For the Love of Creatives
Unlocking the Power of Community:
Imagine a space where your creative spark is truly seen—a community where people get you. That’s what Maddox and Dwight bring each week on For the Love of Creatives Podcast. As your hosts and “connections and community guys,” they bridge the gap between solo journeys and powerful collaborations, transforming “me” into “we.” This podcast is where heart-centered creatives come to unlock the power of community and thrive.
In each episode, Maddox and Dwight share insightful dialogues and host engaging interviews with fellow artists, innovators, and everyday creatives who’ve faced challenges, found inspiration, and reached new heights. Whether through storytelling, LIVE coaching, or exploring what it means to create, collaborate, and co-elevate, you’ll discover how to fuel your own creative journey and find the support to bring your best ideas to life.
Expect practical insights, fresh inspiration, and real stories from the world of art, design, dance, culinary arts, and beyond. If you’re a creative looking for support, clarity, and a sense of belonging, this podcast is your place to connect, grow, and be celebrated.
Join us each week as we celebrate the magic of community-driven creativity, and don’t miss out on the chance to join our For the Love of Creatives Community! Tune in, subscribe, and start your journey from “me” to “we” today!
For the Love of Creatives
#038: Bold Moves, Big Dreams With Imani Black
Boldness opens doors that talent alone cannot. This truth radiates through Imani Black's journey from a tiny North Carolina high school to becoming a multi-faceted creative force in Dallas.
With refreshing candor, Imani shares how she transformed from the teenager who boldly announced to her entire school that she was "moving to Dallas to be somebody" into exactly that person – an award-winning photographer, documentary filmmaker, and art curator whose work has been featured on billboards in Deep Ellum. Her path wasn't linear or obstacle-free. From academic struggles that had her photoshopping grades to avoid being sent home, to landing a post-graduation job making coffee despite her qualifications, Imani's story resonates with anyone who's ever felt their potential was being overlooked.
What sets her apart isn't just talent, but an unwavering belief that creating her own opportunities would eventually eclipse the limitations of traditional paths. While stuck in an unfulfilling agency position, she launched her photography series "The Black Series" and created a documentary following Dallas creatives – projects that eventually allowed her to build the portfolio and connections that would transform her career. "If I don't try, I'm not gonna get it, it's not gonna fall in my lap," she explains, distilling years of experience into one powerful truth.
Beyond the practical lessons in creative entrepreneurship, Imani offers a masterclass in identity formation. Influenced by figures ranging from Kanye West to Kim Kardashian (whose "beauty, brains and business" approach she admires), she's crafted a professional persona that embraces her natural boldness while remaining authentically herself. Now balancing remote corporate work with her creative ventures, she's plotting her next moves – expanding her production company, opening a coffee shop, and owning an art gallery.
Ready to stop playing small and start creating the opportunities you deserve? Listen now and discover how boldness might just be your untapped superpower.
Imani's Profile
Imani's Website
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if I don't try, I'm not gonna get it, it's not gonna follow my lab. It's been like a, a mix of trial and error. There have been times where I've receded, I'm not so bold or I'm just like or I don't like this, or I think it's all okay overall. But it's like I don't want to miss opportunities and just from time I've learned, even working in the advertising industry, like those mouths don't get fed and they like people who are loud, like I've noticed in the workplace, like people who are like loud but on their stuff not loud, but they speak, they, they, they talk to people. They're not going into office just doing their work and then being going home like it's no, it's the people who are talking to you, you, you coming to bother you. I didn't do that at my last job but, like I've noticed, it's like you. There's, there's a way to move about life and it is being bold, that is being confident, even if you don't fully feel it, like I felt like in high school. I had to fake it until I made it.
Speaker 2:Hello, you're here with Maddox and Dwight. Hello, you're here with Maddox and Dwight. We're the Connections and Community guys for the love of creatives. Wow, that's a drawback. Today, our guest is Imani Black. Imani, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 1:We're delighted to have you. Thank you, I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm going to, before we jump in and start really getting into the conversation, I'm going to turn the mic over to you for a minute and let you tell the audience a little bit about yourself, because you can do that better than I can do that. Just, you know, one or two minute overview of who you are and what you're about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course. So my name is Imani Black. I'm originally from North Carolina, but I moved out here to go to school at the University of North Texas over what? 2013. So I've been out here ever since. I've always wanted to move to Dallas. I had big dreams. So, like everyone in my high school, they knew that I was moving to Dallas and was going to make something for myself. Because I told them I was. And just over time, like that is truly transformed into that.
