Photo courtesy of H.E.R.

She’s elusive, mysterious, sensual and poetic… but who is she? There have been long-time whispers from fans that the identity of  RCA’s latest femme fatale is none other than the talented Gabi Wilson.

H.E.R. has been praised by the likes of Alicia Keys, Solange’s Saint Heron and music tastemaker, Mr. “Golden Ears” himself, Carl Chery of Apple Music. Her debut EP H.E.R., Vol. 1 was full of moody, melodic tracks and stayed on constant repeat for me while I spent time in Los Angeles last summer. It was the perfect soundtrack to accompany a beautiful drive in Venice, windows down, and passing towering by palm trees on a breezy day.

California, Summer 16

Vol. 1 takes you back to your first intense love. It’s warm, youthful and yet extremely mature. I don’t mean mature in the typically formulated “I’m a woman now so I’m going to talk about sex and get naked because I love myself ” pop princess sort of way either. I mean the lyrics are real and come off genuine to her experiences. Shout out to RCA for letting her do her thing!

She obviously is looking to strike twice with a sonically soothing Vol. 2. and has provided her listeners with a preview to the next level of her artistry. The proof is in the pudding as the old folks say, and yes…this is all kinds of musical pudding. Vol. 2’s pre-release tracks, tease a confident and assured young woman. “Every Kind of Way” is romantic and bodyrolling-fantastic if I must say so myself. You instantly want to sing along to it. Her vocals are sweet and the storytelling is inviting. A listener is drawn into the warm sounds of love and adoration. If you’re a subscriber to one of the big music streaming services, you can check out the other tracks Say It Again and Lights On right now.

If you don’t believe me on how amazing this new, velvety-smooth R&B chick is, feel free to check H.E.R. out for yourself and maybe swing by one of her tour dates with Bryson Tiller beginning this August.

I can not WAIT for this full release. <3

-D. Wright

So I’ve been on my entrepreneurial journey for the last 10 or so years. I know that creative pursuits don’t totally seem “entrepreneurial” or ground breaking initially, but creatives can singlehandedly change the landscape of society and shape the future perception of our day to day norms. I know it sounds super cheesy but Simon Sinek helped me to realize how important my place in the world could be.

I wanted to share this video, a leader once shared with me, in hopes to help you gain perspective and a little more insight to your personal goals in business and livelihood. I know that I’m constantly grabbing for information and inspiration, so I figured  you’d be able to draw out at least one message that personally speaks to you and the work you’d like to accomplish.

[su_quote cite=”People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

-Simon Sinek”][/su_quote]

Simon Sinek is a speaker and author inspiring thousands across the globe. He is best known for his TED Talk “Start with Why,” where he demonstrates his coined methodology, The Golden Circle.

Tell me your take-aways from Simon’s talk. I’d love to hear from you. <3

-D.Wright

Photo courtesy of CNBC.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, comedian Kathy Griffin did the unthinkable for a good chuckle this week. That blurred out head you see there, and what’s been described as a piece of “art,” was actually made in the likeness of our current Commander in Covfefe…45 aka Donald Trump. Hear me now. I am NOT a fan of him, I think he’s a classless, chauvinist-bigot that got lucky a majority of his followers felt alienated enough to vote for him. I think he’s a terrible person, a decent business man and possibly the worst President in American history. However, I felt like this desperate attempt for a laugh was ridiculous and definitely inhumane.

Understand, I could care less about what 45 feels about it. I could care less about what his followers, his allies, or even what the White House feels about it. No one seemed to care when Obama was in office and had monkey emails being circulated by the very people he was supposed to lead and life-sized dolls of him being lynched in the streets. People on the Right weren’t even really taking a public stance of condemnation against that “repugnant” behavior but what I care about folks is our humanity. Have we lost it? Have we really gotten so numb and disconnected to where it’s now ok to pretend-kill real people in real life?

Photo courtesy of National Review.

