The Fantasy of Fair: The Black Sheep Strategy for Winning Anyway

In this episode of Black Sheep Leadership, Athena Renee challenges one of the most common beliefs holding people back: the idea that life must be fair before you can succeed.

Through history, philosophy, and real-world examples, you’ll learn why fairness is not the determining factor in success — and how resilience, strategy, and purpose can help you rise beyond unfair circumstances.

If you’re ready to stop waiting for equal conditions and start building real leverage, this episode will change how you see opportunity.

"INFORMATION IS EVERYWHERE EXECUTION IS RARE"

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:33

Everybody loves to talk about fairness, fair pay, fair treatment, fair opportunities. But the moment you understand one brutal truth, life has never been fair and never will be fair. So you can stop wasting energy complaining and start focusing on power, strategy, and impact. What's going on, everybody? I want to welcome you back to the Black Sheep Leadership Podcast. And today we're going to be confronting a dangerous illusion, the fantasy of fear. Why waiting on equality will keep you powerless. Listen, if this is your first time here, welcome. This is that Black Sheep Leadership Podcast that's offering no fluff, no filter, and no fear for the underdogs, the misfits, and of course the black sheep that's ready to level up under any means necessary. Check this out. Around here, excuses expire because we move with strategies. Okay? The tactics that you're about to hear, they're not trends, they're principles that have survived empires. From the Medici playbook to the psychology of Michavelli. But guess what? If it worked then, it will work now, and it's already working. But let's do a vibe check. Because if you're sensitive, want somebody to be wanting to be safe, addicted to comfort, get upset about anything, confused about simple life things, this is not your safe space. Go ahead and slide. But if you're ready to execute, evolve and lead from any seat, you in the right room. Okay. I'm your girl, Athena Renee. I'm the plug that connects you to your purpose. Okay. Now, check this out, y'all. Many people are stuck waiting for the world to become equal before they act. Okay. But history shows something different over and over and over again. You know what it shows us, y'all? The people who changed their lives, and sometimes they changed the world. They didn't wait for fairness, they moved anyway. Yeah. So listen, y'all. I mean, this episode right here, y'all, like I'm going in and we're going in deep. Why? Because really, just over the past couple of years, I've just observed some of the things that are going on. And I observe the state of the world on a global level, but definitely on an American level. Why? Because that's where I am located. Okay. And I hate to say this, y'all, but listen, as a black sheep, you get crap from everybody, right? That's one of the things I love about being a black sheep, is because, quite frankly, if we're talking about racism of any kind or politics of any kind, or all of those different things, when you're a black sheep, a lot of times the first racism that you get is from your own people, right? And they that may not even be particularly correct as far as using that word racism, but you get the crap from your own people a lot of times, starting off. You could be from the same neighborhood, the same ghetto, look like the same people in your block. You could dress the same, have the same dialect. Y'all poor, they poor, you middle class, they middle class. But guess what? They still, for whatever reason, it's still something about you that you just don't fit in. Right? So then you might go to be on your way as an adult. You got past the family stuff and the neighborhood stuff. Why? Because you're an adult now, you can move on, but then you go to a job, right? And you might experience the traditional racism where it's from some other group of people, right? But let me tell you what's really crazy though. As a black sheep that happened to be a black girl, you know what the craziest part is, y'all? Let me tell you some of the craziest shit that you can experience is when you experience racism from the people that's complaining about being oppressed. Y'all, this shit is crazy. And I said, wait a minute, I got to take a step back. I said, I gotta take a step back. Because first and foremost, guys, I've never been one of those people that just could somebody say, Oh, I don't like this particular group of people, guys. I've never really grave a crap. Don't get me wrong, like when you look at some of the civil rights and the Jim Crow stuff, y'all, that was brutal, that was savagery, that was craziness. I mean, guys, it lets you know how delusional people can be. But as far as a person having their opinion, as far as I don't want to deal with these type of folks, and I don't want to deal, that's their right. If they don't want to deal, don't. Right, guys. So I know that I have a I definitely have a different outlook when it comes to those things, and I've experienced all types of shit. Okay, but there's certain things in life you step back and you're like, man, and you keep hearing these things where it's like, you know, equality this and equality that, right? And fair this and fair that, right? But don't get me wrong, guys, on certain levels, as far as being able to at least be out here trying to do your best and not having to worry about being haunted down like an animal. Now, come on now, we gotta draw the line, right? But when I'm talking about equality, like fairness, guys, the shit don't exist. It don't exist. First of all, if you a black sheep, you've already experienced how stuff ain't fair, right? But what I'm telling you guys is we'll see it all the time, right? But as a black sheep, it puts us in our power because life has never been fair for us. People have always did little shady backdoor deals with us, right? But what I'm telling you though is guys, with everything that's going on, it's so much noise in the world. This is how you know your focus, you focus in on what's important for you. This is how you know it's gold, and this is how you know it's priceless, and this is how you know that is the shit you need to be doing. That is the