"YES, YES!"

Have you ever met someone, and you knew instantly you wanted to be their friend or at least connect with them? For me it was a dear friend, colleague, and motivator—the one and only Latia Vaughan, the Dream Pusher. I’m not sure I’ll ever forget the first time I saw her. (I think we met several weeks after that because we both worked with the young women at the church we were attending at the time). But anyway… she was leading the young women’s ministry at the church I recently joined. She walked in one day, and I thought wow, I want to be her friend. I want to know her. 

Fast forward nine years, we are not only friends but dear colleagues and sisters. She is helping me launch my brand and helping me reach another level professionally. (This website was our brainchild. She brought my ideas and feelings to life). She “makes my baby leap” for my churchy subscribers. For those not familiar with this phrase, it comes from the story of Jesus’ birth. When Mary, the mother of Jesus, was pregnant she went to visit her relative, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice her baby leaped inside of her. Believe it or not… the story is powerful. There are some connections, some friendships, some encounters that just feel divine. They bring out the best in us, get us excited about what is to come, and propel us forward. This is one such connection. I’d challenge you to examine your friendships for encounters that make you truly excited. These are the friends, colleagues, family that you keep close. 

In the world of research and academia, there is theft of ideas, backstabbing, and just dog-eat-dog shenanigans. Luckily, I have my collaborative sister and brother scholars who want to see me succeed and our communities win. As I’m writing this I’m reminded of the meme of Issa Raye when she said I’m rooting for everybody Black. Honestly, I’m rooting for all those who are underrepresented in the spaces they are trying to occupy. When I first started to focus on my research area (African American, Black American, caregiving, older adult living with dementia or changes in their thinking), I thought it might be too saturated with researchers or at least it felt that way. There were so many other researchers whose work I was reading and learning about. Would my ideas already be discovered? Would there be research funding for my work? This line of thinking, though, is a trick... a slippery slope. The reality is that two people can look at the exact same problem and never come up with the exact same solution or process to get to the solution. The world, your career, your area of influence, your discipline is big enough for your ideas and the ideas of someone else. “Yes, yes!” as Latia often says during our meetings. Yes, you can win. Yes, I can win. We don’t have to dim our lights or steal the light from others. We can both shine brightly. Yes, yes!

~ Dr. K