What Every Career Woman Can Learn from These Black Iconic Women
It can be challenging to navigate the professional world. Especially while trying to find yourself in your career journey. However, there are many black women who have come before us and blazed trails. They prove that anything is possible with hard work and determination. Mo Abudu highlights the importance of pursuing a career you love, while Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma emphasizes the importance of self-confidence. Lupita Nyong’o encourages women to stay true to themselves and never let anyone dim their light. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka motivates women to believe in their abilities and not let anyone tell them they can’t do something. Finally, Wangari Maathai inspires women to stand up for their rights and encourage others to do the same. Here are six quotes from some of the most renowned black women in Africa. Wise words that every career woman can learn from. “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” – Mo Abudu, Nigeria Mo Abudu is a Nigerian media mogul and philanthropist. She has made a name for herself in the media industry. Her quote emphasizes the importance of loving what you do in order to achieve success. Pursue a career that you’re passionate about.This will keep you motivated to work hard and achieve your goals. “You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.” – Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is a South African politician. She is also the first woman to lead the African Union Commission. Her quote emphasizes the importance of self-confidence and believing in your own abilities. Trust yourself and your abilities in order to achieve your goals. “Stay true to who you are, and never let anyone dim your light.” – Lupita Nyong’o, Kenyan-Mexican actress and producer Lupita Nyong’o is a Kenyan-Mexican actress and producer who has made a name for herself in Hollywood. She has won numerous awards for her acting, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Nyong’o’s message is to stay true to who you are and never let anyone dim your light. Embrace your uniqueness and let your light shine bright. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.” – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South African politician and UN Under-Secretary-General, South Africa Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is a South African politician and activist who has been a strong advocate for women’s rights throughout her career. She served as the Deputy President of South Africa and is currently the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. Mlambo-Ngcuka’s message is clear: don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. With hard work and determination, anything is possible. “The beauty of standing up for your rights is that others see you standing and stand up as well.” – Wangari Maathai, Kenya This quote by Wangari Maathai, a Kenyan environmental and political activist, can inspire career women to be confident and vocal in advocating for their rights and the rights of others. By standing up for themselves, they can encourage others to do the same and create positive change in their workplaces and communities. The professional world can be challenging, but these six quotes from renowned black women in Africa provide guidance and inspiration for every career woman. These wise words remind us that with hard work, determination, and self-confidence, anything is possible in the professional world.
“I Turned My Love For Food Into A Business” Meet Comfort Oluwasesan, CEO HealthyTreatIb
Anyone can achieve the unimaginable and that includes you! After battling with high blood pressure and depression, Comfort had to relearn everything she knew. She was determined to have a success story. Today, Comfort is the CEO of HealthyTreatIb, an HR consultant and also a visual artist. Who is Comfort Oluwasesan? While growing up, my parents felt I was going to study journalism or law because I always had my way with words. They didn’t know I had plans to study applied arts. I didn’t get their full support at first but eventually, they gave in because they knew I was really handy. I enjoyed getting things done with my hands so much. Geeting handy is just a piece of the iceberg. Another interesting fact about me is my love for food. I really love food! Yes, I admit I’m a foodie even my favourite TV programs are food shows. I can’t just get enough of it. This was where the passion for the business came from. I’m a very fun person and there’s really no dull moment around me. What ignited the spark to start HealthyTreatIb? Remember I said I love food? That didn’t do justice to how much I enjoy food. When it comes to everything related to food, I’m there! I could cook for hours without even realizing it. I just decided to go into it once and for all and help people enjoy what I enjoy when it comes to food. During the early stages of my marriage, it seemed like things were going bad. At some point, I was hypertensive, anxious and even went into depression. My blood pressure rose drastically. To be honest, I felt like I wasn’t going to survive it. This went on till I met a cardiologist who made me understand that I was only experiencing all of that because of stress. He emphasized the benefits of adopting a very healthy lifestyle. He went further to say how having a healthy meal plan, proper attention to the body and constant rest can help someone live without sickness and health problems. This was what made me start the restaurant. I wanted to create an avenue for people to be able to eat right! What would you say is the heart of your business? The drive for my business is the fact that I believe people should be able to eat healthy foods. Healthy eating doesn’t necessarily mean eating boring food. We always want to provide solutions to the problem of food. So the heart of the business is providing quality services for our clients anytime and any day. What business challenges have you faced and how have those challenges shaped your mindset? If anyone tells me that there’s a business that doesn’t have challenges I’d tell the person that I can fly because every