Reaching Back While Rising Up

Tonight, I sat on a panel with City Councilwoman Cheryl L. Littlejohn, and one of the big things we touched upon—and something I’m deeply committed to as a business developer and someone working in the capital space—is this idea of reaching down to help others rise.

For me, my life is a circle. People are my purpose and my passion. I understand their strains and struggles—because I’ve been everybody. But something happens to people when they get ahead: they become blind and forgetful to the reality around them. Once we settle into our own little bubble—our family, our community—we forget that there are people who have never had access, resources, love, or support to grow.

Some of this is intentional—driven by political factions and systems designed to keep people out. We’re being run, in many ways, by what feels like a modern-day mob.

But my life has been about teaching people that there is someone who sees them, someone who loves them. Even before I had a platform, that was my mission: to love people where they are and help guide them toward purpose. That’s what led me to become a life and business coach—and to create networks full of opportunity, healing, and connection.

Tonight was one of those sacred nights where I got to show up for the people most others overlook. And I want to encourage you—especially if life is getting better for you—to take a fall. Reach back. Extend your arms, your wisdom, your love, your knowledge, your resources to someone who doesn’t have access.

> “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

— Galatians 6:2

We forget how important everyone is to the ecosystem. If bees died today, the world wouldn’t survive. The same is true for the overlooked, the broken, the dismissed. We need everyone thriving.

> “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

— Matthew 25:40

If we cared just a little more, if we gave just a little more, if we showed up for each other like Christ shows up for us—our deficits would shrink. Our emotional and spiritual burdens would lighten. We’d experience real transformation.

Debt isn’t just about money. Debt is the wage of sin. It’s the spiritual toll of injustice and separation.

So I urge you—be like Christ.

It doesn’t matter where you’ve come from. What matters is what you’re building now.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

I love you all—and I wish you a good night