The Moment I Learned I'd Been Nominated for My HBCU Hampton University's Forty Under 40 Society
Getting the official “Congratulations on Your Forty Under 40 Nomination” felt more exciting than when I actually learned I’d been selected. Well, let me set the scene. Here I am in the middle of a “healthy” fast-food joint with my friend, Amanda, in Raleigh, North Carolina, right after we found ourselves in the middle of a hotel room fiasco. Yup! That’s when I got the news . We were in town for Dreamville Fest and it just so happened to fall on the weekend right after my birthday, April 1. I’d heard all the buzz about J.Cole’s music festival over the years and wanted to see for myself, even though I was living across the country in Los Angeles at the time. Plus, I hadn’t been to a music festival in years .
Of course, my best travel partner, Amanda, was down for my usual shenanigans. Now, here’s what happened with our hotel room. First things first, anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to travel, I like to dot my i’s and cross my t’s. I did what I normally do, I researched hotels closest to the venue based on best quality, then I checked to see if those spots were available on the Chase travel site (hello rewards points!). To keep it real, I’ve had the Chase Reserve card for so long, 10 years to be exact (talk about long-term commitment!), it just made sense. Long story short, the hotel ended up being overbooked and I didn’t find out until I was already at the airport. Luckily, we handled it like champs.
We ended up booking a hotel nearby (the last room they had!), but while waiting in the restaurant I got an email notification about a new message. It’s from the Hampton University Alumni Affairs office about my Forty Under 40 nomination. One of the major noms I’d gotten was from an OG Hampton alum I’d met on one of the network lots in LA. I also can’t talk about this without sharing how intentional I was about connecting with an ERG while working at my “big girl” entertainment news job. This all happened while I had an unconventional work schedule, but hey that’s the industry and news doesn’t stop!
Looking back on all these moments now I realize I’ve never let anything get in the way of what I truly want, whether that’s my work schedule, living thousands of miles away or anything else for that matter. If I could share a gem of advice to a friend, Hampton U classmate or anyone else taking the time to read this, I’d say to go big and always go for it!
Until next time …
KJC
