In the moment, it’s really hard to see how or why, what we’re doing is going to pay off or lead to something in the future. We have ideas, aspirations, goals, dreams, but they shape-shift as we move throughout the years.
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When I started hosting + broadcasting in 2008, I believed I was going to be the next Oprah. Once I stepped into covering sports full-time, I wanted to be Erin Andrews. Then in 2012 while working at the Barclays Center, I wanted to play out the visionary Tony Bourdain. By the time I was producing at VICE, my focus shifted on the great storytellers + documentarians.
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Throughout those ten years I never felt settled. I could never “get there”. Not to the “success” part but the “purpose” part. I always wanted to ask certain questions, or interview in a certain way, or produce human interest vs niche. Working for a company I couldn’t really Speak My Truth.
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In the midst of my journey, things became mundane. Fakk, another athlete interview? Another rivalry story? Another celebrity surface conversation? Repetitive. What I didn’t realize then was that I was sharpening my craft. It was that 10,000 hour rule. Putting in my dues. Working through boring + making it exciting, so that when the good stuff came it would REALLY shine, + I’d really know what to say, + how to say it. I was working on MY VOICE.
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When launching @wo_menworkshop I was at first nervous, timid of my own strength + Power, of my skill of authentic communication, my ability to gently untie the tightest knots in people, allowing them the space to BE instead of to ACT. It took time to BELIEVE in my own work. So I sat + I wrote ALL the things I learned from 10 years in the industry. ALL of those experiences shaped who + how I am today in Workshop, in my Pod, as host, as moderator, as a Speaker + Storyteller. I’ve come closer to my Purpose.
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My lesson-learned? We get fed up with the mundane VERY easily but without it, without that CLIMB + REPETITION even when you’re spent/bored/over it, we can’t get to where we’re going.
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Don’t overthink it. Just do. The Happy Place, that Sweet Spot, will Show Up for you.