Successful Failures: Felicia “Snoop” Pearson

One of my favorite TV shows ever was HBO’s The Wire. The reasons why I like this show are too numerous to list but I highly recommend that if haven’t seen the show yet add it to your viewing list immediately (the show is off the air so Netflix or buying the DVDs will have to do).  One of the breakout performances on the show was that of Felicia"Snoop" Pearson. Check out sample of her work:

Obviously, the series is meant for mature audiences and may not appeal to many. But Snoop’s performance is fantastic in the series.  I did some research on Ms. Pearson and discovered that she would make an excellent subject of a Successful Failures feature.

Dead On Arrival….almost

According to her bio, Snoop was born premature weighing only 3 pounds at birth. Her chances of survival were low. Her parents were both drug addicts and were incarcerated at the time of her birth so she was raised in a foster home. If things weren’t bad enough, she was raised in one of the poorest parts Baltimore.  If you watch the Wire, which is set in Baltimore, you will understand how growing up in type of environment can impact your chances of having a successful life.  And Snoop was not immune to the affects of her environment. She worked as drug dealer at a very young age and at age 14 she was convicted of second degree murder for the shooting death of a young woman. Snoop served six years in a Maryland penitentiary for her crime. Given everything that she endured during the first twenty years of her life, it would be understandable if Snoop went the way so many people in similar circumstances have gone. It would have been easy for her to end up another statistic; doing more crimes, doing drugs, or simply another victim of streets.  But after prison Snoop decided to change things up and a chance meeting with one of the stars of the Wire led to an audition and eventually a part on the show. 

Sky’s the Limit

Snoop has expanded her success into other areas:

• She published her memoir in a book titled Grace After Midnight
• She has started a music career and has been featured on several hip hop songs and has starred in a few music videos.
• She reportedly has an album in the works.
• She runs a youth drama organization called Moving Mountains, which is aimed at stopping youth violence and keeping kids off the streets.
• She volunteers at prisons and works for anti violence as well as literacy campaigns.

5 Things You Can Learn from Felicia "Snoop" Pearson

• It’s not where you start out, its where you end up.  Life’s not fair.  For every person that’s born into a well adjusted, normal family there’s hundreds (probably thousands) that are born into similar circumstances that Snopp was.  The more able you are to let go of the past and focus on the future, the more likely you are to be successful. 
• Be open to what the Universe has in store for you.  I’m not sure if Ms. Pearson ever had any aspirations of becoming an actress or hip hop artist but when the opportunity presented itself she made the most of it. She didn’t let her past stop her. And she didn’t let the fact that she didn’t have any formal training stop her.  Seek out what you want in your life and chances are good that you will find it…if it doesn’t find you first!
• Stay true to yourself. Ms Pearson was successful in The Wire because she was essentially playing herself. She was able to take all of her experiences growing up in the streets and use them to her advantage. We are the sum total of our life’s experiences.  We can choose to use those experiences to our benefit or be victim to them and use them as an excuse for achieving our goals.  Successful people choose the former of the two. 
• Give back. It’s good karma!!
• Don’t mess with a Baltimore chick! I think this self explanatory! LOL!!
   

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