business comes with its own challenges. When I started this business, it was a whole lot! It was not easy! At the early stage of my business, I once attended to this client who put me through hell. I had to spend hours convincing her that she had nothing to worry about. After the meal was eventually delivered, she practically insulted everything I had done. I really felt terrible. She compared me with someone who had already been in the business for years! I didn’t let that weigh me down. I evaluated my business and mapped out the things that were not working well and made sure I improved on them. What have you learned so far from running this business? I’ve learnt that consistency and patience are very key factors when it comes to business. There are days you make sales, there are days you don’t. On both days, you should ensure you do what you’re supposed to do. If you’re not consistent, people would forget you. For patience, Rome was not built in a day. You have to believe that as your business grows, things would definitely get better provided you keep doing all the things you need to do. Perseverance is also an important lesson I’ve learnt. You just have to keep going regardless. Comfort is a participant in the High Growth Coaching Program 2020. Catch up on her business journey on HealthyTreatIb,.
Anita Benson: The Anti-Skin Lightening Activist
Anita Oghenekome Benson is a Medical Doctor specializing in Dermatology. She is also a Public Health Specialist with a Masters in Public Health from the University of Sheffield. Anita is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow and a Fellow of the Center for Global Business Studies at Howard University. She is an award-winning blogger and the founder of the Embrace Melanin Initiative, an NGO that focuses on eradicating colorism and harmful skin-lightening practices from Africa. Anita is raising a generation of young Africans who embrace their melanin and are empowered, educated and self-aware. The Embrace Melanin Initiative is quite a unique project, what led you to start it? I was starting my final year as a Dermatology resident and I had to choose a topic for my thesis. I had always considered myself an anti-skin lightening activist because I had seen too many patients pay the price for their skin lightening practices. Being a very dark skinned woman, I was constantly offered the option to lighten my skin by cosmetologists and well-meaning friends. This motivated me to do a community survey to find out why people lightened their skin. I wanted to know what products they used and if they were aware of the side effects which included obesity, hypertension, diabetes, liver and kidney disease, skin cancer, premature aging, fragile skin, stretch marks, body odor, skin infections, and discolored skin. [bctt tweet=”A young woman is content with her skin color until the first time someone points out that it is ‘too dark’, ‘dirty’, ‘less attractive than fair skin’ – Anita Benson” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] In a few months, I had interacted with more than 400 people and I realized that the magnitude of the problem and the level of ignorance surrounding the possible complications of skin lightening was way beyond the scope of my thesis. The Embrace Melanin Initiative was established to address this problem. What would you say are the major reasons African women engage in this trend? Colorism is the major reason African women engage in skin lightening practices. It is a silent problem that exists in our communities and is simply defined as the discrimination of a person because of her darker skin tone by members of her own race/tribe/community/family. A young woman is content with her skin color until the first time someone points out that it is ‘too dark’, ‘dirty’, ‘less attractive than fair skin’. Or she begins to notice the affiliation of some males and the media for lighter skinned women. [bctt tweet=”Kicking colorism out of Africa is the only way skin-lightening practices will ever be truly eradicated – Anita Benson” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] She may even face discrimination at her job or a reduction in marriage suitors. Whatever the case may be, this silent discrimination leads to poor self-esteem and an unshakeable belief that lighter skin is the answer to all of her problems regardless of the potential dangers of skin lightening practices. Men are not left out and some women even bleach their children. Pregnant women have also been reported to take certain pills to lighten their babies in the womb which can lead to all sorts of potential complications. What can we as well as the government do to reduce this problem? We can stop the discrimination. It happens in the marketplaces, in the home, in church, at social events, in the media, at work. Africa has been freed from slavery for hundreds of years yet we still mentally attribute more beauty and importance to anything or person that looks more foreign than native African. We need our women to know that they are beautiful not in spite of their dark skin but because of their dark skin. The government can provide tighter regulations on the sale of skin lightening agents in the open market and ensure that the ones that have been banned by NAFDAC are not still freely available for sale. Another very important role the government can play is to ensure that the side effects of every skin lightening agent are boldly printed on the bottle so that consumers can make an informed decision. Too many women are suffering due to their ignorance. One of my patients died of kidney disease a couple of years ago due to chronic use of mercury-containing skin lightening agents. What would you say has been your key learning points on this journey? These have been my key learning points: 1. You can’t change the practice till you change the perception about black skin. 2. Kicking colorism out of Africa is the only way skin-lightening practices will ever be truly eradicated. 3. There’s a need to change the narrative on what it means to be black which goes past our perception of our skin color to dissociating being black from words like corruption, self-hate, crime, ignorance, illiteracy, and mental slavery. 