Taiia Smart Young's Blog, page 4

The $64,000 Question: What Should I Write?

I’m going to stretch the truth a bit and say every English teacher has heard a student ask: What should I write? And many teachers responded: “Write what you know.”

I call it WWYK. For many writers this bit of wisdom falls into the best/worst advice ever category.

It’s cliché and a bit confusing.

It forces folks to frantically mine their perfectly normal childhood memories for dark, dysfunctional secrets.

I like WWYK because it turns the key in the ignition. Everybody knows something, right?

Some folks think WWYK is always autobiographical and worry that their lives aren’t rich enough for the page. Please don’t try to be Alan Cummings and pen Not My Father’s Son. I sincerely hope your father (who decided that you were a product of an affair) didn’t abuse you.

And no one is expecting another My Beloved World. That’s Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s journey about growing up in a housing development in the Bronx, graduating from Yale Law and landing a seat on the federal bench.

Go ahead and borrow even the smallest detail from your life to craft a must-read tale. One of my most delicious childhood memories was having unlimited access to Baskin-Robbins ice cream at my father’s store. (This is probably why I’m lactose intolerant now.) Imagine how cool it would be if I wrote about a spy, posing as a loving mom, who used an ice cream shop for espionage.

That’s just one of many ideas.

Think of WWYK as a ramp onto the writing highway.  It’s an easy access point for anyone, no matter if you’re a Black male teen living in Texas or an Asian married mother of six in Alaska. What you know varies by age, race and gender. Oh, and let’s not forget about experience, location and perspective. There are lots of variables.

The problem is folks get touchy after hearing critiques about real-life scenes in fiction or non-fiction. Fact: The analysis can’t be

(Courtesy of Topher McCullouch: Creative Commons)

ignored simply because the smash and grab robbery happened exactly how you wrote it. What if the dialogue was stale? What if the sequence of events didn’t ring true? What if the overall timeline didn’t make sense?

This isn’t a pass to slap together sloppy work, skip research and run wild with inaccuracies. Don’t think about dropping a Xbox One into a piece set in 1980, the year Toru Iwatani gifted us Pac-Man. Readers (and diehard Pac-Man fans) will happily scorch you in a grease fire called The Internet.

WWYK is permission to explore familiar people, places and things and in an unexpected way.

Perfect example: Ta-Nehisi Coates and Neal Shusterman both took home trophies at the 66th Annual National Book Awards in the non-fiction and young people’s literature categories, respectively.

Coates’ provocative Between the World and Me examines race in America. What he knew was this: His unarmed college buddy Prince Jones was killed at age 25 by a police officer.

Shusterman’s fictional look at mental illness in Challenger Deep was especially moving also because of a personal experience. What he knew was this: His son Brendan (who illustrated the book) had struggled with mental illness.

Coates and Shusterman are proof that WWYK can be used for the greater good.

It’s merely a starting point for your imagination.

What do you know?

 

 

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Get Off Your Butt: Be a Productive Writer

Deadline: September 30 (Courtesy of Dafne Cholet: Creative Commons)

Being productive is challenging for me if there isn’t an immediate reward involved. It’s a sad but true fact I realized in 2014 when I sat down to write and self-publish Famous! How to Be the Star of Your Show for teen girls.

Having a book deal and check in the mail can motivate anyone (in theory) to get off her or his butt and write an as-yet-untitled game-changing self-help tome.

But self-publishing was all about me setting a schedule and pace for getting Famous! from just a Word doc in my computer to a final product that I could hold in my hand. The prize was months away, so I forced myself to bang out an outline, create a daily writing goal and then go chapter by chapter, in no particular order.

Honestly, productivity is a constant battle for me and sometimes I’m kicking procrastination’s butt like I’m possessed by boxer Layla McCarter and some days…um, not so much.

