by Maya S Penn
CONTENTS
Introduction
PART ONE: UNLEASH YOUR AWESOMENESS
The Big Question: What Will I Do with My Life?
Flip-Floppers, Blank-Drawers, and Under-Thinkers: Which One Are You?
How a Dream Board Can Help You Dream Big: Zeroing In on What Makes You Awesome
Make Your Own Dream Board
Creativity + Curiosity = Your Awesomeness, Unleashed
What If Nothing on My Dream Board Jumps Out?
Busting Out of Your Comfort Zone
Creating a Concept Vault
Make Your Own Idea Book
PART TWO: FIND YOUR PATH
So You’ve Got an Idea . . . Now What?
Building a Support Network: Recruiting Traveling Companions on Your Creative Journey
A Word about Internet Smarts and Safety
Emailing a Prospective Mentor
Detours, Derailments, and Curveballs: Avoiding Common Traps on the Creative Path
Deep-Freezers and Sprinters: Which One Are You?
Haters, Haters, Go Away
Is Your Idea Ready to Fly?
PART THREE: CHANGE YOUR WORLD
Can One Person Really Change the World?
Youth Who Are Changing the World: Mary-Pat Hector
Youth Who Are Changing the World: Mario Ridgley Jr.
Youth Who Are Changing the World: Veronica Lorya
Youth Who Are Changing the World: Taylor Moxey
Discovering Your Destiny: Where Will Your Path Take You?
What Now?
Thank Yous
Reading Group Guide
Introduction
Topics & Questions for Discussion
Enhance Your Book Club
A Conversation with Maya Penn
About Maya S. Penn
Dedicated to my grandmother Marguerite Flanders
INTRODUCTION
I was standing in the dark, waiting in the wings of the auditorium, and I could barely hear the boom of the speakers over the thump thump thump of my heart in my chest. A few chuckles rang out from the audience—being projected onto a massive screen at the center of the stage was a digital animation short I had worked on for months. (It had taken days to get the characters’ mouths to move in time to the voice-over on the audio track, weeks to get the story, the dialogue, and the graphics just right.) I took a few short, shallow breaths. I tried to steady my nerves. I resisted the urge to crush the plastic water bottle I had been turning over and over in my hands. And just when I thought I might vibrate right out of my socks, I heard my mother’s voice ringing in my ears. “Maya,” she had said calmly, when I admitted to her just how nervous I really was, “do it afraid.”
When the projection ended and the house lights went up, I took a few wobbly (albeit determined) steps forward. I was only vaguely aware of the applause, the friendly whoops and cheers from the crowd. I found my way to my mark—that iconic circle of red carpet, right in the center of the stage—and looked out into a sea of faces. Hundreds and hundreds of faces. All of them waiting to hear what I had to say.
I felt my stomach flip-flop and my heart flutter.
I was thirteen years old. I’d flown 2,500 miles from my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, to San Francisco to do this. I had been practicing my speech for longer than I cared to admit. But there was only one thought echoing in my head:
I can’t believe I’m actually here.
Just five years earlier, I’d been a quirky, awkward eight-year-old kid. (I’m not eight anymore, obviously, but the “quirky, awkward” part hasn’t changed much.) I was a decent tennis player and a pretty good pianist. I loved drawing and doodling and watching cartoons. In fact, I was almost always doing something creative. That creative drive soon led me to try my hand at clothing design: I began making headbands from scraps of discarded fabric I found around the house. When I started wearing those headbands out in public—and getting lots of compliments on my designs—it occurred to me that I might be able to sell those creations. With no business plan and no experience running, well, anything, I became a professional fashion designer—and Maya’s Ideas, my eco-friendly clothing company, was born. Fast-forward a few months, and Forbes magazine came calling (they wanted to run a feature on the pint-sized CEO and “kid entrepreneur”), which started a snowball of sorts: I was profiled in a bunch of other magazines, and even made television appearances (the Steve Harvey show and The View, to name just a few). My company exploded. Before long, I’d earned enough to begin donating between 10 and 20 percent of my profits to charities and environmental organizations, as well as to fund my future college education. I launched my second venture, Maya’s Ideas 4 The Planet, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. I met some amazing and world-renowned people, received a slew of honors and awards, and became a national spokesperson and a brand ambassador. I was even invited to sit on a grant-making advisory board. Still, nothing could have prepared me for the annual TEDWomen event, where I was supposed to give a speech to an audience of, potentially, millions.
