Authentic, Nerdy, Adaptable—A Birthday Tribute to Ana V

Authentic

Nerdy

Adaptable

That’s who Ana is in three words.

And today’s letter is dedicated to her.

It’s her birthday, after all.

Introducing Ana

Ana Dominique Vasquez is both like me and not like me.

That’s why we clicked.

She’s B1 of Tuesdays with B1 and B2. I’m B2, if you didn’t know.

Our friendship began in an unusual place.

It all started with the 5-Day Be Confident on Video Challenge by Coaches KDL and Aileene.

We weren’t aware of each other’s existence before that.

But both of us already belonged to the same circles—The Freelance Movement Tribe being the biggest among them.

She was nerdy about data.

That was my first impression of her.

We had this assignment inside the Challenge group.

We were asked to create a video of ourselves.

I did mine. The other challengers posted theirs.

And Ana—she was the first to submit her video.

How competitive! My thoughts in retrospection.

Now Ana, in the video, shared stuff she discovered she wanted to talk about.

The coolest thing?

She stood out—at least to me—because she wanted to talk about data.

Nerdy stuff, I know.

But that was the very thing that drew me toward her.

I felt like she could get me, and I could get her.

I felt like there were things we could talk about that we couldn’t as easily share with others.

So we became Facebook friends.

Interestingly enough, we couldn’t remember who sent a friend request to who.

I replied to her Facebook story that starred her cat trying to distract her from work.

And then the conversation just flowed naturally.

She asked if I was going to do YouTube.

I said I’m not sure.

I told her I was only comfortable doing voice.

And then she sent the epic question…

Why stop at audio?

I was speechless for about 5 seconds.

Ana was like a hero to me.

Yup, that was a heroic kind of query.

And I always say this because she was one of the four who influenced me to go on video.

She stepped up, though.

She eventually became my YouTube and video buddy.

On September 9, 2021, I asked her:

mag live kaya tayo together one time? hahahaahha

Translated: shall we go on live together one time?

Of course I really laughed on chat.

(And yes, that’s verbatim with the typo error still in there.)

Anyway, I meant we do a Facebook live together.

Without question, she replied:

ohyeah!!

And that was the prelude to what you now know as Tuesdays with B1 and B2 (TWBB).

Now Ana always levels up.

She’s highly adaptable especially in competitive environments.

And yes, we had been, apparently, competing against each other—doing Facebook lives individually.

Hence my surprise when she was cool about collaborating with me, this time, instead.

We evolved from being competitors to being a team of two.

History was made.

On September 12, 2021, Sunday, she announced on Facebook that she’s now working as B1 of TWBB.

Kinareer na natin, noh, B1?

yes B2!

So yeah, it looks like we’ve made a career out of the thing.

Or not quite.

Honestly, we don’t have super fixed plans yet.

We were navigating things and called them adbenchurs (adventures).

We tested many waters.

And today, we’re still testing some there and a few here.

The standard?

Her pillar of authenticity.

Ana is authentic.

She has deeply rooted, strong core values.

She wants to be genuine about stuff she does and will do.

Whenever we’re making decisions, she will always make sure our choices align with what we both believe in and embrace.

And that’s one of the biggest things I admire about her.

I foresee her as a power for good.

She has so much potential that a support from someone who’s into implementation and the how of things—ahem, I’m like that, haha—will bring her to places.

Ana has big dreams.

She may not yet be aware of the finest details on how to go about achieving her dreams, but Ana’s definitely a big dreamer.

She’s an idea machine, an idea generator.

But because she has authenticity above all other priorities, she filters her ideas.

Ana makes sure she’s not just pursuing things for whatever.

And I believe in her.

I strongly believe in what she can accomplish.

And if you were curious how we decided she’s B1 and I’m B2, I chose to name her B1.

And partly it was because of Ana’s innate leadership ability and my innate affinity to embracing a supporting role.

We think harmoniously.

Naiisip mo ba ang naiisip ko, B1?

Sa palagay ko nga, B2!

Translated:

Are you thinking what I’m thinking, B1?

I think I am, B2!

That likeness is too precious not to treasure.

That similarity in wavelength gave birth to TWBB and many other adbenchurs.

That harmony miraculously kept us working really well inside our exclusive Discord server of only two people. (Haha)

Beyond the video thingy—which had started it all—we became freelancing buddies, career buddies, content creation buddies, and maybe, travel buddies, soon.

We’re gonna be…

Banana Friends Forever

And I’m writing this on her birthday to let Ana know I’m thankful for her.

I’ve had ups and downs in my Zero to CEO journey, but having someone who’s quite like me in the same path too gives me both the courage to fall and the grace to stand.

Hence this celebration of the life she’s ever lived and the life she will continue living.

Happy Birthday, B1 Ana!

You are…

authentic (I so love that),

nerdy (in a really good way), and

adaptable (thank you).

And I’m glad we’ve finally—in person—met.

;) <3 :3 :P :))))

#KCLThoughtsontheRoad

#KCLThoughtsintheSky

#ZerotoCEO #Roadmap

#TuesdayswithB1andB2

#TWBB

#Freelancing #Buddy

#BusinessPartners

#HappyBirthdayB1