Believing that you can is half the battle.

One of the reasons that I have been able to sit at some of the most exclusive tables in the world over the course of my career is because I had the nerve to believe that I could. I think that this part of me comes from being the youngest of three siblings, and the baby of 13 first cousins on my mom’s side of the family. I am used to hearing people tell me what to do, and I’m am even more used to hearing the word “No.”.

Rejection is something that I know better than I wish that I did. Being “not good enough” is something that I have inherently questioned for as long as I can remember. And a lot of the questioning of myself has been due to societal views and expectations of me— which more times than not— I do not fit. But regardless of what I see in front of me, or regardless of what I have been told, or regardless of what has been in the past— there is always a voice (or the God that lives in me)—deep down inside of me telling me— “They couldn’t, BUT YOU CAN!” And I believe it every single time.

The saying goes “You can’t be what you can’t see”. While that is often times true, you can absolutely be what you can’t see—because I did it. While growing up in rural Virginia, I was rarely exposed to people that looked like me that worked in Corporate America. I didn’t know how the advertising industry worked. And I equated work to physical labor unless you were someone who worked in healthcare or education— because that is what I saw and understood.
But regardless of what I knew then and saw, I still ended up here— and it started with me believing that I could achieve the “impossible”.

As someone who was born to be “one of few” in every aspect of my life— I have learned a few things along the way that I hope will encourage you to BELIEVE and to move toward where you are naturally being pulled!

1. Being the minority, or one of few is a superpower. Your perspective and obstacles give you a competitive advantage— you just have to figure out what that competitive advantage is

2. Just because the people that you love don’t see your vision doesn’t mean that your vision is off. Everyone isn’t going to see your vision and that is okay.

3. If you don’t believe that you can, more times than not you won’t because you’ve already found every reason why you can’t.

4. Not fitting in means that you stand out— and sometimes that comes with an advantage.

5. Rejection is not failures— it is redirection.

6. “No” does not always mean no forever—it means no right now.

7. Just because it hasn’t been done before doesn’t mean it can’t be done.