Speaker 1:So graduated from UNT, majored in advertising, worked in the advertising industry, learned a lot because I started out as a secretary. So I was making coffee, doing inventory planning, events and things like that A lot of the admin work. And I remember just being so unhappy with my role in that because I'm like, I majored in advertising, I have internships, I lead like I'm a leader, like I do a lot of big things. So why am I making coffee? It was a very sore subject for me back then, but when I look back, it really helps me because, being that I was so driven, I decided to create my own projects. So from there, I created a documentary titled Day with Dallas, which is where I followed the life of a couple of creatives for over almost a year the life of a couple creatives for over almost a year. And then I had a celebration at Trinity Cider where we just celebrated the release party of everything and the closing of the actual documentary filming and everything that was fun. That was in 2019. And then, as well from that point, I had already had an ongoing photography series called the Black Series, where I put out a photography project every year from 2017 onward to 2021 under that title and from there, like it's just helped me build a portfolio of work. And then now, where I am in my career, is where I was doing all that work for myself free in my career, is where I was doing all that work for myself free. I literally only have like one photography client per year at that point and it was only it was less than a hundred dollar gig to now. To now I'm, I have so many clients, repeat clients as well and I'm living out my dreams here in Dallas. So it's been amazing. I've been on a billboard in Deep Ellum. I've won an advertising award without having worked in an agency since 2019. And I got the award in 2022. So it was amazing and just so much has happened and I'm so proud and thankful for Dallas just embracing me. So I'm here. I love being out here. I'm also oh sorry, forgot about how we even met as well is.
Speaker 1:I'm a curator, so I curate art shows. I started out curating my own art show in 2019, was doing that every year until about 2022. I got the opportunity to curate in Deep Ellum and from there that was a community show. So it was more than myself, and the reason why I did that is because the walls were so big at the coffee shop that I was hearing at.
Speaker 1:I was like I'm just a young professional. I don't have the money to fill up these walls with my art because I would need huge prints, so I thought of opening up to the community so that everyone else can have a chance. So I had one piece in the show, but there were 11 artists, including myself, in the show, and then that's what kind of led me to getting the banner in Deep Ellum and then just leading to me curating another art show this year called Cyber Dallas, where I had a lot of artists that were amazing, and this is like the futuristic, sci-fi view of Dallas from a vision I've have from a previous project and just had the opportunity to make that happen in downtown Dallas. And yeah, I do a lot of community work and I love Dallas and I really show that through my creativity and providing opportunities for others.
Speaker 2:Beautiful Wow, you've done a lot. Beautiful Wow, you've done a lot. That's amazing. It was Women in Business I believe Something of that nature was the title of it, and you spoke so eloquently and had achieved so much in such a short period of time. It just kind of wowed me and I thought you know what an interesting story. And I think there are people out there that would gain value from hearing this. So I kind of want to go back and do. I mean, you mentioned a few dates and we don't normally do this, but I got a little message, an intuitive message, just a little few minutes ago that said really work on the timeline here, because I think it's important to your story. Because I think it's important to your story, so you graduated from high school and came in 2013 to Dallas.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah 17.
Speaker 2:Okay, so let's go from there and go a little slower and break it down, because you've really done a lot. And I want to kind of talk about the mindset behind some of it, because you said everybody in my high school knew that I was moving to Dallas. I had big plans, so let's start even back there. When did you know what you wanted to do? How old were you when you went? Yep, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do it in Dallas. And you begin to tell people where did it all start?
Speaker 1:I would say it started in about 2010. So my dad is actually in the Army and he got stationed. We were stationed in Fayetteville Well, it's Fort Bragg, but Fayetteville is the military town and so he got stationed out here in Fort Hood at Killeen. And I grew up in a small town. My high school was very small. It was a class or it was 300 students total, and then my graduating class by senior year was only 40, actually 38. And two of them were boys. So it was a very small school, very tight knit, and my dad had moved out here in 2010.
Speaker 1:He was stationed in Fort Hood and I was like, oh, I'm leaving this, I'm going to a big high school in Texas, I'm determined to be a cheerleader, I'm going to be somebody like, I'm going to do all these things. And we ended up, I ended up not moving, he ended up just moving, but me and my mom we stayed back home in Fayetteville because eventually they moved back anyways. But yeah, it started from there and that's when, like, the big spark came for me to go to school in Texas, because, you know, I wanted to go to high school here. It didn't happen, but then it was like, oh, I can go to college here and I have the GI Bill, so I can go to school anywhere for free, basically as long as it was public and it was a saving grace overall. Now that I've heard the pricing I don't even know what college costs still, but just knowing how people have loans and everything, I'm like whoa.
Speaker 2:They have big loans that take a lifetime to pay off.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my mom, she's like 54. She just paid off her student loans and that's from like what 90s something. So yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know it's funny. It's a small world.
Speaker 1:I grew up in a town that was only 20 miles from Killeen. Really what's the name of your town, temple Temple. I passed through Temple to go to Austin, right, isn't that?
Speaker 3:on the list Yep, and there's the Buc-ee's right there. Yep yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I know Temple just a little bit.
Speaker 2:I've been gone for a very, very long time, but yes, that's where I grew up. So what was it initially? I know you're very much into photography, but back in 2010, when you started to have these plans, was it photography then?
