The “All Girls Club” with Ivy Awino aka DJ Poizon Ivy

There are a lot of valuable qualities that make someone an amazing contributor to society and an all-around great human being. The fact that they are inherently introspective and have an authentic concern for others is something that is so rare but is so critical in a world that makes it easy to forget how to be human.

All of these qualities exist in Ivy Awino, aka DJ Poizon Ivy, the sports sound strategist for the Dallas Mavericks. The most infectious, for me at least, is the fact that this woman knows her worth. Having a genuine sense of self is another rare quality that we — as minority women — are conditioned to downplay or place on the figurative shelf, along with the confidence to advocate for ourselves, overcome our fears, or overcome our pride.

Three important concepts come to mind from my conversation with Ivy:

• The systems that are in place to pursue our passions
• The power of the subconscious
• The importance of building meaningful, human relationships

Ivy’s interests and passions are at the intersection of sports, business, and music. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, she was surrounded by international music in her home 24/7, which naturally gave her a glimpse into a wide range of possibilities to pursue, explore, and cultivate. Being raised by her extended family also had a significant influence on her journey that helped reinforce her interests. Specifically, how they created a system for her to pursue her passions and most importantly: the ability to manifest her purpose.

When we think about our own influences, it’s important to point out that these systems can ebb and flow throughout our lifetime and at different stages in life. This makes us ponder: Who is in your own “influential system,” in your personal and even professional lives today? What does this system look like personally? How do they reinforce your interest, passions, and values? Very frequently, our values aren’t exactly the same as they were 10 or 20 years ago, and it might be surprising to find that the people these systems have a huge presence in both personal and professional contexts.

During her time at Marquette University, Ivy wrote her thesis on the lack of female executives in the NBA. Inspired by Dr. Richard Lapchick’s work at UCF (the DeVos Sport Business Management Program and the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport), her thesis is an academic manifestation of all her lifelong passions from childhood, combined with her budding interest in diversity, racial equality, and leadership in sports business management.

Through her own lived experiences, Ivy emphasizes the importance of learning how others leverage their relationships, while also creating our own ways to leverage these relationships. We have to be privy to how the “old boys club” works, but we also need to make genuine human connections in a better, non-transactional way (the ALL GIRLS club)! Ivy describes it as being accountable to one another. In order to get “access,” we need to give. This spirit of generosity goes beyond being a “matcher” (those who keep an even balance of giving and taking, see Adam Grant’s Give and Take).

The more we give, especially when paying it forward, the more it enhances our network by multiplying opportunities for others. But sometimes the fear of asking in the first place is too great. When were these seeds of doubt planted in our minds? How do we stop watering them so we can take a chance on each other? Overall, the answer lies somewhere in building these human relationships, systems of influence and support, and opportunities to live out our passions in our work. When we do, we are brave enough to be vulnerable, empathetic, and open-minded. Sometimes it takes holding up a mirror to each other for us to analyze where we are and to imagine where we could be.

As a creative, Ivy acknowledges that too many people put her profession a box labelled “hobby,” and assume that nothing worthwhile or intellectually important takes place there. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

If she could write a book, she would call it the Age of Creative Becoming Sexy. The people who made creativity sexy made it accessible to the masses, like how the concept of design became hyper-commercialized in the 1980s with “potential to generate wealth and to provide a layer of designer gloss to every aspect of our daily lives” (for more on the wider breadth of using design in society and radical thinking, see Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby’s Speculative Everything).

Much like blockchain and AI were sexy buzzwords that people think will slingshot businesses into more modern times (even if those businesses are still working on mainframes). There’s still a very superficial understanding of what creativity means and its role in unlocking new solutions for innovation. We not only have the privilege of working in creative roles, we have the responsibility of being creative for the greater good in society.

Everyone has what it takes to use their individual talents and skills to help their communities in their own way. What makes it less scary and more accessible to people is the ability to find your tribe to create opportunities to make that difference. It takes creativity to be free to ask speculative questions, and it also takes creativity to tie together various disciplines to bring all our efforts together and make an impact in a new way.

To do this, Ivy suggests that our focus should be in two places: school and work. There’s a false dichotomy between education and employment, and between learning and applied experience. Because these take up so much of our existence, we have to reimagine them to reinforce each other in a more constructive way. It would be such a disservice to humanity if we went back to a “normal” that wasn’t working anyway.

Not everyone is an employer, but everyone is a teacher. If you’re one, the other, or both, ask yourself these questions:

Am I equipping those who count on me to change their life and their family’s life? Am I empowering them to impact their community positively?

If you had someone who’s done this for you, tell us the story in the comments. Listen to the podcast with Ivy here on Inner Wealth.