ROYAL BY DESIGN
“I’ve always known that I am elite and my services are a reflection of that,….. people don’t understand that,” firmly stated by Carnell Johnson, Jr., CEO of Right Touch Elite Car Care. The same attitude should be true regarding all patrons of luxury services. Historically, people from the African Diaspora have been denied access to common luxuries such as fashion, interiors, and hospitality. Socially, BLACK women and men have been branded as uncouth, inadequate, and obscene, thus only experiencing luxury through servitude or working for those that were born with an innate supremacy and refinement. We are no longer hindered by the Whites Only signage, even so, the impact of the verbal brutality and rejection still remains.
Inferiority can be a difficult frame of mind to prevail over simply because it is invisible. As resilient and powerful as BLACK people have always been, even the strongest nations internalize and manifest second-class lifestyles after experiencing calculated, systemic oppression. Even so, my own pursuit of self love and desire for a quality over quantity lifestyle has equipped me with the following wisdom to create a luxurious mentality:
Identify Yourself- Our culture, parents, and the opinions of others shape what we believe about ourselves as children. Because our families and society is highly dysfunctional and superficial, we have to be bold enough to reaffirm and reclaim our sense of worth. Identify yourself as royal, distinguished, and refined. When you know who you are, you will walk through the front door of every establishment without reservation.
Exposure -Financial status typically determines how we access quality services and merchandise, but it does not have to determine what we perceive about ourselves. It never hurts to observe upscale environments and creations, even when your earnings are low. For instance, I went window shopping at the sophisticated South Park Mall in Charlotte, NC for my birthday in 2013; this heightened my expectations and created a vision for my future while my salary was at its lowest.
Appreciate Craftsmanship - Many times we wear exclusive labels and move into elite communities as a symbol of affluence, yet we are not prepared to maintain what we have obtained. Furthermore, we tend to have little regard for the attention to detail, exclusive materials, and the duration of time taken to produce luxury merchandise and services. As we grow in exposure and wealth, we should also demonstrate progression in how we do business. In other words, we should not “knickle and dime” merchants after receiving elite services.
We are all born with a God-designed crown, but unfortunately, our world gets offended when we wear it. I have experienced hurt and disappointments that have crushed my spirit and made me question my worth, but like Carnell Johnson, Jr., there has always been a knowing within, that reminds me that I am elite and ROYAL.
“As resilient and powerful as BLACK people have always been, even the strongest nations internalize and manifest second-class lifestyles after experiencing calculated, systemic oppression.”