A few years ago, my best friend asked me a question that changed everything:
“Do you have a list?”
Not a dream.
Not a vision board.
A list.
A plain, honest list of everything I would need to learn, build, become, and accomplish to bring my biggest dream to life.
And that dream was big.
A community center.
Programs for women.
Programs for children.
A place where people could learn, grow, heal, build, and discover what they were capable of becoming.
Bigger than my experience.
Bigger than my network.
Bigger than my bank account.
Bigger than anything I knew how to build at the time.
So I made one.
I wrote down everything.
Not just the dream.
The steps.
The skills.
The knowledge.
The relationships.
The certifications.
The experiences.
The things I would need to learn before I could ever become the woman capable of building what I saw in my head.
And then I got to work.
One item at a time.
One conversation at a time.
One lesson at a time.
One uncomfortable step at a time.
What I didn’t know then was that another tool was about to enter my life.
Artificial Intelligence.
The first time I used it, I had no idea what it would become.
I certainly didn’t think it would help me build pieces of a vision I had been carrying for years.
At first, it was curiosity.
Then it became research.
Then strategy.
Then brainstorming.
Then execution.
Today, I use AI almost every day.
Not because it’s trendy.
Not because it’s convenient.
Because it helps me move.
Faster.
Smarter.
Further.
It helps me pressure-test ideas.
Learn new skills.
Build frameworks.
Explore possibilities.
Create things that used to require teams of people and resources I simply didn’t have access to.
And the most surprising part?
AI didn’t replace the work.
It amplified it.
The dream is still mine.
The vision is still mine.
The responsibility is still mine.
The list is still mine.
AI simply helped me close the gap between what I could imagine and what I could build.
As I get closer to the end of that original five-year plan, I won’t lie to you.
Sometimes I get anxious.
Sometimes I wonder if I’m moving fast enough.
Sometimes I look at the distance still left to travel instead of the ground I’ve already covered.
But then I look at that list.
And I realize something.
I’m not where I started.
Not even close.
The woman who wrote that list years ago had a dream.
The woman writing this today is building it.
And while there is still work to do, I can honestly say this:
I’m about 75% of the way there.
Not because I got lucky.
Not because someone handed it to me.
Because I kept moving.
Learning.
Building.
Adjusting.
Growing.
The lesson isn’t really about AI.
It’s about what happens when preparation meets possibility.
It’s about what happens when you stop waiting until you’re ready and start becoming ready along the way.
And maybe that’s why I’ve become so passionate about helping other people walk in their purpose.
Because most dreams don’t die from lack of talent.
They die from lack of movement.
One day I’ll finish the list.
And when I do, I’ll probably make another one.
Because that’s who I am.
A builder.
A believer.
A woman stubborn enough to write down a dream she wasn’t qualified to achieve yet.
And faithful enough to start anyway.
That’s part of my Herformation.
And maybe… yours too.