“So, I was thinking of revamping Bodies by Brelyn to an online platform where people can take virtual classes and get health and fitness resources for a monthly fee.” – Brelyn Michele Clover (taken from my new book, Battling Brelyn)

I think my biggest pet peeve today is my culture’s insensitivity to work ethic. While many people quote today’s culture influencers, those who have a strong work ethic and give hustling hard a whole new meaning, I’m not sure they understand the dynamic of what it takes to really work hard.

My parents are baby boomers. All I saw growing up was hard work. It’s the same thing that made me get a job at the age of twelve. It was instilled in me and it made me push through a $4/hour job. Many people in our culture today have no idea what real work looks like.

So many people liked the story of the man who walked to and from work every day. It touched everyone so much that he was blessed with a car and money was raised to assist him with his financial woes. I wonder how many people took his story and used it as inspiration to fuel their own work ethic.

First, real work is not, nor will it ever be you launching a business or product and believing because a celebrity tweets about it, that you’ll be great. Real work starts with a mindset and continues through daily, consistent and progressive efforts that show value and brings volume.

I say all this to say: real work has to be put in. My new series touches on entrepreneurship and work ethic on a different level. You get to see Brelyn work through real, entrepreneurial issues and her parents never once show her how to do it. She was raised in it, so she knows it, but you will get to see her work through building the business herself. If my fifteen-year-old protagonist can do this, I believe teens and young adults today can tap into that same thing.

I mean, even T.I. took his son to the studio where he first started rapping instead of taking him to the fancy one he has himself. After all, isn’t the bottom where champions are made?