After some serious self-reflection and too many handfuls of barbecue chips, I’ve realized that it’s necessary for me understand what each project requires (example a 700-word profile vs. ghostwriting a 60,000-word young adult novel) and create a plan to complete it by working backward. It’s a skill I’d learned from being a managing editor at XXL magazine, and there were way more moving parts than just words on a page. (Need some help getting started? Download my guide.)

Often, I look to my mentor-in-my-head Marie Forleo for advice. One of her gems encourages folks to set a deadline and tell people about it. Example: I’m selling my children’s book at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 18, 2016. Guess what happens? Yep, people start asking about your children’s book every month or so and it pushes you to buy a table at the festival.

The last thing you want is to come up short or have pitiful excuses about why you didn’t finish your project and sell it at the fair.

I take this to heart and tell people about my new stuff at dinner parties, on social media and whenever someone asks: What are you working on?

Sharing my next move scares the crap out of me, but it also holds me accountable for delivering on the goods.

Here are some tips you can try to be more productive:

A writer’s best friend. (Nicholas Flook: Creative Commons)

Compose your story via longhand: Translation? Break out your notebook and favorite pen. Okay, so you’re frowning like that’s soooo 1988. True, but it has its perks, such as:

1) You’re  free from social media and email distractions.

2) You’re  less likely to worry about writing a perfect story; the words may flow a bit more smoothly.

3) You’re following in the footsteps of your favorite, award-winning writers, including J.K. Rowling, Joyce Carol Oates, Truman Capote, Amy Tan and even writer/director Quentin Tarantino. Fact: Grindhouse was written in a notebook.

Break it up: Identify the writing project and then slice the task into manageable chunks. How many words is it? Do you need secondary interviews? How much research is involved? What’s the word count? Is it a Q&A?

Once the interview is done, it has to be transcribed. You can do this yourself or hand it over to the pros at Rev.com who’ll turn your interview around in about 24 to 48 hours, for a small sum of $1 per minute.

This frees you up to listen to the audio and cherry pick the best parts of the conversation for your piece. Later you can write the intro based on the major points covered in the 2,000-word Q&A.

A writer’s best friend. (Courtesy of Nicholas Flook: Creative Commons)

Set a daily writing goal: This tip is mainly for books. You cannot complete a 100,000-word sci-fi novel in one week. (Yeah, sci-fi much longer than a regular novel.) Look at your deadline and set a realistic daily writing goal to complete the first draft and revise it before sending it to your editor.

Most writers subscribe to 1,000 words per day, but Buster Benson is cool with folks whipping out 750 words. But I love, love, love about 750words.com is that you can learn about yourself in the process, like how many times you took breaks during a given time period.

Begin with the end in mind: When is this thing due? Two days or two weeks? Plug the deadline on your calendar and work backward from that date. Reserve time for research, pre-writing and interviews, and plan when the draft will be finished.

A deadline that’s off in the distance may make it easier to procrastinate because you cheat yourself into thinking that you have two weeks to flip a blog post about hidden food allergies for pluggedinparents.com. Don’t do that, and stop telling yourself you work better under pressure. It’s a lie.

What’s your favorite pr oductivity tip?

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First Drafts: The Ugly Side of the Story

This is just the beginning of a long process.
(Courtesy of Nic McPhee; Creative Commons)

My first drafts are ugly.

They’re usually scribbled in a cheap, spiral notebook or on Post-Its. Once, I wrote an entire short story on a roll of paper towel because the dialogue just poured out of me. Well, that and I was too lazy to get my cheap, spiral notebook.  (Side note: I reserve expensive, cutesy journals for big picture thinking, like taking over the world and notes about making The New York Times Best Sellers list, you know, normal stuff.)

I used to hate my first drafts because my prose wasn’t coherent, organized, smart and flowery as if Maya Angelou spent the afternoon whispering “Phenomenal Woman” in my ear.

Plus, the words never came out fast enough. It’s like a slow brain dump of notes, sketches and incomplete sentences if I’m lucky. Sometimes random words are scattered on the page reminding me about word counts, goals, moods and notes for the reader. The result always resembles evidence for a murder case on an episode of Law & Order.

