I have a question for you at what stage
in your life did you decide that you
weren’t enough think about that question
for a moment and I would like to tell
you a few stories three in particular
that navigated me through that journey a
story about a dream a story about a
death and a story about a child that
ultimately led me to recognizing the
power of authenticity so I would have
this recurring dream I’ll call it a
dream but really what it was what was
this full body mind spirit experience
that occurred while I was in deep sleep
my mouth was full of stuff and this
would happen at the most inopportune
moment when a question had been asked
that I needed to respond to when a
decision had to be made and verbalized
that was life or death when someone that
I admired and looked up to like Michelle
Obama and Oprah Winfrey and yes I dream
a lot about those two fierce females
asked me a question and I had the answer
the perfect answer for them the perfect
response but for some reason in those
moments where a response was required of
me my mouth was full and what it felt
like was that I had I’ll call it sticky
chewing gum in my mouth and I would try
to pull out this chewing gum from my
mouth and the more I try to pull it out
the more it filled my mouth I want you
to picture a clown with one of those
tissue boxes and she’s tugging at the
tissues and the more she talks the
longer that tissue line of colored
tissues becomes that was me but I wasn’t
smiling I wasn’t laughing
I was actually embarrassed and
frustrated and oppressed even in my body
in my mind and my spirit because
instinctively every single time I woke
up from that dream from that experienced
I knew in my gut and in my spirit that
had been hindered from being verbalized
was important but it had life-changing
power but it had influential abilities
that it had the ability to impact and so
I had failed can you imagine going
through this experience over and over
again not days not months not years I’m
embarrassed to say how long this dream
experience occurred a long long time
what’s interesting is when it stopped I
am sitting on a plane on a runway Denver
Colorado International Airport
my brother’s ashes in an urn on my lap
he passed away rather suddenly barely 30
years old and I have another out-of-body
experience a conversation between myself
and the spirit of my brother as if time
Stood Still and I’m in this interaction
in my body and I asked myself a question
so if this was you in the urn would you
be pleased with what you had achieved
with your life would you have leveraged
every opportunity you had up until that
moment to do the thing that you were
created to do to give in the ways that
only you could give to add value in the
ways that only you could add value
because apparently life happens and
death happens and you can’t see it
coming the answer was a resounding no
and it wasn’t because I didn’t love the
work that I was doing I had actually
grown up in the performing arts world my
love for media and the arts was
introduced to me at seven years old I
was playing Mary Mother of Jesus rocking
baby Jesus while the Shepherd’s watched
on live television at seven in my home
country Kenya
at 15 in high school I was writing
performing in and directing
award-winning theatrical performances by
21 I was a presentational speaker and
anchor at a television network it was
clear to those that knew me and were
around me that I was meant to be on some
sort of platform using my voice to
influence mindsets and to impact lives
something happened though along the way
at that point in my life
that caused me to veer off track and
head in a very different direction
perhaps it was the decision that I made
to go to graduate school in something
and study something that was totally
different than perhaps what I would have
decided to study
had I known what I know now about the
reason why I am here suffice it to say I
ended up working in international
development and then in corporate
America doing a lot of meaningful things
but not necessarily the things that lit
me up that I was truly passionate about
the reasons why I was here and so in
that moment as I’m having this
interaction this conversation with my
brother who has passed away and myself I
realized that perhaps fear had something
to do with it fear of being
misunderstood fear of being judged fear
of not necessarily fulfilling my utmost
potential that had driven some of the
decisions that I had made and in that
moment I made a decision that going
forward every single thing that I did
would be motivated and driven by passion
and purpose I didn’t know what that was
going to look like but I did know that I
needed to make a very big change as it
related to the everyday work that I did
I quit my high flying corporate job and
ventured to pursue something
entrepreneurial and something that was
truly anchored in my innate talents and
gifts and then I became a mom and it’s
quite interesting how children will
quite literally
shift your view of the world and of
yourself and what truly matters
my daughter was barely four years old
when she went through the identity
crisis what used to be fun times relaxed
times of getting ready for school and
preparing for social interactions with
little friends at playschool McCann
became experiences of Tears and a
struggle that just didn’t make any sense
to me till Zara my daughter says to me
Mommy
why don’t you do my hair like this and
she makes this really interesting motion
that didn’t make any sense to me till we
navigated discussion and ultimately I
realized that my child was struggling
with her self-image she didn’t like her
nappy hair her kinky curly locks they
represented not beautiful in her mind’s
eye this is a four barely four year old
girl that was questioning her beauty and
her self-worth based on how she felt she
compared to her little friends that were
different from her I ultimately ended up
having conversations with other women
who like me had daughters about Zara’s
age and discovered that many of them had
had similar conversations if it wasn’t
about the hair it was about the size of
her hips if it wasn’t that it was about
just different aspects of a girl’s
physicality that influenced how she felt
about the place that she had in in the
world and how she compared to her
friends and those peers and influencers
in her life I ultimately took to social
media because I wanted to understand if
this was an issue that was bigger than
just Zara and I on our neighbours and my
