We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nova Black. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nova below.
Nova, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Life started to humble me very early on. I was put into situations where I really had no choice but to be at a very young age. I was raised by people who struggled in many different ways and I learned I couldn’t rely on anyone but myself. I was my only constant and life experience made me really strong. I could be in the absolute worst situation and I will find a positive because that’s the only way you can keep going sometimes.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
My name is Nova. I struggled a lot through my adolescence and became a mom at 18. I had a lot of pressure on me to figure things out quickly and find a way to make a steady income. I went to college and graduated with 3 degrees in early childhood education, accounting, and business administration. I briefly went into the education field and quickly realized that was not something I wanted to do at that time. I worked in the administration/payroll field for the last 10 years often working 2 jobs at a time to try to make ends meet. I recently found out I had breast cancer and was forced to think about my mortality and how much time I have left and I realized how many things I wanted to do that I haven’t done. I was laid off from my job of 5 years after finding out I had cancer and really it was a horrible timing but also a blessing and affirmation on what direction I want my life to take. I was miserable and unhappy for a long time at my job I am starting school to be a nail tech soon. I am self taught and I have been doing it for fun for years and am really excited to just learn and get my license so I can work for myself and really focus on pursing all of my ideas and dreams I have. I started to take social media content creating serious as well. It’s something I have wanted to do for a long time and I was always doubting myself and letting fear get in the way so I am trying to navigate that and what I want to share. I have always been a creative and I have a lot things and life experience to share. I have been around more practical people who didn’t encourage my out of the box thinking. I have always wanted to be in the beauty industry and an entrepreneur. I have so many ideas and spend hours jotting down ideas I have in my notes.That’s one thing I have always been passionate about and if I could do it all over again that what I would do when I turned 18. If you are passionate about something I would encourage you to go after what you want no matter what anyone says and pursue your dreams no matter what. This is your life and life isn’t promised and you never know when something might happen or how long you have left and if no one else believes in you I do cause it’s never to late to start over and go after your dreams.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Don’t let other people get into your head. Be your own biggest supporter and surround yourself with people who encourage you that you can do anything not tell you the one reason you can’t.
Resilience is very important because you are going to be turned down and you are going to fail over and over but you can’t let that stop you. You keep going and you’re going to get it. Just because you aren’t seeing results yet, you will. I promise you it will come.
Consistency is also very important. I hear a lot of people say I want to do this but I don’t have time. You have to make time and put in the work. I have seen people scroll for hours on their phone and then say they don’t have time but we can always make time for what we want and if you want something bad enough you will.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
I was diagnosed with breast cancer in November and I have been really going through it. I have had two surgeries and will be starting treatment soon and that will be followed by medication I have to take for 10 years. I know that in the coming months I will continue to be challenged mentally and physically. I hope when this is all over I will stay cancer free and continue to live a long time but I don’t know that. My great grandmother survived breast cancer and died of liver cancer so I know things happen. I am going to continue to be resilient and I will not let fear stop me from anything ever again. If I only have 5 years or I have 60 years left I want to look back and say those were the best years of my life and say I went after everything I wanted and more.
Contact Info:
- Youtube: Novaababess
- Other: Tik tok: @novaababes Lemon 8: @novaababess https://www.tiktok.com/@novaababess?_t=8jzMU6lZKgM&_r=1 https://v.lemon8-app.com/s/eRYwSbRpR
