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Paulette Donna Gates

@missgates54

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HBCU PROFESSOR 👩🏽‍🏫
ATL< HSV < VA< HSV🚦
HBCU 💙💛 👩🏾‍🎓~ B.A. Comm 🎥
👩🏾‍🎓~ M.A. Film/TV 🎬
I'm growing myself so that God can use me to invest in others!💕

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Choosing to share this song with the world required me to share a little more about me. Here's a video that gives a little BTS of "With Outstretched Hands".

Special thanks to an amazing team of creatives who encouraged me every step of the way!

Thank you to everyone listening!

Producer: @jonesnkenge
Interviewer: @dominicmtv
Director of Photography: @thatguyshock
Assistant DP/AC: @like_spike
Creative Director: @theawesomest25
Production Manager: @_kourtne_
Editor: @kharidx by @missgates54

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4 years ago

It’s been about two weeks, and I’m finally ready to talk about OU LIVE, again...😅🙈😂

Every year teaches me something new. This year, the growth wasn’t just about managing a production, it was learning how to manage people, sensitive moments, expectations, and ultimately myself.

I’m grateful God trusted me for such a time as this, and grateful that my students get to serve in partnership with me and use their gifts and skills.

Shoutout to Darryl Josiah and Liam Peters for helping capture the moments.

P-Gates Productions 🤎 #PAULInatingStill by @missgates54

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2 days ago

The Reflection 💙 2/2

And then there was the part nobody really sees.

As a producer, production manager, professor, and somebody who genuinely cares about the people entrusted to me, I think it’s important that after I celebrate what went well, I also make room to sit with what humbled me.

OU LIVE gave me plenty of both.

There were some beautiful moments this week. There were also moments that brought me to tears. Moments when plans shifted. Moments when people were disappointed. Moments when I wanted desperately to make everything okay for everybody around me.

And somewhere in all of that, I realized something:

I am not responsible for producing the emotional outcome inside another human being.

But I’m also learning that I can be accountable without making everything my fault.

And that one is work for me.

Because sometimes the problem really is mine to manage...but that doesn’t mean it has to become mine to absorb.

I’m learning to take what I need from a moment and leave the rest. To recognize where I could have done better without turning every difficult outcome into evidence against myself. To care deeply without believing that caring requires me to control how everybody feels when the moment is over.

I'm still learning and I'm still doing the heart work...🥺

And still grateful.

#PAULInatingStill #OULIVE2026

📸 Photography featured by: Ian Callender & Nathan De Canal by @missgates54

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12 days ago

The Celebration 💛 1/2

OU LIVE is officially a wrap.

And if you know me, you know how easy it would be for me to immediately be ready for a debrief. I'm quick to start making a list of everything that didn’t go according to plan...what needed to be different...what I could’ve done better, and what I’m already fixing for next time.

But I’m learning to slow down long enough to celebrate the win too.

So this post is for that.

For the people who held me down.
For my young people who worked HARD.
For the people who stepped in when I needed them.
For the ones who reminded me that we were on the same team.
For the unexpected moments when God gave me exactly who I needed.
For the creativity, the transitions, the problem-solving, the laughter, the tears, and all the "P- Gates, what are we doing now?"... and "Did you eat?” moments. 😅

OU LIVE stretched me, but…we made it.

And sometimes you have to stop long enough to receive your flowers, acknowledge your people, and say: "We did it, Joe!" THANK YOU GOD!!

And this has been another P-Gates Production.
P.S. Proverbs 16:9.

#PAULInatingStill #OULIVE2026

📸 Photography featured by: Ian Callender & Nathan De Canal by @missgates54

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12 days ago

September ✔️

I'm tired, but y'all gonna get this video 😅 by @missgates54

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16 days ago

It’s AYM Season.

During fall semester, my Production Management class serves alongside the appointed AYM producer for the semester. Every Friday night, a student gets to put into practice the skills and talents they’re actively learning in class, skills I’ve been blessed to help nurture.

My heart gets full when they have that “ah ha” moment… when it clicks… when they really lock in.

Yes, we work hard, but we play harder.😅

First 3 AYMs of the semester are DONE.

Next week is OU LIVE... four days of full-on production management...and my students get to step into my world for a little bit ➖️ A P-GATES PRODUCTION!!

P.S. I LOVE ME SOME ALEX!! 🫶🏽💃🏽 by @missgates54

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22 days ago

💚 PAULInating Still 🤍 by @missgates54

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22 days ago

As I step into the world of OU LIVE 2026, God has been dealing with me on a few things… and apparently, I’ve been dealing with me too. Because #9? Whew. Accountability is a thing.

These four Intentional Thoughts are really just pieces of a much larger conversation I’ve been having with myself lately. Find the balance, Paulette.

Learning. Unlearning. Adjusting. Trusting God through all of it. Pray for my mind y'all! 😩

#PAULInatingStill by @missgates54

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a month ago

Renew the Experience 🎶

When you're a USM Sponsor and they say that their theme for the year is "Renewing the Experience" so you suggest that they sing the theme song from the 2008 USM Album and they listen...

This album is still one of my favorites! Thank you @niksteraa and @nelsonbeato for this gem here...✨️

Singing Group: @singbecoming by @missgates54

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a month ago

Candace,

Thank you for your obedience. Thank you for creating Live Free and for continuing to say yes, even in a season where I know that yes may not always be easy.

This weekend reminded me that there is a difference between knowing that you are free and actually having the capacity and courage to live free. And in a season where I’ve been growing, adjusting, releasing, and learning how to walk in what I already know, I didn’t realize how much I needed that reminder.

I’m proud of you, friend. Proud of your obedience, proud of what you’re building, and grateful that your yes created space for all of us to examine what freedom really looks like in our own lives.

Thank you for making room for us to live free. I love you. 🤎 by @missgates54

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a month ago

Gratitude 💛✨️ by @missgates54

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a month ago

Maybe the lesson in this season is TRUST.

I’m learning to trust God enough to tell Him the truth. Walking with God doesn’t mean I always know how the story ends. It means I trust the One I’m writing it with.

God is not intimidated by your truth ➖️ I can be honest.
There’s no good thing He wants to withhold from you ➖️ I can trust His heart.
You can do hard things ➖️ I can endure.
God is not malicious ➖️ I don’t have to interpret difficulty as cruelty.
Do it scared ➖️ I don’t have to wait for fear to leave before I move.

And maybe that’s the point. Not knowing every page, every turn, or even how it all comes together; just trusting God enough to keep saying yes while the story is still being written.

#PAULInatingStill by @missgates54

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2 months ago