I assumed, like most fans of Mother Maya’s gift, that she was a “natural writer.”

She wasn’t. The woman who blessed us with Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water Before I Diiie kept a hotel room in every city where she lived so she could have a workspace for her art, made writing look easy. Sound easy. Read easy.

Writing is never easy.

When George Plimpton interviewed her for The Paris Review, she revealed that it took her forever to make her books sing. The Pulitzer Prize nominee “worked” on the language. If she had nine pages of copy, two (or three) were usually good.

I believe that means that we can stop being so hard on ourselves as writers. I must accept my ugly drafts as part of my process, and you should too. It’s also the way to becoming a more polished writer.

Maya Angelou at Boston College circa 1984. (Courtesy of Burns Library/Boston College; Creative Commons)

As you sit down at your desk (or a bed with a bottle of sherry, like Mother Maya used to do), consider this as you compose your first draft.

Sketch an outline: Skip the Roman numerals Ms. Simon taught you in elementary school and the stiff formula Professor Ogiri swore by in college. Go for a loose road map of where you’d like your short story to go. Just realize that all this beautiful planning is subject to change.

Don’t worry about it making sense: Stop forcing yourself to start with a powerful opening sentence and make the essay flow in order.  It’ll come when you least expect it, like in your morning shower or at the dinner table. (Keep a notebook or smart phone ready to record notes or voice memos.) Just jump in at the middle and go.

Brainstorm and put everything on the page: Get it out of your system—556, 838 or 2,045 words. Read, revise and cut the guest blog’s required word count in the second or third draft.

Resist the urge to write and edit at the same time: It’s challenging to finish a longer piece of writing—like your memoir—this way. Writing and editing as you go isn’t a shortcut. To me, it makes crossing the finish line more difficult, especially when a story has tons of moving parts. Complete a horrible, ugly first draft (mine will keep you company) and then go back to fix holes, timelines, descriptions and voice.

The best writing is deceptive, or as Nathaniel Hawthorne (author of The Scarlet Letter) said: “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”

What does your first draft look like?

 

 

 

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5 Mistakes I Made in 2015

May 2015: One month before my book debuted on Amazon.com.

I did some dope stuff this year, like writing a book for teen girls, helping the No.1 Son pick a high school that celebrates his creativity and jogging in the park. (The last one is big deal since I’m the girl who envies runners like, I wish I could do that…as if they were Mutants melting metal with their minds.)

But I also screwed up too. I’m new to entrepreneurship. I’m new to being the mother of a freshman, so errors come with the territory.

Here are 5 mistakes I made in 2015, in no particular order.

Mistake #1

I said yes when I really meant noooooo.

I’m not the Energizer Bunny, but somehow I kept going and going even on three hours of sleep. Why? I didn’t want to miss an opportunity, even if it didn’t completely align with my overall goals, which is straight ludicrous. Call me a sucker for being blinded by the shiny part of the deal.

I got roped into:

“They only want to meet with you for an hour.”

“It’s free.”

“You’ll make some great contacts.”

Yeah, right. In reality, that hour didn’t include preparing a PowerPoint presentation or arriving super early for a breakfast; and I’ve learned that free, can be the most expensive when it puts me behind on a deadline, which happened more than once last year.

Okay, so I DID create some very limited edition T-shirts. My sister, Anika, and I are rocking two of three shirts in existence.

Mistake #2

I didn’t have another product ready after I launched Famous! How to Be the Star of Your Show.

Smart Girl Media is a one-woman production (for now) and the learning curve has more loops than the Indy 500.

I should’ve whipped up a Famous! workbook for teen girls, designed a T-shirt, crafted a journal or created an online class, something to keep the momentum going and add revenue to the account.

So I’m in the lab working. Making things. I’m creating an e-course for writers who are ready to tell their stories.

