On Saturday, October 12th 2019 I started an all too necessary culture shift in my hometown of Federal Way with The Shyan Selah Experience. The day began early with a College and Career fair that featured a selection of institutions looking to provide educational and scholarship opportunities to students in Federal Way including: University of Washington, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, Western Washington University, Seattle Central and Highline Colleges as well as Scholarship Junkies. We also had Macy’s, Barnes & Noble, Port of Seattle, King County, KEXP Radio, US ARMY and others looking to hire our local student talent for potential jobs.
Representing the Community Service culture was the City’s own Federal Way Youth Action Team (FWYAT) amongst other supporters including City leadership with Deputy Mayor Susan Honda, and City Councilmembers Martin Moore and Jesse Johnson. This was undertaking of epic proportions from my team and the next one will be even bigger and better. Our local youth student talent walked away informed, motivated and proud that this was happening. For me personally it’s only the beginning of a point I’ve been making for years: our youth need to be engaged by those who come from where and what they come from so they can hear the stories, learn the methods and understand the tools for how to seize the opportunities before them.
Later that night I got a chance to focus my attention on our adult audience in the area – to not only share my story on the big stage, but to also show what the importance of the professional music industry can do for a community when it’s given the opportunity to do so. It brings the people together like they should be. It was humbling to see friends, family, colleagues, acquaintances, fans and those who were just curious as to what all the hoopla is about all in one intimate setting that evening at the beautiful Performing Arts & Event Center. It was a historical moment for the City and myself and were already in the planning stages for the next one…
