OMG It's Just Daé

RE: A Letter to 26

Five years ago I wrote a letter to my 31 year old self and today I’m finally looking back at it. Talk about restraint. I’m smiling as I get through it because my 2015 problems definitely weren’t anything and they weren’t ready for 2020 social distancing. Adulthood is still one big panic after another. Not…

Your Plate is Way Too Full for Impasta Syndrome

Women rock! We work (sometimes multiple jobs), volunteer, sometimes have a hobby, and even parent at the same time. We still make less than our counterparts and if you have a little melanin in your DNA, you make way less than what you’re worth. There’s a lot of us out here smashing goals and barriers…

Airbnb Saved My Birthday

This trip to The Big Easy started a little rough… I considered VRBO Ruined my Birthday, and Fleas are Not Party Favors as alternate titles but as an optimist, I choose to applaud and uplift Airbnb. They may just have customer for life as VRBO (also Homeaway as they’re all under Expedia) may never get…

It’s Okay to Repair Your Own Boat

Being selfish vs selfless; you have to draw a line or you will drown trying. For the last two-ish years, I’ve been on a super self-aware journey. Being a writer forces me to embrace that I’m goofy, it’s a personality trait but also it forces me to be real with myself. When I write reality…

Why I Left My Publisher

In 2014, a small vanity publisher told me that my book was awesome and that there was a space for me at her publishing company. I was ecstatic as I’ve been writing novels since high school. I always wanted to be a writer. The light bulb hadn’t gone off yet that I was indeed already…

The Power of Why: What drives me?

“People don’t buy what you do. People buy why you do it.” — Simon Sinek; Leaders Eat Last I believe that kindness and creativity can change worlds because creativity allows people to be courageous and innovative without the fear of failure. I guide people on self-publishing and writing journeys because as a child I built…

At What Cost? Beyond Pittsburgh’s Homicide Rates

Where has all the violence gone in the City of Pittsburgh? Explore displacement and gentrification and look beyond the numbers.

Is Braddock the New Lawrenceville?

“I can make your neighborhood the next Lawrenceville,” this probably well-intended developer told me a year ago. I chuckled staring at this stranger and replying, “We don’t need another Lawrenceville.” Another developer called a few months later wanting to build riverfront housing where, “people can park their boats.” I also chuckled. “Some people don’t even…

American Hurt Reflects on America’s Faults

It’s not our fault America is the way that it is but at some point we must have the strength to look at ourselves and acknowledge our past so we can fix the present and future. What’s American Hurt about? It’s not an anti-American poetry book but it’s a look in the mirror. It’s me…

412 Brews: Top 4 October Beers

Growing up I just knew I hated all beers because at family affairs my family drank Coors Light and my friends drank Budweiser. One of those are slightly tolerable. It wasn’t until Braddock got a brewery that I started exploring beers to discover my likes and dislikes. I started recognizing beer terminology like hops, sours,…