Where’s The R+D for Better Schools?

Posted on April 18, 2018 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

As I’m going through the process of taking an assessment as a means of gaining a greater sense of the potential challenges my students may face, I thought of how we might go about applying research and development within our schools and classrooms. As a result, I decided to search the phrase, “Research and development in schools” on YouTube. After doing so, I came across Jim Shelton‘s TEDx talk entitled, “Where’s the R&D for better schools?”

In this video, Jim mentions, “We have more capabilities than ever before. Imagine networks and centers across the world inside and outside of our schools that are cross-functional between designers, educators, entrepreneurs, and researchers coming up with solutions to some of educations most persistent challenges?”

I’ve personally been dreaming and imagining of how our institutions should reflect what was mentioned by Jim for quite some time now. In a world where we have the opportunity to be so connected, why do we continue to operate in silos? As David Leser once said in an interview with Rakhal Ebeli of Newsmodo, “We need more bridge builders!” I couldn’t agree more. In fact, we all play a pertinent role as the bridge builders of society at large!

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(Uh • Kway • Us) Aquaus Kelley is a forward-thinking brand strategist, curator, and educator. As the Founder of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group, he specializes in identifying talent and creating opportunities for brand development and social impact. Aquaus has worked with companies and organizations such as Behind The Hustle, Cornerstone Agency, City Year Miami, and W Hotels. He is extremely passionate about bridging the gap and building value between brands, communities, and culture. His ultimate mission is to use his influence to project positivity across the globe and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership.

Notes To The Soul: MusicMakers 2017

Posted on October 22, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

Photo by Music is My First Language.

Yesterday morning, we happened to receive an email pertaining to a 3-day career development conference for musicians entitled, MusicMakers. The MusicMakers Conference is aimed at teaching musicians how to successfully brand and monetize their art.

The force behind MusicMakers is a non-profit organization entitled, Notes To The Soul. The vision of NTTS is to inspire positive social change through sustainable music education and empowerment programs to benefit the socio-economic and musically disenfranchised.

Photo by Music is My First Language.

We LOVE the entire vision of NTTS! In addition to running their MusicMakers conference, they also host a program called, Music is My First Language. This program consists of music education residencies in schools for students ages 9-18 in which the NTTS Foundation helps to provide scholarships and grants to children and schools.

For more information on any of the NTTS program offerings, please visit: notestothesoul.org.

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A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group is a brand development agency that specializes in creating opportunities for brand development, exposure, and growth. With an emphasis on culture and lifestyle, the primary focus of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group is to help companies adapt to culture and build value between brands and their consumers centered around love. Our social mission is to leverage the influence of popular culture to create social change and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership. We are driven by AMBITION, fueled by PASSION, inspired by INNOVATION, and suckers for STRATEGY!

The Power of Curated Content (C-Study)

Posted on July 19, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

Photo Courtesy of Daniel Dorsa.

Earlier yesterday morning, while I was waiting at the L.A. Fitness in South Plainfield, NJ, I decided to optimize my time and catch up on the July/August issue of Fast Company magazine. As I was perusing through the pages, I came across an article on page 16 entitled, “Selling Change.” This article was written by Nikita Richardson and features the CEO of DDB Worldwide North America, Wendy Clark.

For those of you who may not be familiar, Clark happens to be named one of Fast Company’s “Most Creative People.” When asked the question, “Who would be on her list of most creative people?” she replied, “Students. When you spend time with them, you’re blown away by their creativity. They have such great ideas.” said Clark.

Photo Courtesy of Adweek.

After reading this article, I was immediately intrigued by Clarks statement regarding the creativity of students. Being that I have worked with students in schools in both Miami, FL and New Brunswick, NJ for 5 years now, I know exactly what she means. We can learn so much from observing and engaging with our students in our school systems throughout the country and globally. As I’m in the process of building my tribe and establishing “A Lovers Ambition” as a movement, my background in education plays an instrumental role in regards to everything that I do day in and day out.

Whenever I identify with a piece of content that speaks to me (article, video, podcast, etc), I immediately think of the best way to share it with my audience. Recently, a strategy which I find to be quite valuable happens to be that of curation.

W h y C u r a t i o n ?

Back in May of 2016, we ran an experimental campaign for a few content pieces we curated pertaining to Blavity’s #EmpowerHER 2016 conference in NYC. Our top tweet for the month of May just happened to be the tweet shown below.

