4.1.21 It's no longer just me

April 1, 2021.

This is now a very important date to me.

We have a team now.

It's not just me on this project anymore.

feels kinda wild.

I finally said fuck it and reached out to the people I've been wanting to add to the project.

I'mma be honest, reaching out to people on an idea you've been nurturing is tough. You don't know how they'll react. You don't know whether they think it's a good idea or not. You really just expose yourself and hope that it's not laughed at.

In the past couple of weeks I reached out to a few friends. Very talented friends. And I put myself out there. Hoping they would be down for the idea. I didn't know if they would say yes. I didn't know exactly what their reaction would be. But I did know they would add great perspectives.

A few text messages sent.

A few meetings set up.

A couple hour long pitches.

And one group orientation later and we have a team.

The great thing is that they are down for the idea of this project and what it stands for. One thing I didn't really want, was for them to be involved simply because of our friendship and/or they wanted to do me a solid. I really just wanted them to see value in the project for themselves.

I understand and appreciate the sentiment if they would just want to help me out, but it just wouldn't feel right for this project. I want the people involved with this project to want to be a part of this project because of what it aims for and what it could be.

I really just want this project to have soul in it. I want this project to feel like you're listening in on our thoughts. I want you to be able to see our different personalities in this. I want you to feel like you're along the ride with us.

People who would do this project as a solid wouldn't be able to do that. Their purpose would be to just help provide me with content and that's it. I mean that would be cool and all, but it would feel a little empty. If there's no soul to it, why wouldn't I just read a textbook or watch a tutorial on how it was done?

I've always viewed longevity through authenticity with this project. We are all young creatives in different fields trying to step our game up and make it. We don't know where we will end up. We don't know what kind of work we will be making in the future. But this whole thing we're going through right now, is our journey. Why be fake with it? Why not try something new? Why not geek out?

There's so much value in being authentic with your journey. You can watch so many interviews from people who've made it.

Do you know their true journey?

kinda...

Are you able to jump into their thought process when they were in your shoes?

not really...

Would you like to?

I'm not saying we'll be these huge figures for whatever we do in the future.

Is there a chance? Perhaps.

But, what if one of us does make it big?

Well then you get to listen to a younger version of ourself trying to figure it out. Not some callback story reminiscing on the events, but our actual thoughts at the moment it's happening.

We aren't necessarily where we want to be right now, but we'll get there.

Now I will say that I am not forcing this upon my team members. I am giving them the platform to share what they want, they are allowed to share whatever they are comfortable with, but it's not a requirement.

I will at least let y'all know my thought processes through the different choices I make and the different things I'm trying to understand. It's tough to be fully transparent on different things you're going through. To be honest, I haven't even told my parents and those close to me what I am doing. But, I find value in sharing this with whoever wants to read this stuff.

This is really a personal public journal for me to be able to go back to, read in the future, and gain perspective. I know I will make it somewhere, somehow. I want future Troy to remember where I was at and be proud of my growth.

Hopefully over time, the others will allow y'all into their journey as well. Just don't put those expectations on them, opening up takes time and everyone goes at different paces. Like I said, it's tough to be transparent.

For now, you'll just be able to read my thoughts.

What they will do tho is provide their personal insight on artists/creatives they look up to. They'll go into why they think that artist's work stands out. They'll do their best to explain it to you so hopefully you can take away some new knowledge. They have some great perspectives and it's going to be interesting to see the artists they decide to write about.

It's crazy to think that there's a team around this concept now. A team willing to do this on their free time. They really could be doing anything else in the world, but they decided that they wanted to join me on this portion of my journey.

You really don't know who's out there that's willing to help you out. You don't know how many people are out there that is willing to listen to your idea. You don't know how many people are willing to support your idea. You just have to put yourself out there.

I don't know how many people we will reach. I don't know whether or not we will be successful in building a community. I have no clue where this project can take us, but I know we will grow. We will allow ourselves grow.

If nothing comes of this project from an outsiders perspective, that's okay. At least I'm finally taking these steps to execute on something that has always been some far out dream.

April 1st, a date synonymous with the fake is now associated with turning an idea into a realistic, tangible goal. Unreal.