The Dare Dreamer Movement by Julene Fleurmond

The Young Dreamer section consists of content from Dreamfleur’s youth motivation site www.DreamerENT.com and other posts prevalent to encouraging youth to be creative and enterprising.

Corbin Bleu has been one of my favorite actors and performers since I was a teen watching him in High School Musical (you may even say I developed a slight crush back then – but I digress;). I love his approach to his work and how he doesn’t just label himself as a dancer, singer or actor but as an artist.

Here’s a quote I was inspired by from a recent interview he did after his stint at the Hollywood Bowl’s “Hairspray,” talking about music and how it connects us, and his advice to aspiring performers:

“I’ll never understand why…we can’t all feel free to sing whether good, bad, trained voice or not. When it comes to a profession, yes we should want the best of the best voices. But our society has made us feel as though if you don’t sing well, you shouldn’t.

“I recently visited Fiji and I experienced one of the most incredible things. Every person in the country will sing to you. They have native songs that everyone knows.

“For example there is a goodbye song, and every place I left in Fiji everybody sang this song to see us off. Music and singing are such inspirational and freeing tools. Everyone should use them!

“Words of wisdom for aspiring performers? Til the day we die, we are always learning. Who we become depends on how we apply what we’ve learned to better our lives. As performers, our position is to know and portray the lives of others. So the amount we can learn is multiplied.”

From an interview on Playbill.com

Today I added the story behind my creative clothing line Envibrance Dream Apparel to the store and wanted to share it here as well.

The first phase of the Envibrance line is designed and dedicated to young people, in combination with my youth motivational speaking services. Later I will be launching a special Dreamfleur Line especially for women, as well as expanding the line for men. Read more about the story behind the line below.

I’m also partnering with my friend and mentor, motivational coach and speaker Evelina Solis (pictured above), founder of the inspirational speaking company Sol2Soul to spread the message of the line. Watch Evelina and youth motivational speakers Gabe Salazar and Patrick Perez introduce the line below:

The Story

Julene, the founder of Envibrance Dream Apparel was inspired to begin the company after a series of events:



– Ever since she was a child Julene has enjoyed painting, drawing, and other arts and crafts and attempts to use her abilities as gifts to others. She started her design and media company Envibrance Studios in 2002 as a teen, minored in art in college and wanted to find a way to create original art to share with others…



– She had always liked cute and feminine t-shirts, but often could not find any with messages she liked or with un-cluttered, pretty graphics that could be dressed up with cute layering and accessories or dressed down for casual occasions. (Of course we also offer T-shirts for guys too!:)



– When visiting her mother’s homeland of Haiti after the earthquake she was shocked at the standards of living there and wanted to give back in some way through product sales (a portion of Envibrance Dream Apparel sales will go towards charitable causes, including helping people in Haiti). She also saw some of her cousins in Haiti wearing second-hand brand-name t-shirts with scary images of skulls and decided to create positive t-shirts for youth to wear instead (this is an upcoming project of Envibrance Dream Creations, stay tuned).



– While working with youth as a motivational speaker, Julene often saw teens and tweens wearing shirts with negative messages. She began creating her own positive shirts to sell and wear at events, and to donate to special youth events and organizations (such as the shirts pictured above).



– There are so many t-shirts out there already but very few merge positive messages with bold, artistic graphics – there’s a first time for everything;)

I hope you’ll support the Envibrance movement by purchasing a T-shirt from my shop by clicking here. You can get one for yourself, or maybe a young person in your life.

On my youth site DreamerENT.com I posted this inspiration interview featuring the talented Keke Palmer, who you may know as a singer and actress in movies like her most recent one Joyful Noise (which I’m looking forward to seeing), Shrink, The Longshots, and Akeelah and the Bee (one of my favorites, though she’s definitely matured into other roles that have allowed her to stretch and grow).

I love how Keke’s roles and music are relatable and positive and how far she’s come since her early acting days. She’s one of my favorite actresses and I even was inspired by her advice in this interview to break through my fear of others’ opinions and start taking acting classes.

Through my work at the Valder Beebe Show I sent in questions for Keke to answer to give advice to young people on following their dreams. Here’s what she had to say below (part of a longer interview segment I was able to produce):

You may know her best from her role on the hit Nickelodeon show True Jackson V.P. about a teen girl who becomes a vice president at a billion dollar fashion company (talk about dreaming big:).

Keke has starred in numerous movie roles including movies like Shrink, The Longshots, Madeas’s Family Reunion, The Wool Cap and Jump In. She also stole our hearts and had us cheering for her character, the sassy Akeelah Anderson in the inspiring movie Akeelah and the Bee, opposite actor Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett. Her energetic and upbeat personality and truly natural talents, spanning film, television, and music alike, have made her one of the fastest rising young stars in entertainment today. She started pursuing her dreams of singing and acting at a young age, and her hard work and determination has really paid off!

Our media partner The Valder Beebe Show chatted with Keke about the advice she would give to young people on following their dreams. Read and listen to what she had to say:

Q: You found out and pursued what you love to do at a young age. What advice would you give young people on finding their passions and following their dreams?
(more…)

This heart-warming true story of how a high school football team from Grapevine Faith Academy shows encouragement and respect to the players of the opposing team from Gainesville State School will inspire you. The players from Gainesville came from rough neighborhoods and have faced obstacles and hardships in life including defeats on the field and off…

Warning: Around the middle of the video I felt an emotional wave of “I want to cry,” come over me; it’s amazing what a difference a gesture of compassion can have on someone’s life – this is what acceptance and love in action looks like:

2012 Update: A movie entitled “One Heart” is now being filmed chronicling this amazing story. The film stars Marc Blucas, Romeo Miller and Abigail Spencer and is being shot right here in the Dallas area. Visit http://www.oneheartmovie.com to find out more!

The PS22 Chorus became a Youtube sensation a few years back with their soulful videos of students singing covers of popular songs in class. Watching their videos make me smile and I love the emotions the kids show while performing. In the video below Gregg Breinberg, the teacher who started PS22 and some of his students talk about how it got started:

The confidence built in the students just goes to show how much of an impact the arts and wonderful mentors can make in their lives. In an interview Gregg Breinberg, the teacher who started the music class talks about how singing changes young people:

“It’s all about self-confidence. That is what the arts has to offer, especially to kids that aren’t necessarily succeeding academically. Throughout their chorus experience, my students recognize that their musical achievements are something they earn for themselves through hard work and dedication. That is a life lesson that does not restrict itself to music…

“Focus, concentration, and stamina are undeniably strengthened as well. Music and the arts are just the tool to unlock the hidden potential, and as it manifests, it carries over to all other areas of school and hopefully ultimately life…

“…I do hope as they move on that the memories of these unbelievable experiences the PS22 Chorus kids have earned for themselves will be a continued source of inspiration that they can call upon throughout their lives. I always try to remind them that they themselves have become living proof that through hard work, anything is possible.”

– Gregg Breinberg, Click here for the full interview on Open Education

Here is one of my favorite videos from PS22 featuring a talented young lady Denise; her cover of Chris Tomlin’s “How Great is Our God” is unique and beautiful: