Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday, December 16, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Measuring Success your Way
This piece was featured on Being Latino, Inc.
Recently, Being Latino prompted the question, “Do YOU feel that you need a college education in order to be “successful” in this country? Why or why not?” It’s a loaded question to say the least; in trying to answer it you have to know how to you define success. That in itself can be the root of one’s demise -- spending a lifetime trying to achieve “success” without understanding what their own definition of success is. But the definition of success isn’t what I wanted to address. It was the responses.
Many replies referenced the unemployment rates that many graduates are facing once they leave the comforts of the university, reiterating the perspective that a degree doesn’t promise anyone a job. Other people spoke on how hard it has become to find a job that doesn’t require a college degree; jobs that in the past only required a high school diploma, if that. The common thread: both perspectives share the desire to work or be working. For a lot of us, we grew up with this ingrained: do well in school so you get into a good college, do well in college so you get a good job, get a good job so you have a good life.
We are conditioned to be workers. Employees. We’re not taught to think about creating our own employment opportunities or entrepreneurship. The thought of being a business owner never crossed my mind, nor was I encouraged to explore that possibility. I decided to pursue a career in education because I couldn’t fathom the idea that making music could provide me the consistency and financial stability to have the life I wanted – but I stand here as an entrepreneur. It was my “ah-ha” moment that came once I had the audacity to pursue a career in music that I realized no one was going to give me the opportunity to create the type of music I wanted to make. I had to create the outlet, or opportunity, for myself. Growing up I wasn’t encouraged to take risks (especially financially) nor was I taught that if I fail then it’s not the end of the world. The hardest thing I had to unlearn was that failure isn’t the end of the journey -- its just the beginning.
College, classes, and professors will not make you proficient. They will provide you with knowledge which you apply to life, work and/or career. But what many people do is look for the path that is laid out like the yellow brick road; expecting success to be at the end of it. Just because you obtain a degree that doesn’t mean everything is going to be laid out for you on a silver platter. You have to figure out what you want to do and how to put yourself in a position to achieve that goal. Maybe a degree isn’t even part of that path, but you can’t expect to find success with a formula. You have to put in the work and pave their own yellow brick road.
Having a degree or multiple degrees does not determine nor define your potential for success – you do. It all depends on how hard you work to make it happen.
Recently, Being Latino prompted the question, “Do YOU feel that you need a college education in order to be “successful” in this country? Why or why not?” It’s a loaded question to say the least; in trying to answer it you have to know how to you define success. That in itself can be the root of one’s demise -- spending a lifetime trying to achieve “success” without understanding what their own definition of success is. But the definition of success isn’t what I wanted to address. It was the responses.
Many replies referenced the unemployment rates that many graduates are facing once they leave the comforts of the university, reiterating the perspective that a degree doesn’t promise anyone a job. Other people spoke on how hard it has become to find a job that doesn’t require a college degree; jobs that in the past only required a high school diploma, if that. The common thread: both perspectives share the desire to work or be working. For a lot of us, we grew up with this ingrained: do well in school so you get into a good college, do well in college so you get a good job, get a good job so you have a good life.
We are conditioned to be workers. Employees. We’re not taught to think about creating our own employment opportunities or entrepreneurship. The thought of being a business owner never crossed my mind, nor was I encouraged to explore that possibility. I decided to pursue a career in education because I couldn’t fathom the idea that making music could provide me the consistency and financial stability to have the life I wanted – but I stand here as an entrepreneur. It was my “ah-ha” moment that came once I had the audacity to pursue a career in music that I realized no one was going to give me the opportunity to create the type of music I wanted to make. I had to create the outlet, or opportunity, for myself. Growing up I wasn’t encouraged to take risks (especially financially) nor was I taught that if I fail then it’s not the end of the world. The hardest thing I had to unlearn was that failure isn’t the end of the journey -- its just the beginning.
College, classes, and professors will not make you proficient. They will provide you with knowledge which you apply to life, work and/or career. But what many people do is look for the path that is laid out like the yellow brick road; expecting success to be at the end of it. Just because you obtain a degree that doesn’t mean everything is going to be laid out for you on a silver platter. You have to figure out what you want to do and how to put yourself in a position to achieve that goal. Maybe a degree isn’t even part of that path, but you can’t expect to find success with a formula. You have to put in the work and pave their own yellow brick road.
Having a degree or multiple degrees does not determine nor define your potential for success – you do. It all depends on how hard you work to make it happen.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
@OccupyLA Anthem - A Call for Revolution
I hope you have been keeping up with whats been going on on Wall Street and the Occupy LA movement. This absolutely the most amazing time to be living in right now. We are making history.
and this is a little contribution from some of the 99%-ers at AG One.
Monday, September 26, 2011
The Kushé Collection by Arnold Randall [fotos]
This past Sunday I shot Arnold Randall's latest creation: The Kushé Collection. We hit the Orange Circle with my favorite models Tanya Thomas and Akapela Jonz on a whim, and it turned out pretty cool. We found a couple dope spots to set up; these were a few of my favorite shots..
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Like Father, Like Son
Strong genes, and seemingly the same shoes.
Its kind of crazy how similar my pops and I are. Similar tendencies, tone of voice and expressions. Only difference would be that I'm a natural lefty -- I just learned to do a lot of things right handed because I used his old golf clubs and baseball gloves. Leaving my teens and going into my early twenties one of my part-time jobs was working at lids. I ended up having a hat collection of over 20 LA fitted hats. Come to find out my pops had about the same amount of hats at the same age. There are a lot of other instances my mom likes to point out to me on how history is repeating; such as how we both have a guitar collection consisting of about 4 or 5 each.