Speaker 1:It was actually so. I've been doing photography all my life. My cameras they always I mean my cameras. My parents, they always bought me like cameras or I would like get some type of money from like a Christmas, birthday gift allowance or something and I would buy a camera. So I would say photography when I was about 11 years old I think that's sixth grade, I think it was about middle school that's when photography really started becoming a big interest of mine. Um, I bought this gigantic it's gigantic now, but it was a camera, um, a Canon and all that. That was the first camera I remember purchasing. Actually, my parents got it for me, yeah, but yeah, it's always been a thing.
Speaker 1:And then when I have the opportunity to think bigger, because like I can go to school anywhere, I was like, where should I go? And my parents, they, we, we visited Texas so much growing up, so it was like I came out here for almost every summer or winter break, on and off, it depends on the year, but we would come out here a lot because my parents, they met out here. I was actually born here, but we moved when I was like one, before I turned two years old, so that's why I call North Carolina home because I was raised out there but we would visit here often because we have family here. So you know, they kind of encouraged me to think about Texas. They were like Dallas is where it's at, we want to move back to Dallas. My mom, she went to UTA and they met out there. My parents met out there. So she's like we're going back to Dallas and you know, there were so many times we said we were moving back to the DFW area or even just Texas in general, and it never happened. So it was kind of embarrassing with, like, my classmates and stuff Cause it's like I've been talking about I'm moving to Texas all this time, all these years of college not college of high school and I never moved, was at the same high school for four years so but when it was time to start looking at colleges and so forth, I actually really wanted to go to the University of Houston.
Speaker 1:I really liked the program. I really had these dreams of being a photographer, so I was going to go to their. They have a photography program. So I was like I want to go do that down there. And Houston is bigger than Dallas. I was like I want to go to the biggest city. So that was just my mindset back then. My parents, they kind of they were like you're not going to Houston.
Speaker 3:Basically they saved you from the humidity.
Speaker 1:They did, but I'm from the East Coast, I'm used to the humidity, but they were like you're not going to Houston, like we're paying for your school, we're not letting you go there. So that's a no, but you can look somewhere else. So I looked all over the country. I looked at California they were like no. I looked at New York they were like no. And then I was like you know what? Let me look at UNT. They have a really good journalism program, and I thought I wanted to do like journalism. Um and cause I was like, oh, I can do photography still, because photographers are in journalism. So it was like I was kind of weaving my mind around that. It's funny, though. When I applied for school, I was like, oh, I really want to get in because I'm an out-of-state student, so let me just say I'm going to go in for biology. So I applied to UNC saying I was going to go into biology, didn't do that. As soon as we got to freshman orientation, I switched to marketing, and marketing kicked my butt. This is creeping into 2013, 2014 territory. Marketing had kicked my butt.
Speaker 1:When I got to UNT, I failed my class. I failed accounting twice, and then I failed another class, like, yeah, it just wasn't it for me. But during that time I learned about advertising. So when I was like, finally, like hey, I have to make a change. I learned about advertising when I went to go speak to, when I spoke to an academic advisor and they recommended advertising, I was like, oh, I could do a lot with this. Like you mean? I mean I love pop culture. Like my identity back then was pop culture warrior and I love like media takeout, and I love like media takeout TMZ, vh1. Like when they used to actually have real substance on those. Well, it wasn't substance, it was junk. Looking back, but I always joke that MTV raised me. So, like I loved watching TV growing up. I knew all the celebrity gossip. I just, yeah, I was a pop culture girly, for sure, and advertising goes hand in hand with that, like I learned.
Speaker 1:And so during that time as well, I was always wanting a camera. I didn't have a camera, I had a little camera but it was cheap. And then I just mostly started filming and doing photos and videos on my iPhone, so that's what I was using to produce things. And then we had Instagram at that point as well, and VSCO. So I was, or what do they call it? They call it VSCO. I call it VSCO, but it's like a platform, kind of like Instagram too, and so I would just put out the photography and video videography aspect of like my interest, cause those are my interests.
Speaker 1:And then in 2016, I it was my birthday, my 21st birthday my mom got me a nice camera, like I had got, gave my brother my old camera, a little cheap camera, and I was like I really want to start doing YouTube. I really want to do photography, like I've. I said this is 2015. I've been begging my parents for a year to get, for a long time to get me a camera. So they, finally my mom. She got me a camera for my 21st birthday and, um, from there I said, oh, that's a blow up, like all I needed was a camera, and from there I put out my first photography project. It was called the black series and from there I put out my first photography project. It was called the Black Series.
Speaker 1:I released that right after graduating from UNT. So in June 2017, I released it, but I started in May. So I went around town photographing my favorite places in Denton and then I photographed my friends cool pictures of them. They were my models and I vowed to do from that point, to do every year as long as I saw it made sense for me. So I didn't end up doing it for five years, but that was my idea, like give me a camera and I'm going to make it. I'm going to make something and I sure have. Yeah.
Speaker 3:It sounds like a whirlwind, and there's definitely some. You had the support of your family and a lot of things that helped you along the way, but were there any any setbacks or challenges?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I almost like my parents. They are very into school, like we have to to go. I had no choice but to go to college. So when, uh, I got there, I wasn't doing the best as far as like school, like I just it was about the second semester. I want to say first semester I was fine because I didn't really know anyone. So I was definitely in school focused. Well, I'm not gonna lie, I'm, I'm a good student kind of. Not really something I had to grow into learning how to be a good student because it was my first time at school and on my own and the discipline and being organized and so forth.
