There’s a huge misconception these days with us millennials. The problem is that all of us seem to think that our generation has such a strong entrepreneurial movement. In reality, what I believe, is that every generation has always had that same drive to change the world, it is just our human nature to want to make a difference.

But, our generation stands out more because we talk about it more. What I mean is that everyone always TALKS about the big things they want to do, but they don’t have the corresponding actions that are as big as their words.

There seems to be a gap between the people who talk all the time about it, and the people who end up doing what they said they did. In saying this I am not writing to discourage any of the readers from pursuing whatever dreams they may have, but rather encourage you to DO what you freaking want to do.

Here is what discourages a lot of people and stops them from making it. ITS NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS. It is just so common to say that someone wants to start their own business and “fire their boss.”

People say that building your dream business is not an elevator, but it’s a staircase. I FULLY DISAGREE. Staircases are harder, but they are ALWAYS going upward. The journey to success is far from a straight path. So let me summarize what my journey has looked like so far and I hope it will give you the inspiration to push past whatever hardships you think you’re going through and understand that it is all worth it.

It all began 5 years ago, I was sitting with my father and we discussed what, at the time, I thought was a terrible idea. I thought this in the back of my head but at the same time, I was able to look past that and picture what this small idea COULD become. It was an idea to somehow change the world, from a driving perspective. We wanted to leave a dent in the world and reduce driving accidents everywhere.

Our family had someone close lose his life to a dangerous driver and my father was determined to stop this from happening to any other family if he could. If anyone has lost someone to a car accident, you will understand the value of saving even ONE MORE life a year can have to hundreds of people. It began with a town in Lebanon.

We constructed an outdoor city where we tried our best to introduce driving rules and safety to kids at a young age. I thought “Why would a child want to drive by the rules when they could just drive recklessly?”

It was great at first, business was booming and all we saw was a taste of the success we dreamed of it creating.

Then the next year came around, and we got a taste of what it is like to lose it all. Slow days became slow weeks and then became slow months. Business became the nightmare that everyone wants to quit on. Employee theft occurred, customer ratings dropped, and obviously the revenue took a bigger hit then even Ray Rice could dish out. Too soon? Yeah my bad.
The next 4 years looked something like this:

• Spend money
• Lose money
• Find investors
• Lose investors
• Spend more money
• Lose even more money
• Want to quit
• Still want to quit
• Don’t quit
• REPEAT

We attended every expo for the industry. Spend countless amounts of hours and money on trips to Dubai, Europe, California, the Middle East, China, and Cali. All these trips were not for fun, and not one dollar came out of them, but to say the least a lot went in. Banks accounts looked low and it all looked like a waste of time. We were trying to bring the idea to America, but we didn’t have the money, especially now, or the selling point.

JUST as it seemed like it was time to give up, my partner told me that it was too far to give up on this dream, so we pushed…another 6 months. And just as it looked like it was the end, it all fell through in a matter of a week.

Investors starting blowing up our email accounts asking to be the first and we suddenly went from not enough to too much. So the first location opened up in July 2014 in Norcross, Ga. The dream has been finally manifested into a tangible reality. After all this leading up to this point, we had JUST started.

It took all this to make the business just OPEN. Fortunately in the first 6 months we have been awarded the best business by the City of Norcross. Something I learned on this journey is that If you have 6 hours to chop a tree down, it’s a lot smarter to sharpen your axe for most the time then cut then just start cutting.

Many people have an “idea” of where they want to be, but they don’t have the goal in mind. Imagine you start a road trip in GA. And you have no idea where you want to go, it would take you forever to finally get where you want to. You would have no idea what turns to take. Then compare that to a road trip where you began in GA and you know you want to get to Las Vegas. This time, even without a map, you will know which turns to take.

Every time to roads change, you’ll know exactly where to turn because you have visualized the destination.

This is how success operates. If you do not know what you want, you WILL NEVER GET IT. The business world is the fairest playing field. If you do not make a goal, you will never score. So I encourage you to make that goal, although it may change along the way. Time will change and your goal will do so with it, but running stray and hoping to live financially free one day is like being blindfolded and trying to drive somewhere.

One last thing before I end this article. If you have an idea for a business that you want to make. GO MAKE IT. DO WHATEVER YOU CAN DO TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. Your mom, dad, friends, or you tell you its stupid then work twice as hard and prove them wrong.

If YOU think it is a good idea then I guarantee you there are plenty of people, out of the 7+ billion, that think its an amazing idea as well and are willing to be your customers. Just understand it isn’t a staircase, it isn’t an elevator, it isn’t a mountain climb. It is its own game.

And just when you think its not going to happen it does. So just like in sports or in the gym, when you want to give up, give yourself just as much time as you already have given to keep going. AND YOU MUST BE OBSESSED WITH IT. Because it will drive you crazy and if you don’t love it it will fail. IF YOU ARE OBSESSED, you will love the sleepless nights, you will love working 30 hours straight, and you will love every second of time spent.