thing that you need to make the main thing in your life. Do not let nothing in this world on YouTube, Instagram, I don't care where you're looking at, don't let that take you off of your focus of what you should be focused on, which is what which is you and your family and the thing that you need to be standing on business about, right? Because as a black sheep, you already know nobody's coming to save us, right? So, what does that mean? That means we gotta stay ready. We we don't have we're not looking for the perfect president, perfect political party, because we know they all on some bull crap. When you check your history, guys, if you really want to get a great breakdown of the political system on a global level, but then we narrow in on the U.S. because you can only be concerned about where you're at, right? Obviously, you want to have a plan about where you're going, but you might just say, hey, I'm going from New York to Florida to soak up some sun in my in my golden years, right? But my book, The No BS Guide to Politics, guys, it breaks it down when you understand that government and politics, guys, is just a city, it's just a system, okay? It is only a system that was created. A lot of people like to say control, right? A lot of people like to say control. And listen, if that's your perspective, yes, but guys, it really was put in place for order, for order, control and order, in my opinion, is completely two different things. Okay, now don't get me wrong, guys. You know, some people, hey, some governments in the world, we've seen how we had these dictators and all of these different things, and a lot of people always talking about no King's Day, and that's really crazy because it's funny, actually, because you know, if someone that is a Christian and and I'm a believer, I'm not just I'm not a holy role or anything because trust and believe, guys, when I get really passionate about something, I turn all the way up, right? But it's like you get these folks that say, you know, no king's day, and we hate these different things, and this is fair and this is equality. But when I was doing some studies, um, and I like to listen to a lot of different theology messages, when they can break it down in a practical way, right? But if you are a black sheep and you say I am building something for on a purpose-driven life, a destiny, that's why I'm here, right? To help black sheep discover their destiny, their purpose, so that they can continue to advance humanity in a positive way. We got enough bull crap out here, y'all see it. Come on, man. Y'all know we got a lot of bull crap out here, and it seems like, and that matter of fact, I believe that's a scripture in the Bible where it says idiots and bull crap is loud, but wisdom is silent. Wisdom don't make a lot of noise, and that might be play-doh or somebody, I don't know. But y'all, the Bible got some good stuff in it, man. I'm telling you, but I want to get back to I was reading up on and and really kind of pondering on something about how the Bible is ran, it is a kingdom, it's a kingdom, and even if you're not you might not be uh uh uh one of the pope's assistants or whatever the case may be, and I know they're Catholics or whatever, but if you say that I'm doing something positive for humanity and specifically for the kingdom of God, guys, that's a kingdom, that's different than a democracy and a republic and a socialist society and a communist society, guys, it's completely different, and I'm not gonna get into that too much, but one thing I do want to uh some good news I do want to tell you though, guys. If you are building something for humanity, for the kingdom of God that is going to help people in a positive way, one thing you must understand though is the most exciting part it is about that. It don't get me wrong, guys, it's hard as hell, right? Because when you're trying to do something good, when you're trying to go up the hill, it's hard, but you can fall in a heartbeat, right? But one thing about it, guys, when you tap into that kingdom economy, guys, it don't matter what the world economy is doing. See, that gives you peace, it gives you a peace of mind. Don't get me wrong, guys. We're on this, we're we're in this particular game, but you know you can number one, you can always position yourself number one to play the to play to win. But guess what? In the end, you know, if you are moving by the kingdom's economy of the God of the world, you know he'll never run out of money, and so really on this level, people want you to always think in lack, they want you to always be fearful about this going on, that going on. They want you to have anxiety. Why? So it can distract you from the things that you really need to be focused on. Okay, now I'm gonna get back to this pillar or or to this episode, but I just really wanted to touch on that a little bit, guys, because it is some crazy stuff going on, and I'm sure, guys, every time you look online, every time you see it, it's like, what the crutch is going on every day, every time, you got one side doing this, one side saying that, and if you don't have something that you are completely focused on, I'm telling you guys, you're gonna be you're gonna be waving like you in a boat with no direction, and you don't want to put yourself, your family, or anybody that you love in that position right now, okay? So I want you to lock in on this episode because listen to me very carefully, y'all. Black as a black sheep, we don't have time to wait on this being fair, on that being fair. Listen, y'all, when you when you're from the bottom, and I'm always represented. Don't get me wrong, guys. I love luxury, I have been blessed when I say beyond, I have made more money as far as on an annual basis than both of my parents put together. Okay, and this is not a flex or cap, but one thing about it, guys, I never get carried away with it. Why? Because it could be here today and going tomorrow, and that's what I appreciate about my super humble beginnings. I like to say I came from the bottom of a basement and I'm a black sheep. Okay, and I'm saying that because when you understand when you are already a black sheep, life don't be fair anyway. It'd be a lot of crazy stuff going on in you, it'll make you do a double take, a triple take. It'll make you observe, but it