3 insights I gained from Lewis Howe’s interview with Wyclef Jean

The record is not over yet. The record is not over yet – that’s one of my favourite lines from Wyclef Jean’s Anything Can Happen from his amazing Carnival album. Oops I digress! J I just wanted to throw that line in this blog! On the other hand, I’m sure you’ll figure out the connection with “the record isn’t over yet lyric” and the rest of this blog. Anyway, back to the essence of this blog! 🙂 Read More

Saturday night, May 27 is going to be an amazing night. Here’s why

If you’re looking for a new TV show this Saturday May 27 that’s transformational, heart-warming and inspirational, then you should definitely check out, Help, I Need Love, hosted by Paul Carrick Brunson. 

 

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Hosted by Award Winning Matchmaker Paul C. Brunson “Help! I Need Love” will change the way you look at love and tv. Get ready for an amazing ride as we watch 3 single moms go on the journey of their lives to obtain something they didn’t think they could have: a good man and a lasting relationship. You’ll laugh, cry, be mad and maybe even say a few “Oh no she didn’ts before the night ends. But one thing is for sure, it is transformational.

I’m happy that Paul’s show focuses on single mothers – as the happiness and well-being of single mothers are topics that seem to be often forgotten in TV land. As someone who was raised by a hard-working, generous and amazing single mother, I will always be an advocate for single mothers who work hard and try their best to raise good children. I will always be happy to promote a TV show that provides single mothers with an opportunity to experience real, true love.

Help! I Need Love. Will be a series to remember. Tune in to find out Saturday, May 27, 2017 at 10 PM ET on ABC.

Share this post with your family, friends and anyone you know who’s a single mother! #Spreadlove  #Sharelove #Spreadpositivity

Reflections of a novice pianist composer

I recently created my first ever piano composition YAY! 🙂 If you’ve ever made something new, or you’re currently working on a new endeavour, you’ll probably know the joy that emerges with the feeling of creating something fresh or new. If you’re currently creating something or planning to soon – hopefully the insights I gained from creating my recent piano composition could help you with your creations. Read More

Story behind my cover song artwork

If you’ve listened to my renditions of WHAM’s Club Tropicana and Shirley Bassey’s Diamonds are forever on my YouTube Channel, you’ve probably noticed the graphic designs and font styles that I used for the videos. If you’re looking for ideas for your creative and artistic endeavours, here are the steps that I used to generate artistic and graphic design ideas for my cover song artwork. Read More

7 books that enlightened me, click here to find out more!

7 of my favourite books

7 books

Hi reader. My name is Naomi and I’m a K.L.E. I’m a Knowledge.Learning.Enthusiast. I’m always on a quest to seek knowledge and enlightenment. Are you are currently seeking knowledge and enlightenment? Do plan to do so soon? Or perhaps you are looking for some books to read? If you answered yes to any of the previous, here are 7 books that increased my understanding about business, life, success, failure, wealth and growth. These books are 7 books that enlightened me.

  1. Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person by Shonda Rhimes

I’m sure most of us know about Shonda Rhimes – the creator and executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. I appreciated Rhimes’ willingness to share her vulnerabilities and insecurities. Rhimes also provided an opportunity for readers to understand her rationale for creating the stories and characters that most of us have grown to love, admire or despise.

Rhimes also suggested that it’s ok for us to want to reach to the mountain top, to tell ourselves that we can be the best in our chosen field, and that that it’s ok to look at ourselves and to be comfortable with being seen and wanting to be seen.

“the very act of saying yes is not just life-changing, it is lifesaving” – Shonda Rhimes

2. Pharrell: Places and Spaces I’ve Been by Pharrell Williams

In his book,  the highly sought-after singer-songwriter, rapper,music and film producer, Pharrell Williams reified the importance of collaborations. He includes conversations he had with several influential personalities such as Jay-Z, Anna Wintour, Kanye West and Buzz Aldrin.

I also relearned about the importance of collaborating to generate new ideas, to learn from others, as well as to learn more about people you admire for their contributions toward making the world ever-more interesting and spectacular.

Other key takeaways I took from the book connected to the view that suggests that our passions, interests and “calling” often starts in our childhood and that we should be willing to do things that no-one else has done.

The book is also beautifully and uniquely designed with lots of colour, dazzle and pictures.

3. The Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin

In his book Seth Godin, the influential marketing guru underscores the importance of knowing about the different types of customers, as well as the importance of marketing to people who want change. Godin also emphasizes the importance of finding a niche that has not been dominated, as well being different and standing out (example, having a unique business card.)