It isn’t ready yet, but in the meantime, download this freebie to get started writing your own life story or novel.

Mistake #3

 I covered my travel for a conference that shall remain nameless.

Yes, I know that sometimes, as an entrepreneur I’ll pay for flights, hotel accommodations and meals. I keep receipts and chalk them up to business expenses for the greater good: networking, dinners and exposure.

But if companies and organizations have budgets, I should be able to get a window seat and some M&Ms peanuts. That’s not asking for too much.

Months before my book debuted on Amazon, I had pitched my way onto a teen-focused panel at a conference. It was a good opportunity to promote Famous! from the podium to moms and their daughters and pass out my cute postcards. #winning

While I was patting myself on the back for my huge score, I overheard one of my fellow panelists ask an organizer to reschedule her travel home. She needed to change flights and leave a few hours earlier.

In my haste to participate in the conference—call it a rookie move—I forgot to ask if they were covering travel. Note to self: Always ask about_________. Some folks will kick out funds for a three-hour Amtrak trip and a bottle of water for the ride.

A selfie with The No. 1 Son before the historic Mother-Son Peace Accord.

Mistake #4

I complained about the No.1 Son’s lack of organization and horrible study habits, without showing him how to be productive.

He had High School Freshman Overwhelm. His bed was a dumping ground for clean and funky laundry, keys, money, homework an

d science projects. Instead of moving all of this crap at bedtime, he opted to sleep on top of it.

Oh, and he collected data overages on his cell phone like it was no big deal because life without Wi-Fi was like living without air. This would have been okay if he was listening to a physics podcast. But he wasn’t. He just couldn’t be separated from Drake’s lyrical wisdom.

True to form, The No. 1 didn’t ask for help and hid his frustrations well—at first.

Immediately, I jumped into I-told-you-so-mode, which I know is BP: bad parenting. He tuned me out. It wasn’t until the end of the first marking period that I considered myself part of the problem and not the solution.

I tried a different approach so that the historic Mother-Son Peace Accord could be born. Thanks to a heartfelt convo using my inside voice and a huge calendar, he tracks his workload, studies for exams and gym clothes actually make it to the hamper.

Mistake #5

I forgot to choose a word to help focus my focus.

I’m not a resolutions girl.

I am a goals girl. If there’s something I need to accomplish, you can find me moving in that direction without the fanfare of a ball dropping in Times Squares on Dec. 31st.

However, I do crave rituals, signs and yes, words to focus my focus. I’m down with Mike Ashcraft and all those folks who pick one word that becomes a theme for their year, or word that’ll help them improve their quality of life. (Hint: Think peace, grace, humility, contentment etc.)

My word for 2015 would’ve been patience.

I found myself frustrated by book deals that sunk to the bottom of the ocean with the Hope Diamond, The No. 1 Son’s teen shenanigans and get this, long lines—all with the same level of disdain.

The universe was fed up with my behavior and forced me into situations where I had to suck it up and comply. (Like the image above says, “Patience is not the ability to wait, but how you act while you’re waiting.”

In November, I was in a huff to leave Target but my mother, who’s never met a sale she didn’t like, wasn’t ready to go.Good thing we didn’t. We ended up helping an epileptic boy who had a seizure in the fitting room. That scene taught me that I may be put in a certain place to be of service to others.

What mistakes did you make in 2015?

 

 

 

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Jessie T. Usher On Survivor’s Remorse: Mike Epps Keeps Us Laughing

Jessie T. Usher as the lovable Cam Calloway on Survivor’s Remorse. (courtesy of Starz)

Jessie T. Usher checks in to talk about his show Survivor’s Remorse, what he whips up for date night and playing Will Smith’s son in the Independence Day: Resurgence. 

