#92khrs Challenge-When I Grow Up

Two weeks ago, I attended this super inspirational branding meeting in NYC called Brand Camp University.  Hajj Flemings, a fellow Detroiter, BCU founder, and personal brand strategist, gathered some great leaders together for a one day conference to share their stories and tips on brand building.  Great advise, business leads, new friends, motivation and the #92khrs challenge were key measurables that I came away with that day.

The significance of the 92k hours is as follows:  The average person lives 78 years in the United States or 683,200 hours. If a person works from age 21 until age 65 at 40-hours per week that's 92,000 hours in their lifetime.  The 92khrs challenge is a method to get people (Human Brands) to re-think our life work (or what we were designed to do.)  Week 1's challenge is to blog about what you wanted to be when you grew up.  So, here goes...

Growing up in Detroit (the actual city, not the suburb as so many people really mean when they say they are from Detroit), I always dreamed of bigger and better things for myself.  I lived in a poor neighborhood with tons of crime, drugs, fighting, guns, burned down houses, and high school drop-outs due to the unsafe public schools in our neighborhood.

Thankfully, my parents scraped up just enough money to send me to private schools in order for me to complete high school, "get out" of my bad neighborhood and go on to graduate college. It wasn't an easy ride though.  My neighborhood friends were really tough and thought I was a bit prissy, while my suburban private school friends saw me as their poor friend.  I guess it was this constant push/pull that made me strive to better my life and search for something that impassioned me.

When I was little, I was going to be a rock star.  No, I didn't WANT to be a rock star, I KNEW I was going to be a rock star!  I started two of my own girl groups, each one with a different set of all girl cousins (before Beyonce did it..lol). I was the correographer, lead singer and spent hours writing my own songs. Every weekend when our parents would get together to socialize, we would hit the bedroom to practice our moves, sing our songs and prepare for our eventual stardom.   I knew that one day I would be a star, I just wasn't sure when or how, but I was determined and committed to reach my goal.

I never became a famous singer or dancer, and admittedly, can't carry much of a tune these days, but I still love the term Rock Star and use it quite often to refer to my friends and colleagues that are doing amazing things in their lives and with their businesses.  I believe in the power of positive thought, pursuing your dreams, believing in yourself, and paying it forward.  I think that makes me a Rock Star !