[Music]
how to make big things happen four years
ago today I sit on the TEDx stage on a
topic called stop listening to the notes
when I spoke on that stage I was focused
on I what are the challenges we face
when we want to lead a path that’s
different than what society expects us
to leave I spoke about the traditional
white picket fence story that many of us
know where you’re expected to go to
school get a job get a reliable career
work your way up the ladder and then
maybe once you’re successful look to
other things to explore your passions
before you retire and I ask the question
what happens to those of us who decide
to pursue a path different from the
beginning those of us who want to pursue
our passions from the start I didn’t
know at the time what that would hold or
where that journey would take me all I
knew was I was passionate that I wanted
to take my life into my own hands
little did I know that that journey
would take me on a wild ride over these
next four years I started off as a
motivational speaker trying to empower
the voice of my peers like many of you
here today giving a voice to the
ambitions and passions that our
generation holds and the ability that we
have to shape that future after speaking
a started on a whirlwind of a journey
founding my first company Lavelle
corporation under which then I ended up
founding between four to five other
startup ventures and companies
everything from a positive media series
that share the stories of youth creating
change to a tech startup that could
capture the skills we are gaining from
volunteerism in ways that we could
improve our employment candidacy and
embody the impact our generation has
along that way I ended up becoming a
prominent voice for the generate our
generation speaking to heads of states
and most recently Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth
never
in the million years when I stood on
that TEDx stage four years ago what I
have imagined that I would have been in
Buckingham Palace last year this journey
has been filled of big things and so
when I thought today of the topic of
TEDx and the thing of equilibrium the
very first thing that comes to mind is
balance but my life has been anything
but balance and this journey has been a
whirlwind to say the least but one thing
when looking back that I found was when
I started to look at all of the big
things that has happened so far in my
journey I found common character traits
and more importantly a common
combination of those character traits
that always seem to be rooted in my
success or bringing that idea to life
and today I want to share that with you
I would like to share with you the
change leader formula this has taken the
five character traits that I have found
prominent in my journey that have made
my my success today the first character
trait that is most important is passion
passion is your greatest asset as a
young leader it is in even the most
famous TED Talks that we listen to of
assignment cynics of the world of the
power of the y2y investors invest in
businesses they invest in the founder in
the vision not necessarily on the
product itself it’s the same thing with
consumers and what we buy we don’t buy a
smartphone because it’s a device to make
calls we buy it for what it represents
the same thing happens with ideas your
passion is your fire particularly as a
young leader when trying to make a big
thing happen your passion is what people
believe in and increase in energy and
that energy attracts the right people
resources and supports you need to build
your ideas for me it’s how I got started
I didn’t know what I wanted to do all I
knew as I was passionate about creating
opportunities for my peers and with that
passion
I was able to connect with others who
also wanted to do the same thing and
that energy is contagious and slowly it
starts to snowball into building and
getting momentum for your idea
the second thing though once you have
passion is persistence I wouldn’t be
standing here today literally if I
didn’t have persistence my very first
talk ever as a motivational speaker was
live to 7,000 students in a stadium at
we day we day is a large event that
usually enlists a list speakers such as
the Selena Gomez’s and Demi Lovato’s of
the world and political leaders and and
humanitarians not a teenage girl with
nothing to her name the way I got on
that stage was I first reached out to we
day because I had wanted to share some
of the journey that I had I had some
health issues and gone through some
bullying and mental health struggles and
I wanted to share that with my peers I
thought it would really fit with the
vision of the event and I received a
standard rejection letter I was
persistent enough to reply back and try
again but I got the rejection letter
again I was first this isn’t enough to
try one more time and that time instead
of going to the same speaker the speaker
lead I contacted the founder and I
shared with him my story and immediately
the next day I got a call for an
invitation to be one of the opening
speakers at the we day event if I was
not persistent enough to make sure my
message got heard by the right person I
would have never started as a
motivational speaker and would not be
standing here on my third TEDx talk
right now
persistence to continue to knock down
those doors until you find the one that
opens is critical and making big things
happen your success will rarely lie
behind that first closed door so you
need to continue to pursue that vision
but as you pursue that vision most
importantly and this is a lesson I learn
the hard way
you must have patience
I’m probably the least patient person
you will ever meet
I have no attention to him for patience
and I want everything to happen now and
particularly because I started so young
