Walt Disney would certainly appreciate Tracey Powell’s take on failure. The American icon experienced many failures in his journey to find success as a pioneer animator. Today, Disney is a multi-billion dollar machine that continues to grow.

Steve Harvey referenced Walt Disney when speaking with the press about the power of a dream at Dreamers Academy 2019. “Somebody dreamed of all of this,” Harvey said in reference to Disney World and other entities associated with Disney. “Somebody dreamed of a cell phone,” he added. “Somebody dreamed of flying one day. You’ve got to put that in your kids. You’ve got to really embed that in your kids’ psyche because that’s the thing that’s going to make them great is their dream.”

The students who were chosen to attend Dreamers Academy 2019 had to prove themselves as visionaries before being selected to participate in the program. Thousands of youth between the ages of 13 and 19 submitted applications for acceptance. Only 100 candidates were selected.

Though the process of getting to Dreamers Academy in Orlando was intense, those chosen for such a prestigious honor reaped the benefits of incredible mentorship from some of the most prominent individuals in the nation. Marcus Scribner and Miles Brown of the hit ABC series Black-ish were among the young stars in attendance during the 4-day event. Dr. Steve Perry of Breakthrough and motivational speaker Jonathan Sprinkles also played intricate roles in the development of the chosen 100.

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“‘Be 100’ means be all the way,” Sprinkles said during an interview that followed his amazing talk about hugging the monster (i.e., shunning self-hate). “It means be 100, or don’t be at all,” Jonathan added. “[‘Be 100’] means go all the way. It means commit with everything in you, and don’t hold back because there is no reason to hold yourself back. It means [to] be authentic, be courageous, be honest, be vulnerable.”