In continuation of Black History Month celebrations, today’s guest has inspiration and motivation to help you take action and get real about your passion and purpose. Join us to learn more! Mario Armstrong is a two-time Emmy Award-winner, lifestyle entrepreneur, content creator, and motivational speaker. He’s also a partner with Daymond John’s Shark Group. Mario's mission is to provide the advice and tools to help you hustle mindfully to pursue your passions. His podcast is called Wake Up and Level Up, and his web series is called Never Settle. This critically acclaimed production has been recognized with an Emmy Award for “Best Interactivity,” an Emmy Award Nomination for “Best Program Host,” a Digiday Publishing Award nomination for “Best Use of Facebook Live,” a Webby Honoree Award for “Social: Experimental and Innovation,” and an award for “Best Live Show” from the International Academy of Web Television Awards. Young Mario What were your dreams as a young person? Mario always knew that he wanted to be on TV or in radio. He loved acting and communicating and anything that led to performing on a stage. Always impressed by people who were “on camera,” Mario still loves being around people and feeding off their energy. He’s a passionate risk-taker and dreamer who believes he can do anything he wants. This determination did not translate into academic success for Mario because he viewed school as a distraction, and he was satisfied to do “just enough” to get by. Being curious, asking questions, and shaking things up did not serve him well in the structured school setting, but these qualities have set him up for success in his career. College was when everything came together with his communications major, and he finally realized that relevance equals purpose. It was later that he understood that every obstacle and step in his journey had purpose. [bctt tweet="Every obstacle and step in your journey has purpose. @marioarmstrong #chasingdreams"] Figure out your passion What is your passion? Mario says that it’s important to write down what you like to do. From that list, you must identify the things that ramp you up and excite you the most. Rating these interests with a numbering system will help you identify the easiest next steps to take. At that point, consider the resources available for those interests. Mario has created a worksheet that helps people find and pinpoint their passion. He uses the analogy of the magic of peanut butter and jelly to illustrate how randomly different interests can connect together and play into each other. Download Mario’s worksheet tool and answer the questions to find your passion. [bctt tweet="Keep in mind that randomly different interests can connect together and play into each other. @marioarmstrong #chasingdreams" username="aimeej21"] Get it out there What is the world waiting to see from you? Mario teaches that it’s important to get your work out there to people even if it’s not yet perfected. People can’t support your idea if they don’t have a glimpse of it because you’re still working on it. We all know that “perfect” doesn’t really exist because our ideas are constantly evolving. Every successful person will tell you that the secret to their success is that they didn’t have it “all figured out.” Most people figure things out along the way, which has never been more relevant than right now during the COVID pandemic. Mario’s show, Never Settle, has evolved as he has, and he’s excited for what the future holds as they get ready for a new season! [bctt tweet="Most people figure things out along the way. @marioarmstrong #chasingdreams"] Guest Recommendation: ONE action for a dream chaser to take--”The big steps to take are to develop the muscle of resilience and learn how to sell.” OUTLINE OF THE EPISODE: [00:40] Vulnerability in the journey [07:22] Young Mario’s dreams [15:05] Deciding to help people [18:17] Figuring