I think our perception when we’re young
on time is already a little shorter than
what it is in the executive world
exactly the world right now they’re
talking about their plan – mm they’re
ready way past 2018 they’re talking 2020
2025 and you look at the sustainable
development goals with the UN we’re
talking 2030 that’s a lifetime when
you’re a teenager I in school and it’s
the biggest deal in the world if you’re
dating someone just two grades ahead of
you ridden in delight so when I first
started as a young leader trying to make
an idea happen I had these great ideas I
was bubbling with energy and I was like
okay and we’re going to do this and this
and this and we’re gonna do a national
fundraising campaign and we’re gonna do
it all of all of it in less than two
months everyone any mentor that I had in
my em and my networks look would laughed
at maybe like Kelly you can’t do this in
two months you need to play this for a
year you can’t do a cross-country
fundraiser for students and I know I can
do it and I did it but it wasn’t as
effective I could have reached more
people I could have probably raised more
money because there was a lot of things
in planning that I had neglected cuz I
was rushing to push it out and so I’ve
learned over time that patience in
creating bait things is extremely
important the power of youth book is one
of these is an example of this it’s a
project that I’ve worked on for two
years I started off two years ago
wanting to capture the stories of change
of youth around the world who would like
me wanted to create a different path
wanted to lead a meaningful life that
critic impact and was changing our world
it took me two years to put it together
eighty-three thousand words later but in
the process we have curated two hundred
stories of youth in over 59 different
countries who are changing our world
everything from age six to thirty I can
I would not have been able to create
such an amazing piece if I had
ruch that and I would not have been able
to reach 59 countries if I had rushed
that having patience to let your ideas
evolve and grow it builds on that
foundation thirdly and this is something
that a lesson that I’ve just still
working on in honesty it’s a lesson that
I only really came to realize really
strongly almost probably in the last
month is self-care since standing on
that TEDx stage four years ago I have
been an overdrive I have worked seven
days a week no holidays
starting off working till 1 a.m. those 1
a.m. s turn to 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. and most
recently before I decide to really make
self-care a priority for am running on 4
hours sleep around the clock I neglected
the most important thing myself I was so
concerned and passionate about making my
ideas happen in helping others in
creating a better future for everyone
else that I forgot my own well-being in
the process and you don’t see that first
at first it sometimes it’s exciting when
you first start as an entrepreneur
you’re like oh I’m working through 1:00
a.m. that means I must be doing
something graded and I’m being
productive because I really long days
it really doesn’t you can be much more
effective in use of your time and still
take care of yourself
I found that I became on burnout and
when as I’m burnout and I was last
summer I pushed through it and continued
to push through it
and what I found my relationships
dwindle I became distant from my team at
work and I wasn’t able to mentally take
care of the things I needed to more
productivity things I used to be able to
get done in a day took me a week to do
self-care is extremely important I
always go back to your driving out in
your airplane and they say put your
oxygen oxygen mask on before you help
others take care of yourself in order to
make your big ideas happen
once you have those character traits
though the next and most important
character trait you need is confidence
you can be the most passionate person in
the world has the best idea be
persistent knocking down all of those
doors continue your way but if you do
not have the confidence for when that
door opens to feel that you are worthy
to be heard that your voice matters and
your idea is a value it’s all for
nothing you first must believe in
yourself before you can expect others to
believe in your ideas confidence for me
has been my greatest asset and something
that for me has really created the
opportunities I started off with nothing
I was not primed for success nothing
special I would not I didn’t have any
edge business education when I started
off or connections or a financing to
make any of these ideas happen I’ve
bootstrapped the whole thing and running
on a lot of times just passion and drive
but because I was passionate about it
and I was confident enough to share that
passion with the world amazing things
have happened I’ve made it to the red
carpet at the Oscars Buckingham Palace
United Nations headquarters Mets with
our prime ministers and president former
presidents and it’s all because I
believed that my mission was worthy
enough for others to hear and I had the
confidence to share it so if you combine
these character traits passion and
persistence to bring and make those
ideas happen combined and equally
balanced out with the patience to let
those ideas grow to plan and coordinate
the logistics and self-care to make sure
that you’re running at your hundred
percent bests so you can support those
opportunities when they come in those
doors open and you’re ready and ready to
take
action you can achieve equilibrium but
remember you need that confidence to
balance things out when combined by
passion perseverance patience and
self-care and confidence you can make
big things happen
[Applause]
how to make big things happen four years