On playing Will Smith’s son in the Independence Day sequel

Look, I’ve idolized Will and his career, since I became really serious about acting. I used that to better my performance…. I watched the original film in a while new light. Honestly, I think it really didn’t hit me, the significance of the movie, until I was a teenager. You realize how big of a deal it is. Now it’s a colossal deal because they’re making the second one exactly 20 years later and I get to be a part of it. It’s a pretty big move and I’m beyond excited to be in it.

On getting the coveted role that propelled Big Willie to stardom

With Independence Day, there was more of a relationship I’d developed with Harold Kloser, the executive producer. He liked me and thought that I’d be great for the role. He’d already seen what I had done in Survivor’s Remorse. I did one on-camera read for the studio and that was it.

On auditioning for  Survivor’s Remorse

I did six auditions over a few months. Yeah, something like that. I did three or four camera tests with Ronreaco and Erica Ash and Tichina Arnold, and they kept flying them out. Every time it would be me and three or four or five other guys all testing. It was just like, “Oh man.” It was exhausting. They kept changing the lines and switching up the scenes on me. They really tested my skills.

Family over everything: Uncle Julius and Cam (courtesy of Starz)

On who cracks the most jokes on set

Man, you know what? It depends on the day. Most of the time, it’s Mike Epps that keeps me cracking up. But Erica [Ash] is really, really funny. I’m not going to lie. She’s got crazier as time goes on. I think she probably cracks jokes more fluently, but when Mike starts going the whole set is done. Nobody can work when Mike starts ripping. RonReaco Lee is pretty funny too. When you watch the show, his character is very serious, but when we’re on set Reaco is a clown.

On making date night special

I bake all the time, especially if I’m doing the whole date night thing. You get a chance to be really creative. You can design and it seems more like art to me. I’ll cook a full meal and then I’ll bake. ] I’ve made apple pies from scratch. So, usually most girls get super lucky, they get the full package. [Laughs]

 

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Behind the scenes with: Blood, Sweat & Heels’ Daisy Lewellyn

Daisy Lewellyn: courtesy of Bravo

Daisy Lewellyn, the queen of effortless chic, star of Bravo’s Blood, Sweat & Heels and author of Never Pay Retail Again: Shop Smart, Spend Less And Look Your Best Ever, checks in to talk about rocking 50 shades of yellow this summer and why ladies should never ever bring Birkin bags to the beach.

On why shoppers shouldn’t pay retail:

No matter if you’re uber wealthy, or if you’re scraping two pennies together, you should never pay retail because there’s always a way to get a designer deal and steal.. Bloomingdale’s has outlets and they have the Bloomingdale’s Factory, and you can get pieces for 40 to 50 percent off. This is a way to have high-end designers for less. There are always the Zaras, the H&Ms and the Forever 21s of the world. Use these places to find great pieces, but at a really reasonable prices. Personally, I love TJ Maxx. Every store is different depending on your region. J. Crew has a lot of staples that when styled can really, really pop. You can get great colors and fabrics there. J. Crew Factory always has 30 percent discount codes that shave off a nice pretty penny.

On this summer’s must-have item:

Every girl has to have an LCD. You know, the LBD is a little black dress, well, the LCD is her sister, her cousin—the little colored dress. I don’t want to see my girls wearing all black this summer, especially my New York girls. Let me see some candy colors. Can we get some fuchsia? Can we get orange? Can we get a yellow? Every girl has at least one color that looks great on her. We talked about 50 shades of grey, but let’s talk about 50 shades of yellow!

On her hot weather pet peeve:

We love our Kardashians and we love all the celebs, but you see them on the beach with a Birkin or a Louis Vuitton bag and I’m thinking, what’s going on? That’s not suitable for the beach or the pool. I want all of my girls to think about getting a poolside purse, a great beach bag. Whether it’s straw or jelly, don’t take your high-end Louis tote to the pool! That doesn’t even make sense. I think it’s just a bit pretentious. It’s called a straw bag. It’s called your suntan lotion, magazines and sunglasses. Let’s work on getting a bag that’s occasion appropriate. When I see girls at night with an oversized Birkin, I’m like, you should have an envelop clutch, or a cross body. This is the place where you’re going to party and dance and you want to be free.