After all, I was (and still am) just a kid!
So there I was, standing on the red circle of carpet in the center of the TEDWomen stage, quaking and shaking in my Toms shoes. If you’re not familiar, TED events (short for technology, entertainment, and design) are global conferences; the whole point is for a bunch of people to come together to, in the words of the conference organizers, “share ideas and spark conversation.” My role, specifically as one of eight speakers appearing on the first day of the three-day event, was to tell my story in the hope of inspiring other women and girls to be “creators and change makers.” I had hoped that, while giving my talk, I’d come off cool as a cucumber. Internally, however, I felt a huge lack of coolness. (Potatoes, maybe. Or some other vegetable far less cool and . . . cucumbery.) I wanted to be present and focused, but standing up there was a bit like having an out-of-body experience. My lips were moving, but I had no idea what I was actually saying. (I mean, I did, but I also didn’t. It’s pretty tough to explain.)
Ryan Lash / TED
At the halfway point of my speech, though, something interesting happened. I had stopped to show the audience another one of my animations, and for the first time all afternoon, I was kind of able to catch my breath. I realized that the stage, which I had thought would be colossal, that I’d feel as tiny as a grain of sand on a beach, was actually not all that big. It was relatively snug, in fact. Almost comfortable. (Actually, don’t tell the TED staff, but I had an urge to just lie down and curl up on that bright red circle of carpet, I was suddenly enjoying myself so much.) I think I’d always known, despite my nerves, that if I just gave it my best shot, this whole speaking-to-an-audience-of-strangers thing would turn out okay. I was pleased that I was starting to get the hang of it. But then, as I was concluding my speech and delivering my last line—about the importance of understanding the challenges facing our world not with your head, but with your heart—I saw that the crowd wasn’t just clapping and cheering . . .
I was getting a standing ovation!
You know how sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in? Something truly wonderful might happen to you, but you’re so shocked and stunned that you can’t appreciate it right away? Let me tell you, this was nothing like that. The rush of pride I felt was immediate. All I’d wanted was to get through my speech without falling right off the stage or flubbing my lines, and what I got was so much better than that. I practically floated down to my seat in the audience and sat there with a big silly grin on my face.
That TEDWomen talk—the one I’d almost been too nervous to give—has since gone viral, racking up more than 1.2 million views. If you can believe it (and most of the time, I can’t), it’s actually ranked among the most-viewed TEDWomen talks of all time.
Since stepping off the stage, I’ve turned into something of a role model. I’m fifteen now as I write this, but I’m often asked to give advice, even to folks who are much, much older than me. And while some of those people are genuinely interested in my story—they want to know how an eight-year-old managed to launch her own business—most of the people I hear from are far more curious about how they might go about pulling off something unexpected, or bold, or inspiring, too:
“How can I turn my dreams into an actual, practical reality?”
“How can I get paid to do what I love?”
“How can I get people to listen to me? To respect me? To support my ideas?”
“How can I possibly make a difference, especially if I’m still just a kid?”
Those questions—and many more like them—are what this book is about: how to discover your passion, how to turn that passion into action, and how to find your place in the world.