ago today I sit on the TEDx stage on a
topic called stop listening to the notes
when I spoke on that stage I was focused
on I what are the challenges we face
when we want to lead a path that’s
different than what society expects us
to leave I spoke about the traditional
white picket fence story that many of us
know where you’re expected to go to
school get a job get a reliable career
work your way up the ladder and then
maybe once you’re successful look to
other things to explore your passions
before you retire and I ask the question
what happens to those of us who decide
to pursue a path different from the
beginning those of us who want to pursue
our passions from the start I didn’t
know at the time what that would hold or
where that journey would take me all I
knew was I was passionate that I wanted
to take my life into my own hands
little did I know that that journey
would take me on a wild ride over these
next four years I started off as a
motivational speaker trying to empower
the voice of my peers like many of you
here today giving a voice to the
ambitions and passions that our
generation holds and the ability that we
have to shape that future after speaking
a started on a whirlwind of a journey
founding my first company Lavelle
corporation under which then I ended up
founding between four to five other
startup ventures and companies
everything from a positive media series
that share the stories of youth creating
change to a tech startup that could
capture the skills we are gaining from
volunteerism in ways that we could
improve our employment candidacy and
embody the impact our generation has
along that way I ended up becoming a
prominent voice for the generate our
generation speaking to heads of states
and most recently Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth
never
in the million years when I stood on
that TEDx stage four years ago what I
have imagined that I would have been in
Buckingham Palace last year this journey
has been filled of big things and so
when I thought today of the topic of
TEDx and the thing of equilibrium the
very first thing that comes to mind is
balance but my life has been anything
but balance and this journey has been a
whirlwind to say the least but one thing
when looking back that I found was when
I started to look at all of the big
things that has happened so far in my
journey I found common character traits
and more importantly a common
combination of those character traits
that always seem to be rooted in my
success or bringing that idea to life
and today I want to share that with you
I would like to share with you the
change leader formula this has taken the
five character traits that I have found
prominent in my journey that have made
my my success today the first character
trait that is most important is passion
passion is your greatest asset as a
young leader it is in even the most
famous TED Talks that we listen to of
assignment cynics of the world of the
power of the y2y investors invest in
businesses they invest in the founder in
the vision not necessarily on the
product itself it’s the same thing with
consumers and what we buy we don’t buy a
smartphone because it’s a device to make
calls we buy it for what it represents
the same thing happens with ideas your
passion is your fire particularly as a
young leader when trying to make a big
thing happen your passion is what people
believe in and increase in energy and
that energy attracts the right people
resources and supports you need to build
your ideas for me it’s how I got started
I didn’t know what I wanted to do all I
knew as I was passionate about creating
opportunities for my peers and with that
passion
I was able to connect with others who
also wanted to do the same thing and
that energy is contagious and slowly it
starts to snowball into building and
getting momentum for your idea
the second thing though once you have
passion is persistence I wouldn’t be
standing here today literally if I
didn’t have persistence my very first
talk ever as a motivational speaker was
live to 7,000 students in a stadium at
we day we day is a large event that
usually enlists a list speakers such as
the Selena Gomez’s and Demi Lovato’s of
the world and political leaders and and
humanitarians not a teenage girl with
nothing to her name the way I got on
that stage was I first reached out to we
day because I had wanted to share some
of the journey that I had I had some
health issues and gone through some
bullying and mental health struggles and
I wanted to share that with my peers I
thought it would really fit with the
vision of the event and I received a
standard rejection letter I was
persistent enough to reply back and try
again but I got the rejection letter
again I was first this isn’t enough to
try one more time and that time instead
of going to the same speaker the speaker
lead I contacted the founder and I
shared with him my story and immediately
the next day I got a call for an
invitation to be one of the opening
speakers at the we day event if I was
not persistent enough to make sure my
message got heard by the right person I
would have never started as a
motivational speaker and would not be
standing here on my third TEDx talk
right now
persistence to continue to knock down
those doors until you find the one that
opens is critical and making big things
happen your success will rarely lie
behind that first closed door so you
need to continue to pursue that vision
but as you pursue that vision most
importantly and this is a lesson I learn
the hard way
you must have patience
I’m probably the least patient person
you will ever meet
I have no attention to him for patience
and I want everything to happen now and
particularly because I started so young
