I figured athletics was my opportunity to fit in.  I did feats of strength, excelled in kickball (playground staple I learned), was one of the fastest kids, and was a “great” (by US standards) soccer player.

Then came football.  A sport that I instantly fell in love with.  I checked out every book from the library, learned all the rules, learned all the referee signals, and tried out.  I was a savant, my size, speed, and strength were unmatched by any other 6th grader.  Before practice, I sat and read books about football while I watched the other boys play and learn from their dads.

In school, I reached a point where I believed I was being given chances to advance because I was a black boy who was smart and articulate.  I hated being a token.  I hated being invited to “their” events and feeling like a showpiece.  Around this time, I would walk my neighborhood, and white women would visibly clutch their purses and cross the street and wait for me to pass and then cross back.

By 15 years old…I was sure I did not belong anywhere.  In friend groups, no one understood all of me.  So, I showed different sides of myself to different people (only the side I thought they would understand).

I never fit.

Real or perceived it was my reality and became my handicap.

My feeling of not fitting became my reason to quit on myself, to not show up, and led me to self-sabotage.

It took 44-plus years for me to recognize that my inability to fit in IS my superpower.  

I don’t belong anywhere, I belong everywhere.  I have a natural gift to understand and be what a situation needs.

For decades I thought my GIFT was a weakness, I bet you do too and don't even realize it.

I'm here to help create a safe place for you to realize what took me decades.  Let me be your guide!