Fatou Fierceness: Feed Your Soul with Fatou Bah

Today’s Feed Your Soul features Fatou Bah: born and raised in southwest Washington, D.C. but NYC is now where she plays.  Not to mention Fatou is an NYU alum, manager and marketer at Operative, an advertising business management company, social media maven, digital media enthusiast, and fierce sports lover. DC sports teams, to be specific. And DON’T FORGET IT. Seriously, you should follow her on Twitter. You will not be disappointed. Fatou is fierce citizen of the world and ALWAYS up for new adventures; a sassy and downright cool marketer who is empowered by everything she loves; and a part-time vegan and amateur boxer with a lifelong daydream of wanting to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, Whitney Houston style of course. What feeeeds Fatou’s soul? The Washington Redskins, yoga, going upside down, Twitter and letting the chips fall where they may.  

Are there any consistent activities or rituals you do to maintain a sense of inner peace? The gym is my home away from home. Anytime I'm incredibly giddy or incredibly upset, I unleash it at the gym. The gym never disappoints me.

When you are in an emotional rut, what are your go to ways to bring yourself out of that feeling? Good music or a good yoga class. Going upside down in yoga does wonders.

Before beginning a creative process, what type of preparation do you normally undertake? I close my eyes and calm myself down and let myself know I can do it. I have a tendency to overthink everything and freak myself out so closing my eyes and calming myself down helps a ton.

Describe a time you underwent a particularly stressful event and what measures you took to move through that process. Well I'm very lucky to have an amazing yoga teacher that I can call a friend. I usually call her for advice and she usually has me journal my feelings and talk through them. It's incredibly helpful having a third party listen and talk you through it.

Do you have any favorite movies that always revive your spirit? I love movies that take me back to a great time in my life. For example, watching Coming to America, Moonwalker, The Wizard of Oz or Home Alone (1 or 2), or Clueless never gets old. It takes me back to my childhood.

Is there a particular genre of music that brings you calm? I love all types of musical genres but listening to Motown always makes me happy. I love & appreciate the simple melodies and messages. Who isn't calm after listening to The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, Jackson 5 or Stevie Wonder?

What is the most inspiring book you’ve ever read? Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I was supposed to read that in 12th grade but I'll admit, it was a bit over my head. I chose to reread it on a flight to New Orleans about 7 years ago. I wound up missing my flight and having to wait 8 hours for the next flight so I had nothing but time to re-read it. I was so lost in the book the 8 hours flew by. One of the quotes that stood out in the book for me - "I am invisible because people refuse to see me…When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination- indeed, everything and anything except me.” That quote really stuck with me because I've experienced it. Very heavy reading but well worth it.

Are there any particular exercise routines or practices that you use for grounding? If so, describe how you discovered them. Doing a headstand in yoga grounds me because in order to master it, you gotta let go over your ego & your fear & open yourself up to trusting.

Do you meditate? If so, how did you learn and what methods do you use often? I meditate from time to time. I could do it more. I would like to do it more. But I'll admit, I live on a very loud street and it's very hard for me to block out noise.

What is your favorite motivational YouTube/Netflix video? It switches. I'm still not over the fact that my football team (Washington Redskins) has been eliminated from the playoffs but the motivational video I was listening to was from a former player Brian Mitchell giving the Skins a pregame speech.  That speech got ME so hype I was ready to run through a wall and play.

Who is the most inspirational person you’ve ever met and what did they give you that will never leave you? I've had the pleasure of meeting many awesome people but I gotta say, none more inspirational than my dad. I remember when he applied for a green card so he could work for the DC government as a Transportation Engineer. He went to Guinea to visit family and came back to find out he won the green card lottery. Everyone else is cheering and screaming, and he's like, alright, guess that means I got the job and I'll be starting work soon. His mindset was always, if it's meant to be it'll be. I can only control myself, and let the chips fall where they may. That's how I try to live my life.

Read what Fatou has to say on her blog! https://fatoub.wordpress.com. And don't forget to follow her Twitter and watch her youtube channel!  

Written by Katie Girouard.