will also make you decide at a certain age. A lot of times it starts in our younger age, but it'll really make you decide am I gonna settle or am I gonna get up out of here? Right? You remember some of us, if you're from a ghetto or if you grew up with humble beginnings, a lot of us the only thing we wanted to do was we wanted to become adults so we can leave home or leave our cities. That was it. Why? Because you knew it was something more. You didn't even consider about all the unfair crap that you went through. Why? Because you just knew it was something more, and that is the frame of mind, guys. You must keep because as we look throughout history, and we're gonna discover some folks, y'all. This this is a very this message, is it's gonna be it could be very triggering, but guys, we always we black sheep, we always been triggered. That's why we got them soft MFs up out of here early, right? You know, people always try to talk slick to black sheep, and and even if they found out something triggered us, y'all, they would they wouldn't pull their finger off the trigger, they'll be triggered happy. Okay, so but I want you guys to understand though, even in life craziness and I wanted to say rudeness, but it goes farther than being rude, but even in life's just yeah, just the the the chaotic, unfair crap that happens in life, the the roller coaster of life, guys, there are beacons of light from every single century that will prove to you that if you make a move anyway and you're intentional about it, and there is one and and going past intentional, when you really believe that you were called and destined, or you are working on an assignment from a higher power, guys. You make the impossible possible, and that's why you gotta tap in. This is why you gotta tap in. So, listen, let's talk about these three pillars. Grab your pen and paper, but check it out, guys. I am going to be dropping the link to a work, uh, it's going to be a field uh worksheet or workbook, sorry. But it's going to have all of the different things that we've discussed through a lot of our different episodes, absolutely free, and you'll be able to go to the through those things, guys, and implement it in your life, taking all this. We're not wasting time, we're giving it all gas, no break. So, this is the perfect resource for you because I know you about it, okay? So, let's talk about pillar one, y'all. Life was never fair, life is not even fair in nature. I really want to dig this in your mind, and the reason why this episode also came up, y'all, is because I'm actually experiencing experiencing something right now. Um, but I'm gonna first let me let me drop this pillar on you. Life is never, it was not, it's not even fair in nature, guys. In the animal kingdom, every creature does not get the same chance. That's just letting you know, just from the animal kingdom, and somebody else might just say, Well, those are animals, but guys, that's just the nature of life, that's the cycle of life, right? Some are born predators, some are born prey, some run fast, some run slow. Nature doesn't distribute opportunity evenly, but survival doesn't belong to the strongest. This is what you got to understand, guys. Survival doesn't belong to the strongest. Surviving and thriving, it belongs to the most adaptable. Yeah, y'all. See, that's why a lot of people get left behind because they are not adaptable. It's just like in 2000, I mean in 1999. In 1999, there was people selling their homes talking about Y2K, and the world was coming to an end. And guess what, guys? Here we are, 2026, and we still rolling. They were going up against computers so bad, technology so bad, they were betting that the clocks couldn't even handle going to two from 1999 to 2000. Guys, but guess what? On the other hand, you had people that was investing in all types of technology stock. They had home computers then, they were betting knowing that technology was gonna take over. Guys, that's two different types of people. Everybody don't get the same opportunity, everybody don't have the same mindset. Fairness is not even a natural law, but adaptation is the real advantage. See, reality beats ideology. The moment you accept reality, you gain leverage. And when I say reality, I'm talking about when you have a stark reality of where you are right now, okay? When we're talking about reality, we're not talking about down the road, right? And I'm saying that because I don't want you to feel like because you're right here, right now today, you can't be further down the road tomorrow, right? But guess what? Tomorrow is not here yet, so we can't base it upon nothing we've haven't experienced in the past, we'll never get that again, so we won't continue to dwell on the past, we can only focus on the now, and that is the reality of it. That's where we're at now, right? So you have to really, guys, when we're talking about things our affair, you have to really just give yourself some time, you have to be completely raw. I just like to say, be raw with yourself about it, right? And sometimes it might be an ugly truth, and I say all that to say, so let me tell you about something that I am literally experiencing on two different levels, okay. So, earlier on, I talked to you about observing um, you know, the world that we in, the culture, the state of mind of the world, and it's so crazy, guys, because it seems like we are literally going back and Time like like when they say um everything just goes around in a circle, what goes around it comes right back around again, and we're just in a cycle, it just really seems that way on certain things, not everything, but just on certain things. But so I am actually working on a project doing some data analytics um on a freelancing level, and someone that is leading the project, um, you know, they don't they don't specialize in what I'm bringing to the table, but they are the leader of the project, so they know different things about it, and they've been working on the project for a long time, okay. However, when I talked about the observation piece, one thing you must understand about me, guys, as a black sheep, I have been I have been in leadership since the age of 18, okay. And just the way my personality was set up is I've always been drawn to people that run later, like they run in the show, they