Speaker 1:Um, I used to fall asleep in class like I was like I'm, I'm gonna be front and in class I need to sit at the front and center. I would sit front and center and fall asleep in class. I know it's so silly, but I was confident. But the vision was there, but it was just wasn't fully there. But I had to figure that out and my scariest thing for me was my parents taking me, making me move back to North Carolina. That was like the scariest thing to me, my freshman year when I first moved out here, and so what I did was I ended up just Photoshopping my grades. I would be like my mom they used to ask me for like proof of my, like transcript or whatever my grades for the semester and I would literally Photoshop, photoshop. I'm like I'm not moving back home. So to me, like that was like it was a struggle, like navigating, like hey, I'm not going back home, I hate that. I have to be devious or what is the word? Deceitful, deceitful to stay, but it's like I'm not going back and that was. And then once I actually failed those accounting classes that was my sophomore year failed, had to fail, and all that, and so, or I had to go, I failed, and so with that it was kind of scary because I was also going to lose my funding for school through the military because my grades weren't up to par and things like that. So I would say that was like one of the first real setbacks I remember.
Speaker 1:That were that was very impactful, where it was like sink or swim for me because I felt like going back home to North Carolina was like the worst thing. So I'm like, oh no, I've been talking about this all high school. I've been taught all this crap. I didn't stop talking to all these people from high school. I have to make it work. Like I can't go back home, like I'm not, I'm not going back home. And yeah, I had to swim and that's what I did. I ended up changing my major and that that really helped me, because after I changed my major I soared Like I was. Advertising was definitely the way for me.
Speaker 3:Well, it's good that you were able to turn it around Like you definitely had a recovery, but what do you carry with you?
Speaker 1:Like how does that inform how you move through life? Now I feel like it's encouraged me to stay motivated and do what I have to do to get to where I want to be. Fortunately, nothing's really where I have to be deceitful, but I feel like changing your, photoshopping your grades is not that's not the worst thing in the world, but I would say like just having the mindset of if I really want something, I really have to work towards it. And you know I was so distracted, like trying to. I had a boyfriend at one point and it was just a distraction for me. I was just trying to be a lot of things when I needed to really just be a student and focus on myself.
Speaker 1:So I've noticed when I, when I'm like, when I feel like I'm distracted or I'm doing too many things at once or just something isn't fit or working in my favor or where I really want to go, I now, over a year this has been. This was like that was the first time that kind of situation ever happened to me, but it's happened so many times and I realized that's life. So it's like um, so now I have a really good uh, I'm really good, balanced and understanding, like what is true for me and I have to make these changes. So I'm willing to do anything, not do anything, but I'm willing to start, cut everything off, to start over, just be by myself, figure it out, so that I can get to where I want to be and just make those changes.
Speaker 3:That's awesome.
Speaker 2:So here's the million million dollar question. All these years later, do your parents know about the photoshopped grades?
Speaker 1:no, I don't remember. I feel like I have brought it up. I think they do, because my mom, we had a heart-to-heart one time. Um, I think it was in 2016, 17, maybe I hadn't graduated yet, but I was like, yeah, by the way, I had to change my major and here's why I had to change my major because I was failing and all that.
Speaker 1:So I think I told her later. So, yeah, it's not a secret. I have a really good relationship with my parents and so, yeah, they're like my best friends, so I'm pretty honest with them.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. Well, I was just thinking. Well, I wonder if they're going to hear this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're very, I will say they let me be myself. So not that they're free spirited, they're not, they're traditional in a lot of ways, but they let me be me. So they know that I'm a go-getter and they knew I did not want to come back home and that it felt like a failure for me to come back home. So they knew I'm, they know I'm willing to do a lot of things to just make sure I'm good.
Speaker 2:It's good to have that kind of support, Even if it is traditional support. It's great to have that kind of support.
Speaker 3:And your parents are in North Carolina now.
Speaker 1:No, they actually live out here now. They made, they finally made their way back.
Speaker 3:Oh, wonderful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's nice.
Speaker 3:I know that with such a small, small cohort that you went through in high school, that you had a chance to, I mean, that's an opportunity for people to get much closer than in the large schools that you know. I grew up around here, so stadiums were used for graduation ceremonies and you could opt out because it was just that huge, right. Oh, wow, wow.
Speaker 1:But do you? You still keep in touch with people that you grew up with because of that? No, I, in high school I would say I was honestly in my own world. I was a lot. I was on the Internet a lot, not gonna lie. So not saying my friends were on the internet eventually they were but during high school I just always saw that I was a lot of.
