Summer is finally here and I could not be more happy. Like man, for real for real. Ever since I started Un-Associated, I feel like I identify more with being an entrepreneur than being a student. At this point, I’m in school just to utilize the resources that are available – which are a lot at UCLA! Once I finished my last final exam I was filled with excitement thinking about what the summer would hold. I get to attribute more of my time to solely focusing on Un-Associated.
Before I could start to dive into any of the projects I want us to roll out this summer, I stumbled upon a short video that featured a young Steve Jobs being interviewed. Jobs began to mention that in every venture there needs to be the keeping and reiteration of “the vision”. He said that there always needs to be someone that applies less focus to the logistics of a company, but more focus on it’s goal. When I heard this I quickly reposted it on my personal Instagram page – because it struck me. Before I did anything this summer, I knew that I needed to reiterate my vision. I needed to remember why I’m doing this. I need to remember what I wanted Un-Associated to be for the young people around the world.
I’m not going to lie, there have been times where I’ve gotten caught up with the entrepreneurship label. It’s cool to be a businessman – you always have people thinking that you’re on to big things. You give off ambitious vibes. However, as cool as the label gets, at some point that label starts to add so much unneeded pressure to ones life. Next thing you know I’m anxious, frustrated, envious, and start creating content without any sincerity or passion behind it – all because I lost sight of the vision.
Thankfully, God gave me that time to reiterate the vision. I got 3 days to spend time with family. Three days to do virtually nothing. Three days to reminisce on the beginning stages of Un-Associated that took place last summer. And then it all came back to me. The vision, at its core, has not changed. Un-Associated – we – are here to create a world of people who know exactly who they are and what their purpose is on this planet. We are here to show compassion and uplift. We are here to erase the divisions and genres that separate us – here to create a new culture where we are not categorized by the color of our skin or our political ideologies. Instead a community of people that relate through having conquered similar trials. We are here to interrupt the urban culture. We are here to inject inspiration into your veins – to interrupt your way of life.
We are not a streaming company. We are not a newspaper. We are not a t shirt company. And for the love of God we are not just a social media page! We are a platform – a media platform – that encourages you to live the un-associated lifestyle – which means you are not defined by the world’s labels, your environment or anything that happened to you – you are defined by who God created you to be. Whether we have to write an article, make a movie or sell you clothes for you to understand that – you’ll understand it dammit.
With that being said, this summer will be a monumental one for this company. Which means it will be a monumental one for you.
