Dinah and I Take The Stage

How another little idea went from dream to realization.

When my six-year-old niece sat across from me in June of 2022 and shared a dream of hers for the first time, I jumped all over it. 

She told me she wanted to write a book when she grew up. 

‘Why wait, Dinah? Let’s do it now, together!” 

If you had asked me where I thought the journey would take us, I couldn’t have imagined anything close to our current path. I envisioned a fun and collaborative Canva project with a Shutterstock print-on-demand option. 

Dinah and I dreamed and schemed for six months. We had heartstorms every Saturday, but the book truly came to life when we hired an illustrator. In October of 2023, we locked in a publisher, and on November 1st, we launched globally. 

A few months before the launch, I connected with her teacher. She had the idea of putting something together at Dinah’s school to celebrate. Dinah attends an entrepreneur exploration school, so becoming a published author was quite an accomplishment.

Her teacher, Mrs. G, had an idea. Dinah would sit at a table where she could sell some of her books and answer questions from fellow students. 

At one point, Mrs. G shared something that turned on my Formula 1 mental engine: “And I am open to any ideas you have.”

“I would love to host an inspiring assembly for the whole school that Dinah and I lead together.”

At that moment, a tiny idea created another big dream. For the next six weeks, Dinah’s teacher, the teaching assistant, my sister, and I met. Dinah even joined a few of our Zoom meetings.

Together, we went all-in to bring this dream to life. And on more than one occasion, we all needed to jump through some BIG hoops.

The night before the assembly, Dinah, my sister, and I stayed up late signing and adding “special autographed copy” stickers to the 75 books purchased by her school. 

On December 13th, my eight-year-old niece and I walked into her school’s auditorium and delivered two inspiring and moving assemblies to 425 students.

The best part of the day came halfway through the second assembly when my niece took the mic from my hands and owned the stage from that point on. 

The little human who had been hesitant about the idea of standing in front of her whole school was transformed into an empowered, poised, and shining star.

She brilliantly modeled true confidence in front of her school, friends, family, and local news reporters. 

The superintendent later shared that he had never, in his 33 years in education, experienced anything like what he saw that day. 

Dreams are not just whispers of the heart. They are echoes of the future. 

What tiny idea is now in your heart, yearning to be seen? What ideas within you are ready to become a big dream that makes a meaningful difference?

As my former mentor, Michael Neil once said, 

“As you begin moving in the direction of your dreams, the emergence of fresh new thinking and unexpected synchronicities (i.e., ‘luck’) is 100 percent reliable and 98 percent unpredictable.”

See you in the next publication!