Amateur is Not a Bad Word

on starting with who you are and what you have.

Hello guys,

How are you? How was your week?

This week I really wanted to write about the importance of pouring liquor down one’s throat (once in a while). But then I opened a Marketing book I’m reading at the moment, and a passage I read left such a huge impression on me, that my desire to write about hedonistic practices was overpowered by the urge to write this piece you’re reading.

So

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Two weeks ago, I taught a brand marketing class to a group of 70 young women who were curious about how to build a personal brand. One of the examples I used was that of one of my favourite Nigerian Youtubers ever ever, Dimma Umeh. Dimma has been a creator for over ten years. I like how clean and effortless her content is. She channels an energy that is assured and confident and makes me feel like I’m watching an elder sister live her life while occasionally offering advice and giving tips on lifestyle, skincare, fashion, etc. And yet, scrolling through the videos on her page, I couldn’t help but realize that this expertise and self-assuredness was something Dimma had built over the years.

Her first YouTube video is a far cry from the person she is today, and yet, she most certainly would not have become this person if she had not taken that first step, by posting her content consistently for years.

From time to time, people reach out to me asking questions about content creation, marketing, or life in general, and immediately I can tell that the problem is not the act itself but the process of starting when they don’t feel good enough to do it, and the impending embarrassment they fear they might feel if people perceive their inexperience. When they ask, “what if people don’t engage with my content?” what they mean is, “what if I am not good enough?”

I find it ironic because that’s legitimately the only way to get good at doing anything. By braving through the storm of bad — the amused looks, low views, zero engagement or accolades, bumpy lines, knee injuries, bad writing, bad art — failure. And yet we’re so averse to the beginnings of things that we usually never start, opting to swallow our dreams and ignore the flutterings we feel in our chests whenever we see other people doing the things we badly want to do.

I am the first of three children, and cousin to many younger cousins, which means that I have seen enough babies ‘baby’ around me in my lifetime to notice things about them. Around the 6-month mile, babies begin to experiment with mobility. They want to crawl and put everything in their mouths, and eventually, they start trying to walk. Babies are terrible at walking. They take two steps, and they fall. You have to put your hands around them because their spines aren’t fully developed yet, which can be stressful. Even when they start trying to run, their gait is funny, and it almost seems like their bellies are carrying all their weight, like the titans in AOT. But if you give them time, they will grow into adults who know how to walk well and may even strut well enough to become supermodels on NYFW, or run well enough to win Olympic gold medals.

But they have to start somewhere.

The same applies to our lives and careers. The start of anything new requires embracing our beginner status, of being patient with ourselves and the process required to truly become great. It can be frustrating, especially when it appears to come so easily to other people. I know. I am currently in the process of making something of my life, too and sometimes I lose patience with myself. I question my path. I even take breaks that only seem to extend the process. I compare myself constantly with other writers I consider gods. I do all these things that backstab the quiet confidence I feel in the pit of my belly — that this is who I am and what I want from life. So me writing this to you is also a reminder to myself.

I want you to know that amateur is not a bad word. Starting small is a fundamental part of nature. Minute seeds become giant trees, canopying vast plainlands, and newborns grow to become 6’5 shooting guards. You don’t need life to be perfect before you start. You don’t need to be confident and self-assured before you start. You can start with what you have, and who you are (unless you’re a doctor and lives are on the line, in which case I beg you to PLEASE be confident before starting). The changes will happen along the way.

Fall in love with the process of becoming who you want to be. Ignore the noise and focus on your work, whatever it may be.

You know I am always, always rooting for you.

Till next time,

Tres.

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Things I Think You Should See

1. I wrote about my experience leaving my job at Founders Connect. You can read here.

2. Megan Thee Stallion’s new song, HISS is fire. I have listened to it over 20 times since its’ release.