Why was this our top tweet? We crafted this particular tweet based on an article that we read on blavity.com. This article featured Feminista Jones, one of the speakers at the conference. After a good read and some quick research, we were able to create and develop a nice piece of copy (“aka” a tweet) which incorporated the following key elements:

An intriguing “lead” question.
The name of the source in which the article originated from: @Blavity.
The name of the interviewee who was featured: @FeministaJones.
The hashtag which was relevant to their upcoming event: #EmpowerHer.
The bit.ly link to their article.

The combination of all of these elements is what led us to receive 9 profile clicks, 10 retweets, 18 likes, and 128 link clicks. In regards to our results, we would say that we were pretty successful. Although our numbers are fairly small, our experiment did allow us to build some brand awareness for A Lovers Ambition. In fact, we did fairly well considering that we had a lot less than 100 followers at the time.

When we are able to effectively curate content that we both identify and resonate with, we are able to gain ground in multiple ways. In our opinion, one of the best ways to curate content is to curate content that is shareable. What we mean by this is to include everyone who is involved in the original creation of the piece of content which is being curated (original source, interviewee, writer, photographer, etc).

Here is an example of how we utilized twitter as a social media platform to create a social storyline for Wendy Clark’s article in Fast Company magazine:

Each person involved in the original piece of content serves as a touch point for potential engagement and interaction (likes, replies, retweets, shares, etc). When we are able to engage and interact with others via common interests, we are then able to build relationships, create opportunities, and exchange value. Essentially, it’s a win win for everyone involved. We believe this to be the essence of effectively utilizing social media in an effort to engage and interact with others. This ladies and gentlemen, is what we LOVE the most about being social!

If you’re interested in hearing more, here’s a recorded audio version of “The Power of Curated Content.”

– Enjoy!

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(Uh • Kway • Us) Aquaus Kelley is a forward-thinking Brand Strategist, Cultural Curator, and Social Storyteller. As the Founder of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group, he specializes in identifying talent and creating opportunities for brand development, exposure, and growth. Aquaus has worked with companies and organizations such as Cornerstone Agency, City Year Miami, Universal Music Group, and W Hotels. He is extremely passionate about helping companies adapt to culture and building value between brands and their consumers centered around love. His ultimate mission is to use his influence to project positivity across the globe and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership.

The Story Behind: #WeLOVEHubCity!

Posted on May 30, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

Preface!

On July 19, 2015, I asked myself the following question, “Where can we create a global community for those who express an interest in changing the world?” As big and futuristic of an idea as this may sound, please allow me to express how we can begin to manifest our ideal thoughts into ideal actions. Here are the two magic words, “START LOCAL.”

On Saturday May 28, 2016 at 4:18 am, I recorded a voice memo detailing my ideas and thoughts on the impact and importance of starting local. This came after sending an email over to Anand Patel. Anand happens to be the co-owner of Hidden Grounds Coffee, a local business here in New Brunswick, NJ.

In October of 2013, I interviewed Anand for behindthehustle.com. We sat down to discuss both the hardships and successes that come with opening up a new business. Since then, I have made an effort to stay informed of what’s going on at Hidden Grounds.

The email that I sent to Anand was in reference to 365 by Whole Foods, “Friends of 365” program. This is an entrepreneurial move aimed to incorporate a sense of localized, independent, and creative entrepreneurial spirit by installing third-party vendors inside of its 365 by Whole Foods stores. A few minutes after I sent this email, I had an instant epiphany…”START LOCAL.”

Why Start Local? Proximity Matters!

On January 2, 2016, I posted a video of Bryan Stevenson’s 2015 Zeitgeist Minds talk. Here he discussed the importance of being proximate to the problems in our world. “Proximity teaches us things that we cannot learn from a distance” Stevenson says. “When we get proximate to problems, we see things and hear nuances and details that we cannot see from a distance. In order to solve problems and create breakthroughs, we must get very close and inside of the problems that we intend to solve.” Starting local enables us to foster closer and more intimate relationships in the communities which we serve.

I Thought To Myself!

“With so many local businesses, companies, organizations, and schools here in the City of New Brunswick, how can I leverage my talents in an effort to add value to my local community at large?”

Naturally, my first instinct was to go to social media. I went straight to Twitter and Instagram to search for local businesses, companies, and organizations in the New Brunswick area. For some reason, I decided to check out New Brunswick’s Hyatt Hotel on Twitter.

@HyattNewBruns (517 Followers)

After viewing their profile, I immediately thought to myself, “Why does the Hyatt only have 517 followers?” I was then curious to see how much of a brand presence our city government and school district had on their social media profiles as well.

@CityofNewBruns (4,311 Followers)

@nbpschools (268 followers)

Seeing these numbers were highly intriguing! Not only did I begin to see a trend, more importantly, I began to see an opportunity. According to U.S. Census data, the City of New Brunswick’s population is roughly around 57,000 residents. If this is the case, I asked myself the following question: “How might our local businesses, government agencies, and schools do a better job in regards to engaging with our community?”

