Someone Has to be the First

Success isn’t found at the table with no seat for you. It’s found in the courage to build a new room and keep the door open for others to follow. When you’re fearless, determined, and focused, you don’t follow the path—you make it. Leslie Short did. Leslie Short has never played by the rules or stayed in the boxes others tried to put her in. At seven, she declared herself “too sophisticated for New Jersey.” Years later, she danced her way across Europe, built Japan’s first male revue show, helped transform FUBU into a global brand, and carved out a place as a chaplain, speaker, and culture strategist. From ballet studios to boardrooms, cruise ships to corporate America, Leslie’s journey is as unconventional as it is inspiring. With humor and fearless candor, she shares the realities of racism, sexism, and the courage it takes to step into spaces where no one expected her to be. More than a memoir of firsts, Someone Has to Be the First is a call to action—a reminder that success isn’t just about opening doors, but about keeping them open so others can follow. Someone has to be the first, but Leslie is ensuring that the first doesn’t have to mean the only one.