into a community with roots as rich as the Bay Area is a privilege. Not to mention being so near to the ocean and having sun year-round, I feel like after growing up here its a necessity for me to be in proximity to a natural flowing body of water!

Growing up in Oakland we had no choice to be exposed to firsthand injustice like some folks read about it in the news but as folks of color, we live it in the neighborhood. In contrast, there is so much love and grace that our communities hold as well. Its what sustains us and has shown me what love as a verb looks like. Its communal, its Black, Brown, and Indigenous.

Do you think you would be doing what you are doing if you didn't grow up in the bay area?

I can’t confidently say that I would be the young woman I am today pursuing the work/crafts that I do if it wasn’t for the influence of my environment. I’ve done a fair amount of travel in my life and there is truly nowhere like the Bay, my heart will always be here.

So as for your story, where did it all begin when you started “Color Her story”

I was 16 years old in high school with my journal scribbled with dreams and ideas. At the time I was a part of my school's academy of business and finance, so by then, I had already learned some of the essential building blocks to start a business and write an entire 20-page business plan. Although the business plan I had written was simply an idea with no real passion behind it, I had proved to myself at that point that I have what it takes to start a business. I continued to write down ideas and do a little bit of soul searching at the time- trying to figure out what lights my heart on fire and what kind of impact I wanted to make in the world. One day after school while babysitting my 3-year-old sister at the time, I was watching her color in a coloring book while I was journaling on the couch. I began to brainstorm a coloring book idea but was trying to figure out how I could make mine unique and different from everything else I had seen. Through this process, I had understood that it was a social change that I was most passionate about when it came to my personal passions/drives. Ran the idea by close friends and family and added elements to it to finally come up with the concept of my book. It’s funny because I actually sat on the idea for an entire year because I lacked a lot of confidence in the idea and thought people would see it as silly and stupid. It was only until a year later, at 17 years old, while entering and winning Marshawn Lynch and Shopify’s Beastmode a Business competition, that Color Herstory was born. Through the competition, I was awarded resources and mentors that greatly helped me jump-start my business. I’ve been nurturing it ever since, and it has grown with me through my young womanhood.

Did you have any roadblocks or artist blocks for when you started?

Hell yeah, I still do. Impostor syndrome is a big reason why it took me so long to take off running with Color Herstory. I still struggle with it while my business grows and I enter more business spaces, especially ones that are predominantly white. These past couple of years I’ve had to jump through some crazy hoops along with battling mental illness and the natural fluctuations and transitions/sheddings of life. I take it a day at a time and do my best to reground myself in my purpose for my work with Color Herstory. I feel like I'm finally realizing that my work not only serves my younger sisters and younger women alike but also nurtures my inner child. It’s truly a beautiful reciprocation of love with what I do with Color Herstory.

Why Color Herstory? What made you want to start this journey at a young age?

Some of my earliest memories of myself were me crying in the mirror wishing that my skin was lighter, hair blonde lips smaller. I would sob to my mom after school because I wanted to look like Hannah Montana instead. I absolutely hated how I looked. Once I grew older I had to undergo my journey of self-love and healing to fight off the toxic seeds that colonialism and Eurocentric beauty standards have sewn into our communities. This healing process is ongoing, and it’s also why I created my business. During my teenage years, I got my hands on books written by women like Gloria Anzaldua, Cherry Moraga, and Audre Lorde. These are some of the women of color that helped me learn to love myself through their work and stories, and I was upset and surprised that they were not talked about in the classroom. This is when I formulated my coloring book idea! I wanted to build a bridge and fill that gap that the public education system was lacking. Seeing these revolutionary Black/Brown/Indigenous women/femmes shaking up the world liberated me as a teen. I very much felt called to do this work through the support of my community, for my community, for my inner child.

How important is it for something like Color Herstory to be out at a time like this where there is a lot of unrest and anger toward police and people in politics?

With all the corrupt policing and politics coming to the surface even more so during this pandemic, I feel my work with Color Herstory is vital in the health sector of the revolution. Focusing on rest, re-centering, ground, and education with youth is where I feel I bring the most power with my coloring books. The same can be said with Black, Indigenous, Women of color that are older and more mature as well. I hope to bring forward a tool to our community to arm them with education as well as a way to rest.

Were there any inspirations from other figures or people when you were beginning

Color Herstory?

Besides familial figures, it was revolutionary women of color like Audre Lorde who liberated me to come forward with my dreams and bring them to fruition. There was never really anyone in a celebrity culture that inspired me or moved me to do community work. It was mostly Black and Brown women who inspired me and showed me that I too could exercise my voice and ideas.

How difficult was it when you started? Was there anything that you learned or some things that you wish you knew?

I dealt with a lot of self-doubt in my beginning stages. As I mentioned earlier, I had sat on the idea of Color Herstory for about a year and was discouraged to begin working on it. I would tell myself that it felt stupid and who would want to buy a little coloring book anyway? It was validation from mentors around me and peers that kept me afloat in those beginning stages. I wish I had understood the power in my voice and ideas in the beginning. I found it eventually which is great, but I think that would’ve greatly pushed the beginning process to be smoother.