4. All Marketers are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works–and Why Authenticity Is the Best Marketing of All by Seth Godin

Godin emphasizes the importance of knowing who you are and knowing your audience (for example, Godin suggests that we should ask ourselves: “do I know who needs to hear my story?”). Godin also underscores the significance of asking yourself whether people will believe your story and whether your product or service will help people with satisfying their wants.

I also appreciated Godin’s inclusion of examples of marketing techniques that some well known, niche specific brands and small businesses used. Godin also highlights the importance of “owning” uncharted business territory.

5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

I appreciated Coelho’s mystical storytelling abilities. In his book Coelho writes about a young man who’s on a personal soul-searching journey and eventually discovers his “personal legend.” Coelho also emphasizes the importance of paying attention to signs, as well as understanding that you will encounter obstacles along your path to greatness or along your route toward achieving your goals.

Coelho also underscores the significance and remembering tasks that we did during our childhood that we loved and enjoyed. Coelho also highlights the importance of taking time to explore the world.

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho

6. The Wealth Choice by Denis Kimbro

Denis Kimbro, lecturer and researcher in the field of management, entrepreneurship and human potential introduced me to African American entrepreneurs that I didn’t know about such as Lillian Lincoln Lambert, Nathaniel Goldston and Colleen Payne-Nabors.

I also learned about the entrepreneurs’ perception and understanding of wealth. Kimbro also underscores the importance of understanding money and how it “works”. Kimbro also emphasizes the significance of reading and setting clear goals.

7. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

In their book, Steven D. Levitt, an award-winning author and Stephen J. Dubner, a journalist emphasizes the importance of analyzing data that deviates from general trends or results. In other words, the next time we conduct a survey, we should pay attention to the one person or the two people who give a different answer.

I agree 501% with Levitt’s and Dubner’s point as we can learn so much from analyzing people and even animals that deviate. I think we spend a lot of time analyzing general trends but quite often, it’s the different person, the different results that help us to understand what’s really going on in life.

Have you read any books that enlightened you? I’d love to hear about them!

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4 lessons I learned from my recent public performance

April 23, 2017. I’ll never forget that date. It was the day that I had the wonderful opportunity to perform as a singer at the 2017 Vancouver Sun Run.  You can watch a clip from my performance here. Could you imagine the excitement and nervousness that bubbled in my soul? Read More

3 lessons I learned from James Patterson’s Masterclass co-author book competition

I recently participated in a competition whereby the winner got an opportunity to co-author a book with New York times best-selling author James Patterson. That was the first time that I participated in a book competition. I also thought the experience was amazing and intense. Most importantly, I’m also happy that I participated in the competition as I gained some practical experience with the process involved in conceptualizing a best-selling thriller, fiction novel. I’m happy to share with you what I re-learned from that experience. Read More

What I learned from my cruise ship singing audition

I’m singing on a cruise ship. I’m dancing on a cruise ship. Ahh… If only…That dancing and singing was what I envisioned when I auditioned to be a singer on a cruise ship in February 2017. Although I didn’t get a chance to entertain the passengers with my singing and dancing, I’m nonetheless grateful that I experienced that audition, as well as what I learned from the process.

I thought that the preparation process reified the significance of creating original music. For the audition, we had to be prepared to perform 16-32 bars of a song by Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Celine Dion – female singers that I love and listened to constantly as a child in in my teenage years.

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While I sang these songs to the best of my ability, I kept thinking that, when I sing these songs, I will always be compared to the original singer. I myself started to compare myself with Whitney, Celine and Donna. Then it dawned on me – how will I be able to have my own singing identity if I continuously sing other singer’s songs? It was at that point that I really understood and appreciated the value of creating original music, original work and original art.

We can bring a lot of beauty and interest to the world when we create original, fresh and new art, music and stories. I made a promise to myself to create new music and new songs. I made a promise to myself to bring some new life, some new perspectives into the world and into the music, song and lyric universes. This, dear reader, is what I intend to do. Strive, my dear readers to share and create your original and unique perspectives.

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Reflections of a Facebook group creator

I recently created my first “private” Facebook group. I created the group to share my singing, music and storytelling journey with family and close friends– with the hopes of inspiring them to achieve their goals. YAY! No big deal? Thank you for you YAY and thank you if you responded to no big deal. To the no big deal responders, you are right – no big deal. However, creating this private Facebook group was a big deal for me.

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