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Today we’d like to introduce you to Raven Turner.
Raven, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In college, I was a collegiate athlete who had aspirations of one day being a collegiate athletic director for a major university. I applied for many internships such as Nike, NCAA, The College Football Playoff, the Dallas Stars as well as the University of Central Florida in hopes to pursue a double Masters degree, in Business and Sports Business Management. Unfortunately, I was denied, unable to get my foot into any door I was knocking on. The rejection came one after the other and I often found myself displaying my resilience, reapplying just to be told no once again.
That adversity “PUSHED” me into speaking sharing my story and its also how I came up with the title of my book, PUSHED, Turning Adversity Into Advantage. As we go through life, it’s important to understand challenges and hardships don’t present themselves to break us or harm us but to redirect us and push us forward.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
To any individual starting out on a particular journey, whether it’s in entrepreneurship or any general goal, it’s important to understand this phrase YOU VS “YOU.” You are your biggest competition. To become a new version of yourself, it’s going to cost you your old self. Every day, you have to wake up ready to compete against who you use to be, so you can give birth to who you need to be.
There are many days when I don’t feel like doing things I know I need to do for my business. However, the discipline I’ve developed is what keeps me moving forward.
There are no days that are just smooth. As a speaker, I get leads, sometimes they go through and sometimes they don’t. I’m constantly being told “no’ or it’s not a good time, etc. when trying to pursue new speaking engagements. However, I know that for every no that I get a yes is on the way. My advice is to not take things personally.
Nothing worth having is going to come easy! If you want to win, you have to stay in the fight, even when you get knocked down.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am a speaker and author. I speak mostly to colleges and universities (general population of students and student-athletes). My book is a self-help/motivational book that tells me story more in depth while also empowering the reader to keep pushing forward despite what they may be going through and how to use their adversity to their advantage.
What I’m most proud of is the ability to be able to impact and add value to other peoples lives through sharing my story and experiences as it relates to the subject matter.
Do you recommend any apps, books or podcasts that have been helpful to you?
My favorite books thus far are as follows:
The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, John C. Maxwell
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
Think And Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill,
Shoe Dog, Phil Knight
Rich Dad, Poor Dad: Robert Kiyosaki
These are the books I read the most and these are the books that have had the biggest impact on my life thus far.
Podcast are as follows:
The Quote of the Day Show, Sean Croxton
The Secret to Success Podcast, Eric Thomas, CJ Quinney, Karl Phillips
Oprah’s Master Class- Oprah
Leadership Podcast, John C. Maxwell
Real Estate Investing, Kevin Bupp
Best Real Estate Investing Advice Ever, Joe Fairless
All of these are a great podcast. They have helped me in different areas of my personal life and business life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ravensambition.com
- Phone: 2148684430
- Email: info@ravensambition.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheRavenTurner/?ref=bookmarks
- Twitter: @TheRavenTurner
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOYpJBR223sKUHVbcAHrkAA?view_as=subscriber
Image Credit:
Christian Aparicio – IG @christianaparicio1, GeeFilms – IG @Geefilms
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.