AAMBC Ink Team

OUR TEAM IS LIT!

Get to know the team members that are the foundation of AAMBC

MEET THE TEAM

TAMIKA NEWHOUSE

FOUNDER

From teen mom to CEO by the age of twenty, Tamika Newhouse, the author of 16 novels, has landed on numerous best sellers’ lists and is the winner of 8 African American Literary Awards. Only nine months after debuting her first novel in 2009, she landed a major publishing contract without an agent and went on to become the CEO of Delphine Publications. To date, she has published nearly 200 titles, launched the careers of hundreds of writers, and produces the only entertainment award show for African American writers, called the AAMBC Literary Awards.

ZANA RUFF

SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST

Zana graduated from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a bachelor's degree in Marketing. She’s initially from the small mountains of Asheville, North Carolina, but took a leap of faith and moved to Charlotte. Zana has taken on many freelance marketing projects, and now her thirst for learning has landed at AAMBC were she serves as a marketing intern.

LEGENDARY LAQUITA

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Hailing from Washington, D.C, Legendary LaQuita is no stranger to hard work and pursuing dreams. An entrepreneur by the age of 20, LaQuita first journeyed into retail which quickly became a million-dollar investment. Once the owner of a bookstore retail chain, distribution center, and publishing company, LaQuita branched out into producing award shows and other major productions in the Entertainment, Hair, Fashion, & Beauty Industries. A talented writer herself, LaQuita has ghostwritten several fiction books and plans to release her debut novel soon.

VERONICA MONTES

CONTEN WRITER INTERN

Veronica Montes is an aspiring content writer and strategist. She is committed to her professional development and growth by honoring her creativity and spirituality even if it means establishing a unique professional path for herself. Veronica has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing with a focus on communications and event planning. She has extensive experience in business development and client services in the legal industry. Her collective experience has awarded her the empathy for the client, as well as the employee, perspective in her strategic planning and approach. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2010 with a B.A. in English. Veronica lives in Chicago with her partner, Derek, and their little chihuahua named Frankie.

REGINALD HARRIS

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Reginald A. Harris is a gamer and foodie with a passion for branding design. While attending Campbell University, he worked as a freelance graphic designer, sports graphic designer, and photographer. After graduating in 2020, he launched RHStudios, where he continues freelancing. He is now working with AAMBC as a graphic designer, specializing in social media graphics, stationery, and website graphics.

CHANEL SMITH

WEB/GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Known as Chanel Renee on the socials and founder of WPD Media, Chanel is a self-taught web developer who later went on to get a degree in web design and marketing. Coding caught her attention in 1998 while initially navigating the web trying to make money as a SAHM. In 2004, a major discovery, Photoshop and its ability to be easily used to merge web and graphic design to craft beautiful websites. It is her goal that encompasses with the company's slogan "Creatively Designing Your Web Presence" that allows her to continue to pursue her love of creating beauty for the web along with bringing visual branding to life.

DINA OHANA

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Dina Ohana is a graphic designer with a love of theater and mystery novels from Los Angeles, California, who received her Bachelor's degree in Digital MultiMedia Design from Touro College. Dina has always loved art, design, and that feeling of helping a brand come to life through creativity. She always strives to make her designs not only beautiful, but functional as well. Originally working for a podcast company, she completed her first website User Interface redesign for them in the Summer of 2019, as well as taking on several freelance projects for friends and family, both helping to grow her skills and confidence as a designer tremendously. She is now working with AAMBC as a graphic designer, and hopes to help AAMBC continue to grow and create creative graphics that bring their visions and message to life.