Next year marks 15 years since I’ve poured the majority of myself into what has become my personal brand. What was first born out of a love for writing, naturally evolved into the creation of my personal blog followed by building two successful companies. Since then, I’ve been able to transform my brand into a career that has allowed me to use that love to educate and inspire those around me as an agency owner, journalist, educator, and mentor. My pen has enabled me to refine and rewrite my story time and time again, and this season of my life is no different.
As many of you may know, the last 18 months have been my most transformative. In that time, not only did I become a wife, but I also became the mother of the sweetest little boy. From the moment I met my husband to the day I found out I was pregnant, I began to feel a deep shift taking place within me. So much of my story—my life’s wins and losses—have existed online, but in an instant, being online was the last place I wanted to be.
Throughout my pregnancy, I chose to be intentional in the parts of myself I wanted to keep just for me. It also forced me to pull back my life, layer by layer, to reveal which parts I wished to share (publicly and privately) with others, and which parts had served their purpose and could be graciously left behind. To do so, I showed up less and less on camera, leaned more into my IRL community, and laid myself bare in an effort to fall deeper in love with myself, and the life I was carrying inside of me.
While baby boy is quickly approaching his first birthday, that need to retreat has yet to change. And if I’m being fully transparent, I don’t think it ever will; a reality I’m kind of grateful for. During this time, and while wielding that trusty pen, I’ve been taking time to figure out what this new chapter of my life looks like within my own digital landscape. While I love the family and mommy content I see online, turning my little family into a brand is something I have no interest in.
Truthfully speaking, I’m still very much getting used to my “new life,” while also deciding where and how I’d like to show up- for my friends, my family and my community. And because of this, what I share online will appear disjointed at times, but always from a real place. Reality is, these days I don’t always know what I want to share with you all, and that’s okay!
By the grace of no one but God, so many of the seeds I’ve planted over the last 15 years have been able to sustain me while I need to take a beat; a moment to myself. The creative clarity that usually comes on the other side of transformation is something I’ve decided not to rush. Beyond my endless prayers of gratitude, I’m grateful for the relationship capital I’ve amassed throughout my career. These are the people who’ve kept me in mind, whether it be through life check-ins or by putting me on to my next opportunity. So much of the success I’ve been able to achieve has been, in part, by the people who’ve remained by my side along the way. They’ve shown up for me and my ideas as creative collaborators, and for my heart as my unwavering support.
The work we’re able to do each day is due to the relationships we choose to pour into, and I wish more people would be vocal about that. They’re the community we build and the saving grace we sometimes need to make it by. As someone who has been intentional about the big and small ways I choose to show up for those I’ve met along the way, I feel immensely blessed to know that, because of them, I’m now able to pull that pen back out to rewrite what the future holds for this version of me. While I’m not posting on my feed as much as I used to, you can bet, from here on out that you’ll find new content on my personal blog. In fact, there are several new posts that are published and ready for you to sit back and dive into. I’ll be sharing my reflections on my career shifts, motherhood, wifehood and life, in general.
A BIT ABOUT ME: Hi! My name is Pauleanna Reid. I’m the founder and chief storyteller at WritersBlok where I lead an all-women of color team of celebrity ghostwriters. As a collective, we help industry leaders and doers who are shaping the future turn their personal stories into brand assets so they can stay relevant in a noisy world, communicate to their audience at scale, and turn any conversation into a meaningful and profitable lead. Clients truly trust me with their reputations and their legacies. In fact, when they want to speak up on a hot topic and shake the room, I’m the woman they call. Many of them have me on speed dial, why don’t you?