Speaker 1:I went to a school where it's like a lot of people wanted to be in the medical field. I was only in that school because, um, you could take community college classes during high school. That was like the benefit to me. That my mom made me kind of but, yeah, that was why I went to that school. So I just always felt like I was different, like I never. I had like a few friends, but I was like always like a floater, like I could blend in and kind of be cool with anyone. But I didn't really have like my core friends until about, I would say, junior year, senior year and. But I was already like.
Speaker 1:So I was on the internet. I used to be. I had a lot of followers on Twitter. I was on Tumblr at some point. No, that was later, that was in college.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, I was just an internet girly, so it was like I saw so much more and I was always the most different. I felt like I'm not like other girls in high school. I was just different. Like I didn't really connect with anyone like that at my school. I had good relationships, but it wasn't like a deep bond and I always felt like I was better than Fayetteville, which was my hometown.
Speaker 1:I was like I can't wait to get out of here, bro, like I hometown. I was like I can't wait to get out of here, bro, like I'm going to be a big star, I'm going to be this and that. Like y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all look at me as I'm nothing now, which is fine, but I know I'm going to be somebody one day. And so, um, after high school or after graduating, um, I didn't keep in touch with anyone um, for a long time. And now I can even touch with about four people out of the five or about, or out of the what? 38 people, just about four of them today. And over time, yeah, it's only been a handful. Like if I go home, I literally hit up one friend and she doesn't even live there anymore.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, Well, it sounds like you. You managed to cast spells like what you said was going to happen. You made it happen, and there was a combination of luck and determination. But you, it sounds like you had a real drive to really bring about the things as you saw that they needed to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely I. I'm still shocked to this day because Imani Black Black isn't my uh, my government name, but it's a name I made when I was 16 years old. They told us not to put our real names on the internet and so, um, I was like I don't want to be these like weird names, like I want to be my name or I want to have like the I call it a pseudonym. It is a pseudonym, but my name is Imani. But I made that name when I was 16 and it was so crazy. 10 years later I won an award as Imani Black in in Dallas, texas. Like it was a lot of, it's been a lot, oh my God, but it made me cry. I was like wow.
Speaker 2:That's really cool. I love that story. So I'm curious this go-getter that you are, who modeled that to you? I mean, where did that come from? Who modeled that to you?
Speaker 1:I mean, where did that come from? I should say my family overall, and like my mom she's amazing, she's a boss, and I saw that growing up. And my dad, he's a go-getter too, like he was in the army and he also worked on the side, like I just come, or worked on cars on the side, and like they always had something going on, like there was always like I've. Since I've graduated from college actually, even before I graduated from college, there was a time where I had three jobs at one point, and so it's like I come from a family of hard workers. I watched my mom applying to race at her where she worked at Like she went from struggling and then pursuing her, having me pursuing her education and my dad just being there along the way supporting her and them coming together and like making the best for me and my brother, and so just seeing them really inspired me. And then I would definitely say even though this person is taboo now, very but Kanye West I listened to him a lot growing up, like ever since I heard Gold Digger when I was in third grade, like I said my parents, let me do what I want, but in third grade I heard Kanye West Gold Digger and I remember there was this line.
Speaker 1:He was like he got that ambition. Baby, look in his eyes. And I remember I was in the car with my mom. I was in the back seat. I was like mommy, what's his ambition? And she was like it means you work hard, you get it done, you're a go-ter, like basically that was just what she said. I'm sure she broke it down Barney level for me, but I remember I was like I got that ambition. I remember saying but he like listening to him growing up and like you know he's a very confident person and like just seeing, I watched so many of his interviews and so forth. It's just that I've had a lot of time to study him before he became uber weird. But yeah, I've had a lot of time to study him and like his music has greatly influenced me as well. Like I said, everyone in high school knew I was moving in Texas, but they also knew I love Kanye West. I thought I was going to marry him one day.
Speaker 3:He was going to wait for you to come from third grade up to old enough to marry you. Well, you know, you mentioned early on about how you had the job at the agency where you were making coffee, despite having gone through the process of earning. You know well, you'd earned the degree and you'd had the internships and you'd done all the things in order to to um get you. You you'd earned recognition, but it wasn't coming. There's a possible. There's another timeline where you're still making coffee. Possible. There's another timeline where you're still making coffee. So what can you say to someone who might be listening that's in that situation.
Speaker 1:Oh, I would definitely say no. You're more than likely not going to be fulfilled at your day job. But if you can build something for yourself outside of it, have a reason outside of work that gets you motivated. Because during that time, when I was making coffee and all of that, I would just go go. I was new to Dallas. I would go go to work, go home, work out, smoke, drink and go party. And then the cycle would compete or it would. I would base that would be my week, every week. That was it. And then it was like I mean, what am I doing? Like I'm not doing anything. I'm sitting up here on Twitter and drinking and smoking. Like this is such a waste of time. I should be doing something.
Speaker 1:And so it wasn't until about 20, the beginning of January 2018, after I graduated. I graduated in May, got the job in August, was living in Dallas by September. From September to that point, that was my loop Smoke, drink, go to work, work out, go out to eat. Just be silly. I was young, I was 21.