On hosting a clothing swap:

Get your girlfriends together, invite the fashionable ones and tell them to bring five favorite items that they love but aren’t wearing anymore, or never wore and swap them. It’s better to invite fashionable friends and acquaintances. If there’s a sales girl that you know who works at Nordstrom, say, “Hey, do you want to come by?” You can swap anything, bags, shoes, accessories, dresses and home decor. I believe I found a Chloé bag at a swap.

On why curvy is the new black:

I’m a curvy girl. These hips don’t lie! Let me tell you, honey. I love that women are embracing curves. You can be curvy if you’re a size two or if you’re a size 20. Before you talk about embracing the body types, you’ve got to figure out the stores that support your size. Because if you’re really a size 16 and then you’re going to a store that goes up to 12, well, that’s squeezing into it. It isn’t going to flatter your body type. Fashions to Figure has one of the best lines for plus-size girls and curvy girls and it’s still affordable. I think everything is under $50 dollars.

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My Amazing Book Signing And Launch Party!

A quick picture before the conversation with Paul T. Renfore begins.

Picture me playing Big Sean’s “Blessings” right now, singing: “Waaaay up, I feel blessed” as I type this post.

Why?

My book signing for Famous! How to Be the Star of Your Show: A Teen Girl’s Guide to Embracing Her Fabulous Self at Amarchi Prime in Brooklyn was amaz-zing (yes, that’s with two Zs) and it isn’t just because Achievement First Crown Heights Charter School (AFCH) purchased a few BOXES of books for their library.

No, but that was pretty dope and humbling. Three years in a row, AFCH selected me to be their graduation speaker and buying a ton of books means they trust me and support my #bethestarofyourshow message.

I felt the love in the room, from teen girls, family, friends (high school and college), Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters and publishing colleagues, and people, including strangers, stood in a long line for me to sign their books. 

Seeing that line made me feel like a writing rock star and I refused to sign everybody’s book with the same ol’ note. Some people came from New Jersey and Connecticut to spend $15 to support me, and I wanted each of them to feel special.

Writing Famous! was a lonely process. I stared into my computer every morning recalling stories, like the time I decided to switch schools, when Wendy Williams scared the crap out of me and when a popular R&B singer stood me up for a cover story.

I used those moments to:

encourage girls to be confident
choose a squad (a.k.a. the Fave Five) that could support their goals
offer specific tips to help them choose their own adventure

I wondered if my stories would connect, especially when we live in such a visual world and people are flocking to read young adult (YA) fiction, which by the way is my fave stuff to read.

Honestly, coming out of the gate with a non-fiction book wasn’t the plan. I always thought I’d write a super popular YA book that’d be turned into a blockbuster move or hit TV show, but I digress. (Spoiler alert: The next book will probably be fiction.)

At first, the best way to give people a taste of the book was via my

The signing may be over, but it’s never too late to chime in about the book.

Don’t be shy! Ask a question in the comments below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Watch: Trailer for Famous! How to Be the Star of Your Show

Drum roll, please: So my book, Famous! How to Be the Star of Your Show: A Teen Girl’s Guide to Embracing Her Fabulous Self is available on Amazon.com.

Go ahead and order it here.

I’m nervous, but the love from you guys has been all kinds of amazing, and I can’t wait to see you at the book launch! (Oh, be sure to sign up for deets, if you aren’t already on my email list.)

Some people have asked me:

T, can you make me a star?

What does the title really mean?

Why is it about fame? I’m so sick of e’erybody tryna to be famous.

Why did you write a book for girls? The boys are gonna feel left out.

Let me set the record straight: Nope, I can’t introduce to you any producers or agents.

The title is a little bit of a Trojan Horse. I did that on purpose. Sneaky? Yeah, I know.

