Ajayi Jones, Luvvie

Impact on the world

A pioneer of the mid-2000s Black blogosphere, Ajayi Jones built AwesomelyLuvvie.com into a site drawing over 500,000 monthly readers at its peak, mixing sharp pop-culture criticism with commentary on race, gender, and digital behavior; her 2016 debut book I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual became an instant New York Times bestseller, followed by three more bestsellers including Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual (2021). Her TED Talk “Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable” has drawn more than 9 million views, placing it in the top 1% of all TED Talks, and her 2020 #BlackBizLuvv campaign funneled more than $540,000 into Black-owned small businesses over 31 days. She now runs The Book Academy, a coaching platform that has helped numerous authors reach the New York Times bestseller list themselves.

Life & background

Born Ifeoluwa “Luvvie” Ajayi on January 5, 1985, in Nigeria, she moved with her family to Chicago at age nine, attending Whitney M. Young Magnet High School before studying psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She began her blog in 2003 while working in corporate marketing and digital strategy, gradually building it into a full-time career as her audience grew through the 2000s and 2010s; she married Jason Jones and has since expanded into podcasting with Rants and Randomness and Professional Troublemaker, and co-hosted Jesus and Jollof with actress and comedian Yvonne Orji. She has spoken on stages including SXSW, Cannes Lions, and the MAKERS Conference, and contributed to the anthology You Are Your Best Thing, co-edited by Tarana Burke, already profiled in this collection.

Sources

1. Awesomely Luvvie (official); The Literacy Lab; Women's Media Center