Daily Inspiration: Meet Kofi Dadson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kofi Dadson.

Hi Kofi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I firmly believe that we fall into our purpose. As a young man getting ready to go to college, my goal was to have influence enough to help reshape the forces that molded society. I loved media, but I hated the effects it had on people that looked like me. So, I decided to get a degree in finance & then go to law school to become an entertainment agent. As an agent, I would help tastemakers use their platforms to free individuals from toxic cultural norms. But God had other plans. While attending Lincoln University, I joined the greatest fraternity in the world, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity incorporated & this is where I began to mold my voice. For the next few years of my undergraduate experience, I put on forums, challenging social constructs & curated thought-provoking conversations. I fell in love with hosting live events & concerts, which became my entry into entertainment. Following undergrad, I worked in finance for a few years forgetting all the groundwork I laid during my college years. Somewhere along those three years, I fell into extreme depression. I hated my work; I distracted myself by partying & blowing money every weekend. After waking up in cold sweats for a few weeks, I knew it was time to have a heart-to-heart with myself. I knew I wanted more & my life couldn’t amount to a paycheck every two weeks. That heart to heart led me to become a live event host on the weekends doing concerts all over the east coast. I worked 9-5 & built my dream from 5-9 every day for two years until I said “enough.” I quit my job, packed my bags & flew to the city of angels, Los Angeles, CA. While here, I had the opportunity to work with the L.A. Clippers, Adidas, TMZ & more.

Throughout these experiences, my goal was always to be the best host in the world. I wanted to host every award show & then use my reach to help people. I didn’t know how I wanted to help, but I knew I wanted to be of service. Little did I know that I was bonded by many of those constructs & to be apart of the change I wanted to make, I had to change. March 20th, 2020, at the start of quarantine, I lost my position as a T.V. personality & tour guide at TMZ, one of the biggest media companies in the world. I felt like I failed & I lost my identity. Over a few months, I realized that no title, accolade, or person could hold my identity hostage. True freedom comes when you are happy with the skin you in. Your title Is just icing on the cake, not apart of the ingredients that make you. I went through a mental health journey that led to a metamorphosis in my outlook on life & purpose. Because of this journey, rather than being the person who guides creatives towards producing mind-freeing content, today, I am the content creator. I am a cultural influencer who creates content geared towards speaking with society’s Influential minds about their views on self-worth, black culture, spirituality & more. Through these notable individual’s stories & my own, I believe that one by one, we can build a world filled with love and equality for all.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
My entire life, my parents desired for me & my siblings to get jobs that were safe & secure. They wanted us to be doctors, lawyers, financial professionals & more. I never felt right within any of those boxes, but it was nearly impossible to think outside of those boxes because that was all I knew. My first obstacle was figuring out that it was okay to dream & strategize outside of what my parents wanted for me. Once I got out of that struggle, I had to design a roadmap to get to my destination. Unfortunately, in this industry (filled with crabs in a barrel mentalities), you won’t find many people willing to help guide you. So for years, YouTube university served as my teacher & guide. I studied the greats, read their books & bet on myself to emulate their greatness. I figured out how to get to their destinations. Then, I started to realize that trying to drive to someone else’s destination will leave you feeling out of place. It’s great to find people with careers that resemble your vision but truly living a full life requires you to discover the vision that God has placed on your heart. You have to find what really keeps you up at night. The last part for me was indeed the hardest. I spent all this time trying to become Terrance J, Ryan Seacrest, etc., to finally realize I couldn’t live their life. The mental healing & reforming I did to take these three struggles & turn them into a clear roadmap of success was a journey on its own. After overcoming those barriers, my only obstacle today is remaining consistent with my work & being patient with my growth.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an independent Journalist/Producer; I am also the creator of the “Morning Cup of Kofi” web series. Through this web series, I become a morning boost, helping people seize their moment and breakthrough mental blocks. I am passionate about using my platform to provide direction to millions who do not have someone to them help navigate life. I do this through another one of my productions, Spill the Beans, where I interview various tastemakers about how they got to where they are today. Spill the Beans also gives musical artists space to perform live—these performances are followed by candid conversations about what goes on in between the lyrics. In addition to creating content & doing interviews, I help brands find their voice in the ever-growing digital landscape (through social media management). Going forward, my goal is to use my skills to collaborate with other businesses & media outlets to amplify their voices, broaden their audience & push the culture forward.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Open-mindedness is an essential characteristic for success in my line of work. To be a great interviewer, you have to be willing to hear the views of your interviewees. When you listen within a nonjudgmental ear, you can ask questions that unravel layers of the interviewees’ story. Secondly, being open-minded allows you to accept the unexpected opportunities life brings us. It’s essential to have a plan but, more importantly, to be ready and willing to adjust the plan when necessary.

Contact Info:

• Email: Iamkdadson@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamkdadson/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jIyAKJyID0&t=1s