What Maya Wiley Can’t Live Without

This headset took it to another level in terms of sound quality and the ability to multitask on calls and Zoom meetings. It lets me be on the phone while freeing my hands to doing other things like cook, feed the cats, and other stuff I need to do when I’m working and living in the same house all day. I can pair it with my laptop, iPad, phone — any device I use.

As a working mom, one thing that has always been important is to have family dinners. When you’re working all day, it’s easier to have meals ready by the time you sit down. This is not easy and I’ve experimented with different things. I tried a pressure cooker, but thinking about how it could explode kind of freaked me out. I had to keep an eye on it, which didn’t really make life easier. Then I got the Cuisinart Slow Cooker. It changed my life. I can prep ingredients before going to bed, throw them in the slow cooker in the morning, set it, and go. Then, come dinner time, I can walk in the door and serve the meal. I do ribs every week. Before the slow cooker, they were just a summertime thing. But now I’ll just buy slabs of pork or baby back ribs, let them marinate overnight in the fridge, and put them in the slow cooker. Weekly rib nights are very exciting.

I don’t wear a ton of makeup, but I need that little lift. Great Lash is a really reliable product and it has been for decades. It brings out my eyes, doesn’t clump or run, and is easy to remove. There are some great mascaras out there, but I can’t spend ten minutes trying to get mascara off of my eyelashes at night. Taking this off doesn’t require scrubbing my eyelashes until they fall off my eyelids. It’s easy from beginning to end, which is why I love it.

It’s so cute, right? I love my Pixie. I had it at my office but brought it home during the pandemic because our household Nespresso machine broke and I needed something that would make great coffee in no time. It doesn’t take up a lot of counter space. And you don’t have to use it with Nespresso pods — if you want less-expensive ones, you can get pods from Peet’s Coffee.

I have locs and I have a lot. They’re heavy. I wear my hair up a lot so I need big, sturdy bobby pins. These pins are large and keep my locs in place. They really don’t fall out easily, so I can spend more time getting my work done and less worrying about my appearance. I have a little organizer from the Container Store in my bathroom where I keep all of my Goody bobby pins. Having a dedicated place for them helps me from losing or misplacing them and needing to buy new ones.

I’ve been a runner for decades, and it has taken a toll on my feet. I need comfortable shoes, but I also love heels. The Fly London sandals are both: I don’t feel like I’m sacrificing comfort or style. They’re cute and funky, but I’m also taking care of my feet by wearing them. They don’t put pressure on my bunions like high heels can and feel more like sneakers. They’re that comfortable. I’m hard on shoes and these have held up for a long time. The sandals are my favorite shoes from the brand, but I also have Fly London boots for the winter. I wear its shoes year-round.

I use this to twist and style my hair after I wash it. It holds for a really long time — like, for days — and keeps twists looking neat and natural. It’s not damaging; the whole product line is natural, so no parabens or sulfates. It’s Black-owned, too.

I don’t like a lot of crap in my skin-care products. Like many people, I have combination skin made up of dry and oily patches. This toner helps get rid of some oiliness without drying my skin. It has organic witch hazel, citric acid, no synthetic preservatives. There are actually dried lavender buds in there, too — you can see them floating around.