Speaker 1:So, but once I figured out that I wanted to do something, I was like I need something to do after work. I can't keep doing this and I'm not being fulfilled, like I'm sitting up here waiting for them to give me an opportunity to be on a production set or to make a documentary or to be a part of these cool projects for this amazing client we have, but it's like it's not happening. I'm making coffee or I'm getting denied to even get promoted and stuff like that. So I was like, okay, well, I'm just going to make something outside of work and I studied. I just watched a lot of YouTube videos. I studied them at work.
Speaker 1:Like I was like, oh, you need to have a meeting or you need to like write these notes down. You need to send follow-up meetings after a meeting. I need to write like I just kind of took it all in. And so what I would say is like, yeah, if you're not fulfilled, you're more than likely not going to be fulfilled at your job. But if you build something outside of your job, you can. There's a way out eventually. It takes time, it's not going to be overnight, but it could be. But if you don't ever start, you'll just be in a constant loop. So I would say look for something to do outside of work that fulfills you and if you want to pursue it for money, do it.
Speaker 2:Oh, go ahead, Dwight.
Speaker 3:No, I'm just saying sage advice. People need to hear it. I suspect they know it, but they need to hear it.
Speaker 2:They need to hear it. Yes, I agree completely.
Speaker 1:So I'm wondering if you can look back now at the job where you made coffee and see the perfection of that.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. I'm so thankful If they had put you on projects. You might still be working on their projects, but they had you doing coffee and, as a result of that, your life went a different direction, where you work on your projects now instead of their projects.
Speaker 1:And client projects. I have plenty of clients, so now I started with doing my projects, but now my client projects take more priority and more time of my time.
Speaker 2:I noticed right off when you spoke in the panel that you are very confident and you speak very boldly. You don't hesitate to say what's on your mind, and I'm wondering how you perceive that ability to be that confident human being and be bold. Be bold how has that? I mean this is speculation, because you don't know what life would have been like if you hadn't been confident and bold. You can only speculate, but that's what I want you to do is speculate and tell us how you think that opened doors for you that might not otherwise, and what doors did it open?
Speaker 1:All of them honestly. But you know, I feel like there's I'm just, my family is we're a loud family, and so you have to speak up or they will. You will get ran over. So you have to speak up or they will. You will get ran over. And after so many, after so much time, you know it's such you're, I'm a child, I'm growing up, so it's like, you know, I'm finding my voice. But they always let me be myself. I can definitely say that about my parents. They let. They said I was weird, but they let me be weird, and so over time, it's just you.
Speaker 1:I've become grounded in that. I know I'm different, I know I'm eccentric. That's what I say now. I know I'm eccentric, but I've always had friends, I've always had my family. I've always had that confirmation as well that I am good or I am a solid person. I am a solid person. It's okay to be me, it's okay to be confident, it's okay to be loud and proud, and I feel like it's also just something God put in me. I don't know how it would be to be a shy person. I will say there are times that I have been shy, but I think there's waves of it and it's not even like I'm shy, it's like I'm just being quiet, I'm letting y'all do the talking and I'm observing or taking it in, kind of figuring out what's going on before I insert myself. Because I know if I talk, I don't know I might become the center of attention. A lot of the times is what I've noticed. So it's like I'm willing, I'm not, I'm okay with being quiet, but I'm not. I know when to speak up, I know when to. I know it's okay to be loud and proud, and working at the advertising agency really solidified that for me. I had been loud and proud all throughout college and I got a lot of things done which I was so proud of. I walked into, I went. It was right when I changed my major to advertising.
Speaker 1:I was at summer school after I literally flunked the semester before I was at summer school, after I literally flunked the semester before I was at summer school and I had finally switched my major to advertising and it was the first day of class. We had like an intro to journalism class and they were telling us about the North Texas Daily, which is our on-campus newspaper, and I looked at their social media because they told us to follow them and I was like their social media sucks. Like I have a thousand followers on Tumblr, I can make this social media page pop. So I, literally after class that day, I went to the office of the newspaper and I said, hey, I would love to run your social media. Like, could we talk about, like I don't mind even volunteering to do it Can we talk about that? And I had a meeting with the main director, who was a faculty, and then I met with the editor, who was a student. So we met like a couple of days later and literally from there, things shot off, literally.
Speaker 1:I'm not even joking, but just that kind of boldness. It's like after you take bold action, after bold action, after bold action, it's like you realize like, oh, if I don't try, I'm not gonna get it, it's not gonna follow my lap. It's been like a, a mix of trial and error. There have been times where I've receded.
Speaker 1:I'm not so bold, or I'm just like or I don't like this, or I think it's all okay overall, but it it's like I don't want to miss opportunities and just from time I've learned, even working in the advertising industry, like those mouths don't get fed and they like people who are loud, but I've noticed in the workplace like people who are like loud, but on their stuff not loud, but they're, they speak, very, they, they, they talk to people.
