Stefanie Lee

I attribute my success to gratitude. I could have the worst day, and you'll text me, and you'll say, hey, Steph, how you doing? And I'll say, I'm grateful. Now, that's not lying to myself. You know, a lot of these fake influencers, they're like, I am happy and positive every day I wake up. That's not realistic. Regardless of sad or happy, I'm grateful because I know that circumstances could be a lot worse. You know, if I look around and I see a smile on my kid, if I see my home is clean and inviting, you know, and the outside world could be on fire, but where I am, the space that I do have control over, it's bringing me peace, so I'm grateful. I also believe in not being afraid to fail. I consider failure to be field research. Sometimes you just gotta jump in and do the thing, even if it scares you, even if you feel like there's a chance of failure, because that failure will teach you so much about what the next run is going to look like for you if you really utilize that research and treat it as study material. You can avoid those same hiccups in the next try, and then you have proof of concept. You are not sitting on an idea that someone can potentially use and push forward when it was there for you the entire time. Sometimes you just have to put it in motion and see what happens. I also give room for different outcomes than what I imagined, because sometimes people feel like there's just one way to get to a place, and sometimes we just have to leave space for the universe to be creative with our storyline, and it may inadvertently get us to where we want to be.

That gratitude is everything. Let me tell you, like, I could have the worst day, and you'll text me, and you'll say, hey, Steph, how you doing? And I'll say, I'm grateful. Now, that's not lying to myself. You know, a lot of these fake influencers, they're like, I am happy and positive every day I wake up. That's not realistic. Regardless of sad or happy, I'm grateful because I know that circumstances could be a lot worse. You know, if I look around and I see a smile on my kid, if I see my home is clean and inviting, you know, and the outside world could be on fire, but where I am, the space that I do have control over, it's bringing me peace, so I'm grateful.

Some advice that I would give is to not be so afraid to fail. I consider failure to be field research, you know? I like to run in and do the thing. Sometimes you just gotta jump in and do the thing, even if it scares you, even if you feel like there's a chance of failure, because that failure will teach you so much about what the next run is going to look like for you if you really utilize that research and treat it as study material. You can avoid those same hiccups in the next try, and then you have proof of concept. You are not sitting on an idea that someone can potentially use and push forward when it was there for you the entire time. Sometimes you just have to put it in motion and see what happens. Another piece of advice is to give room for different outcomes than what you imagined. You know, because sometimes people feel like there's just one way to get to a place, and sometimes we just have to leave space for the universe to be creative with our storyline, and it may inadvertently get us to where we want to be. I would tell any young professional to just try to reach that 1% a day. You know, they say that the heaviest weight at the gym is the door, because some people don't even get in to try. People think that consistency means filling the cup to the top every single day, when it's just like, no, maybe I filled it three quarters of the way today. Maybe today I only filled it one fourth of the way. The thing is, is that I put something in that cup every day, so I've encouraged young people to put something in their cup every day that pushes them toward their ultimate goal, or what they feel their purpose is. These kids nowadays just want instant gratification. They see their peers just doing something stupid and instantly becoming famous from it. They feel like, okay, I'm just one stupid video away, not realizing that they're losing dignity, that they're not chasing stability, not as much fame, because they want the financial relief that comes with being famous. In this economy, who doesn't, right?

Some of my values include promoting safe spaces for Black and Brown expression, which is my endeavor in Read Between the Rhymes. It's a platform that I created, an open mic. You know, during times like this, in communities that are being constantly - rights being removed, and just underprivileged voices in general - I created this space called Read Between the Rhymes, and it's a mobile open mic, so we pop up in different spaces, in different cities, and it's just facilitating that environment where you can feel free to express, especially in dystopian times. Motherhood is also central to everything I do. I like to call myself a momtrepreneur because mom comes before everything. And that's the battery in my back for just everything that I do, is knowing that a little guy is watching me. He's paying attention, and so I have to make sure everyone in his community is providing value. Spending time with him is of utmost importance, and that can include video games, or nature walks. I'm also teaching him to be an entrepreneur - we got permission from the board in my neighborhood to set up AJ's drive-through to teach him how to be an entrepreneur. Gratitude is everything to me. Regardless of sad or happy, I'm grateful because I know that circumstances could be a lot worse. If I look around and I see a smile on my kid, if I see my home is clean and inviting, you know, and the outside world could be on fire, but where I am, the space that I do have control over, it's bringing me peace, so I'm grateful.