What a week I had!
I spent last week in San Juan, PR at Rachel Rodgers’ ROI: The Millionaire’s Summit, and it was epic!
I didn’t know anyone, and no one came with me…
…and I have to admit, that was scary!
I moved from Taiwan to Texas when I was 3 years old, and the day I came home from preschool, I asked my mom why I didn’t understand anyone and no one understood me.
She told me it’s because they were speaking English, and I was speaking Mandarin. 😂
So that was the first time I felt “different.”
Then, in elementary school, besides the typical racist jokes towards me, there were three incidents that didn’t help my sense of belonging.
The first one was in kindergarten. We were given a sheet of paper with an outline of a boy or girl (imagine doing that today). We were supposed to color it in the way we look, but I thought she said to color it in the way we want it to look. At that time, I loved the idea of blue hair, so I colored the hair blue.
My kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gibson, snatched it from me, while I was about to start coloring the rest of the page, and asked the class, “Is this what Katy looks like?” The other kids yelled, “No,”and started laughing… She then threw away the paper I was working on and told me to start over.
I felt ashamed for the first time in my life.
Before that, I was an outgoing kid. My grandmother would always tell me stories about how I would see kids in the windows of their apartments, while out walking with her, and ask them to come down and play with me.
However, after that incident with Mrs. Gibson, I didn’t allow myself to just be me. I tried to “fit in” as much as possible, and although I didn’t know this at the time, looking back on my school days, I definitely didn’t raise my hands to ask questions or to say anything unless I knew it to be the “right answer.” I didn’t want to chance another embarrassing moment where everyone could laugh at me.
The same teacher, Mrs. Gibson also cast me and the other kids of color as flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz production the school was doing because of the “way we looked,” while my best friend at the time, Katrina, got to play the Good Fairy, Glinda, because of the way she looked. (Katrina looked like Shirley Temple, with blond curly hair and big blue eyes.)
That moment made me think that the way I looked wasn’t the “desired” look.
The next two incidents happened in the second grade.
Because of my friend Katrina, I was in a group of “popular” girls. The leader of the group invited us all to her house for a slumber party, and I really wanted to go. But my mom didn’t allow it. She didn’t think the girl was a good influence because she was convincing us to color our nails with crayons and turning our tops into bras at recess. My mom also thought I was too young to spend the night at someone else’s house. After telling her I couldn’t go, I was shunned from the group.
Then, when I decided to invite people to my house for a Halloween party, no one showed up. Not one person.
So…going to Puerto Rico to go to a business summit where 1000 people were attending was definitely not comfortable. However, knowing that I get nervous in large groups where I don’t know anyone, I reached out to a few people I met in the Facebook Group and scheduled lunch. I also asked to join a dinner of LA people.
The night before I left, I questioned why I was doing this to myself. The first day’s event, I still couldn’t sleep.
As soon as the first talk happened though, I knew I was in the right place.
I was inspired by everyone’s talks, especially Amy Purdy, who lost her legs when she was around 19, but went on to become a 3x Paralympic Medalist. ...and even a Dancing with the Stars Runner Up!
She showed the photo on the right to illustrate how she had to fashion different types of "feet" to even be able to dance because the ones that are made are never made for dancing. For the Quickstep, she had to figure out how to make her "feet" move quickly, so she used her "running feet" (pictured below).
Now...watch her in the Quickstep...
If you ever get a chance to hear her story, you MUST! It will make you feel like whatever your own challenges are in life, they can be your greatest inspirations and lead you to your best life!
I was also inspired by Robert Hartwell, who told us to tell the truth. (That’s why I shared so much of my story of how nervous I was prior to ROI.) He shared his truth, during a Branding & Storytelling session about going to his first class seat on Delta, and the flight attendant asking him,
“Are you sure you’re in first class?”
His first instinct was to “prove” his worth and “fit in.” But later he realized a different lesson, and he posted this on his IG feed:
So…even someone who has spent his life on Broadway stages, someone who has a show coming out on the Oprah Winfrey Network and who is in a Pharrell video about entrepreneurs (see the video below. Robert's story is in the end) and who seems uber confident of who he is has moments of insecurity and wanting to fit in.
Rachel Rodgers, herself, of course, was the most inspiring. She spoke with two of her friends, Sonya Renee Taylor and Rachel Cargle (both women who are considered to be activists and advocates, in their own rights) in a session titled, “Is Making a Million Dollars Ethical?”
Their answer was, of course it is, and if you don’t think so, it’s because you’ve bought into the patriarchy’s way of wanting us to think and believe.
I also went to a session called “How to Get Access to Capital” with Arlan Hamilton and Suneera Madhani, two women of color who are making money and creating venture capital opportunities for other entrepreneurs. I got really emotional when one audience member raised her hand during the Q+A and said that she had raised $50,000 for her business idea. She needed another $350,000, and how can she pitch Arlan and Suneera? They both paused and then waved her up to the stage to pitch them, in the moment!
It made me emotional because this person asked for what she wanted, and she was rewarded by being given the opportunity to pitch and receive money for her business! This is manifestation at its finest! She was prepared and chose to shoot her shot!
This summit inspired to be even more courageous in my life. It helped me to understand that courage is from taking action, and that we can't wait until we're confident in order to do something.
So all of my fears of not belonging or not fitting in shifted from my willingness to get uncomfortable and just be as authentically me as possible, as well as being super present all week. (It's why I don't have great photos or videos.)
It also gave me so much hope, and I believe that hope is what gives us meaning and keeps our souls alive. In grieving my uncle's passing, I wished that he had something like this to keep him going, to help him to find purpose and meaning in what he was doing and to fire him up.
I also loved that this summit was unapologetic about making money. I believe that it’s the #1 thing that’s holding women and people of color back. We are told that the Bible says “money is the root of evil,” and yet white older men like Dave Ramsey, use the Bible to bring in a lot of Christian followers and make hundreds of millions of dollars.
Instead, this summit opened up all of our paradigms to understand that having wealth helps bring the change we want to see, that having wealth helps our communities, our families and creates a world we want to all live in.
To sum it up best, I’m going to quote Pinky Cole, who is most well known for the Slutty Vegan brand, when she told everyone in the audience to:
“Get Your Ass Up!”
With Love & Gratitude,
P.S. Wanna get your ass up and start making money moves? I'm so fired up from the summit and since this week is my birthday and February 1st is also National Freedom Day, I'm offering a FREE 30-60 minute discovery call with me to see how you can achieve financial freedom, doing what you love. It's for you, if you've never spoken to me before. Spots are very limited, so sign up quickly HERE or by clicking the button below.