Before we get off on the wrong foot here, let me be honest: I still have plenty of questions myself. I used to think that to be a really accomplished person, you had to act like a really accomplished person. I act like a goofy, awkward little jelly bean. Sometimes I wonder what people must imagine when they think about my life: that I spend all my time sitting at my computer, crunching numbers, drowning in a sea of packing tape and shipping receipts. That’s definitely not me, either. (More often than not, I’m probably sitting around thinking about Pokémon cheats.) I have, however, learned some tips and tricks that just might help you on your journey, and what I can tell you for certain is this: you have no idea how big an idea can get when you have the courage to follow your heart. One day you’re sitting around making headbands, the next you’re doing a TED talk in front of millions of people. It’s weird, but that kind of crazy, unimaginable stuff happens every day. All it takes is one person, one vision, one voice.
So, how do you get there? How do you get started? How do you effect real and meaningful change? You start by getting out of your own way, putting aside your doubts, and having faith that if you give it your best shot, things really will turn out okay. You start by taking that first step onto the stage. Sometimes you start by doing it afraid. Picking up this book is a good way to get started, too.
I’ve organized this book so that it’s like a journey of sorts. In part I, we’ll talk a little about the power of creativity and the joy of pursuing your passions. (What are you passionate about? Do you want to start a business of your own? Make a change in your community? Found a club at your school?) In part II, we’ll tackle how to start putting those passions—whatever they are—into action. And in part III, we’ll talk about how one person, even a very young person, has the power to change the world. (Still not convinced? I’ll share some stories of other kids who are unleashing their awesomeness and changing their worlds, too.)
So don’t worry if you don’t yet have a clue about what you want to do in this life: I’ll give you tips to help you discover it. Don’t worry if “changing the world” sounds beyond the scope of your wildest dreams; together, we’ll take it one step at a time. Don’t worry if you feel small, or insignificant, or like your voice isn’t big enough or special enough to be heard. We all feel like that sometimes—even me.
Here’s the thing, though: if I can do it, there’s certainly no reason why you can’t do it, too. I believe that everyone has been blessed with a purpose, a passion, and the tools to pursue that passion. What you need to succeed is already in you. All you have to do is turn the page.
Believe me when I tell you: you got this!
I’ve always thought of myself as an artist. In fact, I’ve been drawing and doodling and scribbling since I was old enough to hold a crayon. I’m not sure if my parents gave me so many art supplies because I’d expressed an interest in drawing or because they just wanted to give me something to do, but I always had a fair amount of markers and colored pencils to work with; we still have boxes and boxes of all the “art” I made as a little kid. And I still vividly remember lying on the floor of the living room, sketching intently in my notebook (and by “notebook” I mean a stack of bright-colored construction paper).
Like all kids, I mostly drew the usual stuff: my parents, my extended family, and me (in stick-figure form, of course), cats and dogs, trees and flowers, and the occasional forest animal. Sometimes I’d sketch popular Nickelodeon or Disney characters, like Mickey Mouse, SpongeBob SquarePants, or Donald Duck. Sometimes I’d invent my own characters. For example, I had a whole series of drawings about three dogs—the Barking Brothers—all of whom were named after berries. (Blueberry, Blackberry, and Raspberry, if you’re wondering. And, yes, they were all drawn in a color that matched their namesake fruit.) The Barking Brothers went on lots of adventures, although the only one I really remember involved a pirate ship for some reason. I’m not sure if they hijacked the ship, or maybe they just owned one. (Perhaps they were pirate dogs?) I just know they went on some kind of journey across the open ocean. Hey, don’t judge me. I was only three, maybe four years old.
Anyway, it’s probably not a big surprise that in addition to being a lover of drawing, I have also always been a major fan of cartoons. When I was little, I mostly watched Playhouse Disney—The Wiggles, Rolie Polie Olie, and all those shows—in the mornings before getting my schoolwork started. When I got a bit older, I went through a PBS phase (mostly because we didn’t get Disney or Nickelodeon in my old house; I was stuck with the basic channels until we eventually moved). These days, my favorite shows air on Disney XD and the Cartoon Network. And of course I still have favorite cartoons, even though I am now a teenager. I will never outgrow them! I swear, I’ll still be obsessed with cartoons when I’m fifty.