little network of friends and I was
blown away by what I heard from more
than four hundred almost 400 women
situated all over the world different
backgrounds different walks of life
different socializations the one
similarity being that they had a girl
child in their life that was aged
between 3 and 12 the stories that they
share
were heart-wrenching things like I can’t
remember the last time she ate a full
meal
she’s been starving herself I worry that
she does not dream big enough for
herself she stuck on a specific
perspective on of who she is and what is
possible for her I’m really concerned
that she’ll try and hurt herself again
because she doesn’t fit in can you
imagine that no mother should have to
suffer the loss of a child to suicide as
a result of them not fitting in and so
it became quite apparent to me that this
was a much bigger issue and as I spoke
to the women themselves grown women
mature experienced educated women about
what kept them up at night when they
thought about themselves I realized some
of the issues I was struggling with as
an individual they were struggling with
as well we are so hard on ourselves we
put ourselves down for all the wrong
reasons we nitpick we there’s always
something to change something about us
that is imperfect that we dwell upon and
the issue became that we relate our
value and our self-worth to elements
that have nothing to do with what is
beautiful and powerful about us and so
that is what put me on the path to do
something for girls like my daughter for
women like myself and ourselves all over
the world and I chose to tackle this
issue from the perspective of those
initial interactions that girls deal
with play creating immersive interactive
truly inclusive play experiences that
are anchored in content and ideas and
information that really equips girls all
over the world to recognize what their
value is to recognize that they are
fully
equipped innately equipped to have
impact on the world helping girls and
women realize that those qualities and
those characteristics and those
attributes about themselves that perhaps
set them apart make them feel other make
them feel different that that is where
the opportunity for unique perspective
for joy for fulfillment for true impact
on the world meaningful impact on the
world lies that that difference is in
fact a superpower and that being honor
honoring yourself surrendering to the
person that you really are that’s where
the power begins that’s where the
freedom for light and laughter and joy
and peace and fulfillment that’s where
it arrives that that’s where it begins
and so this is the challenge to all of
us today the vision and the mission is
so much bigger than Who I am the
question is at what point in your life
did you decide that you were not enough
just the way you are I challenge you to
reconsider that erroneous mindset those
unrealistic ideals and standards that
perhaps you strive to live toward and up
to and instead recognize that your
superpower lies within its the
compassion it’s the tenacity
it’s the resilience it’s the drive
it’s the selflessness it’s the
brilliance those elements are innately
in you those are your superpower so be
bold be brilliant and be you thank you
you
in your life did you decide that you
weren’t enough think about that question
for a moment and I would like to tell
you a few stories three in particular
that navigated me through that journey a
story about a dream a story about a
death and a story about a child that
ultimately led me to recognizing the
power of authenticity so I would have
this recurring dream I’ll call it a
dream but really what it was what was
this full body mind spirit experience
that occurred while I was in deep sleep
my mouth was full of stuff and this
would happen at the most inopportune
moment when a question had been asked
that I needed to respond to when a
decision had to be made and verbalized
that was life or death when someone that
I admired and looked up to like Michelle
Obama and Oprah Winfrey and yes I dream
a lot about those two fierce females
asked me a question and I had the answer
the perfect answer for them the perfect
response but for some reason in those
moments where a response was required of
me my mouth was full and what it felt
like was that I had I’ll call it sticky
chewing gum in my mouth and I would try
to pull out this chewing gum from my
mouth and the more I try to pull it out
the more it filled my mouth I want you
to picture a clown with one of those
tissue boxes and she’s tugging at the
tissues and the more she talks the
longer that tissue line of colored
tissues becomes that was me but I wasn’t
smiling I wasn’t laughing
I was actually embarrassed and
frustrated and oppressed even in my body
in my mind and my spirit because
instinctively every single time I woke
up from that dream from that experienced
I knew in my gut and in my spirit that
had been hindered from being verbalized
was important but it had life-changing
power but it had influential abilities
that it had the ability to impact and so
I had failed can you imagine going
through this experience over and over
again not days not months not years I’m
embarrassed to say how long this dream
experience occurred a long long time
what’s interesting is when it stopped I
am sitting on a plane on a runway Denver
Colorado International Airport
my brother’s ashes in an urn on my lap
he passed away rather suddenly barely 30
years old and I have another out-of-body
experience a conversation between myself
and the spirit of my brother as if time
Stood Still and I’m in this interaction
in my body and I asked myself a question
so if this was you in the urn would you
be pleased with what you had achieved
with your life would you have leveraged
every opportunity you had up until that
moment to do the thing that you were
created to do to give in the ways that
only you could give to add value in the
ways that only you could add value
because apparently life happens and
death happens and you can’t see it
coming the answer was a resounding no
and it wasn’t because I didn’t love the
work that I was doing I had actually
grown up in the performing arts world my
love for media and the arts was
introduced to me at seven years old I
was playing Mary Mother of Jesus rocking
baby Jesus while the Shepherd’s watched
on live television at seven in my home
country Kenya
at 15 in high school I was writing
performing in and directing
award-winning theatrical performances by
