Hey honeys and hustlers,

Happy Birthday to Beyonce to all who celebrate. This month marks my 9th anniversary as a creative business owner. Ironically, I’m writing this in my hometown of Phenix City, Alabama, where I first started my business Facebook page all those years ago. While the excitement of photographing my first wedding has since worn off, I’m more excited than ever for this next chapter of my business. And guess what?! You’re invited! So get in homie, we’re taking a trip down memory lane today. I’m sharing nine reflections in honor of each year I’ve been in business, AND

1/ Having a supportive community is the only reason I still have a business. I’ve had my revenue take a dip. I’ve had a recent death in my family. I’ve been away from my family for many months at a time. I’ve been afraid to raise my prices and start new creative projects. I’ve had days where I thought about quitting and getting a salaried position (I still do, if we’re being honest). My friends, family, and community of other creators and business owners have truly been there for me through all of this. Reminding me who I am. Reminding me of what’s possible. Connecting me with people and resources where appropriate. The big wins that you see in public, like this anniversary milestone, are fueled by the small wins and tiny failures that I experience in private. Well, as much as one can be private with a weekly newsletter where folks tune in to read my semi-coherent brain dumps. Thank you for being here, and let me know how I can return the favor. I’ve got a postcard with your name on it in the meantime.

2/ There is no business without me. Taking care of myself, resting well, and making room for joy are essential for my business to be sustainable. Not “rewards” for working so much that I run myself into the ground. I remember when I first went full-time into creative entrepreneurship and thought it was absolutely ridiculous when my therapist suggested that I try taking 30 minutes each day to walk. Now, I happily look forward to scheduling time in nature into each week. I’m 7 months sober/no alcohol, and I feel really good about the healthy habits I’ve built. Your family doesn’t love you because you’re a creator or a founder; they love you because you’re you.

3/ I try to think of my career as a creative entrepreneur in chapters. Roughly speaking, there are 5:

Now that I’m trying to pivot away from having the majority of my income come from freelance work, I need to get serious about building a financial foundation for my business. And that terrifies me. I’ve never made more than 40% of my annual income from original creative projects. So, with your help, I’m going to take the opportunity to leverage this September Surge energy that seems to be pulsing through the creator economy to launch all the things I’ve started and not finished by the end of the year (yay, imposter syndrome is wack!). Starting with merch (click the image below to grab yours!), and continuing with the CommunityOS course and micro-SaaS app up next.

4/ Writing remains the fuel for my creativity. My newsletters. My social videos. My websites. My film and TV scripts. My courses. Given how much time I’ve spent writing over the years, you’d think I’d have made more money from it. I just started generating a tiny bit of ad revenue from beehiiv, but it’s nothing to write home about yet. I’m okay with that. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to make more money from my writing. But having other sources of income as I grew as a writer has allowed me the freedom to approach my writing practice from a place of playfulness, curiosity, child-like wonder, and reckless abandon. That has helped me craft my voice, a necessary component of prolific writing. This time has been necessary. I write most days, even on hard or long days. May my desire to write never fade.

5/ I’ve been self-employed over 3x longer than I’ve been employed. And while this may sound cool, this really means that there were a lot of things I had to learn the hard way. Like hiring, managing expectations, how to advocate for myself, how to be a good boss to myself, crafting boutique services, how to include people in the creative process, how to have patience with myself, and a million other things about building a media company that Issa Rae and others make look easy. My journey is my journey, and that’s okay. Many of the creative skills I’ve acquired were because I had the freedom to experiment and be innovative outside the confines of a job description. There is a time to expand and a time to subtract and focus. I’m somewhere near the subtract and focus end of the spectrum, so expect fewer podcast episode releases as we close out the year. I’ll always love the Honey & Hustle diehards, so don’t worry, it’ll be back and better than ever soon enough.

6/ Create without compromise. Authenticity is one of those words that feels like it doesn’t mean much nowadays, but it’s your greatest differentiator. I define authenticity as the combination of your voice, perspective, and values. What do you genuinely care about enough to be audaciously bold in pursuing it? How can you build your ideal day to create exactly that? This philosophy has guided my best work. The projects where I stayed true to my vision — this newsletter, Trail Therapy, and Melanin MVP — ultimately became the cornerstone of what I’m known for. If you’re a freelancer, creating spec ads is cool. But whatever you become known for is what you will continuously be asked to create. If you want the opportunity to do something new or different, you will likely have to create it, at your own expense. Bet on yourself.

7/ Commercial work funds the cause-based work. Cause-based work inspires the commercial work. Rootful Media isn’t technically a green company, but we try to do green things. I’ve been a mentor for business accelerators. I’m on the board of 3 nonprofits: Band Together, Dogwood Alliance, and Bike Durham. And while I do have the infrastructure to charge for all the questions I’m asked, I typically try to give away as much as I can for free. Bad for business? Sure. Great for the feels? Also yes. I don’t see a point in relying on my community to build a business and then not giving back to my community as often as I can. So yes, I will happily come speak to your organization, host a workshop, or host a panel if you ask. Getting paid is nice, but not required for smaller settings.

Doing cause-driven work makes me a more well-rounded entrepreneur. The most impactful stories often come from authentic experiences, and what better way to find them than by supporting organizations that regularly interact with local and regional community members? You don’t have to be insane like me to have a positive impact on your community. Just show up, be kind, and give without expecting anything in return, where possible.

8/ Leverage technology as a creative multiplier. The right digital tools don't just organize your work—they amplify your creativity. I like to personalize things to a fault, and sometimes I can be really eager to try the latest SaaS tool I’ve discovered, which eats into my creative time. But a bias towards being open to new technology has been transformative for my business. Your tech stack should reduce friction and time spent on administrative tasks while maximizing the time and mental space you have for actual creation. While having multiple subscriptions can be pricey, they can help you build a foundation when money is too tight to outsource repetitive tasks. Moving fast and breaking things isn’t always the solution in business, but it’s good to be confident that you have the right tools in your kit and tech stack as you grow as a creator and business owner. (Hint: This is what my micro-SaaS tool will be helping you do more effectively.)

9/ Creative things take a long time to pay off. But they will pay off, and continue to pay off the longer they take to accomplish. Short form is such a prevalent form of marketing and how we engage with media on a regular basis, that we forget that short form is meant to promote something much longer. It can be intimidating to spend months on a project, even years, and not have access to the same methods of virality or fanfare that short-form content receives. But short-form content has a much higher potential to be forgettable, or even worse, regrettable. Long-form media is where I’m placing all my bets right now, and all signs are pointing to the fact that I’m headed in the right direction. The time is going to pass anyway, so spend it making something worth remembering.

P.S. I’ll share more of my big bets in Monday’s newsletter, so stay tuned!

I still don’t have all the answers. I’m still figuring things out as I go. I’m grateful to be here with all of you. I think this next chapter will be the best one yet. Don’t feel pressure to lock in for the rest of the year if time away from work is what you need most. I’m rooting for you in whatever chapter or season you’re in right now.