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You are browsing the archives of 2008 March.

I love this video, and all things Disney:

On Thursday I was able to take part in a telephone seminar hosted by Dr. Fran Harris, who is a megapreneur, WNBA champion and business coach. Dr. Harris is featured in the current issues of Essence and Black Enterprise magazines, and her advice and counsel continually inspires me. I currently subscribe to her magazine Collegepreneur, which I would recommend to any student who wants to or currently runs their own business!

During the seminar Dr. Harris spoke about shifting your paradigm in order to move to the next level of success in all areas of your life. She challenged us who were on the call to identify harmful paradigms that are stunting our growth, regarding our relationships, health and financially, and to start living differently starting today.

As I listened to her words while eating my lunch, I began mentally going over areas of my own life that needed an overhaul. It’s funny how just changing the way you look at a situation can drastically transform the outcome and can free you from ideas you had that were really inaccurate.

Rather than me try to explain how much her words affected me, why don’t you go over to her blog to hear the recording of the call. Click here to be inspired by her wise words of how we can change our view of the world in order to move closer to our dreams.

Today being Easter Sunday, I wanted to share this video that I came across. The song is “Above All, ” by Michael W. Smith, the video clips are from “The Passion of the Christ.” Click here to view.

“Like a rose trampled on the ground, You took the fall and thought of me, above all.”
- Michael W. Smith (”Above All”)

Dreamer Profile: Kevin Clash:
Puppeter, Author and Producer

DreamFleur is Presented to you Today By the Color Red, and the Letter P - for Passion.

When it comes to life passions, sometimes the thing you love to do the most is something that’s not the standard for success for people around you and can cause others to talk and judge.

Kevin Clash is a puppeteer you may not know, but you definitely know some of his work. He’s the creative mind behind the lovable character Elmo on Sesame Street, and many other playful personalities we’ve grown up with and love.

Clash’s pursuit of his puppeteering career didn’t come easy. In an article he talked about how he was teased as a child for his passion to make puppets, while other kids in his Baltimore neighborhood dreamed of playing basketball or going into the music business. He had loved puppets since age 10 after watching Sesame Street and had been enchanted with them ever since. In his book he said kids threw taunts at him like, “Look at him, he’s playing with dolls. He sews. He sleeps with his puppets.”

Even so he kept doing what he loved with the support of his parents who continually encouraged him. After doing puppet shows in his neighborhood starting at age 12, he got the chance to go on television and eventually made his way to Sesame Street in 1985. He came up with Elmo’s distinctive voice and laugh, making Elmo one of Sesame Street’s most popular characters. (He also did the voice of “Baby Sinclair” from the “Dinosaurs.” Come on, you know you remember that show.)
His work also won Clash an Emmy Award, and he appeared on Oprah in an episode about obscure celebrities. Now he serves as Sesame Street Muppet Captain and co-executive producer, and he’s in homes worldwide teaching children life lessons through his lovable characters. Talk about passion.

Clash says he hopes his book will “inspire everyone to hit their goals.” In this interview he talks about how he never imagined he would be doing something he loved as a career, and how it doesn’t even feel like work. That’s the type of career I would like to be able to have, one that comes naturally. He’s truly living the dream.

Here are some of the videos and articles about Kevin Clash and his work that I enjoyed most:

I loved this interview with Clash in the New York Times where he talks about how people react to him when they realize he’s an 6-foot-tall black man, about his life, and about the art of puppetry and making stories relevant to kids lives today.

This interview with Kevin Clash and Elmo was hilarious:

Kevin Clash on “Reading Rainbow (That was my show back in the day):

And my anthem as a child, the Dinosaur’s Baby Sinclair, “I’m the Baby, Gotta Love Me”

I’ve been seeing so much about Ms. Raven-Symoné lately, and she is certainly doing her thing, living out her dreams and pursuing her creative passions. I posted a few days ago about her interview on Donny Deutsch, and I just read about her online on The Los Angeles Times (CEO Raven-Symoné, chief entertainment officer) and Black Enterprise (Raven-Symoné Gets Real About Fame, Flops, And The Pressures Of Young Hollywood).

She also appeared on Oprah a few weeks ago with the rest of the Cosby Show cast (click here to read about the show on the Oprah website) , and that’s when I found out about her new website, Raven Symoné Presents. In the she has videos showing how to make crafts, recipes, and all types of fun and practical things. Check it out!

Raven Symone, one of my favorite actresses and business women, was on one of my favorite shows last night, “The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.” She’s only 22, and is already an extremely accomplished young woman who sets the standard and rises above it as a musician, actress, producer, and entrepreneur. Raven not only has her own television show on the Disney Channel and a growing media empire, she has also starred in numerous movies (including ‘College Road Trip,’ now in theaters), TV shows and has won countless awards for her lively talent. We all knew her as the adorable Olivia Kendall on the ‘Cosby Show’, and now she is a mature, energetic, and hilarious role model for young people everywhere.

I was so excited, then missed it when it came on because I was too busy studying. I found these clips of it online today on the Disney Society Blog. Raven describes her brand as “positivity, confidence, being yourself and self-respect.” I was really inspired by what she had to say about building her brand, overcoming naysayers and her movie coming out, "College Road Trip" which I would love to see. Here’s what she had to say: