Danced my Way Out of my Comfort Zone: NMGZ LA Trip Recap
National Millenial Gen Z Community (NMGZ) is made up of college and university students, young professionals, faculty, administrators, and civic leaders who participate in multi-generational conversations with an eye toward our future. We want to raise the standard of millennial and Gen Z thought, and challenge the misconceptions created by generation gaps.
I had the privilege of attending the L.A. trip last week and have learned not only so much about the organizations we visited but also about myself. During this trip, I danced my way out of my comfort zone, figuratively and quite literally.
Surprisingly, the plane flight was the least exciting part of the trip. The flight was beautiful, but the amount of things Bill Imada had planned exceeded all expectations, as always. I had the opportunity to visit Warner Brothers, The Wonderful Company, The IW Group, Deutsch LA, Universal, and many more.
Bill Imada is the founder, chairman, and chief connectivity officer of IW group, a minority-owned and operated advertising, marketing, and communications agency. He is also the founder of NMGZ. He is incredibly kind, thoughtful, and very successful in the world of advertising, public relations, and marketing. Without Bill, I would have never been able to have the opportunity to go on this trip.
Among the incredibly wide varieties of food that were offered, the surprise trip to Universal in the pouring rain, and the virtual reality meeting with some of the most inspiring and inviting individuals I have ever met, one event stood out to me in particular. An impromptu hip-hop class.
When we toured the IW Group we got to meet some professionals and do a Q&A panel. All of a sudden, four individuals came in wearing street-style clothing. All of the NMGZ community looked around aimlessly, we had no idea what was going on. This is typical for Bill to pull some strings and surprise his group. What we didn’t know was that he hired dance professionals and we were going to be put into groups, “teams,” and learn a dance routine within an hour and perform to the other members in front of “judges.” Even the IW Group had to perform.
Why was a surprise hip-hop class the thing that stuck out to me the most? Because it was the one thing that quite literally forced me out of my comfort zone. Traveling alone was the start of going outside of my comfort zone. I had never traveled on a plane by myself, let alone tried to navigate LAX alone (what a nightmare, by the way). I had never tried Armenian food before, gone to Universal, or even ridden that many rollercoasters in my life.
Dance is something I have done before. I was in competitive jazz dance when I was younger, but haven’t had the confidence since then to even consider dancing again. This dancing class didn’t give me the chance to overthink and say no, which I would have done if allowed to choose. This made me think fast and I just threw myself into the class and gave it my all. The most surprising part was being pushed to perform in front of the group in the front row. I had no self-confidence when it came to dancing, I was never the most flexible or coordinated, I just acted confident growing up because I loved dancing. Now, I have lost that confidence because it had been so long since I had last danced. It showed me that as long as you are having fun and are giving it your all, you will shine.
Bill then told us that the purpose of the dance class was to make us think on our feet and to be able to work with what we have when time is limited. This was a creative way to have groups problem-solve and work together for an outcome. Not only did I learn to just fully trust myself when learning something new and to present my work with confidence, I also learned to lean on others when learning new things. When I couldn’t get a dance move right, I would ask others around me to demonstrate. I also learned that when others are lacking confidence, you should push them to see their potential. If a group member was struggling and finally got down a dance move, acknowledge that. Small accomplishments are still accomplishments and when you are on a team, everyone’s accomplishments help the group reach its goals.
Maddie is a senior pursuing a degree in Advertising and Public Relations. Maddie is the current President of GVPRSSA for the 2023-2024 school year. This will be Maddie's second year in GrandPR serving as an Account Associate. Maddie currently writes for Lanthorn’s Opinion Column and is a Communications Intern for Perrigo. After graduation, Maddie hopes to pursue a creative role in the outdoor and environmental industry with companies such as Patagonia or The National Parks Services.