Turning Intimidation Into Inspiration

Photo by William Daigneault on Unsplash

Have you ever been in a room with people who are so amazing, it intimidates you? Have you ever felt small by the outsized success and virtue of others?

I have. It happened as I was working as a crew member on a documentary film production by Roadtrip Nation (RTN).

At some point, we stopped by Detroit to interview Pastor Barry Randolph; he’s turned his church into a community hub that owns 213 low-income housing units, a business/non-profit incubator, employment services, internet services, attorney services, accountancy services, a bike shop, and a commercial kitchen.

Oh, and he hosts a weekly meeting with a group of young Black entrepreneurs that he mentors.

Pastor Barry Randolph and I outside of his church.

We were lucky enough to come when Pastor Randolph was hosting his group of mentees. We sat in on the meeting, and believe me, there isn’t a person alive who wouldn’t be dumbfounded by the group of talented young adults in that circle.

There was a twenty-year-old who owns six real estate properties. Another twenty-year-old in attendance owned a smoothie business while also attending Michigan State. Yet another twenty-year-old owned a seasoning business that…