I think our perception when we’re young
on time is already a little shorter than
what it is in the executive world
exactly the world right now they’re
talking about their plan – mm they’re
ready way past 2018 they’re talking 2020
2025 and you look at the sustainable
development goals with the UN we’re
talking 2030 that’s a lifetime when
you’re a teenager I in school and it’s
the biggest deal in the world if you’re
dating someone just two grades ahead of
you ridden in delight so when I first
started as a young leader trying to make
an idea happen I had these great ideas I
was bubbling with energy and I was like
okay and we’re going to do this and this
and this and we’re gonna do a national
fundraising campaign and we’re gonna do
it all of all of it in less than two
months everyone any mentor that I had in
my em and my networks look would laughed
at maybe like Kelly you can’t do this in
two months you need to play this for a
year you can’t do a cross-country
fundraiser for students and I know I can
do it and I did it but it wasn’t as
effective I could have reached more
people I could have probably raised more
money because there was a lot of things
in planning that I had neglected cuz I
was rushing to push it out and so I’ve
learned over time that patience in
creating bait things is extremely
important the power of youth book is one
of these is an example of this it’s a
project that I’ve worked on for two
years I started off two years ago
wanting to capture the stories of change
of youth around the world who would like
me wanted to create a different path
wanted to lead a meaningful life that
critic impact and was changing our world
it took me two years to put it together
eighty-three thousand words later but in
the process we have curated two hundred
stories of youth in over 59 different
countries who are changing our world
everything from age six to thirty I can
I would not have been able to create
such an amazing piece if I had
ruch that and I would not have been able
to reach 59 countries if I had rushed
that having patience to let your ideas
evolve and grow it builds on that
foundation thirdly and this is something
that a lesson that I’ve just still
working on in honesty it’s a lesson that
I only really came to realize really
strongly almost probably in the last
month is self-care since standing on
that TEDx stage four years ago I have
been an overdrive I have worked seven
days a week no holidays
starting off working till 1 a.m. those 1
a.m. s turn to 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. and most
recently before I decide to really make
self-care a priority for am running on 4
hours sleep around the clock I neglected
the most important thing myself I was so
concerned and passionate about making my
ideas happen in helping others in
creating a better future for everyone
else that I forgot my own well-being in
the process and you don’t see that first
at first it sometimes it’s exciting when
you first start as an entrepreneur
you’re like oh I’m working through 1:00
a.m. that means I must be doing
something graded and I’m being
productive because I really long days
it really doesn’t you can be much more
effective in use of your time and still
take care of yourself
I found that I became on burnout and
when as I’m burnout and I was last
summer I pushed through it and continued
to push through it
and what I found my relationships
dwindle I became distant from my team at
work and I wasn’t able to mentally take
care of the things I needed to more
productivity things I used to be able to
get done in a day took me a week to do
self-care is extremely important I
always go back to your driving out in
your airplane and they say put your
oxygen oxygen mask on before you help
others take care of yourself in order to
make your big ideas happen
once you have those character traits
though the next and most important
character trait you need is confidence
you can be the most passionate person in
the world has the best idea be
persistent knocking down all of those
doors continue your way but if you do
not have the confidence for when that
door opens to feel that you are worthy
to be heard that your voice matters and
your idea is a value it’s all for
nothing you first must believe in
yourself before you can expect others to
believe in your ideas confidence for me
has been my greatest asset and something
that for me has really created the
opportunities I started off with nothing
I was not primed for success nothing
special I would not I didn’t have any
edge business education when I started
off or connections or a financing to
make any of these ideas happen I’ve
bootstrapped the whole thing and running
on a lot of times just passion and drive
but because I was passionate about it
and I was confident enough to share that
passion with the world amazing things
have happened I’ve made it to the red
carpet at the Oscars Buckingham Palace
United Nations headquarters Mets with
our prime ministers and president former
presidents and it’s all because I
believed that my mission was worthy
enough for others to hear and I had the
confidence to share it so if you combine
these character traits passion and
persistence to bring and make those
ideas happen combined and equally
balanced out with the patience to let
those ideas grow to plan and coordinate
the logistics and self-care to make sure
that you’re running at your hundred
percent bests so you can support those
opportunities when they come in those
doors open and you’re ready and ready to
take
action you can achieve equilibrium but
remember you need that confidence to
balance things out when combined by
passion perseverance patience and
self-care and confidence you can make
big things happen
[Applause]
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