Living In The City!

As a graduate of Rutgers University, a resident in the City of New Brunswick, and a substitute teacher throughout New Brunswick Public Schools, I feel as though I am extremely proximate to the diverse culture and lifestyle New Brunswick has to offer. However, along with the great potential of our city will come challenges. One immediate challenge that I have observed over the years, is a lack of awareness when it comes to business, community, education, and government initiatives. In a city with roughly around 57,000 residents, how might we do a better job in regards to reaching and engaging with our community?

The Power of Social Media!

In an age where both digital and social media presence move the world, I believe that our online platforms are the single most important places for businesses, communities, schools, and government agencies to connect and meet at scale. This leads me to my BIG ESSENTIAL question:

How might we leverage digital and social media platforms to bridge the gap between business, community culture, education, and government?

Introducing: The #WeLOVEHubCity Initiative!

The #WeLOVEHubCity initiative is a solution to our problem. This initiative is essentially the culmination of the last 5 years of my life. Since graduating from Rutgers University in May of 2011, I have worked on numerous community service initiatives as a City Year Corps member while living in Miami, FL. While in Miami, I also spent my “free” time working as a field marketing rep for Cornerstone Agency. I owe it to Cornerstone for introducing me to the world of branding, entertainment marketing, and promotion. When I returned back to New Jersey in late 2012, I began to work for New Brunswick Public Schools as a Substitute Teacher.

The combination of all of these unique experiences is ultimately what I feel enabled me to develop the #WeLOVEHubCity initiative. My love for culture, community, education, entertainment, and leadership are just a few things that I feel fuel me with the passion to pursue an initiative of this capacity. Through digital and social media curation, our mission is to bridge the gap between business, community culture, education, and government in the City of New Brunswick, NJ.

Where Might We Begin?

Through promoting the usage of the #WeLOVEHubCity hashtag to our businesses, community organizations, government agencies, and schools throughout the city, we are proactively encouraging digital conversation and dialogue on all social media platforms. In turn, this will help to endorse healthy engagement, the exchange of ideas, and the increase in brand awareness for the entire City of New Brunswick. When we curate content generated through the usage of the #WeLOVEHubCity hashtag, we will then share it across all of our @WeLOVEHubCity social media accounts.

Where Might This Lead Us?

Our @WeLOVEHubCity social media accounts will serve as “digital hubs” for the intersection between business, community culture, education, and government initiatives throughout the City of New Brunswick. Imagine a digital community center that serves as the hub of Hub City. Imagine a place where we are proud to share the accomplishments, best practices, and talents in business, community culture, education, and government. It’s a huge win for everyone involved. When we are able to pull together as a collective for the City of New Brunswick, we will also begin to economically thrive across all sectors. This will serve as an inspiration for other cities throughout the State of New Jersey and across the nation!

Collaboration + Partnership!

If you love what you hear, we would love for you to hop on board in some capacity. We understand that collaboration and partnership is essential to the healthy development and execution of ideas. We also know that we have a long way to go and thus will need the full support of the New Brunswick community at large. We would love to begin talks to discuss partnering with the following community leaders:

New Brunswick Public Schools
The City of New Brunswick
Rutgers University
Community organizations
Local businesses

Interested in saying hello? Shoot us a note at hi@welovehubcity.com. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Oh…we almost forgot. Please, spread the word and follow us on social:

Website: welovehubcity.com
Facebook: @welovehubcity
Instagram: @welovehubcity
Twitter: @welovehubcity

Cheers!

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(Uh • Kway • Us) Aquaus Kelley is a forward-thinking Brand Strategist, Cultural Curator, and Educator. As the Founder of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group, he specializes in identifying talent and creating opportunities for brand development, exposure, and growth. Aquaus has worked with companies and organizations such as Cornerstone Agency, City Year Miami, Universal Music Group, and W Hotels. He is extremely passionate about helping companies adapt to culture and building value between brands and their consumers centered around love. His ultimate mission is to use his influence to project positivity across the globe and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership.

Eric Thomas Challenges Our Black Youth

Posted on April 17, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

Having worked in “inner-city” schools for 5 years, I have personally experienced the barriers, challenges, and obstacles which we encounter as educators when it comes to connecting with our youth, especially our black youth.

On Thursday April 14, 2016 I came across a video on LinkedIn thanks to Danielle Lucido. This video consists of one of my favorite inspirational and influential figures, Dr. Eric Thomas. After being interrupted on several occasions, and out of nothing but pure love, Dr. Thomas feels the need to sincerely express his heartfelt message with a room full of high school students at Vashon High School in St. Louis, MO.