run in shit. And guess what, guys? It's not even about just running a company or managing people. I've just always been attracted to people that seem like they manage, they run in their life, they bust up in their life. You ever met people that just like they about business, they are boss, they got goals. I mean, they might be sleeping out of an extended stay, but the way they move in about life, they clean, they moving fast, they not slugging around, waking up at 2 p.m. Like ain't nothing going on. Like, I've never been attracted to those types of people, but leaders, leadership, people that just like they have a zest for life, right? Back in the day, we would call them ballers, bosses, right? Okay, so even no matter what type of environment I'm in, I'm observing the leaders. Okay, I'm always going to observe leaders. Number one, number two, I'm always going to observe how people treat you or other people that they feel they do not need. Okay, and when you when when you observe how people treat folks they don't need or don't find valuable, guys, that is giving you the raw character of a person, especially if they in leadership, especially if they're in leadership. Okay, now here's the deal. I want you guys to understand in leadership, everybody has their own styles, right? Now, I told you I observe leadership, I've studied leadership, I observe, or excuse me, I study and observe high achievers. And guess what else, guys? I I went, I even went to the to the uh nucleus of it and I started researching the coaches of the people that are high achievers. Because one of the main things that I observe, one of the main common denominators I observe about high achievers are they have coaches, okay. And so what I realize is to extrapolate greatness sometimes from someone, it's not gonna always be a soft and fluffy road. Okay, hence, you as a black sheep. How do I know you're built for greatness? How do I know you're born for greatness? Because you had a bumpy road in the beginning and you're still here. See, a lot of the stuff that you as a black sheep have gone through. Man, this stuff that we done went through, guys, come on. Other folks would have taken themselves out, they would have been deleted themselves. Some of the folks not even here anymore. So you already know you're really on track for something great, but you just got to continue on moving up, moving on, and discovering things and making the moves you need to make. But I say all that to say this sometimes, like I said, everybody's leadership style is differently. However, when you have a coach or a leader, if they're they might be that cool boss, leader, coach, or whatever, you know, they're more diplomatic, kind of put you in the mind of a Barack Obama or something like that, very likable, or I believe Bill Clinton as well. And I think they both are Leo's matter of fact. But one thing about it, guys, now those folks they are more diplomatic and they want to work, you know, want people to work together. But trust and believe, guys, anybody that you see in leadership, they got that spice to them, they got that spice to them, right? So a lot of times in leadership, people will take your kindness for weakness. But if a person is in leadership, you gotta know they got to have a backbone. But on the flip side to that, y'all, you may have a uh a manager, they not they not taking nothing, they looking for a way to get you fired, they don't care, they just want you to do the work and do it right. They looking for a way to get you fired, they're fair, they're not disrespectful, they're fair though. And what do I mean by fair? I mean fair in the corporate sense as far as whatever their protocols are, right? They're treating their team the same, they don't they don't care about if you've been here for 10 years or 10 months. Guess what? They want you to be in the parameters of whatever those set expectations are for that company, okay? When we're talking about fair here, okay, on that level. But here's the thing, though, guys. You have people that outside of extrapolating the greatness, guys, they gonna talk to you like you, they talk to you any kind of way, like you a child, condescending, diminishing, short, cut you off, not just in a one-on-one in front of all kinds of people. Okay, this is the type of things that you might see in different types of leaders. But here is the thing that I want you guys to understand what I've been observing, and what's crazy, y'all. It's been blowing my wig back. I don't even have a wig on. This particular woman, I'm talking about y'all. This woman been she she gets snazzy, zesty, short, cut you off, so rude, disrespectful, not it with any profanity or anything, but I'm talking about the customers be on the phone and we'll be reporting out or whatever, and she'll cut you right off and say, You shouldn't have nah da da da da da. She'll just go in and you like, whoa, and you know everybody will be quiet, right? But here is the thing. What I also observe about this person is they love to put you on blast and check you or make you seem like you're wrong, but then when they find out they're wrong, they try to clean it up in private. Now, where does the unfairness come from? Listen to me very carefully. I'm not going to even, I'm not going to even state the race of this particular woman. What I'm going to tell you though is as a black female in leadership, the way this woman is acting is what I have been charged with multiple times, as far as how to how I'm treating folks and talking to people. And listen, it's been so crazy because first and foremost, one of my life's prints, my one of my life principles is when you are managing people, I truly believe that God is watching you even closer. Because if you if God has put you as a steward of people to help them progress along, I don't care if they're in a warehouse and you teach them how to ride a pallet jack or you teach them how to stack boxes on a pallet, I don't care if they're in a call center, I don't care if they're at a darn cemetery and they're learning how to operate the machine to dig the holes. If you, this is me now. I truly believe that if you are a steward over people and you're mistreating people with no respect, walking all on them, treating them bad, listen to me very carefully. I'm not only going to say there's