Paulana Lamonier – Stronger with Her

Paulana has shades on her face, red lipstick well applied, a car full of fuel and is ready for the road to success. She will be “live in three, two, one.” I met her in 2015 through our friend Michael Joseph. The first thing that stood out about her was her vivaciousness. Around her there is much LIFE, laughter and fun. There is this vibrant spirit about her. I admire her love for the community and desire to bring people together. She wanted a job at Complex Magazine, so she started a sight-unseeing plan and created a website, ComplexPleaseHirePaulana.com. Though she wasn’t granted the position, it didn’t cause her to be a goal dropout. Rather, it added more fuel to the fire she has inside. Go hard or go home. She has been going hard. Now, she is a multi-media journalist who loves telling compelling stories that you don’t normally see in the media. She’s done interviews with K. Michelle, Loni Love and many more. You go girl!

Here goes my virtual questionnaire with Paulana

1. What is one thing you would you like the audience to know about you?
   Don’t touch my food. It’s funny now, but just don’t do it.

2. How do you deal with failures, hardships, judgmental and pessimistic people?
   One of the ways I deal with that is changing my perspective and not seeing it as a failure, but a lesson. I always ask myself “what went wrong and how can I do better?” Our perspective on a situation not only changes the way we see it, but also adjusts how we respond to it and life it not about things happening to us, but how we respond to them. As far as judgmental and pessimistic people, I just keep them at a distance. The type of energy I have around me is very important and people like that tend to not bring good energy.

3. What is the one thing that you would say contributed most to your success?
   To be honest, I am nowhere close to where I want to be. But. I am getting there (insert praise break). The only reason I got this far in my career is God and I’ll explain why. A lot of what I do is inspired by prayer, the Bible and having a unique perspective on certain things — which is why I’m able to write about them. God is my agent, publicist, personal trainer, so I can’t go wrong.

4. What advice would you offer women wanting to be like you and make a difference.
   Make sure you know your why. We may do something because we love it, but once we learn our why it makes us go harder in what we do. Most importantly, make sure you are serving people in what you do. That is what truly makes a difference and makes you stand out.

PSA: Do you want to know how to swim to save your life or a life of someone else? Look no further. She is also a swimming coach. I’m stronger with her as I learn from her. I learned from her story just how far and how hard I have to push to accomplish my goals. Go far and push hard. When a door is closed, find another door that will open.

Here’s to doors opening at ABC, CNN and NBC for you Paulana
Cheers!