By: Mel B. Cook

     Before you can effectively play on the team you need to understand your role. Often, we have several discussions on who we should be as collective, but it starts with who we are as individuals. We have to be clear on the value we bring to others. The catch is that we don't have to be superhuman or have a next level gift. It's all about maximizing our current space and abandoning our ego. It's all about sharing lessons learned and stepping out of our stepping comfort. Heck! Sometimes it's just about simply living and carefully handling the people we're connected to with love and care.

     I grew up as a village baby. Well, not literally. I actually grew up 'round the way. However, it was an environment where my community sowed into me. Everyone from the stand up hard working guys to the dudes hanging on the corner. Those with a legit grind taught me to dream big and it was possible to be a successful business owner. The entire block taught me to ride my first bike and practice for my first audition. My dudes hustling hard would teach me to hold myself with the highest level of respect. Also, not to accept anything less than how I expected to be treated. Not by any means am I condoning pumping drugs into our community. However, I am celebrating the power of words and actions by anyone that is a part of the community. Sometimes daily gestures, actions, and conversations are taken for granted. I was a little girl with a big dream and sometimes I just needed to be affirmed. As a result, I have grown into a grown woman with high expectations to be a light for our community.

     Consistently, I am humbled and amazed on how living my dream or walking in my truth continues to positively influence others. There is nothing more rewarding than to get a call from a single mother who paid college tuition with a side hustle or a young person that decided not to end a life (including their own). Then there is the man that served 17 years and was able to land his first job. A job that will legally feed his family and makes everyone proud. I don't think that I am special when I hear that my words and transparency has cultivated change. I think what would happen if we all shared or lived our best lives. If we all owned who we are and our power.

     We all have a gift and we're all an expert at something. My gifts are communication and creativity. Your gift might be baseball, comedy, transparency, food, organizing, being a great parent or a host of other things. What would happen if you shared that gift with your village? If we all shared our gifts with our village versus just the ones in our home. Yes, all won't receive it, but someone will. That someone could be a little girl with a big dream and the capacity to change lives.  That someone may have the potential to impact 10 or more and then BAM!!! We are able to take back our communities by just showing up and playing our role on the team. My challenge is for you to get familiar with your role, play your part, and be the village. Together we can be Kool for Life. We need each other!