a special place in hell for you, but trust and believe karma is gonna come around big time. Big time. I sound to say, guys, I'm very careful on how I treat people. Okay, matter of fact, I'm really one of those folks that I really have an uncanny uh optimistic outlook on things. I know it's a God-given gift, but a lot of people, you know, depending on where I'm at in the environment, a lot of people think it's a you know, it's a front, it's a flex. I'm like, shoot, all the hell I've been through. If I could if I had the energy to have a bad attitude about it, I would do it. But guess what? Having a bad attitude costs too much energy, it costs more energy to have a bad attitude in the act stink than it does to just be like, you know what, uh, forget it and keep going. And when you have a good attitude, it actually raises your vibration, not only just vibration, your energy. I got too much stuff to do to be doing stuff that's count working against me, like um zapping my energy, and that's what having a stank attitude does. So, like I said, guys, these folks, a couple times I was in some situations where I mean, people was just making it up, man. And I had people vouching for me, it was just so crazy. But I say all that to say to be in this situation where I see someone in leadership getting away with talking to people like she claimed them on their income taxes, y'all. It is wow, it's wow. But see, I had to think, but guess what, guys? Life is not fair. Why? Because had it been a black woman, and I'ma say it because I'm black, had it been a black female in that position, trust and believe me, multiple people would have been and reported it, even black folks. Even black folks. So I want you guys to understand, life is not going to be fair, and the moment you accept that, this is when you gain leverage. So some of you might say, Well, what type of leverage have I been gaining this scenario? Guys, you know, I've just been doing my observations, but the leverage for me is well, if you feel it's okay to talk to me like that, it's absolutely okay for me to talk to you in the same manner. And I don't even do it uh going back and forth and titting for tatting, it's just whenever I feel like it, right? That way you understand how the other people are feeling. See, because one thing with me guys is I know I'm doing freelance work and I'm on a bigger mission. My life is not that of other people that's on this team. However, unfortunately for me as a black sheep leader, I'm gonna always be that person that'll speak up for the other folks because I could tell how the other people, just the information they've been sharing with me, this has been something that's been going on for a long time. So, me as a black sheep leader working on this project, no, I don't have to, I'm not gonna waste my time reporting you, but I'm gonna dish it to you like you dish it to me. And when you don't like it, when I see you don't understand or you don't like it, and you getting uncomfortable, guess what? That's gonna be a reminder to be careful how you treat other people, right? Guys, that's how I am, that's how I'm gaining leverage because we're in different places in life for different reasons, and it's gonna be a blessing or a lesson, and in this case, it's both for me, but it's definitely a lesson for her. Okay, so let's go to pillar number two. Advantages exist, but they don't decide everything. See what I'm saying? We were just talking about it, guys. Yes, advan they they exist, guys. Listen, family connections. Some people they connected. Have you ever worked somewhere and you was trying to get a position or a promotion, and you got all the credentials, you got all the credentials in the world. Guess what? They brought the book tooth brother-in-law in there that haven't even graduated from junior high, and he got the job. It's not funny, but I've seen it happen so many times, and it's some bull crap. But guess what, guys? That's just what it is. Because I'm sure if you had a company, if you could give your folks a chance, there's a good chance you probably would. We gotta keep it a buck here. Wealth. Listen, y'all, everything that's been going on now, guys. You know why that's been getting swept under the rug? Because it was wealth involved, but guys, that crap didn't just start here, it's been going on. This is another reason why, guys, I don't want you to get too caught up in that stuff. I don't care if they talk about it for the next decade. Why? Because this type of activity has been going on in every nation in the world, you just don't know about it. Why? Because we're not into that bull crap and we don't have the money. I'm gonna give you an example, guys. Think about Hollywood and how all of those women were reporting Harvey Weinstein. Think about, especially if you grew up in the 90s, think about all of some of your stars and you saw their movies and all of a sudden they fell off, or even in the music industry where you had an artist and you're like, Man, what happened to that guy? Man, they were really good, and then you start hearing these rumors about oh, they were hard to work with, they were hard to work with. Now, don't get me wrong, guys. Some folks were hard to work with, right? But a lot of those folks they were saying, it was a cover up. Why? Because they was wealthy and they had connections. Let's go to number three, guys. Race, guys. Listen, let's be let's be clear here, y'all. Race, race is going to give people advantages, okay? So sometimes I'm gonna give you an example, guys, and it's not all about I mean, this is just what it is. So, for an example, the story I was telling you guys about this woman, the way she talked to people, if she was a black lady, y'all, she would have already been listening the black, I'm telling y'all, the black folks would have been in winter, white folks would have went to go tell, Latinos would have definitely said something. Guess what? But because of her race, it's been unchecked and unchallenged. Geography. Sometimes geography, guys, give people an advantage. What do I mean by that, guys? Do y'all remember when um COVID-19 came and um the the borders, not the borders, the um uh the shipping yards where the containers come in at? Remember how they was going on strike and everything? Remember it was taking forever to get shipping