It’s been five years. Greylayers is five and I can’t quite believe it.
Time sure flies when you’re in love with your career, living everyday through doing what you love. Mondays forever exciting, new challenges only dawned as fun tasks and the day to day, never a dull moment.
I can’t believe it has been five fun, quick years! I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since someone created a fake instagram profile of me, posted all my tumblr photos and cat-fished my whole life. It’s been five years since majority (or most) of my family and friends even discouraged me to do this. That it would never be a thing. It wouldn’t sum up to anything. That there was nothing in the world of social media marketing. That as positive as I was, as yet encouraged and strong as I kept, that this was a mere hobby. A time passer. A journal.
Now here we are. After 3 years of working at Mcdonalds through a 7.15/hour paychecks, 2 years of working at Holiday Inn at 9.00/hour while juggling shifts at Abercrombie and Fitch at our local mall while also (yup, it keeps going), still being in college to finish my degree in The Health Services, getting fired from two brands for being an influencer and a few “journal entries on GREYLAYERS.COM” later…
As I always say, “Doubt me, and I’ll prove you wrong.” I won’t deny that getting here was an unpaved path. It was tough. Think dirt, gravel and probably a few quick sand dips along the way. But I was tougher. Support? A fourth of a handful, if that. I had close to none. But my spirits were so high. That young girl from 5 years ago, the one with so much fire in her bones. So much love in her heart. I owe it all to her.
I thank you so much for never, ever giving up on us. Because of you, your perseverance, your insane overflowing amount of passion for this art, your love and willingness to just keep moving forward through the dirt, the gravel and the dips.
You believed so hard that there was something there, no matter the naysayers and disbelievers. That it was all worth it. You sacrificed people, relationships, love and yourself to become the woman you’ve made me to be today. I would say I wished I could turn back time and let you know that it would all be okay, that we would make it and that you were right about your passions and goals. But I don’t have to. Faith in you and your path was too strong, you didn’t need anyone’s reassurance. For you were so sure.
If you want something bad enough, you feel it in your bones so strongly, it almost hurts to try and go against it. I’ve always known my path was not what I was forced to be in college and graduate my bachelors degree from. I wake up everyday, not the richest, most traveled girl in the world. But the one with tons of memories from my rough past, the real friends who stuck by me before this achievement up to today, the half a million lives I am blessed to touch everyday and inspire to do the same in their communities, the one who’s void has been filled, the one who found happiness in the ordinary, the one who has been found. And to me, this is success.
Here’s to an infinite amount more of years for GREYLAYERS! To another 22+ countries to travel to, new levels of boundaries to break, another half a million more lives to touch, and possibly to one day be able to meet each of them in person because that little girl from 5 years ago who had little to no one clapping for her work, wants to give you a big warm hug as a thank you for being here, for sticking it out and for believing alongside her dreams.
Ladies and gentlemen, excuse my language but shit is real. Everything you imagine is actually real. It’s all attainable depending on how badly you want it all. Take it from someone like me. We dreamt it, and we real life’d it. It’s all yours. No one is stopping you. What will you do about it?