Lisa Zaid (Founder/CEO) was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Lisa has been writing since around the age of 10, mainly short "adventure" stories. Lisa self-published her first book of poetry & haikus in December 2009, her pre-release/book signing was held at the Olive Twyst on December 17th. The title of her book is "SOUL EXPOSURE". She began officially writing her poetry after a divorce, her first poems shed the light on relationships, love, children, and the war on drugs in her city's streets. Lisa been a Performance Poet for five years now. Her hometown is Cleveland, Ohio and she has performed in such venues as the Vibe Session @ the Kamikaze Coffehouse (house poet), Lyrical Rhythms @ the B-Side Liquor Lounge (house poet), The Grog Shop, In The Living Room, and Fat Fish Blue. She tied for 1st place in the AKA's sorority Slam in 2006. Ms.U has also performed in Orlando Florida @ Di-Verse Word's Dandelion Communitea Cafe, and also in Tampa, Fl @ the Historic Harbor Club hosted by Black-On-Black Rhyme. Her most recent performance was at the Underground Poets' Society 1st Annual Poetry Conference held in Ft Lauderdale, Fl. She has also performed several times for the Young Black Achievers, spreading her message of "safe sex" to youths with her piece "Aversion to Virgin". which has recently been recorded by CAPREO, LLC. Lisa "MissUndastood" signed with Producer/Record Label CAPREO, LLC in December 2009. www.capreo.com She founded UndergroundKweens2U with the idea and vision in mind that the Underground needs to come above the surface and receive the exposure & respect that it sincerely deserves. UK2U has begun this process by organizing and producing quality events that showcase both local and National "underground" talent, her biggest motivation is ART and her biggest asset is her heart, her wisdom and her extensive Networking....Her dream is to one day turn on the radio and hear her favorite poets on a regular basis, on a regular station.
Charleia Price (Vice Pres/Coordinator) was born in Cleveland, Ohio but spent the majority of her life on the West Coast living in both Southern California and Northern California. Charleia attended Howard University in 1993 and several other colleges and universities and is still in the process of obtaining her Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and Communications. Charleia first fell in love with poetry as a high school Senior at Eisenhower High School in Rialto, Ca where she entered her first poem in a Writing Celebration. Although she only received a Participation award, that experience opened her up to a new world of self expression, love and respect for the poetry world. She was first introduced to the world of spoken word by a poet named Terry Moore of Sacramento and a beautiful performance poet named September. Charleia continued to write and share her poetry with only close friends and family, until she was introduced to the scene at the Kamikazee Coffee House in 2004, which is where she took the stage for the first time. She has since performed her heartfelt piece " Addiction" at Women's Night at the Word Church and Heights Even Start for the GED class. She has also been blessed to perform at the B-Side Liquor Lounge in Coventry on Tuesday nights. Charleia is a full time Home Child Care provider as well as an Event Planner who has organized such events as A Father's Day Dinner and Recognition for the East Cleveland Neighborhood Center, talent shows, showcases, holiday programs, numerous birthday parties, baby showers and private events. Charleia has also made it her personal goal to help young girls and women develop the necessary tools to love themselves, educate themselves and experience the diversity that the world around them has to offer by founding Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, a program for girls ages 13 to 20 focusing on life skills. Charleia has humbly joined forces with UK2U LLC and LSR to serve as Vice President to serve the underground community by promoting and providing an avenue for our voices to be heard and recognized. Charleia brings creativity, diversity, and professionalism stemming from her time working for such non profit agencies as The Akron Urban League and Heights Even Start. Charleia is very much a behind the scenes type of person whose main focus is on logistics, presentation, and establishing partnerships within our community to help make the vision of UK2U, LLC a reality.