The DJ in me remixed the concept of fame. Famous! isn’t about everybody knowing you, it’s about you knowing yourself. That type of recognition lasts beyond the fifteen minutes folks are so desperate to have—it lasts a lifetime. Trust.

While I do the guys, I wrote Famous! for the girls who are just like me.

The ones who need a confidence boost.

The ones who need to choose their own adventure.

The ones who need to figure out where their lives are headed.

I could go on and on, but you should watch the cute little trailer for Famous! How to Be the Star of Your Show instead.

Famous! by Taiia Smart Young from pamela somuah on Vimeo.

Will I see you at the book launch? Let me know in the comments.

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5 Things I Love About Career Day

I’m happy to report that I was never called into the principal’s office—until I became an adult, but that’s what happens when you have a bunch of friends who run schools and two who were bold enough to create one from scratch. This time I was invited to be the keynote speaker for Summit Academy Charter School’s sixth annual career day in Red Hook, Brooklyn and since your girl loves to talk and drop a jewel of wisdom or two, I happily accepted.

I’m all about career day and it’s not just because they serve a catered lunch with chicken and rice. That’s just part of it. I love that principals and teachers care enough to expose their students to industry professionals and careers—like a life coach, audio engineer or president of a nonprofit—they had no idea existed, but now they do. Not to be all cheesy, but sometimes you need to see it believe it that it’s possible to walk in that person’s footsteps, you can’t just hear about it from your humanities teacher or read about it in online. Cue everybody’s favorite graduation song: “I Believe I Can Fly.”

Here are 5 things I love about career day, in no particular order:

Creating a PowerPoint preso: Let’s just be honest. Let’s just be real. You’ll happily zone out or start eating your hang nail if there isn’t something to look at other than my cute face while I’m up there at the podium. I’m a fan of interesting graphics, celebrity photos (yay for wonderful distractions!), an elementary school throwback of me (see below) just for giggles sake and advice/points to remember. In my mind, if it’s up on the screen, you’ll remember it better. My message for Summit’s scholar was simple: Recognize your gifts and use them, don’t just be a waste of skin, waste them.

 

#TBT, anyone? This is me in the fifth grade.

Learning about dope careers and side hustles: For the last five years I’ve covered entertainment, hair and beauty, so rarely do I get to meet a former D1 basketball player turned inventor, a court stenographer who teaches Salsercise (a combo of salsa and aerobics) to senior citizens, or a funk rock singer who speaks Spanish, French and Italian. Summit had the career gumbo going on! These folks were all about choosing their own adventures. People with interesting jobs who can answer the phone in five different languages intrigue me. I chatted with everyone over a plate of delicious chicken and rice.


Talking about my double Dutch dreams: When it came down to choosing a career, it was a toss up between winning Olympic gold for team USA as professional double Dutch jumper, or being a writer. Mind you, taking home that kind of medal in this sport wasn’t an option when I was in the fifth grade. Today, double Dutch is part of the Junior Olympics, but I digress. I choose writing because I’m curious and I like to tell stories. Characters have been talking to me since I was about 11-years-old and like Rihanna, I get along with the voices in my head and the monsters under my bed. Oh, and I still love jumping rope too.

 

Putting teens on the spot: At the podium there’s a sea of faces staring at me, laughing at my fifth grade photo, falling asleep and trying to text their BF on the low. But once we get into our workshops, it’s a bit harder to use your smartphone when I’mthisclosetoyou. And you think I’m going to do more talking. Uh, nope. I just spent 15-minutes giving you a dope keynote speech and a power point and you want me to talk some more?! Not happening. C’mon, now it’s your turn to impress me with your career goals and I hope you’re ready. Tell me that you want to be a TV correspondent like Terri Seymour on Extra! and I’ll invite you to stand in front of the class and interview another student who’s an aspiring actress. If being on TV is your dream, start working toward it now. To quote the rapper Fabolos: “You gotta stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.

Just a few of Summit Academy’s 6th grade students.

