Everyone knows about LeBron James’ secret motivation. Every year he picks something in his life and that motivation drives him throughout the year. This year, his championship motivation was a no-named doubter in Miami. After game 2 of the NBA finals this year, LeBron was quoted as saying, "When I decided to leave Miami…I'm not going to name any names, I can't do that…but there were some people that I trusted and built relationships with in those four years who told me I was making the biggest mistake of my career, and that s**t hurt me. And I know it was an emotional time that they told me that because I was leaving. They just told me it was the biggest mistake I was making in my career. And that right there was my motivation."

Well, thanks to the Miami Heat. Because of you guys, LeBron led us to our first championship in 52 years. Talk about a fantastic motivator. Life is so hard sometimes, having a secret motivation can help you. I mean LeBron probably had the weight of all of Ohio on his shoulders. That moment, was the pinnacle of his career and it got me to thinking what was my secret motivation?

I’ve been through a lot. Probably more that any 23 year old should go through and that’s okay. Those moments in time have made me who I am today. I consider myself a strong woman who is extremely motivated but what could give me that extra push…like breaking a 52 year championship curse.

Ever since I could remember, I wanted to be a sportscaster. Honestly, it’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I went to The University of Alabama where I studied Sports Broadcasting and got involved in anything I could to help pad my resume. There were gameday Saturdays where I was up at 5 am and didn’t get to bed until 4 or 5 am the next day. I worked extremely hard especially in my last two years of school as I knew that my time as a student was coming to an end.

Without getting into too many details, from mid-August of 2014 to early December of 2014 my world was rocked and not in a good way. I had a bunch of hurdles I needed to cross and I worked even harder than I had in the past to do so. My faith in all the good in life, as well as my faith in myself was shaken. I didn’t know if I could put myself out there anymore, and didn’t know if I still wanted to be in the media business.

Regardless, I made myself keep applying and knew that I wanted to live in Downtown Cleveland. With my persistence, I got the job of a lifetime! Well, at the time I thought it was. Turns out the company was pretty shady and it didn’t work out as I expected and was told that I was too ambitious for that company. A recent transplant back into Cleveland, I didn’t have a job and I didn’t know what to do… also, too ambitious? What? So…you want me to be lazy?

At that point, I was done with the media business for good I applied all over to marketing firms, advertising, PR, etc. I had lots of interviews, and even a couple of offers that I turned down (thanks to my parents for being so supportive) but continued to work at The Corner Alley Downtown where I worked really hard and got overtime almost every week.

I wasn’t giving up, I just didn’t know what I wanted anymore. Being a woman and trying to break into the sports media business, in my hometown (not to mention a top 20 market) was a tough thing. It was all I ever wanted, but did I still want it? I knew there was nothing I loved more than Cleveland (or Alabama) sports. But could I subject myself to failure or more scrutiny? I had already been shot down once before because I tried to join the “good ole’ boys club” of sports talk radio and that didn’t work out…it was time for me to dig in, and forget about the past and just use it to motivater.

I spent 9 months at The Corner Alley, and for the first 3 or 4 I just put my head down and worked as hard as I could. I didn’t really apply in that time either. After the holidays, I decided I was done feeling sorry for myself and started applying again. In May, I got an email to come in to a media company for an interview and I went into it completely blind. I had never even heard of this company and nailed the interview with two really awesome young people who showed how much they loved the company (plus we talked about “Hamilton: The American Musical” for 45 minutes). A couple weeks later, I was offered a paid internship position that could’ve evolved into an internship for hire position. I knew that even though it wasn’t a “full time” position with benefits, I was working 40+ hours a week and it was a foot in the door in the media business…even if it was essentially a trade publication company.

I loved my time there. Our company meetings were a blast and I made fantastic friends but at the beginning of August when I was told that at the end of August they would not be extending any of the interns I was definitely upset but I knew that even though I loved the company and the people, it wasn’t my dream. I knew I needed to get back on the sports media horse.

So I began applying again. But this time, I was not going to let the fear of being too ambitious hurt me. I wasn’t going to let any applications go into the black hole of online job apps. I was going to call each and every company and confirm my application was in hand, was going to check on the status of them and was going to really step my game up. My secret motivation was everything you just read. Companies who treated me horribly, companies who couldn’t keep me on, or sexist companies that never gave me a fair chance. Whatever the reasoning, it didn’t matter. I was “over it”, I didn’t let these things affect me, it was just pure motivation.

That’s when it happened. It was a Tuesday around lunchtime and I received a call from an unknown number. Normally I don’t answer those, but I knew I had been applying so I should. It was the program director at a popular sports talk radio station in Cleveland. He wanted to bring me in for an interview ASAP and before I knew it the next morning, I was in his office. The interview although rocky (to me) at first, turned out to be one of the greatest interviews I had ever had. Three hours later, I was on my way home with an assignment to record some radio hits with my own scripts to send to them. A week later, after assuming I didn’t get the job, I got the call with the offer and in less than one second, I accepted.

Minutes after I got off the phone I called my Dad in tears. I couldn’t believe it. I finally have a chance to prove why I belong in this business. My secret motivation, which I understand is not so secret anymore, worked. This motivater will continue to push me as I want to prove to anyone and everyone who has ever doubted me for my skill, questioned my worth as a female in the business, or just assumed I was wrong for the position, that I can do it. Watch Me.

As Alexander Hamilton says in “Hamilton: An American Musical”, “I am not throwing away my shot. Hey yo, I’m just like my country I’m young scrappy and hungry and I am not throwing away my shot.”