On Star Struck, Strenuous Season and Slowing Down
Hey LuvvCousin,
May has come through and I ran my way through it. This month has been a blur. I dropped my first kids’ book, did a tour, appeared on TV a couple of times, hit the NYT bestselling list… VICTORY NOTES 🙌🏾. Grateful and spent!
It’s ending on a high note cuz this week, I ended up on a small group Zoom call with Muva Oprah Winfrey to get a sneak peek at the new trailer for the musical adaptation of The Color Purple. Not only did I make her laugh on the call, she complimented my fit later that day. 😁😁😁
Chile, WEEK MADE. TALK TO ME NICE!!!
I’m really thankful that this holiday weekend is here, because it means SUMMER is here. And I need all the light has to offer. All the sunlight and outsiding and relaxation.
So lemme jump into this week.
RANT
Entrepreneurship can be so raggedy sometimes.
Can we have a REAL conversation about how entrepreneurship is EXHAUSTING? 😩😩😩 The social media mindset moguls don’t tell you about the behind-the-scenes mind-bending, back-breaking, time-consuming labor it takes to run a business.
Leading your own business is using your left and right brain simultaneously and some days, feeling like you wanna bang your head against the wall. 😅 Sometimes, it’s spending 7 hours on a Sunday doing work that is necessary, so it doesn’t derail your whole week. It’s constant learning and unlearning. It’s checking yourself first. It’s expectations. It’s clear communication. It’s strategy. It’s tactics. It’s forecasting. It’s spinning on your head while also walking.
It’s exhausting.
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I am coming out of a season where some amazing things have happened with the book launch. I am also coming out of a season where I’m majorly restructuring my team and company, and over here fighting for my life half the time 😩.
I’m a visionary who LEARNED to build. I’ve built this company into a multi-million dollar entity because of and in spite of myself. So the glorification we see around running a business is getting on my everlasting LAST nerve.
Shoutout to my fellow CEOs, tryna figure it out the best way they know how. Trying to build something that is impactful, profitable and sustainable. And it ain’t easy. IT IS OFTEN TRASH. But in the words of Mother Maya Angelou: “Still I rise.” WE RISE.
And now that I can take a big, cleansing breath, I’ve realized -
REFLECTION
I rush my way through life and I need to slow down.
On Monday, as I was jumping into a car to the airport, for the flight I eventually missed, 😩 I got an instant realization: I’m in a constant state of running and rushing. I think and talk fast. I power walk everywhere. I go from meeting to meeting without breaks. I’m constantly running to something, or running late.
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And I want/need to stop.
It’s such a habit that I realized that I don’t even know how to move slow. When I missed the flight and ended up crying at the airport from frustration, I knew I had to get intentional about taking in my life, with patience and more ease.
And then, the day after, I saw a newsletter from the brilliant Nedra Tawwab that further convicted me. It was like she was looking in my spirit. The subject: “You Don’t Have to Retire to Move at a Slower Place.” It was such a loving rebuke, and an affirmation of what I acutely understood to be true.
We don’t have to run at breakneck speed. We can pause to be mindful of the present, instead of rushing our way through life. Because in that speed, what do we leave behind? It’s why we forget things like our keys, wallets and phone? We’re running like headless chickens, and it is not sustainable.
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So since Monday, I’ve started paying real attention to my pace. Not just how fast I walk but even how my calendar is set up (adding 15 minute buffers between meetings). But most importantly, I am committing to a summer of slow down. And to interrupt BUSYness, even as I operate my business.
I’ll be also easing out and taking a break from my weekly LuvvLetters. You might still hear from me from time to time (because sometimes, I just got stuff I gotta tell y’all). So, if you happen to hear from me sooner than you expected, consider it as a little surprise in your inbox!
I am committing to moving slower in all ways, even if it means I upset someone or someone has to wait a little bit longer. It’s important for me to prioritize self, and part of that is rushing less. I’m going to take my time and try to be more present in everything. I want to be more present with friends and family, and also be present in the work that I’m feeling called to do next.
As Nedra said in her newsletter “There are busy seasons, but it can’t always be busy season.” It is time for a slow season.
(Ironically, I was further reflecting on this as I was speed walking through the airport at 12:03 am to get to a car to get home after another trip. But awareness is the first step toward change, right?)
To kick this season of slow down, this will be my last weekly LuvvLetter for a bit. I’m going to take the summer off recurring responsibilities, and the newsletter is one. I’m gonna lean into the joy of the season, frolicking, brunching and being in the sun. Like… pure shenanigans. This is the energy I’m giving:
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So LuvvCousin, if you’re a rusher like me, I hope you know that you can slow down, and what is yours will chase you, not miss you.
What I will pour myself into, is what ENERGIZES me. And one of those things is a class I’ve created because it’s something that has been sitting on my spirit for a long time. I’ve slowwww dragged on that til now. And it is time to let it out.
Lemme tell you more…
RECOMMENDATION
Get my Book Publishing Course updates.
You have a story to tell. You have experience that will help someone else on their journey. There is a book sitting on your spirit and you wanna see it come true one day. But you don’t know where to start, or you’re stuck, or you don’t know how this can even happen for you.
After proving myself as a heavy hitter in books (hitting the NYTimes bestselling list 4 times, in 4 different categories, and 3 of them in 3 consecutive years 💪🏾🙌🏾), I feel like I’m now on assignment to help other people create their own books and share their stories with integrity and clarity. Because one thing about me: I KNOW BOOKS. This is why I’ve been working on a course, beginning with a class on Book Publishing 101.
This legit feels like a MISSION for me. And I’m excited for it. And this is work I can do, that honors my slow down, because what it requires of me, is my obedience, not my stress. It is leaning into the purpose work.
I taught it for the first time a couple of weeks ago at EXCELERATEHER Summit and my attendees called it “The Book Revival.” 🥹🥰 And it really made me know that it is time for it.
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So if you’d like to get updates on when the class is dropping, reply to this email with "I WANT IN." Only those people who responded will be tapped in. Everyone else, y’all might not hear from me here for a minute.
I’m really looking forward to enabling your purpose-driven stories to be heard. So for those who will join me, talk to you soon.
For everyone else, here’s to a summer filled with radical rejuvenation.
Talk to you sometime,
P.S. If you love this newsletter, please share it. Tell your friends to subscribe. They can sign up at LuvvLetter.com!
Disclaimer: I receive commissions for purchases made through some of the links in this newsletter. All thoughts and vouching are mine. I keep it 💯!