So, why am I telling you all this? Because I want to tell you about something amazing that happened when I was only about four years old. I was watching Playhouse Disney, and during the commercial break I caught a short segment, just a little two-minute featurette before the next program started, about interesting and unusual jobs. Rather than careers that even super-young kids are familiar with, like doctor or firefighter or policewoman, this program highlighted jobs that children might not even know existed. I’d never seen the special before (it was only later that I found out it was an ongoing series), and I’ve never seen an episode since. Maybe it was fate, then, that the one airing I managed to see was all about the people who made the very cartoons I loved so much—the show was about professional animators.
For the first time, it occurred to me that the cartoons I watched every morning weren’t actually about real, live people. I mean, I knew they weren’t real—I understood that SpongeBob didn’t actually live in a pineapple under the sea; I knew that there wasn’t actually a city called Bikini Bottom at the bottom of the ocean—but in terms of understanding, I was still in a kind of murky in-between. Even though I often drew the characters I loved to watch, and even though I sometimes invented my own (like the Barking Brothers), it still seemed like something totally magical was happening on the television. That’s the only way I can really explain it. In terms of how my favorite cartoons actually made it onto the screen, I just hadn’t given it any more thought than that.
Now, for some kids, the realization that SpongeBob isn’t an actual walking, talking sponge with legs—the knowledge that there’s someone behind the scenes drawing and animating and even voicing the character—might ruin some of that magic. But for me, this awakening made the cartoons I loved even more special. It meant that I could create those exciting adventures and unique, imaginative worlds, too. I’d had no idea that there were people out there who made cartoons for a living, but right then and there, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. “That’s what I want to be,” I said (although I can’t remember if I actually said this out loud, or if the thought just echoed in my head). One thing was for sure: I was going to become a professional animator.
My creative journey could’ve ended right there, but I was lucky to have parents who encouraged m
e to pursue all my creative ideas, to run with my instincts 24/7. (I’ve also always been something of a Flip-Flopper, someone who flits from one idea to the next rather quickly—but more on that in a bit.)
One afternoon, around the same time I was discovering my passion for animation, my dad called me in to his office to see if I wanted to watch him take apart his computer. He’s always doing stuff like this, by the way. My dad’s a pretty tech-savvy guy, and he usually prefers to fix things himself rather than take his electronics in to get serviced. (Not too long ago, for example, he took his cell phone apart, too.) On this particular afternoon, he wanted to blast the insides of his computer with a can of compressed air; by cleaning the parts, he was trying to get the thing to run a bit faster.
Back then—as I mentioned, I was only about four years old—I didn’t really know all that much about computers. I knew they were machines, that they were gadgets of sorts; I understood them mostly as something you could do “work” on. I think I might’ve even likened computers to robots. So I had no idea just how complex the innards of a computer were until my dad took off the cover of the CPU tower. And even though I didn’t understand anything he was showing me (he pointed out the motherboard and various microchips), I thought what he was doing was really, really cool. It spawned an interest in (and eventually a love for) technology. I didn’t yet realize the ways that my new love of tech would one day merge with my already established love of art, but it would.
Around age seven or eight, I discovered yet another interest, something else I wanted to learn more about. On occasion, I’d notice my mother mending the hem of a shirt or darning a sock. She didn’t sew a lot, but I remember feeling sort of wowed nonetheless. I remember thinking, My mom is so awesome, she can make and fix literally anything! I wanted to make things, too. Specifically, I wanted to try my hand at making my own stuffed animals. So I finally asked her to teach me. I was pleased to discover that the basics of sewing came pretty easily, although for some reason I had a lot of trouble tying a knot in the string after threading the needle. (But shhh! Please don’t tell anyone that. I must maintain my reputation as a sewing ninja.)
