It’s About Damn Time! — Bomb.com
I was given this book as a gift from HBCUvc Fellowship and I was immediately excited! So much so that I tweeted about it and ARLAN RESPONDED!
Check the tweet out here!
After tweeting and posting my gratitude and appreciation for HBCUvc and Arlan’s book I started to dive into the book. It was everything I needed and then some!
Below are a few quotes & chapters that stood out to me the most in her book!
Chapter 16: Don’t deny the World Your Voice
“You — yes, you — have something to say”
Arlan shares her experience with battling stage freight. She realized her voice was needed in her industry because at that tone there was no one else. “I realized I was holding back something that could be helping other people: founders, investors, & other women, people of color, and LGBTQ folks who weren’t seeing themselves represented..”
This stood out to me because I’ve always felt like an imposter (something Arlan also talks about in Chapter 22) and have been working on changing that. I’m working on being true to who I am and using my voice because it is valuable.
Chapter 30: Being Part of the Picture
“When you expand people’s perception of what is possible, you enable them to think bolder, dream bigger, and achieve more.”
In this chapter Arlan talks about her experience when she was invited to speak at the Forbes 30 under 30 Summit.
She stayed in a suite and on her way out, of her room, a lady who also stayed on the floor, assumed she was the maid.
Yeah.
Arlan speaks facts when she goes on to discuss the importance of representation through all media outlets.
As a recent grad and entrepreneur who has a business, reading Arlan’s story speaks to a lot of what I’m currently going through. When I attend Networking events or connect with business owners, there’s always the assumption that I don’t know much for my age. When in actuality, it’s because of my age that I’m actually an asset to the industry of social media and content creation. I’m young, African American, and female, so it’s awesome so start to see the glass cracking on the ceiling that black women have been pushed to stay underneath. We’re just getting started.
Chapter 21:, This industry wasn’t built for us
“If you’re trying to break into an industry from which you’ve been excluded, it’s important to remember that the prescribed ways of doing things won’t always work for you.”
This chapter goes more into detail about her experience being essentially the unicorn of silicon valley. Innovation and thinking outside of the box is something I can totally relate to. I’ve spent years trying to find my fit when in reality, I was never meant to fit into any box but create my own space for people to gravitate to.
I’m a video content editor and social media marketer, and before COVID hit, I was constantly applying for roles that weren’t in demand until COVID hit. I’ve now taken my skillset and channeled it towards helping small businesses understand social media and the importance of video content to another level, through my own business.
Knowing that the industry wasn’t built for me, makes me that much more committed to creating my own lane and staying in it so that I can help make a difference in my community.
I highly recommend, Arlan Hamilton’s book, It’s About Damn time to the following:
Anyone who may feel like a small fish in a big pond
An entrepreneur/creative
Anyone who’s looking to understand how to think bigger
Anyone who may have self doubt
Anyone who may feel like a unicorn in a world full of horses
