It was a relaxing Friday afternoon in Los Angeles, a day where I had nothing planned and nothing to do. When I’m blessed with these quiet moments, I often sit and ponder:
What is it going to take to get me to the next level?
Who is the man that I’m trying to become?
How am I going to make my dreams come true?
As I aimlessly skimmed my Instagram feed to distract myself from these ever-present and daunting questions, I got a Youtube notification.
“INSIDE Issa Rae Productions | Minisode #3 – Meet the Team.”
Anyone who knows me, knows I’m obsessed with Issa Rae. To me, she’s the blueprint and someone who’s work I follow closely. I’ve read her incredible book “The Misadventures of An Awkward Black Girl,” seen every episode of Insecure and of course— I’m subscribed to the Issa Rae Presents YouTube channel.
Upon receiving this notification, I quickly got off Instagram and clicked on the video to see what Issa and her team had cooked up. The video was terrific, it was a beautiful depiction of how far Issa and her team have come. I was incredibly impressed with the editing and hearing the stories of her staff. As Issa continued to introduce her team, she got to the President of her company who she stated “reps Morehouse”.
When I heard his name and that he went to Morehouse, as I did, I knew that I had to meet this brother. I thought:
“Someone, I know has to know this guy right? I’m sure he would love to talk to me.”
I swiftly began contacting Morehouse brothers, sending a few emails and using Linkedin. Following my efforts and dedication, I was able to get a call scheduled with this man—Success!
It was on Friday when I watched the Youtube video featuring Issa’s team, and by that Monday I was on this man’s calendar for a conference call at 2pm.
On the day of our conversation, I was filled with excitement, 2pm couldn’t come fast enough. Throughout the day, I contemplated what I was going to say.
How would I present myself?
What is my ultimate intention for the call?
By the time 2pm came, I decided I would ask him If he knew anyone who would give me an assistant job at a production company. Due to a prolonged meeting on his end, our call was pushed back to 5pm. I should’ve used those three extra hours to find a different approach because our conversation didn’t go as well as I hoped.
The Call
When our call commenced, I fumbled. I was extremely unclear as to what I really wanted. I started off the conversation about how I just moved to LA on faith and was looking to start my career in television. I was met with questions such as:
“Well, are you trying to be an executive?
“Do you want to be a writer?”
“Do you want to be a producer?”
“What is it you are trying to do?”
For anyone who isn’t aware of how the television and film industry works; the paths to becoming any of these types of professionals are entirely different. There are people such as Shonda Rhimes who are currently all three: Executive, Writer and Producer, but she didn’t start that way. Shonda began as merely a writer of one film script.
In the beginning stages of your career in this business, it is vital to be clear about the path you aspire to take. The person who comes fresh out of the gate trying to be everything, in most cases, inevitably ends up as nothing. In my soul, I knew that I wanted to be bold and say,
“I want to be a Television writer and show creator.”
Pulsating on my heart was the desire to talk about my scriptwriting and how I won a pitch competition in Atlanta on the script that I wrote. How was I able to pitch my project in front of strangers and beat out 300 writers last Spring, but was unable to state my aspirations to one gentleman over the phone? Tragic.
Our conversation ended with some solid advice about how I needed to get clear about what I wanted. The brother was intelligent and said, “If you want to be a writer, you have to get your samples up and actually write scripts. The industry needs you and your stories, but you have to write more.”
There were other elements to our conversation that made that call enlightening and pleasant that I’ll keep to myself, but from this experience, I learned a valuable lesson that I must share.
In the game of success, we must speak the dreams we want to manifest.
Ambiguity is the enemy to accomplishment.
How different might my conference call gone had I been clear on what my dreams are? I believe that when we have dreams that we want to accomplish, we are given mandates from our souls to push hard until we manifest those dreams to life. One way that this kind of brave work is done is by speaking those dreams into reality.
We must be bold in letting people know what it is we desire to accomplish. When I was on that call, I shouldn’t have said:
“uh, I kinda want to write, I’m really looking for a job, umm, I wanna work in television.”
That is unclear and ambiguous. I should have said.
“I wrote this impressive comedy script that I’m looking to sell, and I would love some advice on the path to becoming a television show creator like Issa Rae.” Boom! That statement is more precise, aspirational, and most importantly, honest. We owe it to ourselves to boldly go towards the direction of our dreams with clarity and conviction.
Do the work of our dreams.
So often I come in contact with individuals who claim to be: rappers, actors or entrepreneurs. Many times I’ve never heard any of these people’s albums, seen them do a monologue or are familiar with the type of business they run. As we all continue to move towards the life of our dreams, we must do the work associated with our label. If I aspire to be a television writer, I have to do the work of chugging out quality script samples and TV show ideas.
Whatever it is that you want to become, make sure you are doing the work now. Never wait for the external validation to get started moving in the direction of your dreams. The work begins today! We commit acts of fraud when we claim to have an interest in a particular field without doing the work associated with it.
Conclusion
Following this interaction, I plan to be braver. I will do the work associated with my aspiration and firmly articulate my dreams to all I encounter. That conference call was not a loss but rather a lesson on how to dream big and be bold. I hope that after reading this blog, you’re inspired to firmly step into the world of dreams, work hard and yell about it from the mountaintops like I am.
Be Inspired!
Call to Action
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