What has been the most unexpected thing to come from Color Herstory?

Honestly, everything feels unexpected when it comes to how my work with Color Herstory has unfolded LOL. But I’m being for real, I didn’t think that I would even be pursuing this business idea for this long, or to this scale. I went through pockets of doubt where I was convinced that I should just drop it all, but each time I persisted through those dark moments I was always rewarded on the other side. Nothing has even happened overnight with Color Herstory, I understand this far along that the more I pour into my work and my community, it pours back into me. Even if that’s not instant. I’ve made so many beautiful connections through my book friendships, mentors, godparents, joining Rock Force Crew. All stemming from my coloring books, my heart's work. When I show up in spaces with intention my work speaks for me and my character. That has gifted me so many unexpected experiences and opportunities I would've never imagined.

Where do you see color her story going?

I hope to keep it going for as long as I can, even if that means my whole life, ha-ha I’m being for real tho. If I could outsource production and build a team to help me run it in the future where we could all sustain our livelihoods off of it that would be super dope. I’m working at creating elementary/middle school curriculum around the books to be incorporated into public schools across the nation and hopefully the globe, that would be so dope. I want to continue doing speaking engagements as well as event organizing with a focus on BIWOC liberation and education.

How is it to be this young and already have meet and greets for your book?

It’s a trip man, I’ve only had one book signing so far but even that felt crazy because it was in Anchorage, Alaska!!! My crew (Rock Force) helped me organize it out there, shout out Don II Chon and Bboy Ives for connecting me out there! I still battle with impostor syndrome partaking in events that are focused on me because I feel like sometimes I’m too young and unworthy of the spotlight. This is an ongoing internal battle, but I have a really beautiful and supportive community around me that is very loving and reaffirming. My family, close friends, and ancestors really do pull me through to follow through these opportunities when I can step into a little spotlight.

Do you think social media affects the way this generation thinks? For example, a lot of people haven’t achieved their dreams yet and they are only 18-22 years old and they think they're a failure.

Social media completely influences the way this generation thinks, acts, moves all around. It has totally revolutionized the way we can spread and absorb information period. So we’re all out here just riding the wave. Most of us had the privilege of growing up with resources like Google and YouTube, so we’re all a couple steps ahead because this is all that we’ve ever known. In contrast, there are the negative sides of it like you mentioned, young adults being hard on themselves thinking they are a “failure.” A lot of that rhetoric I feel stems from social media bringing so much short-term gratification, and in the bigger scheme is unrealistic when reaching milestones in any bigger goal or points of “success.” Author Steven Pressfield talks about this in his text The War of Art, a great read for any creative person, athlete, or entrepreneur in my opinion! I recommend it to any creative friends I have actually ha-ha. It had me look at my relationship with social media differently, especially when he spoke about the short-term gratification part. Good things truly do take time. Social media undeniably has opened up the realm of going viral and that literally is overnight fame, but after that firework goes off it still comes down to the person to keep the torch lit if they want to build something further than 48 hours of fame. A big “so now what?” moment floods in, and with hitting the lottery and going viral or not, consistency and intentional work will pull you through. At the end of the day, we truly only put out in the media what we want people to see. The back-end work and consistency is what will differentiate you always, and never is that ever instantaneous.

Besides Color Herstory are there any things that you are also passionate about, any hobbies, or things you like to do for fun?

I am the queen of kicking it, I love to bask in the sun! Whether that be a local park, Lake Merritt, or the beach. Picnicking with my friends or my family with some snacks, music, and a good book is my favorite thing to do. Along with just chilling. I play the guitar so just gigging and singing is something I enjoy in my alone time. I dance the hula as well so when this pandemic passes through I would love to get back on the floor at the halal. I’m very community-oriented (as you can tell), so any local events or direct actions happening locally I always do my best to show up to! Oh yeah, I also like anything to do with creating with my hands, painting, or making collages even!

Do you have any projects that you are working on?

In the works of my 3rd coloring book now, Women of color in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics)! Excited about that because I’m including a lot more Indigenous and Trans women and have done a lot of research, so hopefully getting that done sooner than later! :)

What does the future look like for Simone and colorherstory?

These days I will just be worried about what’s happening next week to be honest. But I still dream big and wide when I sit down and goal plan/manifest. I hope the future holds global growth for Color Herstory, immense personal healing while breaking generational trauma, traveling the world, good health, community organizing, and overflowing love across every and all aspect of my life!

Why do you deserve to be in first place?

Oh man just like every other creative featured on here, trying to make my work known and speak my truth. Big ups to Rene for creating a dope platform like First place for us to talk about our work and show us in our most authentic states. Always honored to share space and speak my truth.

Well, thank you to Simone for doing this interview with us. She is in first place!

GO check out colorherstory on Instagram @colorherstory and go follow her on Instagram at @sim1huf

Also, check out her website if you would like to buy any of the coloring books at https://colorherstory.shop/

ColorHerStory : An Interview with Simone Hufana