Speaker 1:They're not going into office just doing their work and then being going home Like it's. No, it's the people who are talking to you, you, you coming to bother you. I didn't do that at my last job but, like I've noticed, it's like there's, there's a way to move about life and it is being bold, that is being confident, even if you don't fully feel it. Like I felt. Like in high school. I had to fake it until I made it. I was like I don't know how I feel about myself, but I'm not going to sit up here and play small Like I can't. I see big things for myself and I was listening to a lot of Kanye at that point and Tyler, the creator, and Rihanna and Amy Winehouse. So it was like, oh no, these are all like old figures and just very influential to me.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, so you had mentors of a sort people that you modeled after. You know, I think that we oftentimes when we see somebody, when people see somebody like you, that it kind of looks like it comes really easy to you. You know they always say the person who says, oh, everything she touches turns to gold type thing. And when you talk to those people, oftentimes they say you're only seeing me now, when it's all good, you didn't see back there where I tripped and fell 12 times or something. So you know the people that think, oh, you just got lucky, or it just comes easy to you. Speak to them in telling them. You know that the boldness, sometimes it pops in your face, I'm sure I know it does for me. Sometimes it just lands flat, but there's a reason you still keep doing it. Speak to that for a moment, please.
Speaker 1:Speak to why I keep going or how the boldness is a question.
Speaker 2:You know, in spite of the fact that bold doesn't always work, in spite of the fact that bold doesn't always work, it's I personally. I think it's more inclined to work than not work. That's me. But what's your take on it? Because you continue to show up bold, because it's opened doors to you. But I guess what I'm trying to get across to our audience is it doesn't work 100% of the time. Usually we all stumble, fall, we all have to get up and dust ourselves off. We've all been told no, get out of my face.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So for me I'm just knowing my journey. Like in high school, I remember feeling overlooked, like I can definitely say that, like that. That's when I start remembering like all my feelings and so forth, as far as like coming into my identity and things. And I remember feeling overlooked, like my friends. They were pretty, they were dating guys and hanging out with friends going to parties, and I wasn't. I would hang out with them, but it was like I wasn't going to parties or I didn't have a boyfriend. I wasn't, I would hang out with them, but it was like I wasn't going to parties or I didn't have a boyfriend. I wasn't getting like stalked or chased around school or anything like they were.
Speaker 1:Thank God I look back but you know, I've realized over time it's like I crave that attention, but I knew I wanted it in a way that felt good and so I realized it's like you don't get that just being on the sideline playing like someone's going to see you if you're standing in the corner. When I look at the people who I admired, even if it's just like a random person in class or I was in a summer camp or whatever like I saw the people who spoke up, who were funny. Who were funny, who were doing things, taking action, whether they were like oh, I'm going to lead this volunteer event or things like that Like they got the attention. So it's like I realized you don't have to just be pretty, you can do things and it comes naturally because you're interesting. It's important to be interesting and to be bold on top of that is like oh, you're golden, like you, there's something there. People like that's why we have the news, that's why we have all the celebrity gossip. I did take in a lot of pop culture too, so that's the influence.
Speaker 1:It's like I felt like I was a star. I knew I was going to be a star one day, but then I've kind of retreated. It's like I don't want to be like a celebrity, like people are following me down the street or anything. I don't want to. I want to be influential in my craft, like that's what I want to be known for. Um, and that's just a path I've taken.
Speaker 1:It's kind of been a molding over the years, but being bold has allowed me to see like hey, this is the type of attention I do want. This is the type of attention I do want. This is the type of attention I don't want, or like it's really a trial and error in a sense too, because you don't know, unless you try, like I could have told you that I'm going to speak on a. Well, I'm not going to lie, there's so much. I'm like oh, I didn't know it was going to happen. No, I used to talk to myself in the living room and things like that. So I don't know, but it's just like I felt a deep knowing that I'm going to be somebody one day. Maybe I'm starting small now, maybe I'm considered weird now, but I always knew I was going to be great. And even where I am right now, it's like I'm still eccentric, I'm still considered weird to some people, but I know I'm still going to go to my next level and it's bigger than this too.
Speaker 3:Oh well, that's a that's a great foreshadowing, because as a little girl you knew that you were going to get out of Fayetteville. You knew you were going to go to Dallas. And here we are, and you know, even when you were kind of pinned into the corner to making coffee, you knew better, things are around the corner and you're making it happen. So I'm curious as to what it is that we have to look forward to in the coming decades.
Speaker 1:Wow, decades that's a great question.
Speaker 1:Horseshadowing a bit, I would say I'm actually working on this now, but I know it's going to turn into bigger things later. So I have a production company where I focus look to as an inspiration for what I want. So she has her media company called Hooray. I want to own my own media company one day. She's also inspired me in the sense that I know I want to. Well, I knew this before her, but I want to own a coffee shop one day. I visited LA about a year ago and I went to her coffee shop like every day while I was there and, oh my God, it was amazing. But I know I want to. About a year ago, and I went to her coffee shop like every day while I was there and, oh my God, it was amazing. But I know I want to own a coffee shop one day. So, bigger production company, coffee shop. And I also want to own an art gallery. And then don't laugh when you see me, but I'm probably going to be a yoga or Pilates instructor too.
