You can listen to me read this as an audio-blog (2 minutes).
This blog has been going since 2001. I borrowed my Dad’s credit card in 1999 (although my WHOIS registrar curiously says 2004 but WayBackMachine has 2001 listed) and told him I needed a “domain name” (with the emphasis on the wrong syllables) and started blogging about being 19 and doing everything wrong in business.
I stupidly deleted everything at some point, worried my back history would make me look like an idiot, and re-blogged more poignant posts instead, which is a shame; stupid or not, it’s still a journey.
I then had some interesting run-ins with some internet trolls and found that I retreated from the internet a little; not purposely really, I’m not one to let that type of thing keep me down, but something inside of me changed. I thought what I was contributing wasn’t worthwhile anymore and that people would judge me.
I even kept the entire journey of opening my blow dry bar, quiet; and that’s been open almost two years. You’ll find very little about it online. I was worried that being in such a male-dominated industry (and opening such a female-oriented business), it would be uninteresting to the majority of people; I stayed quiet.
I’m sure it also coincided with losing my Mum and feeling a little lost, however I realised recently, I never really came back out the other side of it.
I was worried about looking conceited, or “full of myself”; a trait I vehemently despise. It was only when I realised that I happily scrolled other peoples Instagram/Twitter feeds and loved seeing their faces pop up, and I didn’t judge them, that maybe I should take a dose of my own medicine and attach myself back to the internet again–trolls or no trolls, unapologetically all of me, or nothing.
So, here I am. It’s helping me daily, to find things that are interesting or useful to you guys–as well as my work, I always did enjoy helping the community, so I guess you can say, I’m back.
It’s been a while.