Most of my friends and family are already aware of my recent big news. But I’m gonna say a few words about it anyway.
I have formed a small business with a couple of friends of mine called Wonderstate Media. Of course, this means I have left my former place of employment and will be living off our small business loan until things get going in terms of revenue.
It’s both exciting and incredibly terrifying to be venturing out like this, especially at the age of 31 but as with any of the many risks I’ve taken in the past, it’s a now-or-never feeling that has taken over me so as usual, I am following my heart here.
The first time I left my job, it was to go to Park City, Utah and work as a ski lift operator. I’m not really sure what I was thinking at the time. I had only been out of college for one year and had a great job as a graphic designer. I think it was a combination of a recent break-up and the fact that I had jumped straight from school into an 8-5 job that pulled me away to such a strange place. My time in Utah didn’t last long, though. I was back in Fayetteville in just a few months. I returned to my job and started a band.
About two years later, I got an offer to tour the country with another great band and I just couldn’t resist. I left my job, my current band and all my friends behind. After the touring was finished, I found myself in Memphis, TN and that’s where I met my wife. We moved to Fayetteville after a year or so and once again, I returned to my same job I had twice left.
After a few more years, most of my team at work was let go and I found myself in a part-time position. I made up for the lack of income by working for myself on the side but after my mother passed away, I found it difficult to juggle the emotional strain I was under and the mental strain of working two jobs. I quit my job for the third time and went to work with a friend of mine who runs his own remodeling business.
After a few months of manual labor, the pull back to graphic design was too much and I found myself applying once again for my old job. I was welcomed back for a fourth time and that’s where I’ve been for the past year or so during the hours of 8am to 5pm.
My nights and weekends have been devoted, however, to the local website that I started in December 2007. What began as a fun hobby that allowed me to utilize not only my degree in journalism but also my love of Fayetteville and graphic/web design turned into a high-traffic local hub for information and opinion. The posts on the site went from bratty complaints to actual content in a matter of months and before I knew it, I was immersed in some serious local mayoral election coverage.
With all the traffic and praise that the site was getting, I began to feel a huge pull of responsibility and I immediately started brainstorming possible ways that would allow me to devote myself entirely to the Fayetteville Flyer. That’s where Wonderstate Media, LLC comes in.
Wonderstate Media will be the company that owns and operates the Fayetteville Flyer as well as the new site we’re working on that will be our main source of revenue.
I’ll be posting more information about the new site when the time comes. For now, all I can say is that I am really excited about what we’re getting ready to offer our community. At a time when many local businesses are being taken advantage of in ways that provide little to no help to either the business owners or consumers in our area, Wonderstate Media is about to make a real impact. I can hardly wait to launch this new site in February, y’all.
As for right now, I am working out of a small office space on Township with my fingers crossed tightly. Wish us luck if you get a chance. Thanks!
It’s been nearly a year since I received a new video in my mailbox. I was beginning to think that those days were over. I guess not, though.
I opened my guitar case on Friday afternoon to get ready for our show and there was my camera. Awesome!
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