The Time I Remembered Who the F...lex I Am

Have you ever had a moment or series of moments where you felt down? Has life ever taken the wind out of your sails and had you questioning if you knew what you were doing? Have you ever simply forgotten who the f--- you were? I have...

Let me preface what I'm about to say with this: I have some incredible people in my corner. I have people who've brought me into their own work projects. I have people who genuinely value my advice. I have people who have expressly said that I indeed know what I'm talking about. Yet, in this world, it often feels as if you are only as successful as the situation you're presently in. It's a supreme and all too frequent mindflarn (I'm trying to keep it clean here, folks, but feelings don't always give a f.... well, y'know what I was about to say)—one that can bring you down and even affect those around you. Unbeknownst to some, the trials and tribulations as a business owner and the paper chase have had me in a state of the exact type of disarray referred to above. Granted, things could be worse; however, things need to improve.

Somehow, my default in these moments is to (partially) go towards a desire to help my peers learn, an action that has apparently been passed down genetically from my family. That's literally how The Academy FINALLY went from an idea to becoming a reality. Never mind that I've been an adjunct professor at two colleges and how a strategist's career has a natural teaching component to it—when things feel difficult, I turn to something that I have done, but something for which I'm not necessarily known. This active questioning of one's space and self is wild. But, a funny thing happened on the way to this week's newsletter communique... MY PEOPLE TO THE RESCUE!!!

As I was celebrating some of my people doing big and more significant things and their lives, I automatically offered an ear to bend if they felt a need. That's how I am. And because these people rock with me the long way, they would show their appreciation for my offer by mentioning how I have been able to or have helped them in the past. Typically, I would shrink myself in a well-intentioned but somewhat disrespectful-to-their-appreciation manner. But, this time, I thought about what I've done that has enabled me to help my colleagues, some of which include:

• Getting records into radio rotation for record labels as an independent marketer (yes, I'm that old);
• Working on a Nike campaign before entering into the full-on advertising agency space (I started brand-side, y'all!);
• Getting companies to be interested in adding email marketing to their marketing mix;
• Establishing the first standards and guidelines for email marketing at Condé Nast Publications;
• Establishing the first social media practice at an advertising agency;
• Authoring global digital marketing guidance and governance for a financial company;
• Heading strategy for a worldwide social and real-time experiential campaign for a financial company ??;
• Building strategy and acting as creative director for social, real-time activation for consumer electronics company with social response lab;
• Using my work as a component to being an active contributor pushing to provide new access points to this industry for Black people and people of color ??; and
• Predicting entirely too many industry changes that affect business.

And that's just 10 of the things I've been able to do that have enabled me to help colleagues, that have allowed me to have an agency that has existed for eight years; that has helped me to teach what I know and have it make sense. ????

Today's newsletter wasn't about the flex (unless you want it to be). Today's newsletter is a lesson in remembering to celebrate yourself too. Yes, there will be times when we, as individuals, get in too deep. But, if you can celebrate others who are deserving, you for damn sure can do the same for yourself. It's a friendly reminder—for you and for me.

See you soon!