So find what it is that makes you feel this way and create it, because you only have so many years to change this world. Start now and dent this planet in your own way. Who cares what others think, because once its done, everyone will be inspired by you and that in itself is enough to spark a change in this world.

I’ve always been fond of simple things. While I must admit complexity has its own allure, simplicity allows a space for growth and poignancy that could otherwise be overshadowed. Are nuances and intricacies important? Of course, but nothing starts out complex. Everything comes from something. Even your name.

My name is Yazmarr. My mom- being the creative woman that she is- made it up by combining the names Yasmin and Marra. Her rationale was that since she has an interesting name (Denia) her kid had to have one too. And so it was.

As a kid I was tall, lanky, and had a baby afro; so needless to say I already stood out, but my name just added to it.

No one knew how to pronounce it or what origin it came from, so they had to ask me. All. The. Time. I couldn’t understand people’s fascination with it. It was just a name. Yet, as I got older I realized it wasn’t just a name. It was my name. No other name is brimmed with my mother’s creativity or my childhood frustration or anything else that has made up my life.

Something that came purely from my mother’s imagination now holds so much significance. So learning someone’s name is not just a simple act of memorization, it’s the first insight as to who they are. However, making that first step is often daunting. Luckily by the efforts of various organizations a new event is coming to UGA. Dawg Tag Day. On April 13, there’ll be tables with name tag and markers. The idea is that by wearing name tag that first barrier is broken down and it’s that much easier to meet someone new.

So to my future friends, coworkers, teammates while I may not know you yet, on Wednesday we’ll start with a “Hello.”

(Poetry by Rochelle Foles)

head banging

ballet slippers in the mosh pit

tutu and princess tights
palest pink

plea. aye?

behind the façade
beneath
palest pink princess costumes

cowers
a fighter
too fearful to tape on her gloves least her

fury
fully
unfurl

as tutu is forgotten

and all that lies within

ungirly
rough

ANGRY

INFURIATed BEYOND Mental Capacity
emotional containment

be
l
e
t

l

o

o

s

e

on those unbelieving that a pink tutued, pink tight wearing
chignoned
lithe
longlegged

fearful-
tooterrified 2 speak her mind for repercussion. for loss. for abandonment.

OH SOOOO GUNSHY OF EVERY LITTLE thing

could still be

(underneathitallhidingsomeonestronersomeonewithnotonefearsomeone)
[gun toting
dead aim
no fooling]
that dainty pointy toed pink ballerina

undreaming she, tho not she,could wield

a
right hook

nearly
quite
ever so nearly there
yes quite nearly

worthy

of an unbridled
untrained
enraged

Out Of His Constrained Belittled Unrecognized
Dazzling Intelligence

ignored

and
taken that one step beyond bearing

Cassius Clay.

the princess knows that mind
that bound mind
those presumptions
are all too familiar
Tho
buried
beyond
connection
she can. touch. stretch for. tap into.
they are hers
part of the soul she is blind to
as the eclipse is a part of the moon unseen by itself

nevertheless
theyareoneinthesameunchangingneverending
from

time
immemorial
to

time

as

a. black. whole.

one.

only one thing remains to be seen
which mirror will it be?

which comment slip from
a slovenly tongue unguarded?

what

straw

lain on

that

camel’s back

will put the first run in those pale pink tights

and
begin
the
unraveling of the

oh. so. carefully.

constructed. reality.

which pulled pin will cause
the chignon
to tumble

and thus begin

an

Ava
l
an
c
h
e

that
despite what the
long legged pink tutu costumed
one
t. t. e. m. p. t. s. to find those gloves and tapethemonfasterthanlightening
she

still has only that inkling of her connection to the

Greatest Fighter That Ever Was.

frightened and worn and self doubting
at. this. moment. as . the ballerina is

is
there

any possiblewayforhertotapin?

to
s
u
cc
e
s
s
f
u
l
l
y

CONQUER

or
at least to
postpone this

ARMAGEDDON?!!

or after all these years of belief?
of surviving
battle after battle

just to reclaim her sunny disposition
pull on those palest pink tights
step back into her pink tutuofpower

will this be the hour of her vanquishing?

do those pale pink princess accoutrements
still hold for her their promises?

is it time

to strap on the gloves and tap into
her
twin.
t
o
r
t
u
r
e
d

butohsostrongsounabletobebeatendownsoul.

always
the
lone
one

how
can a proper
chignoned
tutued
pinklegged
brokenhearted
princess

a
l
o
n
e

in
the

universe

know

when it’s the right time to strike

and
who would she now-
if
there
ever
was

a
n
y
o
n
e

who would she

call. upon.
to help her now.

[as if in this fairy tale there ever was anyone

alone
is alone
is as alone as a dead man in the ground]

and still
she
finds
a way

to
see
tomorrow

will
not

be

today.
daydreams:
when do u think
if ever
they quit
being nightmares
and
leak
full
force
REALITY

into
waking
daylight