In this video, Dr. Thomas makes time to hit on many important points. Some of these points which he shares with both students and faculty include: the importance of taking care of the few people who actually care about us, being disrespected by his own kind whenever he comes back to speak at black schools, and being embarrassed by how people perceive our black youth.

Dr. Thomas mentions that while pursuing his Ph.D, he was embarrassed when his colleagues and professors would ask him, “What’s wrong with our urban schools?” and “What’s the problem in the school system?” He then brings up the fact of how resilient we are as black people and how our only true setback is due to a lack of effort. “You can’t take our people from Africa, put us in a diaspora, spread us all over the world, and we survive slavery yet we can’t pass a test” says Dr. Thomas, “Have you lost your mind? We are survivors! That’s all we do is survive!”

After offering up his very inspirational and moving message, he then challenges our black youth to go to class, sit down, listen, pay attention, and get an education. “You know how to sit down and shut up” says Dr. Thomas, “You do it when you’re watching videos.”

Despite all of the obstacles and setbacks Dr. Thomas had to encounter prior to achieving his B.A. and then his Ph.D, he did it anyway. “Win, lose, or draw…don’t die not trying” says Dr. Thomas. Keep pushing, keep pushing!

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(Uh • Kway • Us) Aquaus Kelley is a forward-thinking Brand Strategist, Educator, and Music Publisher. As the Founder of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group, he specializes in identifying talent and creating opportunities for brand development, exposure, and growth. Aquaus has worked with companies and organizations such as Cornerstone Agency, City Year Miami, Universal Music Group, and W Hotels. He is extremely passionate about helping companies adapt to culture and building value between brands and their consumers centered around love. His ultimate mission is to use his influence to project positivity across the globe and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership.

What Is Our Competitive Advantage?

Posted on March 29, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

“The sooner we figure out what our competitive advantage is, the more likely we are to be able to compete” says Tai Lopez. It seems quite simple, doesn’t it? Well…lets get started!

The first question that we may want to begin asking ourselves is, “What is our career destiny?” It’s important that we know ourselves and know where we need to go in an effort to showcase our competencies, skills, and talents. However, before we do this, we must conduct a pretty intense evaluation when it comes to running our own self-assessment. In reference to Friedrich Nietzsche, “As extraordinary individuals, we should all seek to rise above the crowd.”

Eulerian Destiny

Tai talks a lot about identifying what he calls our “Eulerian Destiny.” Our Eulerian Destiny gives us hints as to what our competitive advantages are as well as our potential career destiny. The Eulerian Destiny chart consists of 5 circles, each of which asks one of the following questions:

1. Who and what did we grow up around?

2. What did we want to be when we were 14 years old?

3. What have we been doing for the past 10 years?

4. What do strangers, or even people who don’t like us compliment us on?

5. What can we talk at length about with our friends?

As I mentioned in a previous post of mine, When I was a child, I was infatuated with architecture and construction. My siblings and I grew up in a working class family in the New Brighton section of Staten Island, NY. I was always amazed at how structures were built and developed. More than anything else, I loved playing with legos. The idea of connecting tiny little pieces of plastic together in an effort to form a finished product is what enamored me the most. As I had grown older, I eventually gravitated over to drawing, playing sports, and creating music.

When I was 16 years old, I made the decision to quit playing football. Deep down inside, I knew that continuing to play football was not going to be a suitable career path for me to follow. One thing that I have always possessed was a strong sense of following my intuition. I would find myself repeating this same scenario again when I attended Middlesex County College as a Freshman in 2005. This time, I decided that it was not in my best interest to continue pursuing a degree in Construction Engineering. Although it was something that as I child I believed I wanted to do when I got older, my interests at the time gravitated elsewhere. From here, I would continue on a path that would lead me to obtaining my Associate in Fine Arts Music degree from Middlesex County College. A few years later, I obtained my Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Rutgers University.

Today, my creative outlet is essentially a combination of all of my childhood endeavors. I may no longer build blocks, connect legos, create music, and play sports. However, I do build brands, connect people, identify talent, and create opportunities. Ultimately, I’m in the business of helping others to identify with the sense of their own “Lovers Ambition” in regards to achieving something of significance and value in their lives.

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Are You A Lady? Are You A Woman?

Posted on March 29, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

Photo courtesy of Alkalize For Health

As we were preparing for a new series dedicated to saluting the dope work of females who we admire, respect, and have followed over the years, we experienced a minor hiccup. We were not quite sure whether or not it would be more appropriate to use the term, “Ladies” or “Women” when referring to females who are currently crushing it in their respective industries.

