Laura: Hi everyone, I’m Laura Max Rose, and you’re watching Women Mean Business, where we’re interviewing extraordinary women doing extraordinary things. I’m here live at the Women’s Fund, Rockin’ Resiliency, Straight Outta Compton Luncheon with the Mayor of Compton herself, Aja Brown. Aja, thanks so much for being here.

Aja: Thanks for having me Laura.

Laura: Aja, you are youngest mayor in the entire history of the City of Compton; born just in 1982. I know a lot of people want to be just like you. Not only do they want a shot at the glass ceiling, you’re female, but they want to go ahead and go forth and follow their dreams. There are so many people telling them that they need to wait, they need to get this credential, do that, take a step back. You’ve clearly ignored all of that advice. So, tell us what your advice is to young women especially, who are having a big dream they are looking to follow.

Aja: I think it’s important to recognize that we only live once, and I was just raised by an amazing mother, and she modeled what leadership is to me, just with having perpetual sacrifice. I learned at an early age that whatever you’re willing to sacrifice for, then you are able to achieve. Most people are not willing to sacrifice to the degree necessary to achieve great success, but I believe it all begins with sacrifice, and definitely, being mission minded. I’ve had to overcome so many obstacles in my life and beat so many odds, and that’s just been something that has been ingrained in me. I know that I can defy any odd that is put against me based on my sheer determination and willing to succeed. I think that it’s important that women understand that we have a natural ability to overcome all types of issues and challenges.

Laura: We’re strong women.

Aja: We’re strong creatures; we can birth other humans. I think that is such an awesome trait to just be able to have a solution mind. Anything that is worth having, there’s always a barrier of difficulty around it, and I think the bigger the reward the greater the risk. You have to be willing to take those risks, and you have to definitely eliminate the fear of failure. For me, my biggest fear is not failing at all, because sometimes you can fall forward. But it’s really about not making the decision to try. I think that’s the biggest thing is just to try. You may run, you may lose, but you can get back up again and you can take all the things that you’ve learned from some of your failures and put that into your next success.

Laura: That is excellent advice, Aja. Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

Aja: Thank you so much.

Laura: And I’m Laura Max Rose, and you’ve been watching Women Mean Business, where we interview extraordinary women doing extraordinary things. We’ll see you next time.