My Origin Story P.1

Every Good Origin Story Has...

This weeks newsletter is part one of the promised articles regarding how I came to be well, me! Do try and endure if you're already familiar with some of the information...        

A beginning, a set of obstacles and an emergence that feels cathartic. Let's see if mine can join that pantheon. Hello everyone, how are you today? I did promise I would share more about me and how I came to be, so to speak of course. First let me do the housekeeping.

Where To Find Me

Apart from here on LinkedIn, you are welcome to follow and support me on the other platforms I reside at. Some of you already do this naturally and I thank you for your support. This is intended for everyone else who might not have known. Value is the thing I have tried to provide wherever I go. So with that being said, here are the places you can find me and the links will follow. FYI: Available for speaking engagements, podcasts and workshops etc.

1. YouTube
2. Twitter
3. Twitch
4. Instagram
5. Unsplash
6. Spotify
7. Apple Music
8. Written Mirror
9. The JAM movie
10. Paypal

The Beginning

The beginning is quite easy to sum up. London born, however, Jamaica raised me! I was a young dreamer, always with my head in a book, encyclopaedia, puzzle or video game but don't get it twisted; I'd happily see you on the field in any sport if you test me! A1 from day 1 like Anthony Edwards! LMAO

I grew up a huge Arsenal fan, mostly because of Ian Wright at the beginning. I saw myself in him and also as a maverick striker growing up. I was one of those children who would laugh hysterically if you ever suggested, "You should go in goal for a spell!". You don't run a derby with your prized stallion in the stable! Try that with someone else! Also I've been scoring goals for fun! We don't need more defence, we need more goals!

Sport and My Development Go Hand in Hand

Much like the picture above, it was always Arsenal first, and then a fellow by the name of Michael Jeffrey Jordan came along and then boom I became an instant Chicago Bulls fan! Fun fact 9/10 times I'm in a Chicago Bulls Mitchell and Ness fitted. Still need that endorsement contract @ Mitchell & Ness! Have your people contact my people...

How Did Sport Influence Me?

I learnt from an early age you had to work at what you wanted to improve. Talent without work rate is like wanting to be healthy whilst smoking 20 a day! I grew up watching my sporting heroes face setbacks. Sure they won, but not always! Merlene Ottey was my absolute favourite track and field athlete. I can't explain it, other than to say, I have never wanted someone to win as much as I willed and even prayed for Merlene Ottey to win the olympic gold! There was another important lesson in that, hopes and prayers aint ever enough!

Arsenal would bottle a few title runs, the Bulls before they ruled the roost would get the absolute you know what ?? kicked out of them by the Celtics and the Bad Boy Pistons. You have to want it as much you work for it! I internalised that very early. Another thing I realised is that talent always invites criticism. You should be this, you should do that and you wouldn't be here without blah blah! So you needed an edge to accompany your talent and work rate!

I Took That With Me

Into everything I went with this mindset. I had to be smart so they couldn't question my competence, I had to be tough so they couldn't question my grit and I had to have my own edge so they couldn't accuse me of stealing it from somewhere else. Top marks in school, top speaker in the debate team, student rep, played Basketball & Cricket for my HS. Being the most rounded person I could be was my edge. To attack me, you needed to be better, you needed to want it more than I did, and, you had to be more edgy than me too. Not many could and can!

What Does That Mean For You Now?

A lot of people would block my path because they could! Jealousy! Envy! Badmind! I would usually blame myself, as this was part of my armoury. Take responsibility as much as possible as that's where the most opportunity for growth lives. I became someone who would check and double check, before any possible chance for spotting something I could easily fix myself would arise. Wasn't aiming for perfection just the best possible execution.

My Career Path

The above meant I had to always be prepared to think in ways different to the norm. I knew my purpose pretty early on in life. The anomaly was the word that always came up when people would describe me. I really enjoyed that, especially, as it was true! I'm here to show you it can be done a different way. You can ask for more from yourself, you can identify your own path to success and act on it with persistent belief. They can slow you down, but never will they ever stop you! It's all about YOU and your ability to focus on the mission!

Here is the second issue with knowing your purpose. You will always be a natural member of the opposition to someone who doesn't know their own purpose. They will always want you knocked off your path so you can be more like them. I knew this growing up! You would hear it in the way I spoke, the things I did to prepare me on my journey and in the information I'd share. That's what lead to The Thought Book 1. I wrote it to help other people who aspire to being self-sufficient, self-motivated, and, self-healing.

Jobs I've held?

I worked in a famous aluminium factory in Jamaica as a teen. They immediately offered me a job to return after my exams in the summer I graduated High School. It was flattering but I always knew England was the next step on my journey. Retail! That was fun, seeing the absolute pandemonium of a sale up close! I have hated shopping ever since LMAO

Market Research! The inner scientist in me liked the interactions and data. The Maverick in me always disliked how the questions were posed. I figured out early that any survey targeted at a small enough sample will always yield 'noteworthy' results. How do you communicate that to a company as a teenager? You don't! They thought I was surface level smart not 'smart smart', I learned a lot and I evolved. I realised that people aren't really listened to, they're always being steered towards something. Very rarely is it something good...

Music, PR, Travel, Tech and Financial Services

These are all people centric but without really caring about people. Travel you could find some instances of warm people, however, it was also about steering. Music and PR are about the appearance of connection not actual connection. Tech used to be about improving things for humanity. Somewhere along the line it became about creating a weapon you could leverage for whatever you dreamed of whilst convincing the world it can't possibly live without it. Or maybe that's just Apple? LMAO

SPORT

Always dear to my heart, so whenever I could be involved; I would happily make myself available. Sport is a funny industry; the more you love it, the less it loves you back! Oh and don't forget how it tries to exclude you from things when you're BLACK...

The Olympics remains one of the highlights of my human experience. I felt the electricity in the air, was close enough to legends to touch them and also I witnessed history in real time! Worked with Yao Ming in the basketball arena. Met John Amaechi years before we connected here on LinkedIn alongside some of the greatest broadcast talent to ever grace the sport. Shout out to Michael Wilbon he actually said hello to me regularly! He must of sensed I was a Chicago Bulls guy!

Healthcare

One of the absolute worst industries to see up close. It is heartbreaking how wasteful and terrible they are to people. Still, large organisational experience is a bell that can never be un-rung.

Creative Industry

How did you end up there? Well, the funny thing about all the industries I worked in was how often my writing and idea creation was commended. Oh and I could solve problems at the speed of light! So when they pushed against me with enough force to crush me, I would transform into water and nullify them. Creativity is infinite, if any industry would understand me it would be this one right? Well...

If they can't understand me, they could appreciate a Maverick? An anomaly? No?! Only reserved for certain people with other people holding the strings? Yikes! So I remain independent in that I do not aspire to be remote controlled. I leverage my huge toolbox creatively across industries. Does that make sense?

Scrum/Agile

The ability to really see people, problems, inefficiencies without ego! I can do that! Let me really lean into that. More in the next post...

This Was a Little Different

Let me know if you see any parallels or whether you have any questions etc. Also let me know which industry you're from and whether it was simple following your career path. Also let me know if this was too long of a post. I am still testing various ways of executing the newsletter for maximum impact.

See You Again Soon!