Speaker 2:You do, you Do it Good for you. I love it.
Speaker 1:That's what I really see, and my goal is to actually have, like one of my productions be on a Netflix series or be a Netflix series one day.
Speaker 3:So yeah, I don't poo-poo that being a yoga instructor at all, because you didn't mention her as one of your icons, but another local, um, oh, my, my goodness. Oh, who's the jazz singer? Um the well, the reason I bring her up is because she's also a doula, which is oh unexpected and she sings internationally and she helps with bringing about births. Erica Badu.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, so yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Monty, one of the things I noticed about you and it's worth calling out because I really want the listeners to get this that you are absolutely a big dreamer, but big dreams in themselves are nothing more than just big dreams. You know, what makes those big dreams come true is you take action.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:And it's the coupling of the big dreams and the bold actions that manifest your reality. You know, we think sometimes there's a whole subset of our culture that believes well, this is just the hand that I was dealt Bullshit. Right, we did get dealt a hand, but you know, like in most card games, you can lay a card down and pick a card up. Yeah, you know, you can change your life when you change your mind.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:We are starting to get near the ending time. We need to wrap up, but we have one final question for you and it's the big question. We save this to the end In your current creative life, like real time right here now. What is the biggest pain point and specifically that challenge that, if it were solved, would be a game changer for you?
Speaker 1:That's such a great question. That's such a great question. There's so many things that I want and I feel like some of what I've had right now I've accepted. So it's like I have a full-time job. Um, there was a time where I was doing this full-time. I got laid off in 2023 and I got a new job last summer. It's been over a year now, um, but I was unemployed for six months. But during that time I really learned how I really learned so much I was. It was great.
Speaker 1:I want to go back and do that, but because I have like some shorter term goals. I know that having a job is just disability and so forth, and just the uncertainty of what's going on in the economy is what's kind of keeping me here. But I know deep down, if I were full-time on my own, like I'm gonna go there. I'm gonna figure out a way to like make more than what I even earn now through my paycheck. So I would say, like it's just I'm thankful for my, but I know I can do more for myself beyond it. But I accept it right now for what it is, because I know it's going to lead me to where I need to go and it's not the worst circumstances, like I literally work remote, so like um, there are worse jobs.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I would say that's the main thing right now is just that. But I appreciate it and I'm realizing, like I used to think my corporate life was separate from my creative life, but over time I've had to realize like it's okay that they're merged and together, like it's all me regardless, so there's no need to compartmentalize. Of course you can have things private, but like there's no need to compartmentalize. Of course you can have things private, but like there's no need to compartmentalize, like oh, this is my aspect of this and that, and no, what I do at my creative world is professional, so it is a part of my just overall professional experience.
Speaker 2:I say this all the time it's not. It doesn't have to be an either, or it can be an, and yes, I love that. You know you said I know this job, even though it's not my ideal, it's not my long term. I know it will lead me where I need to go and you have experience of that, because it's just like the coffee serving job. Yes, it literally is when you needed to go, and so what a beautiful place to be in, where you can trust the process.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's been a big thing is trusting the process and, finally, feeling contentment as well. That was an issue for a while. I'm like, I'm not satisfied. I got to go to the next thing. That's partially why you see all these projects too, but I always put my all into them. So, but feeling contentment right now and the fact that I'm not doing anything like or I am doing things, but it's like I'm not promoting it or I'm not sharing it. I'm working behind the scenes on things and it's like I have things going for myself. I just don't have to share it and I can just work or I can just chill, in a sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I get it. It's important. It's called balance, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes. And can I say something as well as far as, like, another role model?
Speaker 3:Sure.
Speaker 1:So Kim Kardashian I've followed her a lot growing up, like what she did and so forth, like I saw her rise because I was a kid and watching, inhaling pop culture, so she was in the media all the time. But what I really admired about her, what I knew coming into Dallas and what I I picked out the pieces about her that I really like and it's three things beauty, brains and business. Those are what I try to embody and I feel like I do and she was like the person I kind of pulled that. Of course I have a lot of other women that I admire too, but for her to see how she does it, it kind of informed me in certain aspects of like what I do for my business.
Speaker 2:Beautiful. Yeah, I think it's incredible. You know, and we normally talk more than we did today about community, but right here, in these final moments, you know, you're describing the varying, different people and even though maybe you didn't know them personally, you drew from their lives and what they they were. They were like quasi mentors in some way and and in some Way, that is a form of community.
Speaker 3:Oh, 100 percent. I mean, it's the same way that I learn a lot from books. I have conversations with people who are long dead and it's because they've modeled things that I see as being important lessons and I try my best to honor them honor them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, books are amazing. There's so much wisdom. I love reading, so, yeah, well, I listen more than anything, but yeah, I love reading books.
Speaker 2:Imani, this has been amazing. Thank you so much for coming and spending an hour with us and sharing your story. We've really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1:Yes, Thank you. I've enjoyed being here. Before we go