One Year Later: Baby Steps Toward Progress
One year ago today, ‘Work In Progress’ was born as an attempt to accomplish my only New Years Resolution for 2010: To get my voice back. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what that meant. I just knew that I wanted to make sure I was living a balanced life that included more than just working and paying the bills. I wanted to get back to a place where I was able to share my gifts, talents, thoughts and perspectives with the world. Through the blog I wanted share the books to read and people to meet who work to bring about progress in the lives of others.
One year later, this site has become more than just a hobby for me. It has served as a platform for me to connect with people from my past and present, as well as a countless bloggers who have shared their feedback and expertise in helping the site gain visibility and recognition.
As I mentioned in my post at the Six Month Mark, I am indebted to several key bloggers who inspired me with their work. There are new bloggers that I’ve come across that I definitely need to add to the list of those who inspire me:
My most beneficial experience as a blogger this past year was participating in the 31 Days to a Brand New Blog experience spearheaded by Rosetta Thurman. It forced me to think and complete the necessary steps to build out my blog with the intent of building my brand as a blogger. Participating alongside both veteran and novice bloggers created a network of peers I was grateful to connect with. I have to admit, it was pretty tough fitting all the assignments in, and I know there are a few I still need to complete. But the experience definitely made me appreciate the level of discipline bloggers put into building and maintaining their web presence and their overall brand.
In addition to the bloggers, I owe a huge thanks to Pooja A. Regmi, Noah Stephens, Raven Jones, Chanda Long, Kim Brooks, and Matt Hickey for taking time out of their schedules and responding to my interview questions, even when the idea of the blog was still pretty half-baked. And I owe a special thanks to my first featured blogger, Latasha Johnson.
Also, a huge shout-out to the people: the friends, relatives, former colleagues, co-workers, and random websurfers who read, commented on, and even shared the blog with others. In looking at the stats, it still blows me away that folks continue to read postings I wrote nearly 8 months ago.
And last but not least, I have to thank the subscribers. Those faithful folks who trusted and believed in me enough to offer their email addresses in order to receive my postings delivered straight to their inbox. I truly appreciate your support.
What’s Next? Similar to the start of 2010, this year begins with more baby steps toward progress. This time, it will be in the form of an internet radio station developed and hosted in partnership with a longtime friend, Omega Supreme.
HNET Radio will pay homage to the hip-hop culture in its most authentic form. The pilot show, Hip-Hop’s Great Expectations for 2011, will air on Friday, January 21, 2010 at 11:00pm EST on Blogtalkradio. And this is only the beginning.
Be sure to connect with HNET on both Facebook and Twitter for more details!
I am also putting the final touches on the build-out of my professional page, which will launch on January 31st. As with 2010, I’m sure 2011 will bring plenty of unexpected victories and lessons, and I welcome them both. After all, it definitely gives me something to blog about!
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