Conversations with My Uncle is a heartfelt and introspective book that shares the journey of Yani and her Uncle Bouj.
Yani shares her experiences with her uncle Bouj as he offers invaluable insights that help shape Yani’s understanding of the world and herself.
Yani & Bouj | Share a bond that stems from friendship. From endless moments of laughter to random movie nights and eating a little too many cookies, their relationship is a connection that is healing, rejuvenating, and humbling.
In January 2024, I signed up to compete in a beauty pageant. Despite being a wonderful experience, my intent for competing wasn’t just to win the crown; I was running away from something. The boogie man? No. Bouj? Not this time. I didn’t see my choice to compete as an issue early on, but Bouj did.
When I received my acceptance letter to compete in the pageant, I announced my achievement to anyone who would listen and especially to those who were concerned if I was riding my mother’s back. During that time, two years after graduating from college, I was still receiving rejection letters left and right for full-time jobs. So I thought that if I competed then it would stand out on my resume and become acquainted with women in various fields.
Despite working a part time job and pursuing my passions at the same time, Bouj warned that there’s a ticking clock on when the world expects to see concrete evidence on what I’ve been doing with my time. And if I have nothing to show, then it must be in the form of a consistent check. So, I was sweating profusely but the pageant gave me something to look forward to.
However, my excitement was cut short after reviewing what I would be judged on; interview, gown and bikini! That was definitely outside my comfort zone but it was too late to back out. You may wonder, why the hell did I sign up for the pageant in the first place then? Well, I was in a rush to make a change in my life.
After my college graduation, I was often met with this question; “So, what’s next Yani?”. I despised being asked that because I had no idea of what I was doing other than wanting to get hired. The only other safe options to answer were:
Option (C) seemed like the right route to go on despite coming into contact with a lot of dead ends.
Want More? Coversations with my Uncle Book is coming out soon!