4. Do not judge a person till you have heard their story. So many women who chose to bleach did not feel like they had any other viable option at the time. [bctt tweet=”Colorism is the major reason African women engage in skin lightening practices – Anita Benson” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] What are the possible business ideas/solutions that can arise from solving this problem? African skin-friendly products. Not the ones that promise to tone the skin but those that make the dark skin shine and keep it healthy and protected from the UV rays of the sun. The cosmetic industry is a billion dollar industry however right now the focus of the majority is on skin lightening agents and solving this problem will create a vacuum for healthy skin care products suitable for the African skin. What is your advice to women seeking to advance their career while getting involved in personal passion projects? Women are amazing multitaskers and what makes us really special is that there’s no limit to the number of caps we can wear as long as we are able to manage our time effectively. The best way to juggle a career with personal projects
Vaida Odongo: You can start a business anytime with the right mindset
Contrary to what many people and businesses might think, investing in your brand online is not just about spending money on the brand. Instead, it’s about building an entity that will resonate with your customers and keep them coming back again and again—even when there’s no deal or promotion to entice them. Who is Vaida? Vaida Odongo is a young woman living in Nairobi who’s passionate about empowering women and leveraging on technology for sustainable development. She studied Gender and development studies while in university but came to love marketing after a short stint working as a trainer in the Google Digify Bytes Program that was being implemented by Livity Africa, a youth-focused nonprofit based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Vaida loves seeing businesses grow and coming up with strategies to solve various business challenges. “You might be having a challenge with selling a product online, what I do is that I sit down and look at all the possible solutions that might help solve the problem then we choose one that works. I love the adrenaline rush that comes with brainstorming”. “I have always been interested in empowering women. When I was younger, my dream was to work in an NGO that would enable me directly work with women. I hadn’t figured out yet what exactly I wanted to do when I actually landed the job, but I knew things would become clearer with time. [bctt tweet=”When you empower a woman, you empower the society – @vaida_odongo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Fast forward almost ten years later, I have found myself working with women though not in an NGO. I now help women brand and market their products and services online. I am very passionate about helping women grow and sustain their businesses because I believe that when you empower a woman, you empower the society.” Why Digital Marketing? “The world is increasingly going digital. With more than half the population using online platforms such as social media, companies are now forced to look at how they can leverage these platforms. The social space is set to grow and there’s a need for training so that the teams which are set on marketing online have the capacity to do so”. What does your work involve? My work involves training women-led business and enterprises on branding online. This means creating a brand story that their online audience will be attracted to. I have been working on this for the last two years and I’m loving it every day. My pieces of training are conducted over a one to two-day period and tailor-made to fit a customer’s needs. [bctt tweet=” I love the adrenaline rush that comes with brainstorming – @vaida_odongo” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Whether you are in beauty, fashion, construction or advocacy, I have the right curriculum to help you amplify your online voice. I also help companies come up with strategies that will help amplify their voices online. I also offer mentorship sessions to my clients. Maybe along the road the strategy we picked might not work, I’ll come in again and we’ll come up with another one. I also offer refresher training to me customers for free. My aim is getting their businesses to grow so we do whatever it takes to make sure this happens. To empower more businesses to grow, I also offer pro bono services to customers who are just venturing into business and need some advice. I do this because at the beginning some people just need to know different ways they can market their products and services. When building your online brand, you need to: Make sure you understand your audience, their needs, and why they interact with you. Create an online persona that is fun and captivating at the same time. Be consistent. Make sure you post when you are supposed to. Take time to appreciate your customers e.g. through give away. Remember to have fun. Captivating your audience is trial and error. Have fun while at it. How do you manage your business? Being your own boss is a challenge because most of the time, you never know when to stop and take a break. I have learned to schedule myself so that I have enough time to catch my breath and relax. Also, I enjoy reading and watching animated movies and cartoons. I also love cooking and discovering how I can use different spices and herbs from all over the world in my food. What is your advice for young women who are looking to venture into Digital Marketing? My advice to young women out there is that you can start a business anytime and with the right mindset, you can take it to the next. Becoming a digital marketing expert requires you to do a lot of research to know what’s happening in the online space. Remember that deciding to be your own boss doesn’t mean lots of free time on your hands. You have to be willing work overtime because most of the time you will have to do everything on your own without a cheering squad. If you’d like to share a story with us at She Leads Africa, share your story us here.
