Author and poet Fanta Ballo self-published her book "For All The Things I Never Got To Say" in 2021 when she was just 19 years old. Ballo speaks about the inspiration for her writing and her message to young writers.

Fanta Ballo, a poet and author with a significant social media following, spoke about her journey from writing for self-expression to establishing a career in poetry. She credits a grant from the Shawn Mendes Foundation as a pivotal moment, which encouraged her to pursue poetry full time and validated her work beyond her immediate community.

Ballo discussed the personal challenges she faced growing up as a first-generation American in a traditional African household and how poetry became her safe space. She emphasized the importance of self-support and encouraged others to be their own biggest fans, sharing that incremental achievements and early recognition helped build her confidence to continue her artistic path.

Fanta Ballo opens up on what transformed her poetry career

How can I convince you when I'm still trying to convince myself that I am someone worth fighting for? Someone worth the truth, even when the lies seem so much sweeter. See, I am damaged, but not fragile. I am sincere, but not naïve. I know no matter how good this feel one day... That is author and poet, thank you very much, Fanta Balo, performing her poem, Broken Hearts. Balo has more than 5 million likes on TikTok, I so get it, sharing her poems and passionate messages with more than 250,000 followers. Thank you very much. Balo published her book, For All the Things I Never Got to Say, back in 2021, and she was just 19 years old at the time. We're very happy to say that Fanta Balo joins us in studio. Congratulations to you, young lady. Thank you. I'm not kidding. I was so blown away and my heart just opened up when I listened to the words and the way you do it. But this is the thing, Shawn Mendes, I'm in stitches, that's Shawn Mendes, through his foundation gave you a grant. What did that mean to you at the time? That actually transformed my whole poetry career, because up until that point, I was like, I graduated, or I was about to graduate, I was like, I'm going to go corporate, I'm going to make some money, I may do writing on the side, but when that happened, it literally showed me that there are people out there, outside of my own community, that see something in me. That believe in you. That he believed in me. He actually gave me the first grant as a young changemaker, right? So my change was through my art, through my poetry. So when that happened, I literally was like, okay, I got to do this thing full throttle. I was fascinated by your life and your words. At one point you say, I'm mature for my age because I never got to be a kid. Yes. Another time you said, I turned my suicide note into a graduation speech. What was your life like, Fanta? When did you know that you could do this? What were you trying to do? Honestly, at first, I was just trying to live. I was trying to breathe. I was trying to figure out who I was in a world where I felt so suffocated growing up in a traditional African household. I had those norms, but then I was the first generation in America, so I had those norms. Growing up being dark-skinned, African, skinny, it was a lot thrown at me at once. And then figuring out who I was at such a young age. So poetry was the only place where I felt free, where I felt seen, where I could be myself unapologetically. So that was my home. That was my safe. It only became a career later on in life. Yeah. And speaking of that, you've written before, I saved myself. Had to pray. I saved myself. I had to raise myself. And when I won and no one saw, I had to praise myself. Yes. So what is your message to those that might be in similar circumstances, and it seems like they are having these small victories, but there's nobody clapping for them? I think that is once you realize that you have to be your biggest support, you have to be your biggest fan, you came into this world alone, you will leave this world alone. And most times, people won't get on the bandwagon until you've actually made it to the high of heights. You have to be your biggest supporter. Like I have that phrase on the back of my shirt right now. Right now. Yeah. And it's because I really had, when you have to pull yourself up by the bootstraps, right, and you have to do that by yourself, you know that you can conquer anything, right? Once you've done it yourself, anything anybody else brings is a plus. So it's really just finding out within yourself and then. Be your own biggest fan. Yeah. Be your own biggest fan. And how did you know that you could do this full time, have the confidence to make this a career? You went to college at 15, graduated at 19. Now she's showing off. 15. Wow. Yeah. I mean, the thing that made me realize I could do it full time was little increments, little small wins, well, big wins, kind of like the Shawn Mendes thing. It was me being able to gain a following. It was me being able to have somebody say they want to pay me for me to perform, right? Like my first payment was a $50 paycheck in an envelope. But that was something because it was like, okay, people see the value in this. So I will be robbing myself in the world if I kept it to myself. I encourage people to get this book because I picked it and go, what is this? And then I went, oh, that's good. Mirror, mirror. I love all the mirror mirrors. Don't be afraid to fall. You can't rise up if your body never hits the ground. True. True. You can't. So you seem to be, so it seems pretty good to be Fontabalo right now. Yeah, I'm grateful. I'm blessed. I'm happy to be here. All right. Yeah, we're happy to have you. Thank you. And you've already reached helping other kids. Wow. Paying it forward. Yes. I love that. Congratulations to you. Please keep soaring. We are cheering you on always. Bravo, bravo.

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