28th Edition: Serena Williams, Production value & Important mistakes
Thanks for being here
Hey everyone, hope you’re having a wonder-full week
I’m in Miami for Tech Week.
There’s been a lot of buzz about Miami being “the city of the future” and now I get why. Positive attitudes + community spirit = emergence of life-changing tech.
“Miami is a city built by immigrants, so people here are very welcoming.”—Manny Medina, Founder & Chairman of eMerge Americas
Having been an expat three times in the past eight years, I know how important “open arms” are to helping newcomers put down roots.
As a visitor, I love Miami’s community vibe and I’m grateful to be soaking up as much as I can about Web3’s potential to redistribute wealth and education.
💌 Stay tuned for more updates, and if you’re in Miami, let me know.
Now, here are 3 gems I want to share with you:
An experience to inspire: Serena Williams’ keynote
Powerhouse Serena Williams spoke at the eMerge Americas conference about how her tennis career prepared her to become an entrepreneur and investor. Here are her tips:
Practice your craft to get good and keep improving
Embrace self-doubt as validation you’re levelling up
Work with a coach but know results come from the work you do on your own
Embrace mistakes to learn and improve
Be humble and kind
“Only 5% of software engineers are Black and less than 20% are female.”
Williams' shared these appalling stats on the diversity gap in software engineering and how she’s building a bridge with her fund, Serena Ventures. For example, the fund has partnered with a company called Karat to double the number of Black engineers in the US.
Williams’ achievements on the court have long inspired me, and I have even more respect for her after seeing King Richard—a film depicting how she overcame adversity to achieve unimaginable success.
🔥 Challenge: Reflect on your mission in life. What principles keep you motivated to keep pursuing it?
A resource to consider: The ALF method
Running online courses requires minimum viable “production value.”
Students will disengage—or get flat out annoyed—if they’re struggling to hear or see you when you’re facilitating.
A lot of instructors I’ve worked with try to offset this by investing in the best gadgets—cameras, mics, you name it. But before you make any big purchases, you should assess your needs.
Here are some great tips from online course camera man, Cam Houser:
Note: If you’re going to splurge, do it on a mic and get a cheaper camera. Having clear audio is most important.
🎙️ Challenge: Establish your minimal needs in terms of production value, and make changes to your setup accordingly.
A question to ponder: Important mistakes
My favourite part of Serena Williams’ keynote was her response to a question about what she would tell her younger self 10-20 years ago.
“I wouldn’t tell my younger self anything because my mistakes have helped shape the woman I am today.”
There’s so much wisdom in that statement. I love it.
💭 Questions: What mistakes are you grateful for? What lessons did they teach you that helped shape who you are today?
A gesture to consider: Donating to Ukrainians
Here are some causes you can support (though I recommend doing your own research): 🏥 Ukrainian Red Cross,🪖 Come Back Alive, 🚸 Voices of Children
May we continue to support Ukrainians until they’re peacefully home. 💙💛
Thanks for reading my 28th newsletter
We’re now 125 people within this vibrant community. And my goal is to nurture the art of reflection amongst us.
I’d love your feedback on how I can make future editions beneficial. So if you have an idea or burning question I could address, hit reply and we’re off.
Have a wonder-full week,
"Embrace self-doubt as validation you’re levelling up" - that's the good stuff. A constant reminder for me when I'm "freaking out" as to what I'm pursuing in life 😅