The ugly, the good, and the unexpected.

Hey honeys and hustlers,

6 months down, 6 months to go. The first half of the year has been eventful, but even that word feels insufficient. I’ve been trying to keep up with things using custom Notion docs I created to track my media metrics and progress, but distilling that information is always the hard part. So here’s my attempt at trying to describe how these first 6 months of the year have been for me and my business — the ugly, the bad, the good, the great, and the unexpected. 🤙🏾✨

P.S. Once this community reaches 2,000 subscribers, I will give away free personal branding and storytelling ideas to anyone who shares their website, creative project, or main social media profile with me. Share the newsletter and help us reach our next community goal!

The Ugly

• I’ve been splitting my time between my home state (Alabama) and my adopted home (North Carolina). 8-hour drives (16-hour round-trip) can be brutal. Being on the road for two weeks at a time can be a lot to prep and plan for. Health insurance is a joke when they find out you’ve left the state.

• My film partner got cancer again. Some of you may know that Jordan is my film buddy, and we haven’t been able to work together like we usually do. He’s gonna pull through, but hearing that news was rough. Nothing worse than seeing the people you care about going through a painful experience.

• I decided I didn’t want to pursue paid subscribers, which was slated to be a source of income this year. I transitioned away from this goal to prioritize building digital products. I’m figuring things out as I go, but I think this was a step in the right direction. The creative sprint that was meant to be behind the paywall also got scrapped. I’ll turn all the prompts into a digital product, so not all is lost there, but it was an ambitious goal that I couldn’t maintain. While paid subscribers may be the way for many, it’s not the way for me, and pivoting to another income stream simply takes time.

• The time it’s taking me to write narrative projects. Narrative series take a long time for me to write, mainly because I have a hard time protecting my writing time outside of this newsletter. They are also more costly to produce than documentaries because of the cast and crew. Not a good or bad thing, just a reality of the greatest team sport there is. It’s a test of patience and vulnerability. The writing done in secret creates the life everyone wants.

The Bad

• The time it’s taking to transition away from freelance work being my main source of income. I’m not going cold turkey, which is good for my anxiety and bank account. And I’ve had a few years to chisel away at that majority piece of the pie. But continuing to dwindle it down and replace it with other sources of income has definitely been challenging. There doesn’t feel like a definitive rulebook for this, so I’m just making it up as I go.

• Securing brand deals has been difficult. I’ve had some great conversations, but this just feels like a rough time to be raising money for original work. I’m not discouraged by that, but I understand the economic times we’re in. I’m trying to continue to be intentional about what a lucrative and meaningful partnership means for us.

• I had to cancel attendance at certain events to prioritize client work and original work (namely PodcastShow London, GEC, and Render ATL). I still think these events would help me connect with relevant people who are interested in what I’m building. But I also knew I could put an equal amount of time, effort, and money into creating videos on YouTube, building digital products, and creating the new season of Honey & Hustle, which in the long run may pay off more for new audience and customer acquisition. I also believe these will better position me as a person people want to meet when I do go to those events in the future.

The Good

• The community and industry events I’ve been able to attend have been incredible. Podcast Movement Chicago, WNBA watch parties, film festivals, and SlossTech have been so much fun. I’ve met people in person that I’m connected with online, which is always fun for me.

• Feeling dialed in on my writing voice. I feel really good about the quality and unique perspective I’m putting into my writing, podcasts, and videos.

• The film festival circuit across the southeast for Trail Therapy has been great. Even though we didn’t get into every film festival we applied to, I’m very happy with what we’ve been able to accomplish. I’m excited to release the Director’s commentary video as well as the full film on YouTube soon!

• The creative partnerships and collaborations I’ve done this year have been awesome. A huge shoutout to everyone who’s collaborated with me and trusted me to do some new things for the first time.

• Falling back in love with audio. Honey & Hustle is a seasonal show, but I’ve been wanting to find ways to keep the feed active in between seasons. I think I’ve done a good job of this.

• Successfully completing the February daily podcasting challenge. Doing a daily podcast challenge was the hardest but most rewarding thing I’ve ever done on the show. I’ll share more about my creative experiments next week.

• I’ve started a new short documentary. This will go straight to YouTube on the Melanin MVP channel. This film will feel more like video journalism than an artistic film, and I’m okay with that. Never a wrong time to try out something new.

• I’ve been cooking up some new websites. Honey & Hustle has a good home. My personal website has a home again. The home for Melanin MVP will be revealed later this month. Rootful Media is under construction as I dial in the direction of the company toward original media and away from client work. And last but not least, Please Hustle Responsibly will be getting a new internet home, which will be revealed on our 2nd anniversary later this year.

The Great

• I’m on track to meet many of the milestones and goals I have for this year. So now I’m looking at potential stretch goals and exploring how I can close the gap on the goals I haven’t yet reached. I’ll share more about my numbers next week.

• At the rate I’m creating new forms of media as a podcaster, I’ll be able to call my shot anywhere I’d like next year, and please believe that I will. I think there’s a lot of room for growth in my business on the speaking side of things; it just hasn’t been a priority this year. Ironically, I’ve never spoken at a podcast conference about video podcasting. I think that will change after this next season airs.

• I have a clear idea of the next products I want to create. I struggled with this for a long time. What knowledge or expertise do I have that people would be willing to pay for? What formats will work best (for me and them)? Those answers feel easier now. Writing CommunityOS is underway. When that’s done, I have 3 more products ready for production.

• Getting to spend time with my family. I’ve been going back and forth between Alabama and North Carolina, which is admittedly difficult but also really rewarding. I’ve been home for my mom’s birthday, Easter, Mother’s Day, my cousin’s graduation, my aunt’s 50th wedding anniversary, Memorial Day Weekend, and now the 4th of July. I haven’t been able to do this in 6 years. I sacrificed a lot to be away from my family for so long, and I’m happy the business is at a place where I don’t have to make that choice as much anymore. Betting on yourself can be risky, but it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

The Unexpected

• I’ve done some fun creative experiments that have paid off. I’ve definitely had years when experiments were costly and ineffective, so this is a high note for me for sure.

• I covered my first NWSL game as official media. I’ll also potentially be covering the WNBA as media this season. Getting this in the first year of Melanin MVP is a huge win.

• Substack Live sessions have been awesome for building community. I never thought I would really enjoy livestreaming like this, but Corey and Michelle make it easy. We took a little break during June, but will be back next week on the 8th at 8PM so mark your calendars and join us!

• Vibe coding to make some of my custom web design dreams come true. Vibe coding wasn’t even in my vocabulary before this year. I still don’t know anything about writing code, but I know a lot more about web design. I can’t wait to unveil everything I’ve been working on.

I hope your 2025 is going well. Feel free to respond to this email or leave a comment to tell me about your first 6 months of the year. I read every single one. I’m rooting for you.