I know it’s pretty hard to believe I could care about this person’s well-being but I do. What Kathy Griffin did was wrong and it was gross! So gross, it’s not even aesthetically sound enough to put up on this blog. I didn’t even get it! I don’t want to get it! And unless you’re in a movie playing Buffalo Bill or trying to win an Oscar, stuff like this is just disturbing. Shoot, even if you’re acting it’s still disturbing! But seriously, 45 is a human…Not a Voodoo doll. I want him out of office, not dead or with a bloody replica of his head in someone’s hands.

And let’s be honest, what she did was the type of behavior we expected from his extreme supporters. To agree with her, or to laugh with her is blatant hypocrisy on a human level even if we felt Obama wasn’t as horrid or as worthy of being knocked off.

Photo courtesy of The Odyssey Online.

But like I said…I don’t like him. He’s still the guy that could care less about the environment, poverty, civil issues, our lives, education, diplomacy, respect and all the other basic principles a solid leader should show concern for. And even though he might make those terrible faces and wear that thing on his head, he’s still a dude. He’s a human being with a body filled with life, maybe not a soul but life nonetheless. I just don’t feel right supporting someone mocking the loss of life because the person is hated or not liked. That’s also strange. It’s not normal. We can’t make extreme, violent behavior normal. She thought we were going to laugh and think it was normal. It’s not.

I’d maybe understand if we were applauding the take down of a violent terrorist group’s leader or folks we’re physically at war with. And the crazy thing is we don’t even really celebrate that! We basically say “got em” and keep it moving.

So here it is folks, don’t go all Huck on us, and fantasize about the thought of someone being lynched, tortured, or beheaded. Check your tendencies and your spirit.

Again Kathy, girl…why?

-D.Wright

Let’s first begin with it’s pronounced, DeUnDray not DeUnDria…

Since I was a kid, people have always butchered my name. I mean, I will say it’s legally spelled one way (that’s indeed more feminine) but I generally tell folks its pronunciation before they read it.

My mother and I share the name. And no that does not mean I’m a junior, don’t be a Petty Betty. It means that she specifically knew people would slaughter and burn to the ground 3 syllables and a questionable spelling for my the rest of my natural born life…and that my father agreed to it. When I asked about the origins of my name, I got a story about some great-great-great aunt, my namesake, who actually pronounced it the exact same way. Can you imagine a Deandrea (pronounced DeUnDray) running around, in the 1800’s correcting people on the pronunciation of her femininely spelled unisex name?! She was probably a HOT MESS and my spirit animal.

Ok…back on task here. Like I said, the name has been around for generations apparently and here’s a funny plot twist, for a while I didn’t even know my first name. I wouldn’t answer to it in school. I would supposedly inform people to what my real name was and all kinds of foolishness because my family called me by a completely different name, my middle name.

Side eye courtesy of life.

So now here I am, an adult with a gazillion nick names and aliases who still deals with people sonically obliterating three measly syllables as if they couldn’t pronounce Beyersdoerffer or Onwuatuegwu. Yes, I’m angry with you all because y’all know somehow you master these obscenely long names but refuse to get the shorter ones right unless they’re Tiffany, Ashley, or Leah. I am bitter. Ok, not really…just ever so slightly.

When teaching people my name, there are a range of strange facial expressions I have to act out in order to emphasize the sounds with the syllables. It’s pretty draining. Then there is also the explanation about how I ended up with the name and how I basically changed it for convenience. I mean it’s a WHOLE situation and practically the reason I go by Dee when meeting strangers.

And I know what some of you are thinking, “Black people totally know how to pronounce your name…I could totally say your name.” blah blah blah. I say, sure, after an awkward conversation about your boy cousin DeAndre or the basketball star DeAndre Jordan, and maybe after getting past the fact that I have a “boy” name. Yes, a correct pronunciation might be on the horizon. “Might” because people are completely convinced my name isn’t feminine enough and immediately revert back to their country bumpkin, gender normative names and call me DeUnDrayYa…if I’m lucky. #NoDisrepectToTheDeUnDrayYasOfTheWorld

Anywho…I’m sure I’m not the only one with the issue of people and their lazy attempts at name pronunciations. Believe me I’ve heard some ridiculously stupid ones and there are Google pages dedicated to it, but I’d LOVE to hear about yours.

