Tag: Success

Renee Montgomery, two-time WNBA Champion and now WNBA Team Owner

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Renee Montgomery

Black History happens everyday by the extraordinary women and men who stand on the shoulders of our ancestors fighting for a life that is better today and tomorrow than it was yesterday. Renee Danielle Montgomery made not just Black History in 2021 but American history. She saw injustice in the league that she had played for 11 years and decided that she would either be part of the problem or the solution. What a solution she found.

Renee Montgomery just bought out Kelly Loefler’s stake of the Atlanta Dream, the WNBA team which she owned when she was appointed as a US Senator foe the great state of Georgia and lost to the Honorable Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock in November 2020. What makes this so spectacular and newsworthy is that Ms. Montgomery decided to take off a year after Ms. Loefler threw her Black team members under the bus during her campaign. Those same team members and along with others in the WNBA banded together to support Rev. Warnock against their team’s owner.

In the summer of 2020, members of the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury came together on national television wearing Black t-shirts with bold white letters that read “VOTE WARNOCK” in all caps. At the time, some members of the WNBA didn’t even know who or what Warnock was. Now the world knows!

One of the leaders of this movement was Renee Montgomery. She made the conscious decision to ignite a campaign against the team’s former owner and won. She asked to meet with the team owner and respectfully discuss their differences. This now former team owner decided not to meet with Ms. Montgomery and her allies for political reasons. That was a mistake on her part. Ms. Montgomery and her allies went on to support Rev. Warnock helping him win his campaign on January 5, 2021. Ms. Montgomery would not stop there.

With the support of her teammates, fans, the community and eventually the league, the stakes owned by the now defeated Loefler were bought by Ms. Montgomery and an ownership group that she joined. In just one year, Renee Montgomery went from being an Atlanta Dream team player to an Atlanta Dream team owner.

Renee Danielle Montgomery has only just begun which in my book make her one of the the greatest! To learn more about Renee Montgomery and the Atlanta Dream, please visit the following links. She is Black History. She is American History. She is Women’s History!

#womenshistorymonth #reneemontgomery #blackgirlmagic #blackgirlsrock #livinghistory #changeagent #warnock #AtlantaDream #WNBA

Renee Montgomery official WNBA site

Time Magazine article: WNBA supports Warnock

Atlanta Dream WNBA page

Be like Bradley Cooper

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twitter.com/kylebuchanan/status/1091785247182606342

On Saturday, Bradley Cooper revealed that he auditioned for the legendary Spike Lee and was rejected. When I heard this story I immediately thought about his tenacity, his willingness to never give up, his belief in himself. Sure he probably had good days and bad days, sometimes wanting to give up on his dreams but he didn’t. He says that he was rejected THOUSANDS of times yet he persisted. He continued to audition. He trained, honed his craft, and never gave up.

I attended a Paparrazzi conference yesterday where the keynote speaker was one of the company’s founders Trent Kirby. He encouraged us to fail. That may sound funny but is t that exactly how Bradley Cooper and so many others have achieved their success. He failed. He failed to get that part with Spike Lee but did that deter him. NO! We are going to fail but we must fail forward, get back up and try it again. Be engaged in our business, our dream; fail, learn from that failure and try again.

Be like Bradley Cooper! Remember that great people fail all the time. We may not see all their failures. We may not see any at all, but as a student of history, Trent reminded me yesterday that greatness doesn’t come from always winning. In order to truly be great, there will be times when you fall short of your goals. The key yo greatness is how you respond to your failures. Do you give in and give up? Or, do you pick yourself up, fail forward, learn and try again?

Put God First

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10695039_10204683380864339_793525817_n-e1518187998456.jpgWednesday, February 8, 2018, I attended my first Paparazzi Regional event called EmpowerMe Pink in Phildelphia, PA.  There was a lot going on in Philly that day: there was a MASSIVE parade for the Eagles who won Super Bowl LII.  People were everywhere.  The city shut down 5 miles of streets and people were required to take public transportation just to get into the city.  There were no cars, trucks or SUVs on the street of Phildelphia that day!  Just hundreds of thousands of people celebrating a long awaited victory for a team that they never gave up on.

The Eagles were not the only champions in town that day.  Thousands of Paparazzi Independent Consultants traveled to Philly by car, bus, train and plane to hear from the champions, like Trent Kirby, Chani and Ryan Reeves,who started our company and share with each other stories of success and hope!  For me, it was AMAZING.  I was reminded of the power of hope, the importance of consistency and the hard work of discipline.  Most of all, the meeting confirmed my goals, my heart’s desire, is waiting for me to attain it.  Nothing and no one is holding me back but me.  That stops now!

Everything I am, all that I have, all that I’ve accomplished, all that my children accomplish is by the Grace of God.  I was reminded of a commencement address that Denzel Washington gave at an HBCU recently.  I went back and listened to it this morning (following one of the tips that Trent taught us to start each day listening to motivational videos).  Now I’m sharing it with you.

Denzel Washington – Put God First

Be blessed and make today GREAT!!