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Essay from a friend based on the prompt: "What is something about being a woman that you wish someone had explained to you earlier?" "Coming into adulthood is already a difficult transition. But as women, especially black women, there’s the added stress of navigating how to be taken seriously while still being perceived as approachable in both social and professional settings. As you get older, you learn the stereotypes society has placed on specific groups of people. When yo

Advice for one's younger self: Take risks and give yourself grace

Following up on my post about the TED Talk and who is taught to be brave, after a conversation with a friend, I decided that I was going to reach out to some of the women in my life whom I respect and who I feel could have some great things to say. I asked them to write something, record something, or just basically speak on topics or experiences that they feel would be impactful to the younger women coming up behind us. The first prompt—the one that really got the juices flo

The next podcast season will focus on females and topics relating to health, female empowerment, and relationships. The credit for this idea belongs to a good friend of mine. When she mentioned it a few weeks ago, there were a few people that came to mind instantly as women who I think would fit the topic. I will not spoil the surprise by saying who they are now. However, I will say this: after we decided on the topic, I could not help but think about it frequently. It mainl

The arena can be an overwhelming place. You have fans, supporters, naysayers, haters, enemies, friends, and families. You have those who are shouting at you and telling you what you should or shouldn't do. You have those around you who sit silently and watch you rise or fall while they internally take assessment of you and your decisions. There are distractions, things or people who try to take your awareness away from being in the arena. It would better serve them if you ta

I love sneakers. I have loved footwear since I was a kid. There was something about playing basketball and sports and cleaning my shoes at a young age that fused sneakers and footwear into my DNA. Now, my relationship with sneakers and footwear has had its ups and downs, and even now, I could say that we are in the middle. I still have my curiosities and stay current just enough for work, but truthfully, I don't know as much as I should or even know all the Jordans by silhoue

If money were no obstacle and you didn't have to worry about regulation, licenses, abilities, and everything else that gets in the way of people building and creating their ideas, I would create a holistic foot-to-footwear framework. It would be a connected foot health system. The big picture would be personalized foot rehab to footwear production to footwear creation and selection. I would start with collegiate athletes, specifically women rugby players, then move to women b

Mesa County Footwear Opportunity: a potential hot commodity in footwear product testing, what? Now, hear me out. This is all hypothetical and theoretical. I have not done any deep dive or research, nor gathered hard data on the actual ability for Mesa County to be a great place for footwear testing. However, the potential is there. For there to be true validation, a brand would have to run its own experiment, share the results, and say Mesa County was a great place or absolu

When I started writing on this topic, I did not plan on having more than one part to this. However, when you get on a topic you enjoy and that triggers your imagination, it is hard to stop it, so the writing must continue. In the first post, I made a statement, or more so asked a question: "Could Mesa County become what Eugene/Beaverton/Portland became to Nike?" Now, I asked that clearly based on an oversimplification of information and imagination. We all know currently Mes

About just over a year and a half ago, I came up with an idea to do a GrandValli x Altra footwear project collab. Nothing came of it. It was just an idea; however, the original concept circled back to my mind today, and I keep thinking about it. Today, I saw something on LinkedIn from the Mesa County Workforce Center that said, "Tourism and outdoor recreation are vital economic drivers in Mesa County, generating over $320 million in direct GDP and driving more than $366 mill

I believe we must all never quit, never give up, and never bow out. With the life we are given, we must keep going and keep striving and trying. This is something I have to remind myself more often than I can even admit. However, today I realized that it doesn’t have to be something that I have to force on myself. Sometimes we can allow other people to spur us on if we just take a second to be open and present. Today, for example, I was struggling a little bit. I was in silen

According to ChatGPT, Creative Executive Producer is the identity that I resemble. What does that even mean? From my understanding it basically means taking ideas and turning them into experiences, events, or products. Basically bringing ideas to life. What i find interesting is that based on my track record there have been somethings I have made happen but i haven't always seen completely through. When something is structured and all the rules of engagement are laid out I c

I have mentioned in previous writing how I have become interested in the idea of reducing the time between idea and execution. As someone who used to be an overthinker and struggle with analysis paralysis, the time between idea and execution for me was either long or quick based on some moment of inspiration or motivation, which did not sustain, as I have struggled with finishing things I start. However, taking on the challenge of reducing my lag time, I have noticed a renewe

Just a jot down of some of the ideas or items that have crossed my mind are below. They are in no particular and as you can tell I have nothing specific in mind to write about, but the writing must continue. WNBA All-Star Game: I have never been but would like to go. In entrepreneurship, they say what separates successful people from others is the speed of execution or the speed between ideas and action. Those that move faster, learn quicker, and are able to adapt and change.

What do you write when you can't think of what to write but are committed to writing and publishing at least 250 words? Who knows? I guess you just write and see what comes to you. For me, right now, I know I have to write something. While my 30-day challenge is probably over or about to be over, I am still committed to writing and publishing my thoughts and opinions. There is an empowering thing about writing and publishing your work, even if there are no eyes on it yet. I h

I recently listened to "The Overthinker's Guide to Making Decisions," by Joseph Nguyen. Below are the notes I took and the ideas that resonated with me as I listened to the audiobook version. A Decision made from fear is always the wrong decision. - Tony Robbins The root for over thinking is fear. Where your attention goes energy flows. Where energy flows things grow. To overcome fear don't feed it. When we focus on what we don't want we feed it until it overwhelms the decisi

I have talked about being on the sidelines or outside the arena. I have mentioned the mindset to be in the arena. I have mentioned what it means, at least to me, to be in the arena, but I have not spoken more specifically about what participating in the arena looks like. After all, you can be at the party and make it in the door but never hit the dance floor. So, how do we participate in the arena? How do we know if we are participating or sidelining ourselves? How do we push

The simple answer to what mindset you need to be in the arena is a growth mindset. There is no fixed mindset or identity-based mindset that is going to keep you fighting and operating in the arena. Limited ideas of yourself will not keep you in the arena, especially when things get harder and more challenging and you begin to fail over and over again. I don't say this as someone who has it all figured out. Every day since three days or so ago, I have asked myself if I am ente

How do we enter the arena? This is a follow up from my "Enter the Arena" writeup. From what I have realized the key is participation. Are we participating in what we say we want to achieve or are we in the never ending cycle of preparing, researching, thinking, reading etc. Basically are we doing the thing that we said we were going to do? Are we allowing ourselves to create some friction in reality that has to lead to an outcome and the requires effort? While there are dis

What if it was brought to your attention that you may have a belief deep down that says: "Do not step fully into the arena until you can guarantee that the result will confirm who you believe you are." What would you do? How would you take it? What would you think? Being on the Outside It was brought to my attention that this may be me. Unfortunately, for me, a few weeks ago I read President Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" quote and instantly felt like the "do not step ful