We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiny Adams. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiny below.
Tiny, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
My generosity comes from not having the things and opportunities I felt I should’ve had growing up. I grew up without my father and my brother exited my life at the age of 16.
Because of the voids they left in my life, I genuinely give and help others to make sure that they don’t have those same voids in their life.
My motto is ‘Be who you needed when you were younger!’ Whether is a friend, older sibling, or parent – I try to be that for anyone I come in contact with. You never know what someone is going through, so any thing I can do to make someones day or help then in any way – im down to do.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Currently I am the CEO and Founder of my non-profit organization Leader Breeders. Just as the name says, we are trying to breed the next generation of Leaders in Baltimore. Most recently I stepped away from my then Dream Job of coaching men’s collegiate basketball. I was the 6th women to do so in Division 1 Basketball.
I stepped away because I felt I had a bigger purpose. In all of my accomplishments, the feeling I get when implementing programming through Leader Breeders is second to none. Our number one priority is youth development. Baltimore has SO MUCH talent. Its just a matter of them getting the right exposure and support.
Im in a unique position right now where I can identify a need and as long as I get funding for it, I can put a program or event in place to serve that need.
Prior to this Basketball was life. I played basketball from 7 years old until 29 years old. I excelled in college and professionally overseas. Basketball has taught me many life lessons and built my confidence to become not only a entrepreneur but a leader.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Three qualities that were most impactful throughout my journey were resilience, accountability, and organization. Failure and setbacks are inevitable but if you shift your mentality to finding the lessons in those situations rather than feeling defeated you can always make a comeback. I would advise someone early in their journey to seek mentorship. Find individuals who have done the things you have down and learn from their mistakes. Everyones journey is different, but we also all go through similar things. Sometimes learning about someone else’s journey can provide you the reassurance needed to see that whatever you’re chasing is possible.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
In the non-profit space, it’s imperative that we form partnerships with like minded organizations. We are always looking for community partnerships and sponsorships to support our mission of implementing change for inner city youth by providing a space for academic enrichment, career development, physical activity, and growing community engagement.
If you’re interested in connecting with Leader Breeders please don’t hesitate to reach out. We are on social media @leaderbreeders, our website is leaderbreeders.org, or you can email us at leaderbreeders@gmail.com
Contact Info:
- Website: leaderbreeders.org
- Instagram: leaderbreeders
- Twitter: leaderbreeders
