June 2018

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard of Maddie Poppe. Many of you, including myself, spent the last few weeks glued to the TV as she won us over with her amazing voice while competing on American Idol. This 20-year-old from small town Clarksville, Iowa has spent her entire young life devoted to music with the dream of someday making it big. A dream of someday being able to perform on a stage doing what she knows and loves – entertaining people with her soothing voice and humbling charm. This past week, her dreams came true as she was crowned the winner of American Idol. From the moment she was announced as the winner – her world forever changed. With a national recording contract, her new life of stardom has only begun. But I’m sure it didn’t come easy or without sacrifice.

Her father started her down the path of loving music but it was her hard work, dedication, and determination of never giving up that put her on that stage in front of millions! Her desire to win helped crown her as the 16th winner of American Idol! Imagine for a moment if she would have given up or thrown in the towel when things got tough. Imagine if she had never put herself out there and auditioned for American Idol. Would she be where she is today? We will never know. But what I do know, is all of our lives are similar in the fact that anything we do or try will require commitment, dedication, hard work, and sacrifices in order to achieve success.

So the next time you want to give up and quit – push through it! You never know what the outcome of all your perseverance will be!