Hooray to 100!

I’ll never forget the day I came up with my idea for The Running Mermaid. 

I was on a run, obviously. 

But what may surprise you is, earlier that week my web design teacher assigned us a project to create a logo for a “fictitious brand”. In true Gennah fashion, I asked if I could make one for my own brand. Only problem was, I didn’t have a brand!

So there I am 15 miles deep on a training run and the question pops into my head— If I were a brand what would I represent? 

At the time, I felt like part of me was a marathon running bad bitch, dressing strictly in only black and leather. While my other persona transformed into this wandering mermaid, breathing in every enjoyable second of life.

Combine the two and you get The Running Mermaid.

So wrong, but so right.

I mean, enough to get a C- approval from my teacher, and in true Gennah fashion, that was when I made the ballsy decision to drop out of college and build a brand.

I wanted to take everything I learned in school and apply it to this personal project. For the last four years I’ve been showing up, creating the content, marketing myself, making the connections and straight up hustling. 

I can’t help but feel as if this 100th post is sort of graduation for myself.

It’s small kine surreal to look back at it all and see what I’ve created. Although my initial intention was to build a portfolio (and maybe score a book deal) what I actually learned goes far beyond anything I would have ever learned in college. 

(actual school banner of me fucking around in class.)

I learned how to pursue my passions by focusing more time on doing what made me happy. I learned how to have confidence in my writing by allowing my voice to shine. I learned how to create opportunity to by collaborating with some big name brands including, The Malibu Marathon, Aloha Protein, Coronado Brewing Co. and even the Reebok Spartan Race. I learned how to help other women see their light by sharing their empowering stories. I learned how important a  lifestyle is for a well-balanced spirit, and discovered my own personal method. 

However, none of that will ever top learning how to believe in myself. I believed in myself so hard, that I got everyone around me to believing mermaids are the real (and they can run).

You see, that’s the magic of believing. When you begin to believe in yourself, others will begin to believe in you too. You have the power to become anything you desire in life, you just have believe in yourself so hard, you live it true. 

And on that note, it’s time for me to start believing I’m a New York Times Best Selling Author, and get to writing keep writing!

From blog posts to pages, these words are just the beginning of my story, and I can’t thank you for always reading.

 

Hooray to 100!

 

xx Fins & Kisses, 

The Mermaid.