WITH SELF LOVE X ERINN FLEEKS

Using positive and inspirational event planning as
her foundation, Erinn Renee’ Fleeks was an active
resource for many non-profit, for-profit, and
religious organizations. However, her passion for
promotions, branding, and advertising paved the
way for her entrance into the entertainment
industry. In 2013, she joined The Gospel Show
team at C89.5 (an award-winning radio station in
Seattle, WA). There Fleeks was one of four radio
personalities. In 2017, Fleeks decided to move
closer to family and made a significant move to
Houston, TX. With over 15 years of experience,
Fleeks immediately got a job teaching Music
Business at a local college as she continued to
build her network. Soon after, she was hired to
plan events, book (and manage) artists, and often
request to connect people strategically under her company Urban 411 Entertainment. Using her vast network, she developed partnerships with
other national entertainment agencies. This led to
working with a 5X Grammy Award Winning
Producer, Songwriter, and Music Publisher, Jovan
Dawkins. In 2020 she accepted the position of
President of Business Affairs for Mr. Dawkins’ two
record labels, Heritage Music Group and Legacy
Music Group. In 2021 she formed a new company called Fleeks Entertainment Group that focuses on Public Relations, Consulting, Producing & Artist Development.

With her many accolades and busy schedule, Erinn took some time to share with me her personal experience with self love…

Self Love to me is taking ownership of your own happiness. Loving everything about yourself without the approval of anyone else.

What are the challenges you face when thinking of self-love?

The Challenges I face are worrying about what others think, which shape and view sometimes how I may think of myself.

How will you confront these challenges to move towards self-love?

Knowing that I don’t need the approval from anyone but God.

Do you have a personal story that you can share with our readers about your struggles or successes along your journey of self-understanding and self-love? Was there ever a tipping point that triggered a change regarding your feelings of self love?

Being in a relationship years ago I struggled with loving myself and all that was a part of who I was. I was with someone who didn’t affirm me and because of that, it was hard to love things about myself. Once I realized that only I could make myself happy, I started taking time out for myself and ignoring the negative things that were said to me and started setting boundaries. I had and still have a good group of friends who took the time out to mentor me, encourage me and to help me build back up my self esteem. My faith in God plays a major part in who I am today and why I love myself so much. God made me in HIS image, how can I not love myself, when God created me.

As cheesy as it might sound to truly understand and “love yourself,” can you share with our readers a few reasons why it’s so important?

It is so important to love yourself no matter what. People will fade away, approvals and encouragement may not come when you want it but you have to know who you are and who you belong to. Your happiness depends on you. People can aid in your happiness but once that fades away, you still have to go on and loving yourself makes all the difference in the world.

When we talk about self-love and understanding we don’t necessarily mean blindly loving and accepting ourselves the way we are. Many times self-understanding requires us to reflect and ask ourselves the tough questions, to realize perhaps where we need to make changes in ourselves to be better not only for ourselves but our relationships. What are some of those tough questions that will cut through the safe space of comfort we like to maintain, that our readers might want to ask themselves?

Tough questions could be, Is that person really right for me? Do I need to walk away? Asking God to show you who you really are and once those revelations are revealed, am I ready to make that change? Do I love myself enough to say No? Do I set boundaries for myself? If not, why not?

Can you share an example of a time that you had to reflect and realize how you needed to make changes?

I realized I needed to make changes once God showed me who I really was. I didn’t like who I was at first and my attitude reflected that. Once I started losing friends, I realized the real problem was me, not them.

What favorite book, podcast, or resource for self-psychology, intimacy, self love or relationships? What do you love about it and how did it resonate with you?

My go to really is a group I created on FB called Str8ght Talk No Chaser. It really is a place where people can really encourage each other.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? Maybe we’ll inspire our readers to start it…

I’m not sure about starting a movement per se’ but one thing that works for me and some others I know is quoting “Daily affirmations.” Affirming yourself is so important. When you believe the very words that are coming out of your mouth, you will begin to see a change in your attitude and how you view yourself. You should encourage those around you as well.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote” that you use to guide yourself by? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life and how our readers might learn to live by it in theirs?

Love yourself enough to have boundaries. Your time and your energy is precious. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept. -Anna Taylor

Establishing boundaries makes all the difference in my life. I love myself enough to not just accept anything and everything and will walk away if it interrupts my happiness.