How has your upbringing shaped where you are today?

• “I grew up in a household of a single father and all boys. I live my life by three things my father used to preach to me constantly, (1) Can’t is not in your vocabulary, (2) You are short but you walk around like you are 6’4 , and (3) We are all we got. I was always taught to take everything head on, there is not a doubt in my mind that I can do anything I set my mind to. My father is very supportive and he always makes a way . So, if I want something, I am going to make a way and make it happen.” 

• “My feminine and my masculine energy are literally half. But, sometimes I am more masculine depending on what Kym you are dealing with that day. I grew up around men but I have a very solid foundation of being a female. I have four good female friends and we are still close to today. So, I had a balance of masculine and feminine energy in my upbringing.”

As an adolescence, we usually dream about the direction we would like our life to go, within our career paths. What was your dream during this time?

• “When I was 13 and 15 I wanted to be an attorney. I have an aggressive and abrasive family and I grew up in a household where we were praised for being  curious but also for standing up and having our own opinion. One day, my dad introduced me to his friend who is an attorney and she took me to a National Bar Association meeting where I was surrounded by black lawyers, including Cornell West. I remember that was the first time I saw a group of black people who were educated, articulated, well outspoken and successful in articulating their point. At that moment, I decided I want to become a lawyer, plus I was known for being bossy. “

• “In addition to wanting to pursue law, I also wanted to be a fashion designer. While growing up my dad  bought me this sewing kit and I took classes to learn how to sow. I remember calling my mentor and saying I’m going to be a fashion designer and she said no you are going to be an attorney. So, I said okay I’m going to be an attorney. “

Can you talk to me about specific instances that influenced you to diverge from the route that you were on? How did these instances lead you to your current situation?

• “I think it was all about exposure. I grew up in Los Angeles in a low-income family, so while I did not come from a family of wealth, my dad made sure I was exposed to a lot of professions. He was a single father who had a village. My dad was a preacher’s kid and like him, I grew up in the church, and was exposed to alot of professions because I was able to shadow many members in the Church in their careers.  If I was curious about anything my dad will say, “I have this friend , I’ll ask her if you can shadow her”. 

• “I’ll never forget, I always wanted to be like my dad. He is creative, talented, a hustler, charming, and well spoken.  I think because he did not have the exposure when he was our age he could not go where I could go. I think he made sure we had the resources we needed because he did not have those resources while growing up. I wanted to be just like him and how I got into what I am doing now is because my dad is a professional musician turned digital media technologist. Growing up I would see him finnicking with the camera and editing photos on photoshop. As his little daughter I would always be with him, my brothers were in the streets.  Growing up in music and fashion, I was taught to be creative and one day everything clicked. The summer before my senior year of highschool,I took a computer science class and an art class and it was one of the best summers of my life. It was dope, I thought I could mesh the two together; art and tech. “

Would you say you are in the grey area currently?

• “Yes. Before working in corporate America, I went straight from undergraduate to grad school and during that time I started a company.  I feel I am in a limbo period where I am no longer in school anymore and I am finally at a place in my life where I can chill. The last 23 years I have been studying for school or building my company. But, although I am working full time now, a part of me still wants to work on my company. I have this big dream of taking my company public and becoming the first black tech entrepreneur but I am not sure if I am cut out for it. To do so, would mean sacrifices on behalf, and I’m not sure I am ready to make those sacrifices.”
• “Right now I am comfortable, I graduated college, I have a nice apartment and I am currently dating this guy I like…life is pretty good right now and I want to sit here for a moment. I’ve been a struggling broke college student for years, do I really want to go back to that? If I do transition and run this company full time, I will truly be on my own. But at the same time it is really what I want to do, because I work for a venture capitalist firm that invests in people’s ideas. I see these people who come to me everyday, who want to change the world and I think to myself why am I not working on my idea?”

Do you believe the grey area is temporary or permanent?

• “Temporary. I look at the grey area as a growing pain. A necessary rough time block period in your life to explore and get back to yourself. In the grey area you have a choice. You can reflect on your choices and actions, but if whatever you choose not to change is a choice. The grey area is a process of reflection, you need to understand what it is you need to change. If it is in your control then it is your choice at that point. You either choose to do something about it or you do not.”

Why did you decide to go to college?

• “I viewed college as my only way out. My dad said you have 3 options (1) go to college , (2) get a job, or (3) go to the military,  but you are not staying in my house. None of my parents are college educated so I knew if I wanted to do something better with my life, I had to go to college. I knew that was something innate in me. My dad struggled in life and even though he has so much potential, I felt he could not capitalize on it because he did not go to college and had to raise 3 kids.”

When beginning college, what were your initial feelings and thoughts?

• “A lot of my friends stayed home in California for college. I was the only one of my friends who went to school in DC and across the country. I remember not having any money freshman year because my dad and I filled out the FASFA wrong. But, I was working all senior year  of highschool so I could finance my trip to D.C. to attend Howard’s student orientation and return to California. Then, my dad and I made a plan, he said you are going to fly out to last orientation in July and you are going to stay in DC with your brother until school starts. So, I packed up all my belongings and flew to DC. While he was there for my orientation, he was not able to be there for my college move-in day. I’ll never forget that feeling, my roommate had her family helping her move in and not having my family there brought me to tears. I moved myself in and immediately had to go to work. My roommate was like you aren’t coming out with us? You don’t want to come to the Yard? I could not because I was going to work.”

Was college worth the debt?

• “I worked through college and took out loans. I got my first internship at this tech company and made 10k in a summer and made 8k in back taxes. I did not have to take out much loans for undergrad because I  saved my internship money to pay for Howard. I do not have much undergrad debt, but my grad school debt is a lot. But, in the end it was definitely worth the debt, not because of my education but because of the amazing people to whom I was exposed.  I was able to meet and share the room with the founder of Pay Pal Peter Theil and founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey who became my mentor. I also had the pleasure of meeting Deborah Lee who is the CEO of BET, who put me in contact with Harvard Business School so I can begin my next steps. If I never went to college, I would have never met any of them, so it is definitely worth the debt.”

During your post-graduation phase of life, are there any lessons you learned and would like to share?

•  “Watch the company you keep.Birds of a feather flock together. The people you surround yourself with can either be a cage or inspiration. I learned that lesson the hard way through multiple business partners and in the business field. Be sure to believe in yourself and not give up.  Times when I didn’t believe in myself, I was grateful to have people around me who believed in me and gave me the courage to believe in myself. Which is why I say watch the company you keep around you.” 

• “If you really want something it will come. No doesn’t mean never… just not now, could be yes. For instance, I went to Sephora a year ago to pitch my product and they said no to me and now they said yes. So many no’s is closer to a yes. If it’s something you really want to do it will work out. Have faith that your goals will manifest and be sure to put in the work because it is not going to come to you out of nowhere. “