We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ilay Ron a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Ilay, 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 think we can find many purposes in life, but when we focus on the ones that guide us toward our goals, the path gets a lot clearer. My purpose has evolved over the years, but it has always centered around conveying my passion for creativity and the arts. For example, during college I found purpose in my rock band. After college, I found purpose in creating my production company, which led me to meet and work with my late husband, Kenny Davis. Bringing POLLINATE to life was probably the most challenging, but I am determined to continue seeing it through.
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 was born and raised in Israel, but I moved to New York City in 2002 just six months after 9/11. Interested in the arts from a young age, I attended Brooklyn College and graduated with a degree in Film and Psychology. While living in New York, I met my late husband, celebrity designer Kenny Davis, at the Gotham Magazine event. We were together for 4 years and married for a year and a half until his unexpected passing.
Although POLLINATE was founded by Kenny, I was involved from the onset. Now a multiplatform art installation with a mission to raise awareness about the importance of saving the declining bee population, POLLINATE began as a cocktail flower book sealed in an acrylic box, introduced to the public at the Barack Obama White House Correspondent Party in 2010. There, Kenny’s floral image was projected onto the ceiling and people loved it. When he passed away unexpectedly 8 years ago, I couldn’t let this project die with him.
During the pandemic, we were invited by Westfield to host POLLINATE inside the Oculus in New York City. While seeking sponsors, The World Trade Center and the New York City Port Authority proposed that we present our prototype for Earth Day in 2022. Only 3 weeks later, POLLINATE was live right outside the Oculus. Fast forward to present day and the installation is now displayed inside the Newark Airport for the remainder of the year.
So much has happened over the last 8 years, and we’re extremely excited about POLLINATE’s future. We plan on expanding our reach across the nation and partnering with new artists who are aligned with our mission to save the bees and educate people about sustainability.
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?
When people were doubting my determination or making remarks like “it will never happen”, or “you should quit while you can”, this led me to push harder so I could prove them wrong. I learned to better connect with myself and recognize which types of people were not worth working with. Choosing to surround myself with the right people was important, and those people are still with me today.
Furthermore, I learned to develop a thick skin to protect myself from people with nefarious agendas. You have to learn to cut the cord sometimes in order to protect yourself and your business. I know what’s good for me and my company, and most importantly, how to keep the memory of Kenny in the light and not let anyone overshadow it.
Building POLLINATE has been a challenging journey, and there’s still a long road ahead. I have so many goals to accomplish, but the path forward is clear and things are slowly coming together. To people who are going through the same process, I say keep going. Never give up and don’t let small-minded distractions disrupt your progress. If you have a clear idea of who you are and what your purpose is, keep moving forward and give it all you’ve got.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Expanding POLLINATE and finding the right sponsors has been the number one challenge. Meeting with individuals from the finance world who create smoke and mirrors and make empty promises has been an ongoing challenge. Now, we’re learning to avoid this to prevent placing everything we worked so hard for in the wrong hands. Sometimes, things take a bit longer than expected, but it’s on our terms and we know that the right sponsor or sponsors will come along and help us to get to the next stage of our journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pollinate-nyc.com/
- Instagram: @pollinatenyc
- Twitter: @pollinatenyc
Image Credits
Reka Nyari