Your very first steps to becoming a CEO
Life doesn’t get better by chance but by change! We all know the job business goals aren’t the easiest feat to accomplish. We may feel as though we are simply just pawns in an older generation’s game of chess, but what we must learn is that it is truly about how you play the game. Being able to control your own fate will ultimately lead you to what you want. Here are some things to realize and ways that you can market yourself to others. [bctt tweet=” Enough Excuses. Build your Image. Life is a business and you are your own CEO!” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Be your own brand Be unique, create an image that identifies you and differentiates you from others. Over time, this image becomes associated with a level of credibility, quality, and satisfaction. Know how to sell the best version of yourself and position your image that will be favorable to all. Know yourself. Get feedback from others and learn as much as you can about how you come across. Then you can accurately target how you appear in a crowd and what you need to work. Stand Out From The Crowd Our differences are what make us unique. How we discipline our self is very important, and those who understand and practice the art of discipline can channel impulses into something of substance. Embrace Knowledge. A wise man once said knowledge is power, more powerful than physical strength There is no end to knowledge. There is no limit to what a person can learn. Even big problems can be solved if we have the knowledge of solving it. By knowledge, it opens us up to possibilities and you will learn to realize that those possibilities that once seemed so far away are actually attainable and endless. Be confident. Believe in yourself it boost, only when you believe it you can do it, When you truly believe you can create what you envision, when you’re not afraid of the obstacles, that confidence will automatically make you stand out from the rest.Love yourself. It has nothing to do with ego, but a confidence within you that elevates your relationships with everything else. You’ll stand out by being modest but happy with who you are. Try not to Fake it till you make it Never disconnect with who you truly are. It is easy to do things when you are your true self. Most people know when someone is being fake, even from a first impression. It’s almost like speaking to a person and even though they’re wide-eyed and smiley, you know they’re not listening to one damn thing you say or care about what you have to offer and instead are only thinking about their own personal benefits. Love yourself. It has nothing to do with ego, but a confidence within you that elevates your relationships with everything else. You’ll stand out by being modest but happy with who you are. Cultivate emotional intelligence. A lot of smart people don’t know how to manage their emotions or relate well to others. Emotional intelligence attracts people who are looking to connect with someone who has their act together and who’s competent and capable.to work toward a deep understanding and hear what’s being said beyond the words. You will stand out in any situation if you become a person who listens from the heart. Take A Chance Often, we know what it is we want to do, but we still don’t do it. Why? We are innately risk averse and afraid of putting our vulnerability on the line. Risk-taking is the ultimate way that marketer achieves success. Products go through a life cycle and that first innovation stage is important and involves risk-taking. Be prepared. When an opportunity turns up, the person who is ready and able to be part whatever needs to happen will always stand out. Got a story or an article to share with us? Share your story with us here.
