We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Imani Vanzap a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Imani, 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 feel that this encompasses alot of what my entire platform is about. The truth is, in this realm that we call life, we’re truly all living the same story. The details my change and there, but for the most part the path is still the same. That’s why movies have such a profound impact on us. We don’t have to be living the “same” life as the main character necessarily, but trajectory can feel the same.
In the pursuit of my dreams to create art and have that art be grounded in a message of positivity and love, I was indeed faced with challenges from imposter syndrome to sheer betrayal from people who I trust and called my friends/family along the way. There were people whom I’ve known for 30 years or more that vanished when I began to achieve success, while there are people who I’ve gotten closely intimate with and built trust that I’ve known just a couple of years.
In the grand scheme of it all, time is a construct. The truth is in how the time is spent, no matter the duration. This is how it feels with people in our lives and how long it takes to realize a dream. Never give up on yourself! Ever!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a vessel. I am an energy. The purpose of my platform created by my extremely handsome Nephew, Erik Dillard is to give people a road map for the journey within. The truth is that prior to the pandemic, the world had everyone on auto-pilot to feed into the beast of capitalism. That usually requires denying all of the natural desires you have for yourself to become a cog in a machine. I decided early on that I would not partake in life that way. It was a long, and often lonely journey, but it taught me to truly love myself and gain a relationship with myself. Now that I have found such bliss, my hope is that with passion, I can shorten the journey for others to some degree. Loving yourself isn’t necessarily hard. Breaking the ego is instead very difficult. By breaking the ego down to become more healthy, it aids in the beautiful journey of rediscovering who you are on the inside.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
1. Loving Yourself – I see this everyday. Loving yourself requires patience and forgiveness. Those who raised you or had any hand in your development were giving you the best of what they had. It is up to you now to make the most of what was given and bless the next generation.
2. Having Joy – Joy is a state of mind. Happiness is a fleeting thought. Yes, we all want be happy and it is deserved, but what sustains happens is the base of joy in your life. I always say your mind is a room, keep it clean. Happiness, excitement, etc. are air fresheners.
3. Always Remember Why – You will reach points on this journey where you will be scared, angry or even too sad to continue. When these moments happen, you have to forge ahead. You can’t let them stop you. Whenever you are tempted to throw in the towel, you always have to stop and remember why you started in the first place.
Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?
The biggest challenge I have now is maintaining a calm when negative comments arise. We all have that natural fire to want to tell somebody off. HAHAHA! Even me, but it takes having the ability to take a step back and realize that when people speak negatively, they are often speaking from a place of pain and or fear. It doesn’t make what they say “right” or anything I have to accept, but I have learned that kind words truly turn away wrath. Once you come back at most logical people with the mirror or love, their ego finally sits down long enough to listen.
Contact Info:
- Website:imanivanzap.com
- Instagram: imanivanzap
- Facebook: imanivanzap
- Twitter: imanivanzap
