Queenin’ With Loany G

Queen (/kwēn/): a woman regarded as the finest or most outstanding in a particular sphere or group. A queen is also a woman who successfully creates her own life path, while also ensuring that other queens know their worth, and never drop their crowns.

Charlotte native Saloan Goodwin is definitely a queen by either definition. The A&T grad turned photographer, graphic, designer, and mommy is teaching us all how to be queens (and kings), as we push to master our own crafts. Like many of us, her interest in creativity started when she was a young girl.

” I remember maybe being in 5th or 6th grade and going to the grocery store with my mom,” Saloan Goodwin, founder of Queen Agenda told The Block. “I would literally tear out photos in magazines that peaked my interest. I didn’t know it then, but looking back I believe that is what sparked my love for photography.”

Her curiosity heightened as she began playing around with her parents’ Polaroid camera in middle school. Although she got in trouble for wasting all of their film, it was something about picking up a camera that brought her joy. As she continued to grow, she also found herself doodling and sketching a lot. Again, it was all just in fun, but these were the blocks that laid the foundation for where she is today.

In her days at North Carolina A&T, Goodwin found herself shooting abstract images in her free time. Looking back, she wishes she would have joined some type of campus organization to foster a network with likeminded people, but she was an introvert and often kept her art to herself.

“It wasn’t really until the MySpace days that I started getting a big buzz. I would use myself as a muse and before I know it, I had a following of people all the way in New York. I would literally hop on the road and go meet up with these online friends, it sounds crazy looking back, but that is how I was really able to build my first real community.”

Once settled back in the Queen City, Goodwin used her public relations degree to secure a job with a local music brand, Forever FC. In that role she continued to build and foster networks across the city, and beyond. She knew early on that the only way for a person or brand to reach new heights, was if they connected with and supported others in the process.

“Every phase that I entered, opened up a new network and community,” she said.

But, when you are constantly pouring into others and helping them get to the next level, without getting that same love back, it can become mentally and physically draining.

In 2015, she took a step back from everything and put all of her passions on the back burner to focus on her personal life. It wasn’t until 2019, when she became pregnant with her son, that her passion was reignited.

“I couldn’t take on any photoshoots during my pregnancy, so I literally had no where for my creativity to flow. I started learning and researching different graphic design apps, and playing around with them. A page called Professional Black Girl re-shared one of my designs, and it went viral.”

Rather than sit around and let that viral wave be the end-all-be-all, Goodwin dug deeper and worked to add videos and animation assets to her designs. She fused a video of designer and creative director, June Ambrose into one of her designs. Her networks began tagging Ambrose and it caught her attention. A few days later, Ambrose and Goodwin began talks about their partnership, that is still very active to this day.

In keeping the same spirit of supporting your friends and sharing their work with larger audiences, Goodwin was able to land one of her latest collaborations with Hex Coffee— all from another Black queen mentioning her name in a room.

“Man, that collaboration came about because Davita Galloway mentioned my name to the owners at Hex,” she explained. “They saw my page and the aesthetic I was putting out at that moment, and they reached out to have me create something for a new coffee they were launching.”

The Loany G x Hex Coffee partnership went off without a hitch, and turned out to be an amazing piece of work— all because one queen wasn’t afraid to mention another’s name. If you follow Goodwin’s page, then you know one of her main mantras is “queens build queens.” From her apparel line Queen Agenda, which reminds us to always adjust our crowns, to the dope a** Black women that she features in her designs.

“At the end of the day, we won’t get ahead without help. It’s not always about supporting someone just to get something in return. Support because their work is good, no matter who they are to you. If someone from our city or community wins, then we all win.”

Now that is how a queen rules.

To see what’s next from Saloan Goodwin, check out her website: www.queenloany.com.