Lupita Nyong’o | Rebecca Sides Capellan

Once upon a time, two young ladies sat in their college dorm room late at night and dreamed.  They talked about where they’d go in life — or, at least, where they wanted to go.  One of them, Becca, had no hesitation.  She not only knew what she wanted but had 110% confidence that it was all possible.  The other girl, Carla… oh, she had fantasies about her future, but a life of pragmatic decisions and safety-net-based choices rendered her a little less hopeful that she could achieve her goals.

Fast forward 15 years, and I’m so, so proud to see my friend Becca living out the exact life she’d wanted for herself.  As a senior publicist with ID-PR, her clients have included major power players and A-listers, and she’s rubbed elbows with just about everyone.  That said, to me, true achievement is when you’ve worked very hard to enable something to blossom in your care, and in that vein, perhaps Becca’s biggest professional achievement has been the success of her client, Lupita Nyong’o, throughout this past awards season (that’s Becs, in the below pics, with the dark hair, bangs, and big smile).

Clearly clearly clearly, Lupita is a phenom in every way.  Talent, grace, beauty, intellect, poise — she’s got it all, in spades.  But I genuinely want to credit my friend for carrying out Lupita’s achievements ‘behind the scenes’ and running a campaign on Lupita’s behalf that has net her fashion contracts (i.e., the face of Miu Miu), magazine covers, and various awards, including the highest of all performance accolades: an Oscar.

Lupita’s acceptance speech caught in my throat for many reasons.  I mean, it was stunning.  And her backstage thank yous also killed me.  But I mostly got teary-eyed thinking about my friend and her enormous — and fearless — successes.  And, of myself, and what it took to realize the legitimacy of my goals, once abandoned and, then, rediscovered and nurtured into the career of my dreams.  Because Lupita is absolutely right: all of our dreams are valid.