i went to the FUTURE; it looked like me. 💚

An Honor *Earned*

This year, I had the privilege of being named an ADCOLOR FUTURE, joining a cohort of just 28 young professionals out of 403 applicants. That’s a 7% acceptance rate—a wild stat.

And it wasn’t about being selected just to flex the stats. It was about being seen. The FUTURES goal was to help us own those stats—to help us walk into rooms with the confidence to champion our work, our skills, and our creativity.

So often, BIPOC are taught to downplay our achievements, be humble to the point of silence, or feel like we don’t belong in certain spaces. But ADCOLOR Conference and Awards and the FUTURES program flipped that narrative.

They made it clear: celebrate yourself, advocate for yourself, and never apologize for showing up with the brilliance you bring. The focus on overcoming imposter syndrome early in our careers was a challenge to take up space unapologetically and claim our value.

This program wasn’t just an accolade. It was a shift.

Escaping the Weight of “Onlyness”

Being the only person of color in a room is exhausting. You’re not just doing the work; you’re justifying your voice, your presence, and your authenticity. I’ve felt the weight of that in my career—the unspoken burden of representation, the feedback that chips away at your sense of self.

But last week, I stepped into spaces where “onlyness” didn’t exist. No over-explaining. No invisible backpack. Just a room full of people who looked like me, thought like me, and understood what it means to navigate this industry.

This week reminded me of something crucial: when we’re not fighting to prove ourselves, we can truly show up. That’s the power of community—it helps us break down those walls we’ve spent so much energy building.

What We Owe Our Hearts

We ended the week with a keynote from Donovan Triplett titled “What We Owe Our Hearts.” It was a reminder that this industry can take everything you’re willing to give it — your time, your peace, your creativity, your drive, your purpose...

Protecting your creativity and mental health is survival.

It’s a challenge, yes, but it can also bring gifts and opportunity. Some of the very rooms I'm sitting in today are rooms I dreamt about as a kid. Because our creativity is resilience, we owe it to ourselves to preserve the love for our craft, even when the work feels heavy.

I think we all left that keynote with a new kind of urgency—not just about our work, but about how we work. We need to protect our minds and hearts if we’re going to keep pushing for change in the industry.

A Lesson in Belonging

Through the FUTURES cohort and the larger ADCOLOR family, I met a community that fills my cup, surrounded by people who see the world the way I do and have the courage to change it. ADCOLOR is a reminder of what’s possible when we lift as we climb. I walked away inspired by the brilliance of my peers, the stories we shared, and the collective energy we created together.

I was one of many, and it was freeing. And that’s a reality I want to see everywhere.

To my fellow FUTURES: thank you for your brilliance, your energy, and your vision. To everyone else: let’s push for spaces where “onlyness” is a relic of the past and creativity and belonging can work together in our present and future.