containers that had come from the ocean. Why, guys? Because they had the advantage, because they were on the shipyards. They were they had the advantage at that time, and if you live by the water during that time, by one of those areas, you there's a good chance you got your packages quicker than everybody else. Why? Because it's an advantage, it's an advantage. Education, guys. This is why we want to continue to educate ourselves. One of the cool things I love about the times we're living in now is we can educate ourselves in so many different ways. We don't have to we don't have to submit to the traditional means of being educated, we don't have to take out all of these different loans and just to go get a piece of paper, and we can get right online now and get certifications, right? And we can pay the price that we can like that's actually reasonable. Don't get me wrong, guys. Some professions they require more meticulous, detailed, one-on-one training, but that's just what it is, if that's what you're calling is, right? But we cannot deny that education is definitely an advantage. How do we know it's an advantage, guys? Back in the day in the 1800s, during the uh antebellum south period, guys, it was illegal for black people to learn how to read. You could get strung up if you were caught trying to read. Why? Because education is enlightenment, it's enlightenment, it gives you the it gives you the ability to think farther than what somebody else wants you to know. If you can read, you can educate yourself on anything, right? Timing, timing is another advantage, right? So, for an example, I remember I was listening to Jackie Chan, and one of his uh things that he always shared was if it's something that you really love to do, he always said to start young. Start young. I hear a lot of folks saying that, starting young, and you know what, guys, I absolutely agree. If you know, but a lot of times we don't know. But and guess what? The other advantage is a lot of times when you start in your middle and in your ear, your later ages, like 30s and 40s, and even 50s, right? Um, you have more maturity, you have more wisdom, and that's the advantage that you have. It's just like with having kids. Some people feel like, oh, you should have kids when you're younger, and all of this, and this and that, right? But then they have two jobs getting food stamps, staying in the projects, at work, three, four jobs, hard can't hardly spend time with the kids, right? Why? Because you're younger, and that's okay. You had them in your younger day, and that holds an advantage, but it also holds a disadvantage. So now that you're middle aged, you're a little bit more settled, you have your finances together, you got a better career where you don't have to work two jobs, that's an advantage, but at the same time, you're a little bit older, so it can be looked at a disadvantage as well. What am I saying to you guys? There's always going to be a pro and a con about it. So ignoring these things about advantages is being naive, but at the end of the day, believing that those advantages decide everything for you and your fate, that's also false. And guess what? History proves it. Let's talk about it. Y'all, y'all know one of my favorite historical heroes, Harriet Tubman. Y'all, y'all know I'd say if Harry can do it, guys, I just cut off all conversation after that, to be honest with you. That's how hardcore Harriet is. I'm like, listen, bro, you out here complaining in 2026. If Harriet Tubman did it, Harriet Tubman was not a mulatto, she was a black, she was a black woman. I'm talking about dark skin, she didn't look nothing like mulatto, was short, and even back then, guys, I can guarantee you that Harriet Tubman probably did not fit the beauty standards of that time. But guess what, guys? With no education, no GPS, no Google, no resources. So, you know, she didn't know how to read a map, you know she didn't know how to look at the stars, yet she became one of the most courageous freedom fighters in history. Not only that, y'all, the reason why I talk about her is even though she she freed some folks a lot of times, y'all, she went back multiple times. But guess what? Not only that, she became a spy in the Union Army. So she would go on and say, you know what? I did my thing, I did when I felt like it, and came back multiple times. I didn't wait on you guys to sign a piece of paper, I didn't wait on the emancipation proclamation. I made my own way, but guess what? Now that y'all finally fight for something for real, I'm gonna jump in and got a dream job. Do you think somebody forced Harriet Tubman to do that? No, I can bet you she wanted to. Her dream, a dream job, a whole spy. Y'all, that woman badass, but not I ain't even done with it, y'all. Harriet Tubman died owning nine acres of land, a home, and an infirmary for senior citizens, which is I believe a hospital. I did the research, y'all. That's how badass Harriet Tubman is. So think about that nine acres, a house, and a hospital, dream job, back. Before slaves was free, that was back before Jim Crow. Martin Luther King wasn't even thought of at that time, and she still did her thing. I believe Harriet Tubman died in between 1910 and 1925. That was before Martin Luther King even came along. So, what am I saying, guys? Guess what? She had all kind of stuff stacked up against her. She was a black sheep, no doubt. But did she let it stop her? No. And you shouldn't either. Virginia Hall, she's another badass, y'all. Do y'all know about Virginia Hall? I've I've actually been thinking about getting some t-shirts made, y'all, with some of these folks, and see, you know, maybe you guys, this is something that could really just inspire you on your day. Sometimes, you know, you could be feeling in a slump, like, oh, I just can't get it. I can't make it. I'm so tired. I'm ready to give up. But then sometimes you can just have a you know how sometimes you run into a meme or something like that. Sometimes you can just simply have a shirt on or have a coffee mug, and you just look at it and it really enlightens you. But let me talk up to you about this other badass, Virginia Hall. Y'all, Virginia Hall was one of the first ladies in the FBI. Y'all, the woman had a prosthetic leg who became one of the most dangerous spies of World War