Go Deaf

"I'm gonna apply to medical school," I told my neighbor Charles.

"You know how hard that is? You have to have the best grades. You have to get all A's. My sister is a genius and even she doesn't get those kind of grades…" I start to tune out Charles' voice and then I go deaf.

Chapter 1: Prove Yourself Right

If you want something real bad, you'll do whatever it takes to get it. Your neighbor's opinions will get buried in a cemetery full of countless doubts and fears. I ended up getting a 3.9 GPA for my last 60 credits of college only to end up deciding medical school wasn't for me.

It felt good to know I proved my neighbor wrong.

But it felt even better knowing I proved myself right.

Chapter 2: PhD: Pretty Huge Dream

After college, I spent my early twenties as a teacher by day and a film maker by night.

I was a pretty good teacher. But I wasn't especially passionate about it the way I was with becoming a film maker. I love storytelling. I believe that's my gift.

While teaching, somebody told me to consider getting a PhD in science since my bachelors was in Neuroscience. It was flattering to hear, but a headache to wrap my mind around. I didn't find academia exciting.

I still wanted to be an expert in my field though. So I reframed my thinking and figured that if it takes roughly five years to get a PhD in science, I'd get a "PhD" in film production in the same amount of time without any academic titles or debt.

Chapter 3: One Camera. Three Musketeers.

Of course, I couldn't earn that PhD alone. Every dream needs believers. Mine came in the form of my brother and my friend Chase. Our film crew was like the Three Musketeers, kicking ass, producing comedy skits and short films, one project at a time.

Nobody paid us any mind. And those who did often thought we were crazy.

I was a doubter in the beginning myself. I didn't think my brother would follow through with becoming a content creator. But once I started seeing his determination and the early flashes of our success, I became a firm believer. I believed in my brother. I believed in my friend Chase. I believed in myself. And moreover, I believed in God.

For a span of five years, we filmed comedy sketches that went viral. We networked with notable creators. We traveled to different cities in the United States. We entered a world that was real yet invisible to the masses, learning through trial and error and perfecting our craft. One camera. Three musketeers.

Chapter 4: Molding the Brand

Fast forward four years, my brother and I are doing pretty well; we've filmed back-to-back doc series on some of the best high school teams in the country. We went on a tour and filmed some of the biggest rivalry games on the East Coast. We've become creative directors for Team Durant. And I believe it will only get better.

The journey has been bumpy, but that's part of the dream.

I remember wanting to cancel our second doc series, Run It Back: Jackson-Reed Basketball, after the first episode was released. I felt like the response was underwhelming despite how hard we worked on it. It made no sense to continue. But that's when the head coach at Jackson-Reed, Coach Tee, called me while I was at Chipotle the next day, saying we couldn't quit. He knew I was a big Kanye West fan and said, "You think Kanye quit after one bad project? You gotta keep going bruh. This is bigger than you think." It meant a lot to me knowing he believed in us. We went on to close out the series, which to this day may be one of our best bodies of work.

Ultimately, blood, sweat, and tears helped mold our brand into what it is today.

Epilogue

People will tell you what you can and can't do. Often, that's more a reflection of their own fears than your actual potential. It's nothing to be offended by. It just means you need to tune them out and focus on proving yourself right.

Kind of like how I did with my neighbor Charles.

Go deaf.