Oct 29, 20203 min read

29th $ZN..

Updated: Nov 12, 2020

Wild to think this is the last year of my 20s... seems like yesterday I was turning 25 and feeling slightly lost at what was next for me in my life. Possibly having a mid-life crisis lol but really just a little stuck as to who I was trying to become and what I actually wanted to do. Now at 29, I feel like I've truly found myself - all of me. I say truly instead of finally because for awhile, well most of my adult life, I felt like I was running a rat race to "finally" be on track with people around me. To say I was "finally" done with school or I had "finally " gotten the job of my dreams was the whole point of everything at the time. Then I fell off, hit rock bottom HARD, and life really humbled the fuck out of me... humbled me in ways I needed and in ways I fought against but knew I needed. I'm forever grateful for the challenges, the setbacks, the disappointment, and everything in between - basically every time I took a loss or lost my way; I'm grateful as ever to be here. In this moment.

"Keep grinding boy, ya whole life can change in one year..."

If you know me then you KNOW J. Cole lyrics are like bible verses to me and the one above hits way different in this season. My whole life did in fact change in a year lol. It's wild to really conceptualize that but I catch myself smiling and shaking my head a lot because this last year I would've NEVER imagined I'd be doing what I'm doing. I've always been passionate about people, spaces, places, and FREEDOM but I honestly wasn't in a great space mentally last year to take full advantage of my passions. I was timid to take the leap of faith and even more timid to take a chance on myself/my skills as "good enough" to generate solid income or ever have a presence on social media. But... here we are, doing damn near EVERYTHING I wrote in a journal last year. I'm hella blessed to say the least. As I enter into $zn 29 of life I feel different about every aspect of my life... I feel more vulnerable, I feel more genuine love, I feel hungrier to succeed, and I feel quite untouchable in my goals/plans to win. I just feel DIFFERENT but it's a powerful difference fr. I'm surrounded by amazing friends, family, and colleagues in the urban planning world that have championed me from our first interactions - to those people THANK YOU!! Your words and time early on really steered me on this path of going after everything I want for me, my community, and my impact in/out of the field.

I say all that to say, life is good, well life is GREAT. For the first time ever, I'm taking control of every aspect of my life - personal, professional, finances, spiritual, and then some. I'm being the most accountable for my own growth, wins, losses, and then some... success looks different to me these days and I'm laser-focused on obsessively being more and doing more to achieve my vision of it. I'm at the top of my game going into the last year of my 20s but I have a lot of room to grow, get better, and thrive at a higher frequency.. this is just the beginning of something big. Bigger than me. I'm just doing what my heart tells me and letting the passion take control in almost in every way - unmatched blessings honestly.

Thank y'all for the unmatched support of this space on social media, of BLCK SPCES and its growth, the Black Planner Collective calls, and just me as a person. I'm so grateful for all of that I swear. I'm as happy as I've ever been. Healthy and breathing. Able to take care of myself financially. Surrounded by solid people. Growing a brand bigger than urban planning. Black AF and thriving. I cannot complain about a damn thang!

Here's to 29 - to more life, more love, more bread, and more impact. Aimed to be a hood legend; MILLION DOLLAR MENTALITY.