II. The Nazis called her the most dangerous allied spy. Y'all, y'all, Virginia Hall had a whole prosthetic leg. Y'all, y'all know the World War II was in the 1929s and 30s. Why am I saying all of that? Because you know it wasn't supernatural. The prosthetic leg. But Virginia Hall said, I ain't gonna wait. Here's another thing, guys. She was a badass spy. The Nazis even gave her props, but check this out, y'all. Do you think that she did not face all types of bull crap being a woman in the US trying to get in? She in the FBI, she in the army. Do you guys think that she didn't get a lot of crap? You know she did. You know she did. Because if World War II was in the 1930s, 19, like 1934, somewhere in there, 1929, even if we say 29 and 1935, guess what? Women did not get the right to vote until 1920. Shouts out to Susan B. Anthony. Okay, she they didn't even vote until then. So you think a decade later they were just saying, Oh, okay, yeah, let them do whatever they want. Hell to the gnar. But guess what? Virginia Hall didn't wait on stuff to be fair. She said, I'm gonna make it do what it do with what I got right now. And guess what? She made history, she made her way. I'm gonna do some more research on uh Virginia Hall, but I definitely read about her a while back. Y'all, the woman, she did a uh, I believe she climbed a mountain. I'm talking about she messed herself up, but she climbed a mountain, y'all. It was over there uh in Germany in the winter time. Y'all know their winters are brutal, but it was a story about her where she went to some type of mountain range to she was trying to get back to Allies territory, basically, and obviously she made it, but y'all with a prosthetic limb in the winter time, that woman was bad. I'm sorry, I don't know whoever that woman uh descendants is, but hey, y'all gotta be proud of that woman. Let me talk to y'all about another one of my one of my favorites, y'all. Because this guy right here, when people start talking about, oh, you too old to do this, you too old to do that. You gotta bring up my boy right here, and that's the color. That's that Colonel Sanders from KFC. Y'all, the KFC dude started Kentucky Fried Chicken. Y'all, he was in his 60s. The man was in his 60s, y'all. And the the research that I did on him was after he got his first social security check, he said, the hell to the dawn with this crap, and he went on here and started boosting up again. He had already been trying to pop off the idea, but nobody was buying it. He had already had the idea, y'all. The research that I've done on KFC guy, y'all, he did 284,000 miles in his linking in one year. Oh, that man was standing on business. They said he was hardcore, though. They said he was an MF. But guess what? When you he he was in his 60s, he didn't have time to play. He had already had multiple failures. See, that's another thing, guys, is black sheep. Don't keep visiting your failures like you know, like it's a uh well, it could be uh uh uh some people might have them as their a war patch, you know what I'm saying? But guys, don't keep using them as a trauma, right? Where it's holding you down. If anything, have it as a trophy to let them know I came over. But what another powerful thing is using your failures as juice, as energy to say, Hey, if I made it through that, I'm still here. F it, let's keep going. Use your failures as energy to not let anybody play with you right now because you've already paid price and you paid it with learning through the failures, right? And even if you say it's not a failure, it was a lesson. Guess what? I completely agree, but it sometimes you feel a certain type of way about something, right? And so, with that being said, use it as energy to not give a crap and move on and keep doing it, like the KFC guy did, because that's absolutely what he did. I mean, to start KFC in your 60s, come on, y'all. That takes out all of the different excuses that we give each other. So, what am I saying, guys, with pillar number two? This isn't a lesson about life ain't fair. We already know it's not, but this pillar is to show you that unfair conditions they don't eliminate the possibility. Give yourself the possibility as a black sheep, don't be waiting around for people to all this protesting and oh, we shouldn't do this, and trying to get your point across with different people and all these different things, guys. Listen to me very carefully. You could be all the way right, but just because how life is set up sometimes, they'll paint it like you all the way wrong. That don't mean it can stop you. And don't get me wrong, guys. I'm sure there are some people out that say, well, it did stop this, this and that. But guess what, guys? It still could be an opportunity where you can still get a word out about it to help someone else. Okay, so understand unfair conditions, they don't stop nothing, they do not eliminate the possibility of you leveling up. Pillar number three, the black sheep advantage. Y'all, you know, as a black sheep, we grow up different. This is why I'm saying, y'all, in this time, this time of history that we're living in right now with all these soft ass people, crybabies, y'all. There's a lot of crybabies out here, y'all. I was looking at a program one one time with that turning point uh dude, Charlie, I think, and he was at some place or whatever. I used to kind of you know stop in a little bit. I didn't do too much on it, guys, because I'm gonna tell you something. I am focused on my mission, right? So I don't even try to get too deep, deep, deep into the politics. All I know is as an American, guess what? That dream is still alive, and it don't have to be a house, it could just be building a business, guys. This is why America has been one of the most innovative places because what you put in, you get out. Nah, life ain't always fair, but what you put in, you still get out. Because we're living in a time now where people are fresh out of prison and they now have a YouTube influencer where they're helping people, they don't even need a job. 25 years ago, it would have been impossible for them to even get help because people didn't want to help ex-cons, okay, or felons. Okay, so the black sheep advantage, y'all. People so they complaining, they're never happy. Look at the environment we're in right now. But as a black