Olwethu Mabumbulu: We have everything we need
[bctt tweet=”If we can leverage from one another, we can do so much towards growing prosperity within our communities” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] While we all sang along to Solange Knowles’ A Seat at the Table album, Olwethu Mabumbulu was propelled to create something that is for us, by us. By day, Olwethu helps people trade derivative instruments as a Sales Executive at a listed global trading company. She has gained four years of experience within the financial services industry, particularly investments and trading. The rest of the time, she nourishes her entrepreneurial appetite as founder of the subscription box startup, Heart of Brown (Pty) Ltd. Heart of Brown offers a bi-monthly lifestyle subscription box for women of colour, which features, natural and artisan products from local, black women-owned businesses. Olwethu’s subscription box aims to affirm young black women, and expose us to products that are great for our skin and hair, and helps us highlight the importance of self-care. Olwethu aims to make a difference in the lives of busy millennial women and lift up other fellow black entrepreneurs with great products and she shares how she plans to achieve this. Talk us through what Heart of Brown entails? Heart of Brown is a lifestyle subscription box for brown beauties. We curate lifestyle products spanning skin, hair, beauty, accessories and edibles based on our bi-monthly theme. Our purpose is to help busy young black women discover the best in local products. We have two boxes: a HOB box, which costs R400 plus shipping, and HOB mini box priced at R200 plus shipping. How do you choose the products for the subscription boxes? This is the part of the business that I thoroughly enjoy. I’m always on the lookout for good products. Firstly, I love visiting local markets and trying new products. I also spend an insane amount of time researching about local entrepreneurs. At any given time, I have a notebook with a running list of vendors and products I would like to feature in future. I then purchase and test the different products. If they meet the criteria in terms of the box’s vision and criteria then I will curate products that fit the theme and approach the vendors to purchase from them. Does innovation play a role in the course of running your business? Yes, in fact running a business successfully is a constant process of going back to the drawing board to come up with something new. In my experience, the quest for innovation has manifested in a new way to connect with local vendors, a new way to gain customers and frequently trying new products. Also, every second month, the box has a new theme. For example, the theme for the box running between April and May is ‘’Autumn Renewal”. [bctt tweet=”Running a successful business is a constant process of going back to the drawing board ” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Are you looking to expand beyond the South African market? In the short term, my goal for HOB is to increase our customer base and dominate the subscription box market locally, while really showcasing and uplifting brilliant products made by independent entrepreneurs. In the medium term, I would love to expand our reach by collaborating with other African entrepreneurs and shipping our box to brown beauties across the continent. A friend of mine encouraged me with these wise words just the other day, “we have everything we need”, I believe this is true of us as Africans. If we can leverage from one another, we can do so much towards growing prosperity within our communities. So far, what happy days have encouraged you? The day I registered the company was a milestone for me. Heart of Brown really started its humble beginnings as a “Eureka moment” brainstorm I had while studying for my exams late last year. I had been researching the subscription box concept, particularly prominent in North America and the UK. I had a clear vision -to localise the concept and offer products to women who are like me. Once I actually registered the company, then got the logo done it really started to click that the vision was slowly becoming a reality. The real challenge that lay ahead though, was getting my first customers. After much trial and error, when I got that first sale I felt happiness and validation all wrapped in one. This still encourages me to keep going on a daily basis. Tweet: when I got that first sale I felt happiness and validation all wrapped in one What tools and skills have played a vital role to support and grow your business? An array of online tools have proved to be time saving and invaluable to my business (the great news is that they all have free versions) -Evernote, MailChimp, Hubspot, Canva, Google Ads express, Reddit, and of course, social media platforms as well. Skills needed to survive include passion, voracious reading, keeping abreast of industry developments, adaptability and people skills. Tell us about the Solange Knowles song being inspiration for you I have been a Solange Knowles fan for a long time; what I love most about her is her ability to honour her own path and not conform. A Seat at the Table, to me, is actually the pinnacle of her following her truth and this paid off. The whole album was a meditation on being unapologetic and proudly black. Having this message on rotation became a catalyst for me to ask what I can do to express my own truth. My favourite songs on the album are “FUBU” and “Don’t Touch My Hair” these songs resonate because they empower the black community, especially black women. What has been the greatest challenge so far in the course of the business? As a bootstrapping business, the number one challenge is making the best possible use of a limited budget, but I’m quickly learning to be creative as I go and that is also the fun part. You learn to let go of perfectionist inhibitions
How to be a badass? 5 Epic lessons from our favourite TV Moguls and their creator Shonda!
