Throughout my years I’ve been contacted by various publications requesting interviews. At first, there was nothing more thrilling or rewarding. I was even lucky enough to be featured in some of the biggest national publications at a very young age. But as I grew older, I grew lazier, and sharing my same ole’ story with another reporter became monotonous. The feeling and excitement was gone and all of a sudden what use to be an honor became a chore.
About two months ago, I was contacted by a writer from DIME Magazine who was interested in writing a piece about me after hearing that I had “made shoes for LeBron”. I was reluctant to reply based on my current state of “interviewing” as I previously described, however, I have never been one to be rude to someone trying to help, so I shot a quick email back. After exchanging a few more emails, a time and date were established for a phone interview – which just so happened to land right in the middle of finals week for me. Once again, I found myself dreading the interview.
However, throughout the three conversations I had with this writer, I found the original spirit and enthusiasm to share my story was reborn. I use the word “conversation” intentionally. Perhaps it was due to the fact that this specific story was for DIME, and as a result, the writer had a good amount of sneaker/streetwear knowledge and understanding that made the interviews more conversational rather than the typical cookie-cutter format. Or perhaps, for some other reason I made a better connection with this writer. Either way, long story short, it was the first time in a long time that I had enjoyed an interview piece as much as I did.
In the beginning of writing this post, I realized I have become somewhat “numb” to the position I am in (and as a result, this post turned what was suppose to be some preview pics into a personal reflection…). What would have been a dream come true six years ago when I first picked up the brush has somehow turned into everyday life, and I hate that. It’s times like these when I realize the special opportunity I have, as well as how lucky I have been, that make me feel like I have to capitalize on this special time of my life and simply put: make the most of it.
Enough sob talk from me. Once the piece is published, I will post the link.
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