I don't think its a big deal, but when people meet my father they are stunned by how much we look alike -- when they meet my grandfather they are speechless.
And to reiterate these genes I was referring to...here's my a recent picture of my grandfather.
My family is the perfect example of pursuing the "American Dream" in the fact that each generation lived a better life than the previous; and they were able to accomplish more because of sacrifices made to give their children better opportunities. As for myself, it takes a conscious effort to make sure those sacrifices were not made in vein; being aware of my blessings.
People often talk about "failure" as not being an option for them. Failure plays a quintessential role in achieving success. Giving up, however. That is not an option -- its unacceptable.
I don't think its a big deal, but when people meet my father they are stunned by how much we look alike -- when they meet my grandfather they are speechless.
And to reiterate these genes I was referring to...here's my a recent picture of my grandfather.
My family is the perfect example of pursuing the "American Dream" in the fact that each generation lived a better life than the previous; and they were able to accomplish more because of sacrifices made to give their children better opportunities. As for myself, it takes a conscious effort to make sure those sacrifices were not made in vein; being aware of my blessings.
People often talk about "failure" as not being an option for them. Failure plays a quintessential role in achieving success. Giving up, however. That is not an option -- its unacceptable.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
I Don't Need Your Help
This article was featured on Being Latino.
Well, at least didn’t think I did. I suppose you could say I’m prideful -- machismo, even. But I am not arrogant nor am I disrespectful. Part of the problem is that I don’t like to ask for help. I know I am fully capable of completing the task at hand on my own, but sometimes there’s just too much to do. The other part of the issue is I couldn't recognize that people want to help because they want to see me succeed -- and being able to trust that someone else had my best interest at heart isn’t the easiest task.
When I started my business four years ago I made a couple major mistakes that limited my potential for growth; all because of my pride. The first one was when I decided against accepting money from investors. I didn’t want to have any pressure over my head of having to pay anyone back -- I also wasn’t sure I was even going to be able to. I didn’t understand the concept of spending someone else’s money before spending your own -- I wanted to do it my way with my money. The second mistake was in building my staff, and learning to delegate responsibilities. I didn’t want to inconvenience people that I really couldn’t financially afford to have working on my team. So I ran myself ragged trying to do it all myself.
The issues bled into my relationship. I am very adamant about keeping my personal life and my business separate, but I wasn’t demonstrating that very well. I became, and sometimes still am, one dimensional. My lady was only able to experience one facet of who I am, and since I was being consumed by my business, that is who she knew; and that's who she wanted to help. That led to many moments of frustration and even arguments concerning boundaries between our relationship and my business.
That was my biggest misconception.
She wasn’t trying to over step our relationship nor was she trying to take over what was mine. Her way of showing love and appreciation for me was to contribute to what she knew meant a lot to me. But I wasn’t open to accepting it; I wasn’t able to recognize what her love looked like. The same way I wasn’t open to investors; people who truly believed in me and wanted to help me succeed by providing much needed capitol. The same way I refused to delegate tasks to people who were more than willing and wanted to be a part of the company I created -- giving their time even when they knew there would be no financial compensation up front. But I couldn’t see that.
Pride can be blinding. In my case my pride was holding me back from receiving the blessings people wanted to give me. I was stuck in a state of mind where I was the only one that could do what needed to be done. I confined myself by believing there is only one way to complete a task; or only one way to show someone love. Machismo has gotten the best of me, but I’m learning to grow through it. I just keep reminding myself, “No one ever choked to death swallowing their pride.”
Well, at least didn’t think I did. I suppose you could say I’m prideful -- machismo, even. But I am not arrogant nor am I disrespectful. Part of the problem is that I don’t like to ask for help. I know I am fully capable of completing the task at hand on my own, but sometimes there’s just too much to do. The other part of the issue is I couldn't recognize that people want to help because they want to see me succeed -- and being able to trust that someone else had my best interest at heart isn’t the easiest task.
When I started my business four years ago I made a couple major mistakes that limited my potential for growth; all because of my pride. The first one was when I decided against accepting money from investors. I didn’t want to have any pressure over my head of having to pay anyone back -- I also wasn’t sure I was even going to be able to. I didn’t understand the concept of spending someone else’s money before spending your own -- I wanted to do it my way with my money. The second mistake was in building my staff, and learning to delegate responsibilities. I didn’t want to inconvenience people that I really couldn’t financially afford to have working on my team. So I ran myself ragged trying to do it all myself.
The issues bled into my relationship. I am very adamant about keeping my personal life and my business separate, but I wasn’t demonstrating that very well. I became, and sometimes still am, one dimensional. My lady was only able to experience one facet of who I am, and since I was being consumed by my business, that is who she knew; and that's who she wanted to help. That led to many moments of frustration and even arguments concerning boundaries between our relationship and my business.
That was my biggest misconception.
She wasn’t trying to over step our relationship nor was she trying to take over what was mine. Her way of showing love and appreciation for me was to contribute to what she knew meant a lot to me. But I wasn’t open to accepting it; I wasn’t able to recognize what her love looked like. The same way I wasn’t open to investors; people who truly believed in me and wanted to help me succeed by providing much needed capitol. The same way I refused to delegate tasks to people who were more than willing and wanted to be a part of the company I created -- giving their time even when they knew there would be no financial compensation up front. But I couldn’t see that.
Pride can be blinding. In my case my pride was holding me back from receiving the blessings people wanted to give me. I was stuck in a state of mind where I was the only one that could do what needed to be done. I confined myself by believing there is only one way to complete a task; or only one way to show someone love. Machismo has gotten the best of me, but I’m learning to grow through it. I just keep reminding myself, “No one ever choked to death swallowing their pride.”
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