Thanks, Kanye: How The Rapper’s Outbursts And Tantrums Inspired Me To Get Off My A$$

One of my major goals for 2013 was to host an offline event for young mothers. I spent half the year focused on other things (like, I dunno, finishing grad school) and realized that time was ticking once we hit June. After my friend Gloria hosted a successful event in NYC, I knew it was time for me to get on the ball and stop bullsh**ting.

I came up with my proposal and how I envisioned my “Young Mom Summit” to be. I wanted the event to be classy, to be informative. I wanted attendees to walk away transformed and inspired. After they left, their heads would be a little higher, their dreams feeling a little closer to their grasp.

Once I had the plan, I needed to find funding. While my passion is high, my bank account isn’t. I approached a group at a local university about co-sponsoring the event with me and they were eager to hear my pitch. I sent along my proposal, outlining the target audience, sessions, community partners and my duties as the conference organizer.

But when we got in the meeting, things took a nosedive. They were hesitant. “We’re not sure if moms will come out for this…they’re kind of lazy,” one woman said.

Obviously, I could not move forward with this group. So I looked for someone else to co-sponsor the event with me, only to be shut down again. The prevailing notion was that young parents wouldn’t take advantage of an event like this, so why bother?

I spent so long trying to get a “sponsor,” someone who has done what I’m trying to do and could show me a few shortcuts so I could save time and a few hits to my ego. But the sponsors weren’t coming. Nobody had time to hold my hand and show me what to do. It took me two months of searching to realize that if I wanted my dream to come to fruition, I had to be the first one through the door.

This is why I’m thanking Kanye. The whole time I was going through this, I kept seeing his latest rant pop up over and over again on my Facebook newsfeed. “YOU DON’T HAVE THE ANSWERS, SWAY!”

Kanye’s frustration about being shut out of the top design houses and being pigeonholed as only a rapper sounded insane to most people, but on a deeper level, I understood what he was saying, if not for his delivery, but his underlying point about wanting to grow and expand his interests. I love blogging, but I also know that I’ve written 1,200 pieces on this blog and sooner or later, my well is going to run dry. I want to branch out.

But in each interview, people asked him, “Why don’t you put up your own money? Why don’t you show us what your vision is without trying to get validation from everyone else?”

I had an ah-ha moment. If I wanted the summit to be successful, I had to do it with 100% effort. I had to keep pushing forward, in spite of the people who wanted to hijack my vision, with no regards to the people who said it couldn’t be done because they had never seen it done.

And as life would have it, I moved forward on my own and things began to fall into place. I secured a venue. I lined up three dope speakers to host three dope workshops. I got companies like General Mills to invest in attendees. I opened registration and we’re at 60% capacity with two months to go.

I can’t call the summit a success yet. (Ask me on March 30.) But I can say that I’ve learned more about myself and what I’m capable of throughout this whole process. If I believe in myself, other people will respect the grind and come on board, but only after I’ve proven I’m serious.

As I told one of my potential partners during the meeting, I know if I put my best out in the universe I will achieve the results I want. I don’t doubt myself. I won’t lose.