Las Vegas businesswoman Makinda Vickers’ women’s drummer organization becoming a national movement
Andre Johnson 
A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. (Proverbs 18:16 NIV)
DRUM ROLL PLEASE
DALLAS — For Makinda Vickers, her passion as a drummer was discovered within the walls of the Flint, Michigan church her father pastored.
That was nearly 30 years ago.
“I have been playing drums since the age of seven,” Vickers, 36, told Making Headline News during a recent interview. “I started at my father’s as a pastor child, so I could only play for church and that was it. At that time in the 90’s, the popularity of girl drummers was very small, so it was unusual to see a female on drums. However, music and creating music was a healing for me and helped me overcome a lot of my obstacles.”
Interestingly, by the time Vickers had reach 10 years of age, she would often pose in her bedroom mirror and pretend she was on television, playing her favorite instrumental before a massive audience.
Much to her delight, such a fantasy has become an awe-inspiring reality for Vickers, the CEO and Founder of drumsticksnlipstick, her Las Vegas-based nonprofit organization that is comprised of women drummers.
MORE ON DRUMSTICKS N LIPSTICK: https://www.facebook.com/drumsticksnlipstick/
An organization that is nearing its second full year of existence, Vickers’ drumsticksnlipstick was established to empower women through community service, advocacy, and mentorship, according to a detailed introduction of her venture at https://www.facebook.com/pg/drumsticksnlipstick/about/.
A native of Flint, Victors deemed it essential to start her organization with a strategic mission that would be centered largely on helping women who have been battered, abused and impoverished to find hope.
“(I imagined as a child) I was on T. V., and I saw a vision of my life today,” Vickers said. “I just never knew I was smart enough to own my own company.”
For what it’s worth, Vickers attributed her previous reservations for starting a business to the fact that she’s endured a rash of obstacles, from “traumatic situations” that transpired during her teenage years, to her giving birth out of wedlock and relocating with her daughter to the Dallas/Fort Worth area, where she sensed her professional career as a drummer would ultimately take flight.
To her credit, that is exactly what happened, considering Vickers’ nonprofit organization was founded in DFW.
And the rest, as they say, was history.
The startup of Vickers’ organization has given way to array of exposure and life-altering connections, including an appearance at the Grammy Awards during which she was afforded the golden opportunity to perform with Grammy award winning award-winning American jazz trumpeter Maurice Brown, Yarbrough and Peoples, and gospel artist, Prophetess Juanita Bynum, among others.
“I was introduced to Fred Alexander (of the Original Lakeside Band), who became my drum mentor,” Vickers said. I was under management with a local band were I later got introduced to Sandaga 813 Lounge in Dallas, where I got the opportunity to sit in on open jam night sometimes and play with Bernard Wright (funk and jazz keyboardist and singer) and many more.”
Besides having generated an array of exposure through her organization, Vickers is proud of the notion that drumsticksnlipstick has become an empowerment movement for women from various walks of life.
“Drumsticksnlipstick is proud to be the only women drummers organization that shares our stories and talents,” Vickers said of a nonprofit that caters mostly to international women drummers ranging in ages 18 to 45 teen girls (for its entrepreneur workshops) ranging in ages 12 to 17.
“We perform for major artists and have services that reach out to the communities. We don’t just use the platform for music, but our girl teen entrepreneur workshops were created for girl teens that has lost their fathers through gun violence and have been through (various) forms of abuse. We also provide drum lessons and many more services.”
Vickers was inspired to establish her nonprofit organization by renowned musicians Shelia E, a prominent percussionist, singer, author, and actress whom she met in Dallas three years ago.
TALENTED AND CLASSY
Vickers also has been invited to perform at the upcoming BET Awards in Los Angeles June 28, provided it isn’t cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“After meeting Sheila E at (Dallas radio station) Kiss FM, her words and support keep me going daily,” Vickers said. “Also looking at my daughter and knowing that she is watching me makes me inspired, along with my drumsticksnlipstick team…and just me as a leader.”
What a difference playing for her father’s church has made.
For more information about Las Vegas Businesswoman Makinda Vickers of drumsticksnlipstick, to inquire about a public appearance or speaking engagement, call 817.303.2105, or connect with her via Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/drumsticksnlipstick/; Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/drumsticksnlipstickorg/. Also, send email to: drumsticksandlipstick@gmail.com.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: If you are an entrepreneur, business owner, producer, author, athlete, musician, barber, life coach, motivational speaker, cosmetologist, tax preparer, model, or pastor/minister who is seeking exposure and would like to share your story with an in-depth news feature, call Reporter Andre Johnson at 901-690-6587 or Facebook message him under “Andre T. Johnson” for details.
Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send email to makingheadlinenews@gmail.com or to memphisgraduate@yahoo.com. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist or Instagram at @makingheadlinenews.
