Up North

I am currently in an 8-hour drive as I’m writing this. (Full disclosure: I am not the one driving.) 

Zipping through winding roads heading up north, windows down, sun streaking down between the trees and the smell of non overly saturated Manhattan air felt all too familiar.

I’ve been on this road before about three years ago. I started my venture in this new so-called Digital Marketing industry no more than four years ago all as a hobby. Social platforms were just that, social platforms used nothing more than for its main purpose: socializing. Tumblr, Lookbook and Instagram were my outlets from the four walls of my college major in healthcare. These outlets were there to always, somewhat keep me sane. But boy was it a winding road full of surprises.

The surprises were both great and good and yes, some not so than most. Like the first time I ever got an email about a so-called campaign (My very first one!!). You can only imagine how giddy I got as I received the “offer” in the middle of Finance class (of course totally not paying attention to the lecture). It was for an underwear campaign for $10.00. The rate did not matter at all. All I could think of was how these people perceived me as valuable enough to be worth every dollar for a gig unheard of — ever: A paid post on social media! Then there were the not-so-great times like when everyone got confused  as to what I was doing on social media and decided to detach themselves from my life. Little did I know that losing people never meant losing. It meant making room for the right ones.

Last night, this $10.00 dream grew much bigger than anyone believed it to be. Much bigger than I believed her to grow. She is now an LLC and has outgrown her home on my tiny Ikea couch.

She has grown too big even for the cafes she’d be stationed at for hours, calling them her hub. She signed her lease. Her new and permanent home. A home big enough to house her until she’ll need a new one to grow more into.

And here I am, sitting here, 201 miles to go, all smiles, driving up north because if you dream big and believe you’ve got the balls to do it, there’s nowhere to go, but North.