Ep. 15: What Umi Says.

Mar 28

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Season 2 has just ended, and we couldn’t have been more grateful to our guests slash friends who willingly shared powerful tidbits of knowledge around purpose.

In this episode, we revisit these empowering episodes to look back to the lessons we have learned and be inspired to make a difference in our own ways.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR:

Revisit-worthy conversations with our power guests [2:55]

Jessica and the story of how she was fired and ended up beating an incumbent for the seat her mother held
Brandy and Mau and how they struggled getting accepted into different grad schools and programs but are now both doing fulfilling work
Onaje, who is a strong voice that educates our community about our culture
Flo, who didn’t have any plans right now, but is always curious and excited with the work she does as an advocate for people’s rights
Kenneth and Omar and how the secret to finding something you love is exposing yourself to new things
Shamiah and Jihan, who are courageous enough to bet on themselves

Powerful lessons [9:31]

The idea of a ‘calling’ vs. something you’re interested in
You don’t have to have things figured out from the get-go
Letting your purpose be bigger than your fear

The haze of finding purpose in the work that you do [16:10]

Betting on yourself can be scary
Being intentional with doing things that are important to you and continuing to figure things out
Working in an organization, you don't know how your words are going to be received. Will you keep your mouth closed, or speak up?
It is us that's driving change
There are so many things we have to fight against (but we also have folks who stand with us)

How we can take part in bringing change [42:45]

It can be as simple as spreading the word such as sharing a Facebook post
Understanding the impact that black leadership has
Showing support such as buying Black art

Biggest takeaways and lessons [45:14]

You can find your purpose by being open, being present, by being in the moment
Being authentic

Trust your gut—being uncertain is okay
Don’t compare yourself with others
Trust the process
Continue to bet on yourself, and you’ll be surprised with the outcome

EPISODE QUOTES:

I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna jump out there. And acknowledging how scary it was, but choosing to do it anyway, that's definitely a haze. Because sometimes you don't know how it's gonna be received.
- Scott Hayes

What I'm saying is that it is us that's driving this change. I think that we are in spaces where we need to begin to wear things that have flown in the past that are not able to fly anymore.
- Scott Hayes

It's gonna be okay. You will be fine. Everything works out for your good.
- Shaté Hayes

Trusting the work that you're doing, continuing to bet on yourself, and then eventually you will get to a place where there is a body of work in front of you or you have done the thing, however it looks, I think it's important to just not negate the fact that however it’s received, whatever it looks like, you were in the arena and you we're doing the thing.
- Shaté Hayes