LUCÍA PADOR

I’m not going to pretend to have all the answers. Because I don’t. And I have no perfect words. But I’m on a journey to being better. Like for everyone, what’s happening in the world has been on heavy my heart. Images of a black man being beat down, will always be images that I’ll never forget. The tears of man crying after his business, his life work, that he built with his bare hands, being destroyed, are the tears I’ll never forget. Hearing my 9 year old nephew tell me about the riots he’s seeing on TV, are the words I’ll never forget. Violence for more violence is not the answer. What I’m seeing unfolding in front my eyes is a cry from Heaven. It’s time for all of us to change our ways for a brighter future. Together we are better. Separated, there will be nothing left. Let’s not the evil that’s running rampant destroy the good that’s in humanity. It’s still there - we need to actively seek for it, find it again and share it with one another. LOVE is powerful and it can transform. I truly believe that if we taught & practiced more empathy, compassion, joy, gratitude, & understanding we can change our future. There is one thing that I’ve always said when I started my business. I’ll create Utterly Engaged to be a place for the voiceless. Your voice matters here. Your work, art, perspective, and your purpose - MATTERS. It matters to me, to my team, and to every single person that is touched by your story. Why is it important to me? Why do I care so much? When growing up, being asian with a darker skin tone and a curvier body, I’ve always felt out of place. Not really fitting in and never looking like anyone in my own Vietnamese community. I made a promise to myself to create a place that NO ONE is left out. Only LOVE will live here. . — “Let me hold the door for you. I may have never walked in your shoes, but I can see your soles are worn, your strength is torn under the weight of a story I have never lived before. Let me hold the door for you. After all that you’ve walked through. It’s the least I can do.” — Thank you @morganharpernichols for this beautiful poem. #pursuecollective