After a tumultuous week and despite the fact that it was snowing, I talked myself into attending the Brown Girls Building Building Brands Brunch being held during the Fit Girl Fresh Weekend here in Philly. I wanted to stay in bed. I wanted to continue working through my emotions, but I knew this would be good for me. It was a much needed first step towards getting back to who I was.
I stumbled upon the Fit Girl Fresh Weekend after seeing an IG story from Trina who blogs over at Baby Shopaholic. The FitGirlFresh weekend is an event put together by Zakia Blain CEO of FBF fitness, that promotes healthy living, women empowerment, and so much more. I arrived at the Le Meridian Hotel in Philadelphia not sure what to expect, but I walked away with so many nuggets of wisdom and words of motivation I couldn’t help but feel like I was supposed to be there to hear everything that was said that my current decisions and life choices were not going to be in vain.
The panel during the Brown Girls Building Brands Brunch consisted of women who’ve I’ve come to admire throughout social media.
Panelist
Coko Clemens: award-winning singer and entrepreneur
Mia Warren: Blogger, Influencer, MomPreneur
Dawn Archer: Creator of Sweat, Influencer
Deesha Dyer: Obama White House Secretary
Rakia Reynolds: Owner of Skai Blue Media
Tahira Joy: Co-founder of the Cut Life
There were several questions posed to the panel, but I really focused in on two topics. Fear and Purpose. Below are some quick take-home messages that I was able to capture while trying to not to miss a word during the session.
Question 1:”How do you let go of fear?”
This was a question I was currently struggling with because when it comes to fear, we tend to get in our own heads. We fear the unknown, we fear success, and we fear the thought of failure. Even though we can tall knowing that God didn’t give us the spirit of fear, how do we let go of it?
Deesha shared her story of being a college drop out, dealing with evictions and money issues. She was in community college when the application to be an intern at the White House came across her desk. She was asked to pass the message on to youth she was mentoring but decided to step out on faith and apply herself. She was awarded the internship and later went back to work full time with President Obama. Her advice, one way to let go of fear is to stop living on your timeline and instead live on God’s. She also told us not to disqualify ourselves before trying. This is something I do often. I tell myself, well maybe I’m not good enough, or I ask myself “why would they want me?”.
Coko Clemen also shared her story, how she was a 10th-grade drop out who was launched in Stardom with the group SWV. Like the story of many young stars, the finances weren’t handled correctly and she lost millions of dollars. She also spoke very candidly about her journey with mental illness. She asked God for a second chance to do right by the blessings he gave her, and she received that gift in the form of a new start. Now she owns juice shops and is building other brands. Her advice for letting go of Fear is to realize when you’re staying in situations that aren’t right for you and move on those feelings.
Question 2: How does one find their purpose?
Finding my purpose was something that I felt I really wanted work on. I’ve even been reading the book “A Purpose Driven Life”, as for me it’s not just about finding my purpose but God’s purpose for me being here on this earth.
Rakia Reynolds spoke the audience about taking life into their own hands. Mixing it into a pot and doing what you want to do with it. The piece of advice that really hit home for me was to “do something that makes you get up before your alarm clock”.
Dawn Archer shared her story of depression and how she found her purpose in the form of fitness. She used what gave her joy to bring joy to others.
Mia uses her platform to show women it’s okay to be them. She states “our purpose was already given to s. You find it when you spend tie with God. What comes naturally to you that you can use to help other people?”
Deesha doesn’t believe that she has one purpose and that your purpose changes as your change. She advises us to “give yourself the grace to change.”
If struggling with purpose, Tahira advised us to ask our friends. Find out what it is that they think we do well. Explore those suggestions. You should also be comfortable with a transition and open to change.
I left the Brown Girls Building Brands brunch inspired and less hesitant about the future. I don’t think this is going to be easy at all but I know for sure it will be worth it. What I plan to do moving forward is surround myself with positivity. I plan to open myself up to new experiences, push aside my introvert ways and be open to accepting that there is something to be learned from every situation.I also plan to read a lot more, this is something I’ve unfortunately gotten away from these last few months. Below are some books that I am currently reading or have on my reading list for 2018.
