One Million Hearts

A few weeks ago, I was sitting on my couch, recovering from an operation I had. I was feeling pretty down and extremely bored in recovery, so I decided to do a little review on my progress so far in this LinkedIn journey.

After I had poked through every direct message in my inbox, I went through all my old videos to relive how I started and how much my presentation skills have improved… because let’s face it, in my first video I was a nervous wreck and had no idea what I was doing!

I reviewed my metrics counting the total number of videos I have pushed out on the platform and tallying up the views to give myself a little “buzz” of encouragement.

1 MILLION?!

How is that even possible?!

How is my content getting in front of a million people – in less than six months!?

Now, don’t get me wrong… at the end of the day, numbers are just numbers, right? How can I tell if I’m really making a positive change on someone’s day? How do I tell if my message brings a smile to a viewer’s face? Or encouragement to overcome negativity and other challenges?

I hopped on the phone with one of the most well-known faces on the platform, Goldie Chan.

**

Me: “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKK!! I counted my views and I reached 1MILLION but I don’t want to be that doofus, bragging about vanity metrics – but this means so much to me! Am I allowed to toot my own horn?!”

Goldie: “Woohoo!! TOOT AWAY! BUT... make sure to express just what that means to you. What you’ve learned and how you’ve grown.”

**

She encouraged me to dig deeper than the metrics to evaluate my progress so far.

What has all of this meant to me?

I feel silly to admit it, but establishing this exposure on LinkedIn means the world to me, and here’s why…

When I started this journey, I was lost and concerned. I was a professional full-time employee, full-time mother, and full-time marketing side-hustler. I had mental and physical challenges that had “clipped my wings” and I felt so limited in my professional and personal growth… by why?

Because of a “disability”?!

No, no, no. I wouldn’t have that.

As soon as I raised my voice on this platform, advocating for equality in the workforce for the differently-abled community, I found myself. I found purpose, passion, and freedom from the chains I let my disability placed on me. I found a community that encouraged me to speak up. I found a community that embraced these qualities and supported me.

I received message after message, thanking me for advocating. Because if we don’t, who will? That’s the trouble with such a cause – unless you are directly affected, you really don’t know what to expect. You don’t see how extremely poor our healthcare is in the United States unless you deal with a debilitating diagnosis and tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, in medical debt. You don’t understand how inaccessible this world is to those with mobility, visual, or auditory challenges unless you experience it firsthand.

The most terrifying part of this? It could happen to you or your loved ones without warning. Today. Tomorrow. Next week… just like it happened to me.

Accidents, trauma, cancer, and more… these life-changing events are game changers.

Thank you.

Those actively facing mental and/or physical challenges.

The caretakers of children, siblings, parents or friends.

The Executives and Managers interested in learning more about how they can make the workplace more supportive and accessible to this incredible community of warriors.

Thank you, and cheers to the next million hearts this content reaches!