After some research, we came across an article entitled, “Is She a “Lady” or a “Woman” by Maeve Maddox. Thanks to this article, we were quickly able to distinguish between using the term “Lady” and using the term “Woman”.

Here’s what we learned:

Woman: Female human-being.

Man: Male human-being.

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Lady: A woman of refined behavior and speech.

Gentleman: A man of refined behavior and speech.

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All “ladies” are women but not all women are “ladies.” The same goes for men. All “gentlemen” are men but not all men are “gentlemen.”

What are your thoughts? We would love to know…by the way, stay tuned for our #LadiesWeLove series coming soon…very soon!

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Know Your Why: Michael Jr.

Posted on February 27, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

On February 1, 2016 one of my best friends shared this video with me on Facebook. Although I’m familiar with the concept of finding why we do what we do and the importance of knowing what our purpose is in life, I have yet to see it delivered as eloquently as how Michael Jr. presents it in this video.

Michael Jr. mentions, “When we know our why, we have options on what our what can be.” As mentioned in one of our previous posts entitled, “How Might We Discover our Purpose”, once we are able to discover, identify, and pursue our calling [“Our Why”], we are then better equipped to select and manage which assignments [“Our What”] are in our best interest in regards to achieving our ultimate success!

“When we know our why, our what has more impact because we are walking in or towards our purpose.” – Michael Jr.

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How Might We Discover Our Purpose?

Posted on February 27, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

Back in December of 2015, I listened to episode 263 of Lewis Howes’, “School of Greatness” podcast. In this particular episode, Lewis sits down with Brad Lomenick, author of “The Catalyst Leader” to discuss how to go about mastering confidence, humility, and leadership. A little less than halfway through the podcast (14:42), Lewis poses the following question to Brad, “How might we go about discovering our own unique purpose?”

Here is some very helpful insight in regards to helping us discover, identify, and pursue our own unique purpose in life:

1. Identity:

Our identity is who we are. It consists of all of the things which we cannot change. For example, we cannot change our ethnic background, our family structure, or when and where we were born.

(Ex: Hello, my name is Aquaus Kelley and I am of African-American descent. I am from Staten Island, NY and I graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Communication).

2. Calling:

Our calling is what we are meant to do. It is why we are here on this planet. It is our purpose or social mission. In Victor E. Frankl’s book, “A Man’s Search For Meaning” he calls this our “Will to Meaning” (Pg. 99). If we are unaware as to what our purpose may be, we may want to start with discovering our own interests and passions.

(Ex: My calling is to lead people towards becoming the best versions of themselves in an effort to set them up for personal success. Overall, my social mission is to use my influence to project positivity across the globe and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership).

3. Assignment:

Our assignment is our current day to day role or vocation. Ideally, this should align with our calling. When our assignment does not align with our calling, it may cause Noögenic neuroses. According to Dr. Frankl, noögenic neuroses is the cause of frustration due to the misalignment of our calling (purpose) and our assignment (vocation).

(Ex: My current assignment is that of a brand strategist, educator, and music publisher. I curate content and develop brand strategy through A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group, I work with middle school students in the field of education, and I specialize in identifying talent and creating opportunities for emerging artists as a music publisher).

Think about it. How do we feel when we are in a profession that does not allow our own purpose to flourish? Once we are able to discover, identify, and pursue our calling, we are then better equipped to select and manage which assignments are best for our own ultimate success!

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Time Tells The Truth: Tai Lopez

Posted on February 19, 2016 by A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

Yes…I finally have a four word answer to one of the questions I receive pretty often, “Aquaus, how are you so patient?” As my virtual mentor Tai Lopez says, “Time tells the truth.” Indeed it does!

I’ve always believed that I will find out everything that I need to know in due time. I also believe that all of the questions that I pose to myself, others, and the universe at large will always be answered when the time is right. If I don’t have an answer, the time isn’t right. However, this definitely doesn’t mean that I just sit around waiting for answers. No, no, no. In order to execute anything, we must first begin. Once we begin, the race kicks off. However, as I like to say, “Life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

Patience allows us to see many things. As time elapses, we receive various indicators as to how to navigate the myriad of realms in our lives. This includes business, dating, friendships, and relationships just to name a few. When we learn how to love and embrace time, we also learn how to listen and we begin to understand how time tells us the truth. Time tells us what we deserve. We must respect it and keep it on our side. Time must not be taken for granted. When we’re patient, humble, and attentive, we position ourselves to receive what is true for us at a time when it can have the greatest impact on our lives.

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