2015 Year in Review | Fears, Growth & Leaps

What a year 2015 has been! I know, I know, we say that every year but in this case it’s fitting. For me, 2015 has been a year of fears (and facing them), lots of growth and taking leaps (of faith).

A few days ago I asked my facebook community to describe their 2015 in one word. I started off the thread by sharing that my year was transformational. It was honestly one of the best ways to describe what happened in 2015.

In 2015, I was blessed to have some amazing experiences and partnerships. A few of my favorites included the Beautiful Textures, Flaunt Your Look event at Sally Beauty Supply,  working with My Black is Beautiful at Essence Fest 2015. , as well as getting the chance to visit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a Blogger Ambassador.

Of course, I can’t forget attending the Steve Harvey SOAR Retreat in Miami. It was one of the events that contributed to many of the “transformations” I underwent in 2015.
And my HuffPost Live Segment with Regina King!

FEARS
In 2015, I wrote some of my most transparent posts. Being an introvert and being a super private person, it took a lot for me to open up and share some of those posts, but it was also a very freeing experience. In March (on my birthday), I wrote a letter to my younger self.  I also let everyone in on how stepping out of my comfort zone changed my life, and as if that wasn’t “bad” enough, I faced my fears and I told all of you about my fear of failure and my decision to choose faith over fear. What a year indeed!

GROWTH

So I’m sure you’ve heard the quote that says, “if you’re not uncomfortable, it means your are not growing” (paraphrasing). This past year I intentionally put myself out there even when it was outside of my comfort zone. As a result I experienced a number of firsts. I co-authored my first book “From Blank Space to Blogging Brilliance” with a few of my BLM Girls.

I also had the pleasure of speaking at my first blogging conference “From Blogger to Boss” , and I hosted my very first blogging workshop.

LEAPS
So what do you do after you’ve faced (some of) your fears and you’ve done some growing? Why you take leaps, of course! One of my biggest leaps was starting my Apparel line Ven & Rose.  It was one of those things I had been putting off for a long time. Back in August, while on vacation I decide to just do it, and I can safely say that it has been one of the most rewarding (and eye opening) experiences of my life, but I would not have it any other way.

So yes 2015 was transformational for me! It was however, by no means a perfect year because there is no such thing. It was also the year that I made two trips to Grenada to bury my grandma, and to serve as my sister’s Matron of Honor. It was the year that year that I suffered from blogger burnout and took a step back to take care of myself. What a year indeed!

SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
I have set some BIG, AUDACIOUS and (quite frankly, scary), personal and business goals for 2016. You can expect to see me taking many more leaps, facing more of my fears and of course growing and expanding. But most of all, I’m committed to living my life on purpose.

One of my favorite phrases from 2015 came from Valorie Burton’s book, “Successful Women Think Differently“. It says “successful women never miss the opportunity to live life on purpose”, and I plan to do just that.
 I hope you stick around for the journey. 🙂

Thank you so much for your support of VeePeeJay in 2015. Whether you have been around from the beginning or your only found me this year, I appreciate you and I wish you the very best as we head into 2016!

YOUR TURN: What word would you use to describe your 2015?