21 I was a presentational speaker and
anchor at a television network it was
clear to those that knew me and were
around me that I was meant to be on some
sort of platform using my voice to
influence mindsets and to impact lives
something happened though along the way
at that point in my life
that caused me to veer off track and
head in a very different direction
perhaps it was the decision that I made
to go to graduate school in something
and study something that was totally
different than perhaps what I would have
decided to study
had I known what I know now about the
reason why I am here suffice it to say I
ended up working in international
development and then in corporate
America doing a lot of meaningful things
but not necessarily the things that lit
me up that I was truly passionate about
the reasons why I was here and so in
that moment as I’m having this
interaction this conversation with my
brother who has passed away and myself I
realized that perhaps fear had something
to do with it fear of being
misunderstood fear of being judged fear
of not necessarily fulfilling my utmost
potential that had driven some of the
decisions that I had made and in that
moment I made a decision that going
forward every single thing that I did
would be motivated and driven by passion
and purpose I didn’t know what that was
going to look like but I did know that I
needed to make a very big change as it
related to the everyday work that I did
I quit my high flying corporate job and
ventured to pursue something
entrepreneurial and something that was
truly anchored in my innate talents and
gifts and then I became a mom and it’s
quite interesting how children will
quite literally
shift your view of the world and of
yourself and what truly matters
my daughter was barely four years old
when she went through the identity
crisis what used to be fun times relaxed
times of getting ready for school and
preparing for social interactions with
little friends at playschool McCann
became experiences of Tears and a
struggle that just didn’t make any sense
to me till Zara my daughter says to me
Mommy
why don’t you do my hair like this and
she makes this really interesting motion
that didn’t make any sense to me till we
navigated discussion and ultimately I
realized that my child was struggling
with her self-image she didn’t like her
nappy hair her kinky curly locks they
represented not beautiful in her mind’s
eye this is a four barely four year old
girl that was questioning her beauty and
her self-worth based on how she felt she
compared to her little friends that were
different from her I ultimately ended up
having conversations with other women
who like me had daughters about Zara’s
age and discovered that many of them had
had similar conversations if it wasn’t
about the hair it was about the size of
her hips if it wasn’t that it was about
just different aspects of a girl’s
physicality that influenced how she felt
about the place that she had in in the
world and how she compared to her
friends and those peers and influencers
in her life I ultimately took to social
media because I wanted to understand if
this was an issue that was bigger than
just Zara and I on our neighbours and my
little network of friends and I was
blown away by what I heard from more
than four hundred almost 400 women
situated all over the world different
backgrounds different walks of life
different socializations the one
similarity being that they had a girl
child in their life that was aged
between 3 and 12 the stories that they
share
were heart-wrenching things like I can’t
remember the last time she ate a full
meal
she’s been starving herself I worry that
she does not dream big enough for
herself she stuck on a specific
perspective on of who she is and what is
possible for her I’m really concerned
that she’ll try and hurt herself again
because she doesn’t fit in can you
imagine that no mother should have to
suffer the loss of a child to suicide as
a result of them not fitting in and so
it became quite apparent to me that this
was a much bigger issue and as I spoke
to the women themselves grown women
mature experienced educated women about
what kept them up at night when they
thought about themselves I realized some
of the issues I was struggling with as
an individual they were struggling with
as well we are so hard on ourselves we
put ourselves down for all the wrong
reasons we nitpick we there’s always
something to change something about us
that is imperfect that we dwell upon and
the issue became that we relate our
value and our self-worth to elements
that have nothing to do with what is
beautiful and powerful about us and so
that is what put me on the path to do
something for girls like my daughter for
women like myself and ourselves all over
the world and I chose to tackle this
issue from the perspective of those
initial interactions that girls deal
with play creating immersive interactive
truly inclusive play experiences that
are anchored in content and ideas and
information that really equips girls all
over the world to recognize what their
value is to recognize that they are
fully
equipped innately equipped to have
impact on the world helping girls and
women realize that those qualities and
those characteristics and those
attributes about themselves that perhaps
set them apart make them feel other make
them feel different that that is where
the opportunity for unique perspective
for joy for fulfillment for true impact
on the world meaningful impact on the
world lies that that difference is in
fact a superpower and that being honor
honoring yourself surrendering to the
person that you really are that’s where
the power begins that’s where the
freedom for light and laughter and joy
and peace and fulfillment that’s where
it arrives that that’s where it begins
and so this is the challenge to all of
us today the vision and the mission is
so much bigger than Who I am the
question is at what point in your life
did you decide that you were not enough
just the way you are I challenge you to
reconsider that erroneous mindset those
unrealistic ideals and standards that
perhaps you strive to live toward and up
to and instead recognize that your
superpower lies within its the
compassion it’s the tenacity
it’s the resilience it’s the drive
it’s the selflessness it’s the
brilliance those elements are innately
in you those are your superpower so be
bold be brilliant and be you thank you
you
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