OPRAH!!! I wanna JOB!

Companies thank their hard-working employees in variety of ways from end-of-year bonuses to paid vacations to discounts on coveted, and sometimes, not-so-coveted, items. But with continued economic troubles, a pat on the back is sometimes all that's given.

But what about a surprise $10,000 check? Or heck, how about one of those iPads?

That's exactly what the entire O: The Oprah Magazine staff received this past Tuesday. Long known for her "random acts of kindness" (remember when she gave each member of her studio audience a car in 2004?), Oprah struck again at the Hearst headquarters in NYC to surprise O staffers (no matter how long they'd been with the company) with the gifts in honor of the magazine's 10th anniversary.

"These were personal gifts to the staff from Oprah to thank them for their hard work and dedication to the magazine," a Hearst spokeswoman told The Future, confirming the visit and gifts.

My Eye-Opening Experience At A Forum For The Transgender Community

Very rarely, I would attend an event or participate in a situation for which I know little information, especially upon invitation. Yesterday, going to an event blindly paid off for me mentally and spiritually.

Check out my testimony in the video below. I talk about how I was invited to a "networking event" by a friend who really did not know what the event was about. Instead of a networking event for the unemployed, we entered into a forum discussion about transgenders in the workplace, transitioning and transformed.

Until last night, I would have quickly balked about such invitation since I can openly admit that I have not been open to socializing and associating with the transgender community. (By the way, this has been my preference, and my views are not uniformed with The Future Forward team.) Additionally, I have classified the transgendered community minimally to clubs, pageants, female impersonations, low-paying/less-skillful employment and the ball scene. Fortunately, my mind has opened and views has changed as I decided to check out what the symposium entailed. At the panel discussion, four transgendered men and women shared their stories of success, guilt, shame, stress and laughter as they transitioned from one sex to the other while they were in their executive positions. In fact, one of them manages accounts in excess of a billion dollars and transitioned during the height of her success. [She was born as a male.] Their stories wowed me as I would have never imagined people of the transgender community being successful outside of the GLBT and mainstream entertainment circuit.

I was more impressed by the message the last speaking panelist gave than the collective's transformation during employment. Though the forum was about fighting for rights and discussing the disparities of equality for transgenders in corporate America, the panelist spoke a message of empowerment and ownership of self. When people of ownership when people talking about being victims, I listen because solution brings progress where problem remain.

In fact, people [still] think that Blacks, gays and other groups cannot succeed in certain things. Who would have thought they would live through a Black man becoming President of the United States?

At that point, I knew that setting limitations on a group limits my perception of life. Everything is possible, and people are capable of accomplishing whatever their hearts desire. Even if we have never seen such a benchmark set for a demographic, one can ensure that someone will achieve that notoriety and pave the way for others someday.

Each of us have a bias toward a group or demographic. Yes, you do too. Think about the characteristics you associate with that group. Now, I challenge you to meet or find someone in that group that defies your classification of that group. You, too, will be more enlightened and open-minded as I have last night.

Made The Move To East Coast; Now A Future Forward Contributor

I feel the love and welcome as a the newest contributing member of The Future Forward.

For those who are unfamiliar with me, I am Waddie Grant. Currently, I live in Newark, NJ, working with the brothers of The Future Forward on building a successful network of professionals and the movers and shakers of the Black gay community. So far, I have been living in the east coast for a month, and I love living in New Jersey and enjoying New York City when I am not grinding.

Before I made the move to New Jersey, I lived in Chicago for the past eight years. During my time in Chicago, I made a splash in Chicago's Black gay/lesbian community with my event planning experience and network. I earned "socialite" status when I hosted social events for my friends and acquaintances including happy hour nights, potluck gatherings, New Year's Eve parties, celebrity club happenings, and themed events. Most notably, I hosted the widely-mentioned white parties, which has served as the highly-anticipated perennial event of Chicago Black gay/lesbian professionals. After each successive event, most particularly working with the talents of Jensen Atwood, DeMarco Majors and Jason Steed, I have always met friends and attendees with the question of when the next event will take place. Hearing those questions and similar compliments makes what I do for the community socially very rewarding.

August 2009 was the most stressful month I have endured in recent years. I needed to finalize plans for the third annual white party with Jason Steed as host. My employer recently downsized my department, and I was one of its casualties. From there, I have decided to make my move to New York City -- finally. With that plan, I had less than thirty days to make plans with moving, finalizing bills, finding residence, saying "see you later" to close friends and other stressful complications that come with moving to another state. Additionally, I had to deal with naysayers who did not envision the success I want to chase in New York City as well as people who wanted to sabotage my white party and moving details. There were moments when I wanted to scream, fight and hate the world. Ultimately, I let out a couple hours of tears two nights before I moved when the realization of all that happened and will occur have finally dawned on me. Fortunately, my best friend Lawrence helped me through that month emotionally, physically and spiritually.

On the last day of August, I moved to Newark, NJ, to realize my dream. Of course, I did not meet my plan of living in Harlem, but that will come soon. I arrived at the airports with a wide grin, huge jitters and widened eyes realizing that I will follow my aspirations of becoming a more successful blogger, writer, publicist and event promoter in the New York City area. Immediately, I have been working on those goals through networking with key individuals who have sought the right connections to patch me through. Even meeting some of my online friends and fellow bloggers with whom I have chatted and networked seemed like unwrapping Christmas gifts. During the month of September, I experienced many highs as a new resident in the east coast.

Of course, life cannot be perfect. No matter how glamorous I have painted a picture about my residence in the east coast thus far, I have met one huge obstacle. Job hunting in today's economy, especially in the greater New York City area, is one of the most challenging tasks anyone can face right now. I felt like that I made the mistake of not beginning my job search immediately after I moved right now because I am quickly spending up my saving without having any income flowing. I do not regret that decision because I have enjoyed what I called "my extended unpaid vacation." Now, that I feel a little settled, I have begun my aggressive job hunting this week. I have interviewed with three agencies and one employer. While the prospects for me are promising, I feel nervousness at high extremes by putting much pressure on myself to land a good-to-great paying job.

In the meantime, I keep busy updating the look and contents of my popular blog G-Magazine Now as well as working with my new online family at The Future Forward. I am also working on my fitness goal with my new membership at the New York Sports Club. While there are a plethora of good-looking, working-class men of all heights and sizes, the thin and fit friends I possess make me want to shed off this excess weight I have picked up since 2006. I have been brought into the fold of a popular online radio station 99.3Jamz and sealing deals on managing great talents in public speaking and acting. Very soon, I will have paying daytime office job to support all my other ventures. Then, I will find my Harlem apartment and be able to enjoy New York City the way I envisioned.

-------------------------------

*Does anyone know an insider to get me a great paying job as an Executive Assistant who have worked with top-tier executives?