Walking away from Essence Fest $10,000 richer, I can’t help but to think about how this came about by just saying ‘yes.’
Essence Fest was last weekend and I almost didn’t go. My sister went last year and had a great time so this year I decided to tag along. After looking forward to it for a couple of months, I was making every last minute excuse to not go. For one, it was going to be a lot of driving. I would be leaving from Dallas to drive to Houston to meet up with my sister, and then drive to New Orleans the next day. Flights were pretty pricey last minute so those were out of the question. Breaking my budget was also a concern of mine. We would be Ubering around, eating out, and paying for parking.
Saying ‘Yes’ to Essence Fest
Regardless of my concerns, my sister assured me that Essence Fest would be a great time. She would do most of the driving from/to New Orleans after I arrived in Houston (thanks, Miriah) so I really had no excues. To be honest, I had nothing better to do in Dallas other than hang out with my family. So, my first ‘yes’ was to making my way to Essence Fest.
Essence was cool. Great speakers, beautiful melanin skin, and vendors with free stuff – because lord know I can’t turn down free hair products!
On the first day of the walking around the convention center, I stopped by the New Voices section. I hadn’t known they would be at Essence but they had been on my radar since a friend had sent me an article about them last summer. The New Voices Fund was founded by Richelieu Dennis in 2018 to empower women of color entrepreneurs. Naturally, I was drawn to their section and I noticed a sign for a pitch competition happening the next day. Interesting, I love watching pitch competitions! Inquiring about information from the man at the booth, he told me about the competition and asked if I wanted to sign up. “No thanks,” I responded, “I just want to watch.” And with that I walked away.
The New Voices Pitch Competition
As we started to walk elsewhere, I mentioned the competition to my sister and she vehemently insisted that I HAVE to enter. I fought back for a second, making more excuses, but ultimately she coerced me back to the registration booth.
The process to enter was fairly easy – fill out an application right there at the booth; complete a 5 minute interview right thereafter; and then wait for a text that evening to see if you made it to the final round. I had submitted my application and interviewed at around 4 pm and finally received a text five hours later stating I was one of ten finalists. Finalists had to arrive at 10 am the next for a run through and coaching and the competition was at noon.
Luckily, I’ve done my EmbraceBox pitch a few times before and I practiced that night before the competition so I felt pretty comfortable on the day of. Of course I had butterflies, but I was mostly worried about staying under the allotted 3 minutes.
The audience voted by text after everyone pitched and the awards were announced two hours later. I came in third place and won $10,000!
Given how everything turned out, I came away from Essence Fest weekend determined to continue to say ‘yes’ to new opportunities. Had I not gone to Essence or participated in the competition, I would have missed out on a fun weekend and a chunk of change! Though I didn’t win first place, I got great feedback on my business. Honestly, even if my pitch had crashed and burned, I didn’t know anyone in that room anyway! Embarrassment would have lasted for a day and life my would have gone on. I also realized the importance of a having a cheerleader to push you outside of your comfort zone. Thanks to my sister, Miriah, for being my hype woman!
Hopefully this inspires you to start saying ‘yes’ to upcoming events, work opportunities, or something outside of your comfort zone. What’s the worst that can happen? 🙂