What's your why in all of this?
My why?
It is so deeply entrenched in my soul. It was a vision.
One day when I was riding in the car with my then manager, I had a record deal with George Clinton
at the time and as we were coming from the studio, I just had like the vision was so big.
It was like in my mind this whirling cloud that I knew I did not have
all of the pieces to and something in my life told me that the pieces would come and I've never been able to shake it.
And here's the thing. I've grown up on both sides of the track.
I know what it is to have grandparents that see a vision for you and want to give you everything.
And I also know what it is to have parents that get lost in the muck and the mire of their own traumas or circumstances
and the sacrifice of children, which is horrible to me.
And every time I look at a child, I think about all of the different opportunities that I have been given.
And I don't see
as many people giving back in our own community.
It kind of pains me to see us have to go outside of our community.
They think that mentorship is out of reach. They think it belongs only to the rich.
They don't even understand that every time that you encourage the next person,
maybe even just have a simple conversation with them that lifts them out of their own sense of darkness
that you are creating a light that will ripple down maybe even generations.
And I just can't shake it. It's within me.
So I feel like I'm not doing my job, what my spirit came here for,
if I don't assist the next person any chance that I have, even if it's only in word.
Yeah, yeah. I get that totally. That's that gut wrenching,
do this, do this, do this. And of course, I have to mention, delayed obedience is disobedience, right?
Absolutely.
So as you keep getting that feeling and now you have this organization,
when it comes to the organization specifically, how did you get started?
Well, like I said, when I joined the skate club with my brother,
we hit a point, our first year competing was 2018.
And then all of a sudden, two years later, as we're ready to compete again,
we're locked down. And as we get into this lockdown, my spirit was like, no, this is not a lockdown.
This is freedom. I actually don't have to get up and run to somebody set at four dark 30 in the morning.
I don't have to worry about someone else's dream.
What can I do with this time?
So while everybody else was fearful and, you know, masking up,
I went out in nature and I allowed my mind to say, you have the time, sit down.
What are you going to do with this time?
So I wrote Dwayne's World Skate Foundation.
I researched, I looked at the demographics, I looked at my grandchildren.
I said, what legacy am I going to have for them?
And I looked at so many children who were suffering trauma, wearing a mask, not being able to go to school.
And I looked at the fact that so many educational programs, I mean, we had Schoolhouse Rock
and they don't have anything like that on television.
That is really actually identifying a need and teaching with a purpose.
And I said, maybe this is what my actual goal is.
I have been given too many gifts, too many blessings.
I can orate, I can read, I can write, I can dream.
I can, I've traveled all over the world in so many different industries.
And these things that have been other people's end all, be all goals,
are just stepping stones to me. So there's got to be something so much bigger.
So I used COVID as my opportunity to create my own vision.
And I've taken the slow route with it.
And I think that anything that is worth having is worth the time that it takes to stew and simmer.
So that is where I am with it right at this point.
And I'm just hoping that people can see my work and see my work.
I'm just hoping that people can see my vision and want to join me and help create something spectacular.
Absolutely. Absolutely.
And you know, you're not the only entrepreneur, leader, business owner who's talked about
sitting in COVID and allowing that to build them into, in my own words, a better person,
helping the world and finding and honing in on our specific purpose.
And I often tell people, if it didn't break you, it made you.
You know, like you said, it sat you down, it got your mind going.
And at that point, you utilized it as a stepping stone to creating something
that was so much bigger than yourself.
And seeing what you see now and knowing what you know now,
now that everything's back in the groove and we're all on Zoom and you're on a podcast right now,
it just seemed like everything just, it rose, you know, it created so many different opportunities.
So I definitely can sit here and say that you had the right moment at the right time.
And now that you're here on the podcast, what is it that you would want the audience to know
or an action step to take while you're on this podcast today?
Well, an action step that I would like to take at this particular point is to be able to pitch
this concept and build the team that is necessary because film is a turnkey operation that takes a
crew of anywhere from 35 to 150, depending upon the goal. It is also a financial endeavor.
So I created it with the thought in mind of it becoming intellectual property for the masses
to be able to view at the same time providing this opportunity where these children, as they work,
they'd be able to create a system of financial resources for them later on, maybe in trust,
that could turn into either a college career or their own business as they go.
So I'm looking for more people to help me build out this team. I'm looking for organizations
and outreach as well as corporate sponsorship to be able to bring a script or bring a project to
manifestation so we can get these working professionals. Hollywood has taken a hit
recently and it continues to do so. So there's need even in the industry for a new way of moving
forward, impairing these working professionals to maintain our craft. I'm looking at the desire to
be in the upper echelon of your fields. I'm looking at that not be a desire anymore. People
are willing to do the bare minimum. And if we as human beings are going to leave a legacy,
we have to strive for excellence. We have to strive to better ourselves, not go backwards in
time, so to speak. So I'm looking for people, organizations, corporations that would want to
convey a bigger picture for our future generations to join me in this endeavor.
Absolutely. And I thank you for sharing that. Do you have a website that they can go to
to obtain more information? Well, that's actually on the build. I've bought the soul train.com,
which is for the studio. This has been me by myself pretty much up until this year.
I've been starting to build a team. So where you are in the beginning process, I do have my social
media, which features my brother. It features myself. And I do have all of the necessary things
to begin to build. I have the recording studio. I've got the film people. I've got schools that
I've started with in the West suburbs. It's a provisional West and a mentorship program that
I will be speaking to actually next Friday regarding pretty much this topic, how mentorship
can help. And they will be for the next four years, the students that I work with to bring
forward all of this passion. Nice. Well, thank you so much. And your social media is the soul
Willis or what's your hand? Okay. Okay. So if you look at this old Willis, you will find
a Facebook, you'll find my IMDb, you'll find my TikTok, my LinkedIn. I am not, I'm a shy
social media person. I really, I do, I post about the things that I feel are really relevant
at the moment. I'm not a daily poster. Look at the food that I'm eating. That's kind of
things that are important. They get posted. Absolutely. Absolutely. No expectations at all.
And it's funny you say that because you've been in film and dance and I did not expect to hear
that at all. That's what makes me giggle. You seem like just someone who's so lively that I could be,
you know, on there and I see you with your phone and yes, you looking at your food and all these
other places. Wow. I love that. It's funny though, every job that I've ever taken in film has put me
behind the camera. I'm assistant director, producer, production manager. So those are all behind
the camera roles. And even as a choreographer, everyone else was the star. I worked in artist
development. When I got my record deal, it was actually pushed upon me. I think I'm the only
person in history that's had three record deals and never actually went after one. They were just
kind of always given to me because of the talent. But I don't think at that time I really had the
self belief that I was that girl. So I've always seen the light in others and worked very hard
to give other people opportunities. Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned
into Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue
to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as
well. We'll invite people to participate in the show and thank you for giving us your time and
attention. Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.