does the "right time" distract us from the "right mission"?

dav adé
Mar 25
3 min read

tldr;

the honest reality is that building BLANK is a high-stakes balancing act of heritage, family, and creative risk. as founders of jamaican-canadian and nigerian heritage, we are navigating the fatigue of parenting and expecting, while leading a team through a pilot build that has no blueprint. though most days you feel like you're just a girl, this is a look at what it means to choose to believe in building legacy when your tank is simply empty.

building from the void

there is a specific kind of exhaustion that comes with creating something that has never existed before. it is not just the long hours... it is the mental weight of being the first to try. part of this is that we're founders from ethnic backgrounds that do not usually leave the job and pension path. though we want to make something of our own, there's little to no resources to follow on how to make that happen.

this means we are not just making a show... we are trying to build a stepping stool for a community that has spent too long being told to wait for permission. it's also built to inspire a community that needs more than ever to see its people thrive and do well.

right now, our days are a blur of production meetings, searching for funding and the very real reality of parenting while being pregnant... this is the part that adds a layer of urgency that is hard to describe. it reminds us that time does not wait for anyone. it tells us that the "perfect time" is a myth designed to keep us small. if we wait until we are rested or until the kids are grown or until the economy feels "safe," we might wait forever.

the best education we can give our children is showing them what it looks like to bet on yourself when the stakes are high. we are tired... deeply tired... but we are fueled by the knowledge that we are building a world our kids will actually want to live in. it all feels messy and loud, yet it is the most honest work we have ever done.

the anatomy of a first-time build

we are currently in the middle of producing a pilot episode, and we're blessed to have a team that believes in the vision as much as we do. we are doing things we have never done before like, managing high-level budgets, coordinating studio spaces, aligning with a professional production crew and co-creating with 8 different artists to execute a high-stakes challenge.

we are learning in real time that leadership is not about having all the answers. what really matters is keeping steady when the plan changes. we've made a conscious decision to mentor others while we are still figuring out the path ourselves, recognizing that there's an opportunity to share our knowledge to benefit this creative industry.

the business of the human touch

in a time where everyone is making things using ai, we're intentionally choosing to create an authentic community of diverse minds. these days, it isn't the cheapest way to produce content, but we're invested in paying talented artists. this is part of the value of personal interactions.

we are currently raising the first $15,000 on kickstarter because we want this to be a community-funded rebellion. we want to prove that you can pay 8 artists fair honorariums for their time without a corporate gatekeeper telling us what that should look like. transparency is our superpower, so we're building in public so you can see the real cost of equity. from hiring the production team to funding the catering, every line item on our budget is a choice to value the human beings behind the work.

we believe the community is a better investor than any institution.

the commitment to keep believing

the hardest part of building from nothing is the quiet voice that asks if it is worth it. the system wants you to stay tired and stay small because a tired creator is easier to control. but we choose to believe that if we stay consistent success is inevitable. like every artist should, we trust the process and have faith in the outcome.

success for us is the fulfillment of knowing we did the work when we were exhausted. it is seeing our heritage reflected in a professional frame and knowing we built the platform ourselves. if you are building your own something from nothing today... keep going. the fatigue is not a sign of failure, it's just part of the architecture when you're recreating the world.