"She doesn't seem like a Go-Getter."

l-r Interviewing Ms. Vaughn and Meechy Monroe with Tisha (Feb.), Getting my make-up done for the Huetiful Hair Idol Shoot by Celebrity Make-Up artist, Parra Thomas in Atlanta (Aug.), Hosting a show in Chicago (Dec.), After my interview with Rachel of Original Moxie (Nov.), After my interview Karen of Karen's Body Beautiful in New York (Dec.), Getting my faced beat for the first time with Tisha in Atlanta (April), Meeting Chescaleigh for the first time in New York (Oct.), Meeting Alex and Natural Chica for the first time in Atlanta (April), After the BGLH Meet-up in Chicago (Feb.), Last day in Atlanta for the Huetiful Hair Idol Rockstar Experience in Atlanta (Aug.)

This is what someone said about me around five years ago when I disclosed I wanted to become a journalist. I was discussing all of my dreams and aspirations during an already uncomfortable dinner and later, I heard, “this is basically what they thought of you.”

I was crushed. Let it be known that I wasn’t at all closed to these people, but their opinion of me (unfortunately) mattered. Looking back though, I can’t say that I blamed them for thinking that. I was painfully shy back then and sometimes as a journalist, you have to get all up in people’s faces (literally) to get the story.

Fast forward one year later and I got an amazing opportunity to do a piece for my university’s alumni magazine, where I worked closely with the editor along with two other students. Apparently unlike me, the students didn’t think so highly of this arrangement because they skipped out on most of the meetings with the editor. For me, this was a blessing because I got to hang out one-on-one with him and pick his brain. There he told me the one thing I will never forget. “If you want to be a journalist, you have to get over your fear of talking to people you don’t know. How else will you get the story?” That along with a few other two to three hour conversations with him did it for me.

Fast forward to three months later, I got my first byline. I wondered why the other two student’s work wasn’t featured in the piece. After contacting the new editor, I found out they never submitted their work. WOMP!

Two weeks later, that same person who felt I wasn’t ambitious saw my piece in the magazine at their doctor’s office. They later sent their congratulations through the grapevine.

I didn’t stop there. I went on to obtain seven internships in writing and scoring a host of freelance gigs all while still in college. Their direct response? “Wow, you’re just everywhere aren’t you,” they said while holding yet another magazine I was published in. I just smiled and walked away.

Now that I’m on YouTube and adding freelance videographer to my résumé, I remember those same words: “She doesn’t seem like she’s a Go-Getter.” And I kept applying my first mentor’s (the first editor I worked with) advice to new situations.

No matter what you’re doing, always do it to the best ability because you never know what may come out of that situation. Did I know I was going to win the Huetful Hair Idol contest off of the video I did on the last day to enter the competition? Did I know I was going to get contacted by Entwine to do videos for them after doing a review of their products just because I never heard of them before and wanted to try it out for the first time on camera? Did I have one clue that I was going to become a brand ambassador for Original Moxie after talking about how much I genuinely loved their products?

No! Absolutely not. Those things just happened to come my way. But if I wasn’t doing things to the best of my ability, I doubt those opportunities would have been presented to me.

Now that it’s a new year and I know what I want, I am putting my steps in order so I can eventually make those things happen. Having things fall in my lap was great, but now I’m on a mission to go after my dreams!

So the moral of the story is, don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do. You have the power to make your life what you want it to be. No one else, no matter what your current situation is.

Oh and what was the last thing that person said to me last year? “You could be the next Oprah.”

Oh really?