If you are signed up to receive my weekly Humble Uplifts (which you should be!) you were privy to recently learn a little about my new venture of sorts…
It all started with an ah ha moment I had last April at the final screening of our No More Chains Documentary Tour in Norfolk, VA. As I was walking into the theater, I had been given a hair compliment by a stranger as I wore my reliable “wash & go” style. She said that she loved my hair, but felt disappointed that she couldn’t wear her hair as I was wearing mine and then continued to express how she couldn’t wait to wear her hair in my style, once it reached a particular length similar to mine.
I responded as I typically do, I thanked her, and then told her that she would be there in no time, thinking that she could probably wear a wash & go now and be complimented as well, but that was a lot to explain in passing. However, a little later in the evening, about a half hour after arriving, a young girl asked about my hair regimen, in hopes to get her hair like mine. As I typically do, I started listing through products and how I used the products to obtain different styles, then it hit me!
As I continued with conversations over the few minutes following that encounter, I ended up having conversations about how many of us as black women in society don’t love on our natural hair the way we should, I had conversations about my own hair journey and how it took for me to understand my hair (styles, products, etc.) for me to feel comfortable in my own hair, and somewhere down the line conversations about generational hair hate led to the birth of the Hair Confidence concept.
Long story short (this could easily be a book), over the following days, and months(inching closer and closer to the year mark), I have been writing and thinking of different ideas of how I could and should launch Hair Confidence. I’ve been considering the different platforms I could use, who I would target to ensure that I’m meeting the needs of naturals and those considering the natural hair journey, and above all, I’ve been listening to God to be sure that I’m following through with something HE wants for, me and I’m not just doing it for myself.
As I’ve been doing so much thinking and planning these past 10 months I know that I’m meant to carry this thing into fruition. With every ah-ha moment it is confirmed to me, time and time again. Now, like I mentioned before, I’ve been brainstorming and brainstorming, and putting my ideas on paper, but waiting to take action and by now, I’m sure you’re probably thinking “With all of this confirmation WHY wait?”… “What’s the hold up?” or “This is something I need!”
However, to be honest, it’s likely that the main thing that’s been holding me up is fear.
On the surface I sense that there is a fear of the unknown. In addition to that, there is not necessarily a fear that I might fail, but I sense that deep inside there is a fear of not being able to or knowing how to handle it all and maneuver the next stages of success when this idea does lift off into something bigger and beyond myself (side note: when I get to thinking this way I have to remind myself that I don’t have to have it all figured out. Each stage has it’s own challenges and I’ll be guided to deal with those challenges as they come).
To be even more honest and transparent, another thing that has had me stuck is my habit of over-planning. I always want things to be so perfect and for the timing to be so right and the truth is, that way of doing things has actually kept me numb and sort of frozen in place for some time. Not to mention, I’ve been planning and “planning to plan” so much that it’s developed into this comfortable spot or what you could call a place of complacency.
With all of that off my chest… I’m sharing this because I want you all, especially those in my circle who are reading this, to hold me accountable and keep me encouraged and pushed to MAKE MOVES on this! I’m also sharing because I’m ready to move out of the space of complacency. I also hope that when you read this you see that you’re not the only one who struggles with taking action to get your ideas off the ground. I hope you’re are inspired because the truth is, you don’t want to lose time and put your idea, project, book, business, whatever it is, on hold because you may not have tomorrow. You could die today and that dream would be left inside of you. Don’t allow that to be you, as I’m certainly trying to avoid that being me. Life is simply too short.
Finally, Feel free to reach out if you have anything in particular that you might want me to include in my blog posts, topics you’d like me to address or even if you have a story that you would like to share to motivate and inspire other women and girls. And if you have anything in particular that you would want me to address via Hair Confidence let me know because I want to be sure that I serve you to the best of my ability, but I can’t do that without your help and input.
Let me know in the comments, by sending me a message in the Ask Humble Sunshine section of this site or by sending me a DM via any of the Humble Sunshine social media accounts! I look forward to hearing from you!
[Stay Tuned for more updates as I rollout of more Hair Confidence content throughout March 2018!]
~Be Humble. Be Motivated. Be Inspired.~
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