Reality TV Star Tionna Smalls Visits Finishing Touches.

For a store that has been in Paramus for less than a year, Finishing Touches on North Farview Avenue has been making a name for itself. Alyse Foy-West and Simone Napoleon hosted a book signing with author and television star Tionna Smalls Thursday night.

Smalls signed copies of her book “Girl, Get Your Mind Right!” and answered questions at the Paramus store.

Smalls has been featured on the VH-1 reality television show “What Chilli Wants.” During the signing, Smalls confirmed she would not be returning to the show. She instead is focusing on her writing career as well as the businesses she owns in and around New York. Smalls praised Foy-West and Napoleon, saying the two were proof anyone can achieve their dreams. 

“It’s great having her here,” Foy-West said.

Foy-West said she and Napoleon met Smalls were all small business owners dedicated to fashion accessories. Smalls owns an accessories boutique called Loveys in Brooklyn.

Smalls' book, which is published by Harper Collins, focuses on relationship advice.

“I call myself everyone’s homegirl,” she said. “My book gives advice and attempts to keep it real.”

The book is for women, she said, in and out of relationships, who “are tired of the games, the lies, [and] the bullcrap.” “Girl, Get Your Mind Right!” is meant to be a “dating and relationship bible.”

“I was inspired to write this by many things I had seen,” Smalls said. She said her goal was to tell women to get their heads screwed on straight, and to understand themselves before trying to enter meaningful relationships.

It took her four months to write the book.

“I wrote anywhere I could,” she said. “I wrote on the backs of bills, napkins and where I was inspired.” She even wrote in the bathroom using her Blackberry.

“If you can’t write in a bathroom using your Blackberry, you are not a real writer,” she said with a smile. Smalls said she prides herself on being able to be down to earth with how she offers advice. When Harper Collins edited the book, she was happy they kept the “Brooklyn” feel of her narration, as if she were speaking the book.

“Every sentence in this book is something I am thrilled with,” she said. “I know people will read it and say, ‘Damn! She is on point!’ I am that confident in my book.”

Smalls said that though she offers advice, most of her reading time is spent reading business books.

“I read ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ [by Robert Kiyoski] and decided to quit my job and said I was going to be a writer,” Smalls said. She said that people laughed at her but at 26 years old she is an accomplished author, a television personality and owns her own store.

Smalls said she will continue to achieve her dreams and said one day she will return to Paramus. 

“This is an amazing opportunity to have Tionna here,” said Napoleon. “It shows that we are respected as a store and it was great Tionna could come and sign books for her fans.”

Foy-West said having Smalls shows Finishing Touches is more than just an accessory store.

“We have book store signings and we have exciting opportunities for the community in the future,” said Foy-West.