sheep, we've been getting rejected. A lot of times we're always misunderstood, right? A lot of us, we always underestimated, but that pressure, it builds something powerful, right? Because it builds the resilience that we need. This is why when people meet us, all this stuff that's going on, we not we unbothered. See, as black sheets, right now, a lot of y'all probably in your unbother phase. You like, listen, I'm building. If it ain't got nothing to do with my my place, my house, my family, and whatever else I'm supposed to be impacting in life, I'm not bothered by it. Independence. Sometimes when you have been rejected, when I was talking earlier, how we came from crappy environments, it made us become independent and go find our own way, right? We were rejected in the beginning, so now we're independent. We're not we're not being coddled by parents. Have you ever met some folks, guys, that you know they had way more ambition than you, way more support, and they still not doing nothing with their life? You know why, guys? Because they've been coddled, they've been coddled their whole life. Creativity, you know. Sometimes, like I said, certain things in a lot, it helps you tap into your creativity. Look at all the YouTube channels, y'all. It's so cool to see some of the really good YouTube channels where people are sharing their talents, their gifts, making different courses. It's a beautiful thing, and this is why I want you guys to really tap into the reason that you are doing what you're doing, the reason why you're going hard, the reason why you're not giving up. Because we are living at one of the most historical moments on earth, guys, where literally you can create something and share it with the world, and it will help them, and they will give you money for it. And you don't have to feel bad about the price tag. You know the price that you've paid to put into that thing you're doing. This is why I'm always talking to you guys about writing that book, creating your YouTube channel, whatever it is that you want to do, that dream that you've been working on, and you can't leave it alone, that career you wanted to revamp or reinvent, and you just continue to think about it. Whatever it is, guys, do not let your dream and your vision fall by the wayside. Why? Because as a black sheep today is your advantage. You've seen all the stuff that people are going through right now, you've seen it all, you've seen it all. So you're not moved by none of the things that's going on right now, you're not moved by it. Pillar number four, and here's the main thing that's gonna really bring you in, guys. Focus on what you can actually control. That's it, guys. You can only focus on what you can control, don't worry about the other stuff. Listen, y'all, the world has been going before we came here. Okay, the world has been going before we came, all right, and the world is going to continue to be in rotation when it's time for us to check out. So, what am I saying? Why waste time, why waste energy doing things that you know you can't control? Right? I'm not saying you can't contribute to something that you feel that you can change, but guess what, guys? There's so many options now of how you can contribute, it don't have to be the way you think, it could be a different way that you can contribute, and it will still allow you to do the things that you want to do. This is why it's very important for you to only focus in on. I'm talking about become a ninja about it, y'all. It's time to become a ninja about focus. Because as you see the world, how things are set up, it's like there is something that is just want to get your focus so bad. You notice that, guys? It's always something online that just wants your focus so bad, because complaining about the system rarely changes the system, guys. But when you start to focus on what you can actually control, you're improving yourself, guys, and you're increasing your leverage. You know what I'm saying? Because energy spent complaining is energy you spend not building. Don't focus on all the mess that's going on, focus on your skill development. Hey, focus on that black sheep strategy, focus on your influence, focus on your impact. Okay, why? Because power comes from preparation, y'all. It don't come from protesting. If you really feel moved to go out and do it, listen, guys, do that. I'm not telling you not to do that. If you truly feel led, like God really said, hey, go. But listen, guys, there's other ways that you can make things happen, right? So be creative about it. See, this podcast is not about pretending the world is perfect, it's about understanding the reality so clearly that you can still win while you're here, right? So the three action steps for y'all today is number one, stop waiting on permission. Waiting for fairness is really just disguised as procrastination sometimes. Start with what you have. Number two, build leverage. Ask yourself what skill can I develop, what problem can I solve? What value can I create? Value creates opportunity. And listen, y'all, opportunity don't wait on you to get ready. You have to already be ready. Okay, you have to already be ready. Number three, I told you guys earlier, it is imperative, y'all, that you plug into something bigger. Plug into something bigger, specifically your purpose. See, purpose amplifies impact. See, when your mission serves other people, momentum multiplies, and guys, there's so many other benefits. You not only will you get paid, guys, but you get this ridiculous amount of energy to where you just want to do you want to stay up all night long and do stuff on it. You don't even know how you get this drive. Why, guys, you're plugged into something bigger, all right. So, check this out, y'all. Life ain't fair, but power comes to people who start waiting for fairness and start building with what they have, all right, y'all. So, listen, I told you guys I'm gonna start dropping the link in the end um where you can get that resource that I have. It is all the worksheets from some of our most popular episodes, guys, and I promise you it will change your life. But remember, y'all, take what serves you in your evolution here and leave what doesn't. Because information is everywhere and execution is rare. I'm Athena Renee, and I'll catch you in the next episode.