Drop me a line. <3

-D.Wright

When I was a little girl I felt I could do anything. I believed in the limitless possibilities of my life. Shoot, I believed in it for everyone around me too. Life was full of enchantment and seemed almost surreal to experience. I dreamed, and even more so, I believed in my dreams with an almost blindly optimistic assurance. I felt unstoppable.

Looking back, I know it’s a little naive but I thought I could be anything I wanted and knew in every crevice of my soul that I was special. I would look in the mirror and be in awe of being present. How magical it was to wake up everyday feeling my small speck of a life could create a rippling effect in the universe.

I imagine it’s what people who accomplish great things realize about themselves early on and consistently nurture. For the rest of us, however, we struggle with maintaining that fearlessness and confidence riding throughout our lives. We realize we have potential, but are sometimes afraid to embrace our limitless possibilities.

How can we get past that old “you have SO much potential” bit, totally meant as a compliment but as painful as a paper-cut? How can we move and operate in our child-like fearlessness?

These are the questions I’m beginning to answer for myself and I challenge you to consider your own ways of pushing past potential and into your complete being.

Be Your Best Self

It’s really amazing, the people we fantasize about being. Strong, confident, charismatic, brilliant… that’s the woman I daydream to echo. I imagine myself walking in a room and being able to master my verbal exchanges with even the toughest of conversationalist.

Now, who do I think I am? You’ll be surprised to know I believe I’m the biggest goof and woman-child in the history of nerd-dom. I know that’s no way to operate as an adult so I’ve decided to test drive the woman I truly want to become. I will operate in her greatness until it becomes second nature. While I still might tell the occasional awkward joke or laugh at inappropriate moments out of nervousness, I’ve decided to believe I can be amazing and to act impulsively on that feeling.

Be Creative

Some of the most wildly successful people we hear about today are contributing to the world in some of the most niche ways.

These people carve out their very own spaces in various industries and change our lives because of their adventuring spirits. These innovators pull from what they love and build. They are Lego Masters. They invent their own worlds and we then live in it. They are not afraid to create and share and fail and create some more.

I say why not act and live in your creativity, and invite everyone else to join you? Every day you build is not only a step out of potential-land but into the life you imagine for yourself and a step to the finished result people actually desire to see from you.

And while we all know it’s not about what others think of you, when you need to show and prove your work, you definitely need to be able to provide examples to back your self-proclaimed worth. I’m realizing, if I want people to think I’m an awesome writer and I haven’t been hired onto a team, I have to get creative. I have to craft my own world and pull people to it. Maybe I’ll want to be hired or maybe I’ll be the hire-er after that, who knows,  but the point is, I won’t be a potential writer of  <name that company> that could specialize in this cool thing. I WILL be that writer of Sounds About Wright. I will be that writer that got scrappy and built my skill off of my own creativity.

Be About It

I always thought it was insane how many of us (as children) would flip off tables, monkey bars, couches or just anything in our vicinities. We would reach for the sky with the tips of our toes while swinging to see if we could touch a cloud, spin ourselves silly until we dropped to test our speed, and randomly consume the most disgusting, asinine things just for research. We would just do it. Whatever it was, we committed to doing everything weird under the sun to learn and process what was real or possible.

Now, as a big kid, we don’t have to be complete lunatics but we can definitely decide to act. Do something! Go for that new job, create a new process and present it to your team, write that blog, take those photos and sell your art. Just do something! As the saying goes, “Don’t talk about it, be about it.” It’s time for us to be about our greatness and share it with the world.

Now tell me… what are you doing to push past your potential?

-D.Wright