godlovesmandy

[godlovesmandy]

Navigating My Way To Success As A Nonprofit Founder.

Taking the leap and putting my ambitions at the top of my to do list came with a whirlwind of emotions; everyday for the last 3 years I have been on a roller-coaster of emotions, no other endeavor I have ventured into has ever given me such a ride of emotion. From the highs of contentment when I see progress in my impact, to the lows of loneliness and impostor syndrome when I question if I am really cut out for all of this.

While holding my breath in anticipation of my next emotion, it is safe to say that I have always felt that Oyisa has given me a huge sense of liberation. Each day I learn to trust my journey more and more meaning I am able to trust myself and my ambitions more.

It did take me a year and half to define my mission, about two years for a handful of people to understand (not really see it per say) my vision, and each day I make it a point to live and embody the values I want to be known for. And now I am ready to officially brand;

myself as a founder/director

and Oyisa as an organization supporting young women

We all have different versions of success and how to get to our set destinations, so I did a little self inventory and explored the conscious efforts I took to both feel and be more confident as legitimate Social Entrepreneur. Here are a few coordinates I followed in to get me this far in journey:

INVEST IN YOUR VALUABLE ASSETS - More often than not we are told to invest in ourselves. But seeing as I was going into a field of service, I found that investing in the people around me would be more beneficial and played a bigger role in my success. I invested my time in getting the people around me excited about helping me solve a problem by including them in my solution. I asked them to read through draft after draft of my constitution while taking their notes into consideration and showing their input in various concepts and designs. I basically trained the people that frequent my life and play a huge role in how think, feel, and act on a daily basis to provide me with the confidence that allowed me to operate even more effectively and efficiently. By including my support system during my foundational and the most fundamental stage of Oyisa, I wanted them to find value in Oyisa by including and showing them that they play an important role not only in the future success of the organization, but my showing them that their contributions play a huge role in the lives of the young people we serve. Now I am not saying neglect yourself and devalue your importance as individual, but you do need people besides yourself to believe in what your product/service is offering.

DON'T MIND THE BUDGET - I attend a lot of networking events with like minded people, my favorites being Social Enterprise Connect and #FundHer hosted by PAWA/Insyts, and one thing I picked up is more often than not; successful people do not wait for capital, they find capital along the way. when I started Oyisa, I don't think I even had a healthy personal bank account, instead I was unemployed and sleeping on my brothers couch. I understood that "NO ONE WANTS TO BE OFFERED A HYPERCRITICAL CAKE!" If I told you I have a slice of cake for you but I need you to bring a recipe, all the ingredients and we will be using your oven. I can bet you my middle finger that you will not be interested. So basically start with what you have your - intellect, time and public resources are a good place to start.

DON'T FOCUS ON THE BUZZ - Communication is an important aspects of growing a business, but media attention must be driven by real growth and traction in core areas. I knew I wasn't fully equipped to handle high levels of traffic on social media especially since I didnt really know what I was doing. My anxiety couldn't allow me to risk providing poor/inconsistent experience for my online audience let alone the young people I was planning on supporting. There is no point in achieving media success that outpaces progress in other areas, especially the quality of the product or service you are providing. Historically, publicity can be an important early signal of a business's progress, helping attract the customers, partners, employees and investors you might need. . When you focus on the buzz too early, you may not be able to deliver on your promises to your clients. Instead I focused on crafting a clear story about Oyisa, why it was founded and what my goals are, this laid the groundwork for attracting and motivating a team, developing a strategy and pitching to customers and investors.

BECOME THE NICHE - If I am being honest, I had been struggling with my marketing plan because as a non profit organization I have a wide variety of stakeholders I need to market to; donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, communities etc. It felt a little overwhelming when asked to create a niche because I have so many people I need to sell the organization to. So to make things easier for myself, I decided to create a comfortable and suitable position for myself and Oyisa that way I will be confident enough to do amazing work and the market will comes to me. There are thousand of people and organizations who have needs they want met, so why am I going out of your way trying to find people who are already looking for a solution I have to offer. The same way we are told there are no new ideas, I believe there are no new needs either. So find a place where your product or service fits in best and stand out there - your market will find you eventually as long as you position your service/product as a valuable compared to most.

BE CONSISTENT - I used to think this meant showing up everyday with anything to offer your client. But now I understand it means consistently adding value, and the only example that articulates this beautifully for me is Frank Ocean. Since 2011 Frank Ocean has released mixtape, 2 albums that are 4 years apart yet still maintains an average of 24.4 million listeners on Spotify. He constantly shows up with quality products that add value to the lives of his listeners - and that is what I want to do. Consistently creating quality programs that add value to our beneficiaries, stakeholders and the communities we serve in.

[godlovesmandy]

Just like everyone, there have been points in my life that I have asked myself what it all means, what is the meaning of life?

This is a however a perennial question and is usually accompanied by; who am I? Howbdid I get here? How should I live? What is my purpose? These are important questions too as no one can honestly say they live a full and healthy existence without knowing your origin and purpose.

We live in a time were we are privileged enough to have various theories and stories to explain our origins. One of the newest teachings is that we do not exist at all, instead we are computer simulations created by a super-intelligent race of aliens - much similar to claims that we exist as meaningless material entities in a meaningless material universe and the answers to "What is the purpose of the universe?" There is none. "What is the meaning of life?" Ditto!

In contrast to the prevailing premise, I love the stories and theories that do not see life as a mere accident. I love the scriptures that depicts the formation of my life as a direct act of my Creator. I love the books that remind me that everything is purposeful - nothing happens by chance. I am not simply part of an accidental conglomeration of randomly arranged chemicals. I look for things that reveal direct and purposeful intentionality. Each day I consciously reject the ideas that suggest that my life is random. I exist in a creation that was expecting me, this point is important because foundational to my general health and happiness is my sense of meaning and purpose. I know that at my core, I must find meaning meaning to my existence, as this is crucial to my wellbeing and how I show up in service of this magical world I live in.

I believe I was created in the image of the highest entity - I reflect this in my character. I marvel in its power and goodness, growing and maturing as I face each day.

In my continuous search for health, healing and happiness, I have had to connect to the physical, emotional and spiritual elements of my being. I had to learn that my mind and my body are inseparable aspects of my existence, and whatever path I take towards my best life needs to account for all aspects of my fascinatingly complicated existence.

I deserve good health; to be mentally alert, emotionally well adjusted, physically well, and be in spiritual harmony with my God.

If I invest in myself, every faculty with which I have been endowed will be cultivated to the highest degree of satisfaction that way I will be able to do the greatest amount of good of which I am capable. I want to spend my time establishing and preserving my general wellbeing and health.

To me, my existence is a miracle, my life is a precious gift; as with all precious gifts I must cherish it and care for it, which includes doing my best to develop and maintain the physical, mental and spiritual components fashioned to my existence. I am steward of the gift of life, there is no more precious gift and no more important task than living a life of abundant health - honoring my purpose to serve others all while experiencing life to the fullest.