Cassondra Lenior is passionate about many things. One being her faith in God, second her love for the field of media and entertainment, and third her desire to inspire others by using the two aforementioned.
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“In 2015, on my birthday, I released my first book entitled, ‘From Nothing to New York’ and the subtitle of my book is Passion is Pursuit. The book journeys my story from my first day as a freshman in high school all the way to my first summer in NYC… It discloses my trials and tribulations… Everything that I’ve overcome – being from St. Louis, coming from a single-parent household, being a first generation college student.. Just 16 days out of college I moved to New York with no family and no friends. I just had an internship lined up, $200 in the bank, and a boatload of faith.”
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Cassondra went on to say that all of the things she counted as minuscule or as a loss in her life turned out to all be the things that prepared her for her life in New York. Revealing to us…“It’s only because despite those ‘nothings’ I continued to pursue what I was passionate about, so that’s where the subtitle of my book came from.”
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Her book, From Nothing to New York is what inspired the Passion is Pursuit 1 day Conference which took place on June 24th of this year. The conference was intended to inspire and uplift fellow entertainment and media entrepreneurial millennial of faith.
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She said her dreams of becoming a media mogul is what brought her to New York on this journey of pursuing her dreams.
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“I’ve always wanted to be bigger than Oprah. I think you’re supposed to take those people that you look to as role models or as inspiration, and learn from them by absorbing as much as possible and then learning from their mistakes to make yourself and what you’re doing better” “…So everything that she’s done is everything that I desire to do or am already doing.” I see New York as the place where I am building my foundation to continue on that journey into turning every dream that I have into my reality.”
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Cassondra may be fairly young but has experience working in just about every genre of the entertainment and media world.
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“…since being out here [New York] I’ve worked in every aspect and sector of the entertainment and media industries. I’ve worked in advertisement, I’ve worked at a media agency, I’ve worked in marketing, in the music industry, I’ve been before and behind the camera in television production. I’ve basically done everything except for radio. So my love for the industry is all encompassing. However, I know that at my core I am a writer and it has been my writing that has opened up every door for me.”
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Before pursuing her dreams of living in the Big Apple, believe it or not it was her applying for a small scholarship which allowed her to flex her writing skills that gave her the push she needed after winning to pursue her undergraduate studies.
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“The first scholarship I ever won was an essay based scholarship of $500. And I just remember receiving that $500 scholarship like Oh my God I’m really going to college I’m really going to make it…”
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Right out of high school that $500 scholarship check was the determining factor Cassondra needed in order to believe that college was in her future. “I think that’s what really made me realize that it’s really about to come true and it’s really about to happen.”
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That memory of the feeling she felt when college was made possible because of that particular scholarship is what planted the seed to grow her current scholarship fund,The Cassondra Lenoir Scholarship.
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“From there, proceeds from every book sale goes to my scholarship. I have a the Cassondra Lenoir scholarship, where we award at least two $500 scholarships every year… Although it’s only $500 it’s what ignited something inside of me and I want to ignite that in someone else.”
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Cassondra believes that we shouldn’t have to wait until we reach a certain level of success before giving back. “So often we believe that we have to reach a certain level of success before we give back. Although I am not a millionaire yet, I’m not going to wait until I reach that status to give back to my community or to pour into the next generation.”
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The Passion is Pursuit conference also further exemplifies her ideas on giving back. The day long conference was packed with speakers giving advice on entrepreneurship, business management, economic growth, and of course spiritual inspiration. Vendors included Cassondra herself, along with Joshua Walker’s AMG x I Am Culture collaboration, Charrell Strong, Author of Nappy by Natyre, Jetro Nicolas Portraits, Anthony Frazier, Author of Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness, Nikkie Pryce, and Author of 24 and Divorced, Leonardo Cavalli.
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Some of the conference speakers included Black Enterprise’s Selena Hill, Lawyer Kenneth M. Willis, the creators of the Emmy nominated Tough Love series Caleb and Roni Davis, and plenty of other notable millennials.
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“I’m trying express moments that will impact your life forever… so was this my first and only conference? Absolutely not!” Cassondra said with a laugh.
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You can expect an even larger Passion is Pursuit conference next year in multiple cities.
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“Next year is going to be huge!… we literally are setting up meetings to discuss the conference, already… I’ve had 2 people come up to me wanting to bring it to their cities… I’ve had someone want me to bring it to California, and someone else talked about bringing it to D.C. so next year we’re already doing 3 cities… and I want to do 4 because of course I want to bring it home to St. Louis… I can already see how God is moving because I said yes to His will and no to fear!”
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You can learn more about the Passion is Pursuit Conference and the founder Cassondra Lenoir at cassondralenoir.com.
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According to Cassondra the passion is Pursuit Conference is more than a conference because at the foundation it is built on faith“At our foundation we’re built on faith but at our core we’re a business conference.”
The Triumph In Me
14.08.2017 at 19:02That’s pretty damn awesome!