Failure is going to happen at different parts of your life. Sometimes we prolong the lesson because we remain stuck in a place we had all the signs pointing at us telling us to leave. We have to be able and be willing to get out-of-the-way so we can get to the place we are called to be. Its hard. Sometimes you can move quickly and not have an ounce of emotion attached. Sometimes due to emotions and feelings we have to be forced to move. This is painful but every successful woman knows that after pain can come the best rewards. Kim Hicks is familiar with what it means to hold on too long. She shares her story as well as what she is building for her future.
What is one failure you are comfortable sharing that taught you the most lessons?
I can’t say there was any one failure. What I have learned is that all of my “mistakes” or decisions have shaped every twist and turn that I have made. Although at that moment experiencing each one of those, it seemed, ill-advised decisions, whether it was giving up on myself too quickly or staying somewhere I had outgrown, I know that each of those things gave me wisdom and knowledge that I would use to move where I was predestined and pre-ordained to be.
So I would say my greatest failure was not allowing myself to be that person with those faults and flaws making those “mistakes“ in that moment. My greatest failure was not loving myself in that moment making those very decisions that had adverse effects on my life at those specific times. As humans we need to love ourselves and so seldom what we give ourselves is anything and everything but that.
From that or any failure, what other lesson not mentioned in the question above have you learned?
I’ve learned that we spend so much time assuming that we are behind, that we all think we should be farther along, or that we should be somewhere, but we don’t acknowledge that we are farther along, we are all somewhere. I have learned that there is love and patience for me and for others if I acknowledge my humanity. If we just acknowledge our own humanity and how precious and unique it is we could have patience for, not only the journey that we take, but the journey that others experience at their own space and place in time
What are is the 3 things you would want to tell other younger women in regard to lessons learned?
Be patient with yourself, pace yourself, and make a plan. I would tell them understand that a plan created and not adhered to, because life happens is not a failure on your behalf, but instead a success. We have been taught to think that life changes with new years resolutions and weight loss challenges, and simple adages, but it’s so much more than that. Life is not experienced on a level of resolutions that we try to stick to, it is experienced by how many times we start-up again and conquer that feat.
We’ve been conditioned, not just as women, but as people to think that one year will come and there will be no rain, there will be nothing, but sunshine instead of taught to experience gardening in the inclement weather, instead of being taught to plant seed so when hard times hit that rainy day, month or time we produce for a lifetime. So, I would say welcome the journey, plant seed for the rainy days, and keep good field hands among you, those who aren’t afraid to get dirty in the yard with you.
What are 3 goals for your future?
One of our goals includes the expansion of our company’s non-profit RUN Movement into different states, it is a project that is built on creating tools and institutions that help people in under-served communities build economic, educational, political, financial, entrepreneurial, spiritual, and mental/physical health tools to revitalize their communities and live best lives in the present.
Our next goal is to scale our business so that in time we can employ hundreds of others, and lastly help others make their dreams come true by creating youth and young adult entrepreneurship affiliation opportunities.
If you could sit down with any woman past or present who would it be and why?
Maya Angelou. She was a wealth of wisdom. The type of wisdom she had you can’t read in a book or experience in any other way than meeting with her and being in her presence. She experienced life in so many different realms and was in so may different places I could only imagine. Her ability to tell a story with words could only be outdone by hearing those words flow from her lips.
If you have any projects that are coming up in the future what are they?
We have several clothing and t-shirt lines debuting new designs BRANDED77 our Christian Hip-Hop line, AWOL (All Walks of Life) our inclusive brand, Madison Ave. our collaboration with one of our non-profit (RUN Movement) projects with our youth created clothing line, and Chocolate Wisdom our youth apparel line. Currently our company is working on an affiliate program helping up and coming entrepreneurs create a presence on the web by assisting them with webpage creation and a social media presence.
We want to help young people, and people of color make their mark by investing in the success of an economic revolution in our communities. We are also currently working on a multi-cultural animation project called the ObserverX where we are celebrating our differences as a community and country with humor, education, and debate. This project will be huge and will be worth waiting for. We will start some of the character introductions very soon.
Kim has several budding businesses. Check them out:
What is the one thing as a woman that you feel helps or helped you make your mark in this world?
Honestly, I am unsure what it is that as a woman I think helped me make a mark. I will say that my individual experiences have helped me though and because I am a woman who is a part of who and what I am and will forever be so that cannot be separated from the mark I plan to leave in this world. Everything I am will have been a part of that legacy I plan to leave behind.
Thank you Kim for sharing with us. I hope to work with you more in the future on any of your platforms. We learned a lot and boy oh boy do you have your hands full. Be blessed in all of your endeavors!
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