We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Carlton Dossou. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Carlton below.
Hi Carlton, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
I learned by going through the culture shock that was college. College was the first time I found myself the only one. I found myself looking at everyone else and feeling inferior. I looked at my peers and immediately compared myself to them. I wasn’t driving the newest BMW or Tesla, but instead taking the Metro to campus. I didn’t go to private school or have tutors. I went to public schools where, at times, you had to teach yourself and then teach your friends. My parents didn’t pay for everything. I had a work-study job on campus—a retail part-time job—while still going to school full-time! After doing all that, I started noticing I was holding my own and being successful. That’s when I stopped looking at what I didn’t have and started looking at what I did have. That’s when I learned that I’m most effective or successful when I’m in any room, whether I’m one of the many or the only one in the room, when I only notice or compare myself to myself. Now, this definitely was not learned overnight, but over time, as I’ve learned to trust myself and look only within, it’s become second nature. Any room I enter, I go in with the mindset of showing why I was put in that room, not proving to others why I should be there. Making sure I’m always disciplined, humble, and confident, never cocky. While also always reminding myself that there are people who aren’t in the room with me who believe in me and what I’m doing to the fullest. Also, I understand that I have the opportunity to open the door for more people who look like me to get a spot in the room. Believing in myself, having my support system, and being able to make it easier for a future me coming up is how I’ve learned to be effective and successful, even when I might be the only one in the room that looks like me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m just an inner-city LA kid trying to do my part in reshaping society’s narrative of what kids like me can do with our lives! Which is why I am the founder of the nonprofit We Got Next Los Angeles, which is an after-school program that’ll serve inner-city and other at-risk K–12 students in LA! Offering them tutoring, mentoring, extracurricular classes, special events, and community outreach opportunities Our mission is to give at-risk youth resources to stay on top of their studies to equalize the educational playing field while also engaging them with opportunities that will immerse them in their creative passions. At We Got Next LA, we want to shape the champions of tomorrow! Others would say that they want to create the champions of tomorrow. I, however, believe the inner cities are inundated with youth who are future champions. Armed with the right tools and mentors they’ve been deprived of, they’ll realize the potential they all have to become champions! When it’s all said and done, I want WGN to be everywhere! Africa, South America, Latin America, Asia, etc. I’ve got to start somewhere, though. So it’s only right we start in my hometown, Los Angeles, aptly nicknamed “The City of Champions!”
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Determination, Discipline, and Dreaming Big! Those were three qualities that I always made sure to maintain at the highest level, no matter what I was going through. I’m still early in my journey as well, but what I will say is to always remember that this is a long journey. If it was easy, everyone would do it! There will be days where you feel like throwing in the towel, but those are the days that are the building blocks to the culmination of your journey. It will make it all worth it when you finally reach whatever the mountaintop is in your dream and all the hard work comes to fruition! Always dream big, and you can always make it bigger and better! The sky is not your limit. The limit is wherever you set it! Stay disciplined. Never get too high on your journey. On the flip side, never get too low in the lows of your journey! Stay determined and locked in on what you’re working towards. It is your journey and no one else’s. So give it your all, so when it’s all said and done, you’ll have no reservations about what you could’ve or should’ve done.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
In the field that I’m in, I’m well aware that I cannot do it alone! So I’m always looking for others to partner with or collaborate with. Always open to working with those who are doing something similar or just simply believe in what I believe in and want to help make a change! I never want to limit what someone can do to help, so I’m always open to hearing what people can offer! Then we can see how we can do it! We might be able to do it now, or we may need to come back and revisit it when we’re in the right parts of our journeys to make it happen at the highest level. I’m always accessible through phone, email, and my social media direct messages!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wegotnext.la
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carltondossou/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cdos2
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/wegotnextla_/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFjoATyBbkaq5bo5x7DWX8w
Image Credits
Loyola Marymount University’s Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship
