Dear Creatives, BE FEARLESS

Fear has stopped a lot of creative and talented people from pursuing their goals, following their dreams and achieving great things in life but the real deal is that you have to do it in spite of fear. Feel the fear and do it anyway, that is fearlessness.

Your desire to want to be a presenter, musician, visual artist, actor, writer, photographer, cinematographer, talent manager, publicist and a vast majority of things in the creative space does not only require skills, zealousness, discipline and determination, they have to be backed by fearlessness. You want to be the next Burna Boy, Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Adesuwa Etomi, Kemi Adetiba, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or even Oprah, Kerry Washington, Shonda Rimes Issa Rae or Michaela Coel? You have to be fearless. These people didn’t sit around and wait for things they wanted to achieve to come to them. They put in the work, went after what they wanted and manifested the life of their dreams by being fearless.

My journey started as a controversial blogger, the intent wasn’t to be controversial but I had strong opinions when it came to pop culture. I couldn’t be timid about the things I wanted to achieve. I was terrified putting up 12 to 15 posts a day about celebrities who could come for me and sue me at any time. Some actually came for me! Eventually, I evolved from the blog and began writing and reporting for MTV UK’s ‘The Wrap Up’. I was always nervous when I had to go and interview a famous face or report pop culture news. My voice would shake but I kept going. As I continued to indulge the fear whose purpose I taught was to deter me from going after my dreams, I mastered that fear. I started doing more in front of the camera and I hosted the red carpet for many platforms and it wasn’t the typical stand in your press spot with other press houses and conduct your interview. No, little old me made demands. I’d be given a space on the red carpet allocated to myself and my crew for a full sit-down interview set up or whatever I had conjured up in my head to do on the red carpet. It took audacity and fearlessness to do that, to dare to be different, to stand out. Gracefully, I have been able to do that in different aspects of my career (In front of the camera and behind the scenes) regardless of the fear that arises or I feel.

It is not beans to get on a stage and utilize your voice or be intentional and purposeful with your gifts and voice. It’ll seem impossible until you do it. You’ll be nervous at that first audition as an actor, you will have stage fright during your first performance as a musician, your voice will shake during your first presentation as a presenter. You will feel fear but you have to do it with that fear and in spite of the fear. As you continue to become acquainted with your fear, you begin to master that fear and manage your anxieties. As you continue to do so, you become bold and daring. If you can think it, visualize it and feel it, you can achieve it! Don’t let fear deter you.