Unless you have been living under a rock, or generally lack interest in everything pop culture related, you’ll have seen or heard about one of these shows: Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice or How to Get away with murder. The brain behind all of these television gems is Shonda Rhimes, the most powerful woman in television. She’s the first African American woman to run three consecutive shows on television’s most expensive real estate: Thursday night. More than being an incredible writer, Shonda is also an example of what it means to be a badass leader and how to turn your dreams and aspirations into reality. She wrote a book recently called ‘Year of Yes’ and it is not only incredibly moving and hilarious. It also teaches many lessons about getting to the top in your respective field. Here are 5 lessons from Shonda and her incredibly written female lead characters: Annalise, Olivia and Meredith. Annalise Keating – Think on your feet For those who follow HTGAWM (How to get away with murder), if there’s one thing we can learn from Annalise it is the ability to think on your feet. She is the fast-talking attorney on the show and is quick to come up with arguments to defend her clients. She ultimately created the twisted story that let her students get away with the murder of her husband. Though a bit dirty and twisted, I still think there is a lesson here. In whatever field you are in, immerse yourself in it, so that you can draw from different aspects when you need to. Annalise knows the LAW. Therefore, she knows how to get around it and make it work for her. You want to be an entrepreneur, but do you know the rules of the game? When you find yourself in a difficult situation, it’ll be those moments you had invested in knowing your craft that will get you through. Do the work, and when you do, be better than Annalise, and use it for good. Olivia Pope – He is not the sun, you are Arguably one of the most drawn out love stories in television history took a turn for the crazy when Olivia moved into the white house to be Fitz’s girlfriend. For those of you who don’t understand why this broke all of our hearts, it would be the equivalent of President Clinton moving Monica Lewinsky into the White House as his girlfriend at the height of the scandal. Yes, it was that crazy. Although there is no doubt that Olivia loved Fitz, what became clear as she lived out the role of First Lady was that it was not who she was and she had the courage to do what she knew she had to: end it and move out. The truth is, sometimes love is not enough. Your life goals need to be aligned with your partners, otherwise you will be betraying yourself. He is not the sun, you are! We need to internalise this to be the Motherland Moguls we can be. There will be times when you will have to make sacrifices, but you should never have to sacrifice yourself. Remember that .ladies, and choose wisely. (Preferably not a married president like Olivia. Let’s try to keep it drama-free.) Meredith Grey – It takes a Village The saying ‘no man is an island’ has taken on new meaning as I have spent the past 11 seasons watching Meredith Grey go through all sorts of heart shattering life events in Grey’s Anatomy. Most recently (spoiler alert), she gets attacked by a patient and loses her hearing and her ability to move for weeks. She has 3 small kids! How will she survive? The answer is simple: she has a village of people who will do whatever it takes to look after her. As I wiped my tears watching all of her friends step up to look after her and her family, I was reminded of how she did the same for each and every one of them at a different time. It makes sense. We cannot rise to the top alone, we need to realise that the people around us have a serious effect on our ability to reach our goals. Get your immediate circle right. And the best way to do that is to be the type of friend you wish you had. This will heavily pay off in the future. Life is full of uncertainties and we cannot control what will happen. All we can do is put ourselves in the best position possible to deal with whatever life throws at us, and a huge part of that is the people you can call on no matter the situation. Do you have those people? If not, are you that person to anyone? From creator, Shonda Rhimes – Dreaming is for losers This point for me was very difficult to internalise. I am a dreamer, it is in my blood. The phrase: ‘dream come true’ is featured on my blog over a gazillion times. Shonda as the badass leader that she is really burst my bubble on that one. The people who get things done are not the dreamers, they are the doers. Shonda explains: ‘I wanted to be Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison. That was my dream. I dreamed and dreamed, and while I was dreaming, I living in my sisters basement (FYI dreamers always end up in a relative’s basement). I actually couldn’t be Toni Morrison because she already had that job and wasn’t planning on giving it up! One day I read an article that said it was harder to get into USC film school than Harvard business school. I could carry on dreaming or I could do. At film school, I discovered an entirely new way of telling stories… a way that flipped this switch in my brain. Years later, I had dinner with Toni Morrison. All she wanted to talk about was Grey’s anatomy. That