Celebrity Crush Plus Local Influencer Equals Cool
It was a fantasy to work with my celebrity crush, until the day it became a reality. When working for a nonprofit organization, you wear many hats. At times you’re busy and attend so many meetings, taking a lunch break away from the desk can be a fantasy. One day, a few of my team members were brainstorming ideas for a local celebrity influencer for the next Christmas fundraiser. It’s Chicago, we have tons of local celebrity influencers! Um, the former president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama are from Chicago. The talk show queen, Oprah Winfrey, still visits and shops on Michigan Avenue. Let’s not forget actors like Gary Sinise, John Cusack, Melissa McCarthy, and Nick Offerman are from Chicago. There’s even famous singers and musicians from Chicago, for instance, Common, Jennifer Hudson and Chance the Rapper!
I finally had the genius idea to blurt out, “What about reaching out to one of those shows that feature Chicago on the NBC Network, you know the ones: Chicago P.D., Chicago Med and Chicago Fire? In fact, one of the guys, LaRoyce Hawkins, stars on Chicago P.D., and he’s from Harvey, Illinois. He’s also African American, he acts and does spoken word. He’ll be able to connect with our clients and expand our donor audience. In any case, I’ve had a crush on him for years, it would be great if we could work with him!”
My team members immediately starting searching for LaRoyce Hawkins on Google, IMDB, Wikipedia, and all of his social media accounts. Everyone agreed that he was handsome and his celebrity influence and personal background may work for the Christmas fundraiser. Within a few weeks our director had reached out to LaRoyce’s management, tons of things happened in the background, and we were at the beginning of a great partnership for our Christmas fundraiser.
As the rest of the leadership and team members began to hear about the partnership, it was slipped that LaRoyce was my celebrity boyfriend. I didn’t mind, but at the same time, I had to be grounded and not gush like a flipping teenager!
Speaking of gushing, one of the directors had set up a photoshoot with LaRoyce and invited me to come along. I’m so glad she told me only a few days before, because I was thinking about it literally all the time. Including bragging to my husband, “Guess who I’m going to see?!”
The day finally arrived for the photoshoot at his apartment building. Looking back, I believed I played it pretty cool. LaRoyce met us in the lobby and greeted both me and co-worker with hugs. He even asked me to help tie an apron around his waist for the photo. I thought I was gonna lose it. In my mind, tying that apron lasted forever! Once the photoshoot was over, my co-worker and I, giggled in the hallway like little school children! She immediately screamed how even more attractive he was in person!
Well that was my first celebrity crush experience, and thankfully since we have a continued partnership with him, I’ve been able to remain professional and keep my cool during fundraiser events!
If you’ve had a celebrity crush experience, gives us the scoop and leave a message in the comments below.
