David "Dae-Lee" Arrington

😏 Bluey. Spidey. Dinosaurs. Motorcycle.
A 3-year olds favorite things.

✍🏽 Autographing a few journals as I get ready for a few workshops this coming week.

It was great to be with team today!

Thanks for the invitation to join you all and team looks forward to continuing to build together. 🏗️🧡

🏆 Hall of Fame 😳

Last week, 26 years later, I went back home to be inducted into the Granby High School Hall of Fame alongside my teammates from the 2000 State Championship basketball team.

When my Mom first told me it was happening months ago, I honestly didn’t believe her. Then I heard from my brother, and later from Granby’s athletic director, and it finally hit me. I was excited, and if I’m honest, a little anxious too.

I had only spoken briefly to one of my teammates since we won that championship 26 years ago. Truth be told, I didn’t even show up for the post-championship photo back then. Looking back at pictures from that season, it’s clear there was a lot going on in life behind those 18-year-old eyes.

The confident Dae-Lee many people know today from the stage, from business, or from leadership spaces didn’t exist in 2000. Back then, I was simply Arrington from Huntersville in Norfolk, Virginia. Quiet, guarded, and carrying more than most people, including myself, knew.

I almost didn’t go.

Part of me was afraid of going back and slipping into that old version of myself. Afraid of revisiting a time in life that held both great achievement and private weight. It would have been easier to stay home.

But thanks to the support of my Mom, my wife, and my baby brother, I went. And I’m really glad I did.

Seeing my teammates and coaches again, and watching the short documentary about our historic season, was more moving than I expected in the best way.

It reminded me that some moments in life are sweeter in retrospect, when you’re healthy enough to hold them.

A younger version of me helped live this moment.
The older version of me got to truly appreciate it.

And for that, I thank God.

🥂Cheers fellas!

Resilient Joy.
The two words that came to mind when I saw these two pictures.

Enjoyed a mid day visit to the to check out the Jazz Greats exhibit.

Be still and remember… 🙏🏽

It’s easy, in the busyness of life, to only focus on where you’re headed. But I’m learning more and more how important it is to remember.

Even the difficult parts of the journey I often may want to forget have played a part in shaping who I’ve become.

📸 These are a few behind-the-scenes moments from a new Leadership Cohort Experience video(Link In bio). Moments that remind me where my work with Bridge Builder Consulting started, where we are now, and where we’re going. It’s humbling.

As I share more of the story behind this work, I’m reminded that remembering is not about staying stuck in the past. It’s about honoring what shaped you.

I hope we all do the work to better understand ourselves, to heal, and to never forget where we come from, because it gives meaning to where we’re going. 🧡

🎞️ S/O to Henry behind the lens for helping us tell this story.

…where preparation meets opportunity.

Purposeful progress.

Trying my best to remain focused on the “why” through all of the distractions.

🗓️ In one week, I’ll be hosting an interactive webinar, Leading in Disconnected Times, focused on equipping leaders to understand the cost of disconnection and learn practical ways to rebuild trust, momentum, and results.

🧡 Register for free at the link in bio, and I’ll see you then!

Imagine if America erased Black history…

🌽 George Washington Carver: Revolutionized agriculture with crop rotation and soil restoration.

🚦 Garrett Morgan: Invented the traffic light, changing road safety forever.

🚀 Katherine Johnson: NASA mathematician whose calculations helped get us to the moon.

🎷 Jazz and Blues: The foundation of American music and global culture.

🇺🇸 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Helped reshape American democracy through the Civil Rights Movement.

What we choose to remember shapes what we are able to imagine.

These are only a few of many. Add someone/something to the comments and let’s keep the full story (good, bad, ugly) alive.👇🏽

🖼️ Art by Alma Thomas, the first Black woman to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.