That’s Inspiring Vanessa, as well as being an international award winning motivational speaker she’s also a kid-preneur, YouTuber, model and author of two books
How does she do it in between school and living a life of a busy South-London teenager? One thing is evident from the first YouTube videos we saw of her, holding a large audience at the edge of their seats, that Vanessa is all but an ordinary girl.
Vanessa’s journey began when she was only 9 years old and became one of the youngest motivational speakers in the UK. Vanessa’s mission is to inspire children and adults around the world to believe in themselves and have the courage to be whoever they want to be. Her dream is to be on the Ellen Show, meet Ellen DeGeneres also help homeless people by creating a “Hotel for Homeless”. Vanessa has been trained and mentored by several top international speakers and has shared the stage with the likes of Jairek Robbins, Eric Thomas, Eric Ho, Caleb Maddix, Andy Winson and Douglas Vermeeren speaking in front of thousands of people around the word. She’s also been interviewed on London Live TV, BEBB Online TV and Chrissy Show on Sky TV, appeared in Stylist magazine, The Voice newspaper and many other magazines in U.K., USA, Canada and Australia. Past three years she has hosted London Kids Fashion Show, Croydon Has Talent, attended Screen Nation Awards as guest presenter and been interviewed on the red carpet at WE DAY and the Screen Nation Awards.
One of her passions is to go to schools and speak about confidence and self believe. Vanessa lives for personal development and has more charisma and wisdom than most adults. Mindset; inspiration; motivation; love and fear, taking action and self-belief are her top topics.
Vanessa’s mum Veronika Sam describes Vanessa as a happy and bubbly child, born with an abundance of creativity. When she was 9 years old, attending one of her first inspirational seminars with her mum, she met one of her idols, a motivational speaker both of them had been following online. Not long after this Vanessa landed her first motivational speaking gig.
Vanessa grew up in an environment that presented her a wide perspective of possibilities. She had entrepreneurs, YouTubers, motivational speakers amongst family friends and contacts. All of these different career paths related to Vanessa and she saw that through these choices she could carve a road for herself in what she wanted to do – help others. When she realised that talking and delivering speeches could do this and also give her the freedom to travel around the world, she saw it as the “the perfect job”.
The reaction of many people, when Vanessa was starting out her speaking career, was naturally a little sceptical. How could a young child motivate others ‘to get back up’ and ‘to move on’ from blows and knocks life hands us, something she herself had never experienced? However, Vanessa was still able to recognise what made a story impactful and personal, and worth sharing, and this was thanks to her upbringing. She was brought up by her mum, her father left them when she was two years old. Not having a father figure, or having an absent parent, always affects a child. Despite her young age, she has been able to draw lessons from these experiences that were extremely hard to deal with. It was a very hard time for both them, but they knew they had each other and would get through it.
Vanessa still attends school full-time, and focuses and works on her career after school and on the weekends, when she also sometimes attends events with her mum. Homework is prioritised when she gets home from school, and only after that does she edit YouTube videos or films or learns a speech. It can be overwhelming and stressful and has impacted her as a student. Compared to most of her peers she really understands work ethic and works hard in order to succeed. Some students see school and education as a place where hard works isn’t necessary. Being different from other students in her attitude and work can isolate her sometimes but luckily she has found people who accept her for who she is. Vanessa knows that being organised and keeping on top of things in order to fit school and speaking engagements in is hugely important. If Vanessa speaks at an event that’s on a weekday, she is granted permission from school.
Photos by Christen Holly Photography
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