Have You Found Yourself Being A Stranger To Failure?
I’m no stranger to failure by my own fault. I’ve spent my entire life taking risks, making mistakes and having no regrets. I’m proud of every moment I’ve experienced and any loss I’ve incurred as it’s shaped and motivated me to be the way that I am in life. These last few years I have worked jobs that I have had little to no interest in while I pursued my passions and quarterbacked for others doing the same. Making minimum wage while struggling to pay the bills and manage debt, living check to check. Things that many friends and family members have considered me crazy for are learning opportunities that have built my network and brand. I have experienced periods of homelessness and misfortune that were, second to failure, my greatest life lessons across the spectrum.
Last year I turned 25 and had an intervention with myself in which I had to think about the people I surrounded myself with, taking bigger risks and being strategic about managing my decisions moving forward. 25 is a milestone in the life of most. You’ve been alive a quarter century, moving about life and creating your identity among your social and digital circles. I thought, who am I not to want more then I’ve already had. I’ve had some of a spotted life. Through the course of my life, I’ve played several wind instruments while taking up tap and African dance as a drama student through middle school before being expelled. I had my experiences with gangs and police through high school before being expelled. Between 17 & 21 I had obtained a GED, enlisted in the military twice, left college, managed an R&B group through a failed record deal, went through my first stint of homelessness, been engaged and became a first time father. The next four years I explored managing a nightclub, being a concert promoter, went on tour with a pop-erotica poetry group, opened and closed my first brick and mortar business, and developed a love for business development and consulting.
And here I was, 25 with nothing to show. I’ve developed what I saw as a worthless resume because I couldn’t monetize any of the skills I’d learned from risk, from failure, from experience and obtained knowledge in the last few years. Had I not been properly leveraging my network? I answered all my questions during a life timeline exercise I did this past weekend.
In November, I applied for a fellowship at the New Leaders Council. This was something I had heard of but never applied to because I didn’t think my resume, accomplishments and accolades permitted me to. But I thought maybe with my diverse background, I would be considered for this opportunity. January 9, 2016, I began the 5-month program as one of 16 fellows accepted into the highly competitive fellowship. That weekend, the life timeline helped me to realize the sum of all things, that being no stranger to failure was what helped achieve TODAY.
Previous to this, late October a dean and professor encouraged to apply at The Sage Colleges, a private college. I had been doing some business development for startups and small businesses in the Capital Region and they thought I may be a good fit for the college. I started college in 2008 as a 17-year-old Music Industry major, minoring in Entrepreneurship and had never got to finish for various reasons. I never re-imagined myself going back to school to go work for someone else, so I wrote college off. I figured I’d build my own path and start a business and not need college. I did that anyways, but I wanted more. So while I was scared to have a conversation about college, student loans, and affording school, I applied. As of Tuesday, I have been accepted into the 5-year Accelerated Masters in Business Administration program with a concentration in Business Strategy. I will be moving on campus when classes begin September 2016. I’m excited to join The Sage Colleges as a student-entrepreneur. I intend to use the knowledge learned, network developed and opportunity created here to grow creative think-tank and idea lab FlagshipUltra into a multi-national conglomerate.
Tuesday afternoon, I signed a lease on an 850 sq ft commercial storefront in the historical Arbor Hill neighborhood. What began as an idea and a community impact statement has become a brick and mortar realization of what you can achieve when you aren’t a stranger to risk.
I’m opening “Spark+Thrive”, a shared work-space for small business owners, remote workers, freelancers, and creatives this spring. In 2016, I promise to invest my time, resources and energy into things that make me happy and allow me the opportunity to pursue my passions while creating a platform that helps others to do the same.
Without failure, I would not have become the man I’ve risked everything to grow into. Here’s to more lessons and more risks.
