What has Inspired me to be who I am today? ‘Passionately Failing Towards Success’

It’s an interesting journey when we work on something so relentlessly. I have been reflecting on my life recently and I now understand how important it is to stay committed, to take action, be consistent, stay the course, re-adjust and reset all along the way. When we stay committed to the things we love, we learn more about what we are doing. We learn the best or the easiest way to do things and we gain more experiences and skills. I have said this in a previous Blog but I think it's worth repeating - I look at my life over the last 5 years and I have grown more within that time than the previous 34 years. That is because I took a step forward and kept following through; even at times when I didn’t know where I was going, even when I was all alone. And even when people didn’t believe in me or what I was doing. You need to get to that stage where you believe in yourself enough to keep going even when it feels as if all the odds are against you. It is persevering through the challenges that helped build my self belief. I never gave up and I learned that every experience we have in our lives is a stepping stone into the next chapter. Who I am today is because of my past experiences and the people I have met all along the way, including those that inspired me. So this week, one of my beautiful staff, Clara, gave me these questions to answer around inspiration.

What or who inspires you?

Storytelling/Theatre

A lot of things inspire me throughout my life. One of the first moments I can remember was when I was 5 years old. My family took me to a show at our local theatre in Hastings. I remember the audience laughing and enjoying it. Then, there was a moment when the audience of a thousand people went silent. I looked at the stage and saw an actress on stage crying and the other actors were all focused on her. I remember being fascinated by what was happening and the effect the actors had on us as an audience. I remember thinking, I want to do that! It wasn’t until I was older that I realized we were captivated by that moment. It was in that moment when my love of storytelling and acting first began. The ability to aid, move, entertain and inspire people has been one of my greatest loves and passions in life. I am inspired by the Art of storytelling and the ability we have to inspire others.

My Grandfather

My grandfather who raised me, and I call Dad, was my hero. He loved people and people loved him. He spent his life reaching out and serving people. He worked hard and always went beyond the call of duty. He was an amazing speaker, storyteller, mortician, singer, dancer, cook, bricklayer, boxer and more. He was one of the most talented persons I know and everything that he did, he was great at. This taught me to have curiosity to explore life and many different things. The biggest thing I learned from him was the love language of service.

My older brother

He taught me the importance of being myself. He is my biggest supporter and he has always challenged me to be better and to do better. He would help me understand new concept, and get clarity around experiences. He has always believed in me and constantly encourages me to keep going and to never give up. He is always the first person I tell my biggest wins to and I am appreciative that I know he will always be there for me.

My daughter

She has taught me how to be a better human being. She inspires me everyday to be a better mum and woman. This is especially true when I see the love she has for me that is unconditional and without expectation to be anything else but who I am. She really is my greatest gift from God. She inspires me to be my utmost best because I want her to learn that she can achieve anything she puts her mind to because she saw me do it. Her love of life, her curious nature and her constant joy inspires me to never loose the child like love and curiosity of life.

Where do you get your motivation from?

My motivation has been through my passion for the things that I love and the challenges & difficulties I've experienced. A few of my top passions are People, Performing Arts & Personal Development. I get obsessed when I am passionate about the things I love. My obsessions helped me graduate university, start up my business, grow my business, create shows for myself and my students. My obsession and passions have pushed me through challenging, scary and confusing moments. Or during those times where I am unsure of what I am doing. My past experiences have inspired me to want to be better. I haven’t had an easy life and have been through some really traumatic experiences. Experiences that left me hurt, broken and scared at times. However, these experiences have helped me create projects, programmes, workshops so that I can help others to not go through what I did. Parts of my childhood has taught me and inspired me to be a better mum, facilitator, sister, artist, friend & leader.

What made you start your projects?

I always had big dreams to start up initiatives, businesses, projects and events. I just didn’t know where to start. A lot of the time it’s a lesson we have to learn through experience, trying new things, putting ourselves out there and saying yes to opportunities. So I would put myself out there, sometimes offer my services, or I would stumble upon opportunities. This built my confidence in myself and grew my skills. I started to do one project and that led me on to another. Then, I got to the stage where I began to create my own initiatives, projects, events and then eventually, my business. The last job I had was for a big organization and being in this company made me realize a few things:

1: They didn’t want me to dream too big. I would create these big initiatives on a shoestring budget and they didn’t care. Nor did they support me.

2. I tried to utilize many of my skills and talents but my ideas and talents were ignored. This drove me to start my business because I wanted to be able to grow, to upskill, to utilize my skills and talents. I never wanted to work for anyone who would stifle my abilities and put me in a box. This has inspired me be more collaborative as a business owner and to help the people who work for me be able to utilize their strengths for their personal growth.

What are the things / situations / events that catapult you into action?

Seeing a need and filling that need is what drives me now. Plus, once I make a decision to do something, I am all in. I try my best to go above and beyond the call of duty and create as much value around what we are delivering. To be honest, I wish I was further along than I am now. I wish things grew faster, I had a bigger team, more money and more hours in the day. However, I know my goals and visions and it is all about timing and aligning. So, the vision of my goals continues to drive me into action. Responses to the world catapult me to into action whether through the work I develop, the programme I deliver, the stories I tell, the projects I choose to be a part of or the content I put online.

Where or how did Maia Dreams or Kristyl The Drama Queen start or why?

Maia means "confident" in Maori. So, Maia Dreams means to have Confident Dreams. Maia Dreams was first conceived when I was 15 years old. I remember wanting to achieve so much in my life but I never knew where to start. I didn’t know if I could even achieve those things I dreamed of. Believing in ourselves and creating dreams that will come true because we work at them and never give up. I hoped I could but I just wished that someone could help me to achieve them. Still, today, I have this constant yearning and hunger to improve, to grow, to learn and make a huge impact in this world. Maia Dreams is still not where I know it will be in the future but we are headed in the right direction. As I finally started to be the woman I know I was destined to be, it has taught me so much about what it really takes to succeed and be our most authentic selves. I know the struggle and the work that it takes and I am only at the beginning of this exciting journey. So, our vision for Maia Dreams is to help and serve others to achieve their goals in confidence and in their lives.

Kristyl The Drama Queen

This page stemmed from an idea to reach more people as an Artist. I wanted more control of my life by creating a platform to tell stories and not wait for other people to do that for me. As a Maori female actress, there wasn't a lot of opportunities for me. So I wanted to create that opportunity, like I do for my own solo shows, children's showings and most things in my life. This was how I started up this page to showcase some of my skits. It has morphed and changed over the years and I am still figuring it out and what that looks like. It is a work in progress. However, I hope that sharing my journey to success can somehow inspire even just one person to work on their dreams. I know that as long as I stick it out like how I do everything in my life, things will start to become clearer.

I have learnt to write down moments of inspiration. These moments allow me to get a clearer vision of my life's purposes and direction. I constantly search for people to follow, learn from or seek advice from. These people offer me the stepping stones and keys to succeed in what I am trying to achieve. I watch, read, listen and view things that inspire me because what I allow into my life may be instrumental or detrimental to my progress. So, I am always conscious in choosing what I let in, wisely. I just want to be a little better than I was yesterday so I work everyday on improving myself even if it is a single step. You know what they say, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Photography Credit: Charlotte Anderson