5. Introducing teens to careers that weren’t on their radar: If I hear I wanna sing like Beyoncé or play basketball like Carmelo, one more time—but you refuse to take voice lessons or don’t want to improve your three-point shot—I’m going to spazz out. Look, Bey and ’Melo make it look easy, but it isn’t. They put in the hours of rehearsal, practice and sacrificed to be at the top of their game—and you barely want to complete those five trigonometry problems that are due tomorrow. Which means you’re not serious about putting in the work, or building a champion work ethic. If you really love music and sports, I encourage you to think about other careers in the industry. The ones that get overlooked because e’erybody wants to be famous. There’s a gang of people responsible for the behind-the-scenes magic that you don’t see onstage or on the court. You have agents, coaches, entertainment lawyers, choreographers, managers, brand specialists, sport agents and more. Want to know something that being a sport agent? I have four words for you: Google is your friend. Translation: Look it up.

 

What do you love about career day?

 

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Jordin Sparks Talks About “Right Here, Right Now”

Your girl Jordin Sparks is on one—no, really—and her Sparkplugs aren’t mad either. It was evident on her #ByeFelicia mixtape, which dropped shortly her breakup with Jason Derulo.

But Jordin doesn’t have time to think about exes in her rearview mirror, when she has new music about drop.

This time around the American Idol winner’s sound is definitely more urban and edgy, listen to the infectious “Double Tap” featuring Two Chains as proof. Expect her to talk smack (in a good way) and sing pretty on her third studio effort, Right Here, Right Now; look for it on iTunes in May.

Here, the singer talks about her new music, the paps and the bond between AI contestants.

(Photo credit: Above – Standa Merhout; inset: courtesy of Louder Than Life)

On writing…

I’ve been writing since I was little, not necessarily music, but I’ve been writing poetry since I was 10 years old. As I got older, I realized, hey songs are just poems with music added to them… It’s therapeutic to write about something that you’ve been so inspired by.

On Right Here, Right Now…

It wasn’t necessarily [Salaam Remi and I] going in and saying, “Okay, we want this to be urban. We want this to be pop. We want this to be R&B.” I was inspired by what I listened to growing up, which was ’90s R&B and I loved bass-driven music too.

On her favorite part of her job…

I love writing. I love recording. I love performing too. Being able to take the songs and go out and touch people with them. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do with my life: To tell stories and touch people through music. Songs take on a new meaning depending on the day. The emotion is going to be different, the feelings are different behind the song. Even though it was recorded one way, I can bring a new interpretation to it.

On inspiring her Sparkplugs…

When I have fans say, “Hey, you changed my life, or I lost 40 pounds because of you, or I decided to go for my dream because of you.” That’s absolutely incredible. There’s nothing better than that. I mean, I get to sing for my job. It’s pretty freakin’ amazing.

On the paparazzi…

I’m lucky that I don’t have it so crazy where I can’t go grocery shopping, or I can’t function. I don’t know if that’ll change or not, but I like the paparazzi. I don’t mind them so much.

On how AI prepared her for the big leagues…

That type of pressure and schedule and the environment, the work that Idol required… It prepared me for everything that I’ve been doing. Everything else is pretty much a cakewalk compared to that—except for singing at the Super Bowl. That was terrifying. With In the Heights, it was similar, because it was every single day, eight shows a week, with one day off in the middle. I was eating, breathing and sleeping that Broadway show. I had to be very strict with my voice, Idol prepped me a bit for that.

On bonding with AI contestants…

It’s definitely interesting. I have a strong bond with all of the contestants from my season. We got really, really close. It was hard after the tour. It was like, “Okay now you guys get to go home.” Like, what?! After spending 24 hours a day for a year together? The only time we didn’t see each other was when we were sleeping… It’s this great alumni group of people. When I see another contestant, it’s almost like, “Yeah, I know what you went through.” There’s this unspoken bond.

 

 

 

 

 

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