We recently connected with Odd Rod and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Odd, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I was taken from my mother when I was a toddler because she suffered from a drug addiction. My father disowned and abandoned me, so I joined my two siblings to live with relatives while my mom fought her battle with drugs. She became sober, regained custody of us, and moved to a different side of town with a new husband and child. The marriage began to fail and she later separated from him. The stress over having 4 kids with no support sent her back to her addiction. Then my older brother became ill with a brain tumor that grew into cancer and sadly, he died and she lost it. I lost it too because he was just 16 and I was 13 years old. Watching him wither away and perish crushed me. I wrote a suicide letter in the form of a poem and badly wanted to end my life. That poem was the first time I witnessed my emotions outside of my body. To see and voice them on paper felt powerful and although it was a dark poem, it lifted me and saved my life. I realized that listening to my own story had healing powers as I could view it from a different perspective. It was an out-of-body experience and I continued to tell more of my stories poetically afterwards. I would approach issues and scenarios from different angles with my words and it became an addiction. Each poem was a different paint stroke of my mind filled with stories and messages. I persevered to earn a full scholarship to college where I created an open-mic and started sharing my work with others. I observed how sharing my story was helping them and my purpose was born. I wanted to share my stories and poems with everyone I could because I saw how lives were being altered by the experiences and traumas I revealed. My purpose found me and I’ve continued to develop and nurture it over time.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a Perseverance Speaker and Life Advocate. I give authentic presentations involving real-life experiences to encourage people to press on through adversity. Over the last decade, my audiences have mainly been in the educational sector where I’ve been continuously booked on college tours. Most recently, I’ve made the transition to speaking in corporate spaces where I strengthen organizations by empowering their employees to present their authentic selves.
I’m also a professional photographer. I use my images to assist with telling my story.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Discipline has been one of my most impactful qualities. It’s allowed me to achieve every goal I set forth.
The ability to allow myself to continue growing has also been very beneficial because it was challenging to be moved in different environments but I began to see things for what they were and adapt. It’s said that we change completely every seven years and in order to do so, we have to shed the old versions of ourselves. I wouldn’t be who I am if I stayed who I was.
Love is a big deal. Love what you do so much that you protect it and develop it. Writing poetry was only a corner of the puzzle I needed to solve for this life. I needed to nurture my skill so that I could allow it to grow and be disciplined enough to stay with it no matter what others did or said.
If you’re early on your journey, be great at whatever you offer and then announce that you offer it. Put in the work to build your craft and show how it’s different from others. Give your all when it comes to putting your brand together. You never lose when you invest in yourself.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
Honestly, their absence for most of my life created a more resilient me. I wouldn’t be the same if they remained together and raised me because they didn’t know each other well. The streets gave me the education and wisdom I needed to survive. My mom’s determination to beat her addiction continues to inspire me and I pull energy from her fight to overcome obstacles.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.oddrod.net
- Instagram: @storyteller_oddrod
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PoetOddRod
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roderick-borisade-b07203a3/
- Twitter: @odd_rod
- Youtube: Roderick Borisade
Image Credits
Charles Williams
