For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be a writer/broadcaster. Yes that was absolutely an intentional play off Goodfellas.
When I first began this blog in early 2016, it was to scratch an itch after leaving journalism behind. I had lost my love for writing entirely for quite some time. Chalk it up to some post journalism PTSD after working for someone I didn’t like at all.
One of my favorite columns I wrote was Journalism: A Life I Am Happy I Left Behind. It was basically the clarity I needed. After putting all the issues I had on paper, it allowed me to move forward I think.
When I tell you I had nightmares from my job in journalism, it was routine. I honestly don’t know when they subsided, maybe 2 years ago. It was probably shortly after I wrote that. Now I go back and read that and it serves as a reminder it was the right decision.
So what am I up to now? After spending nearly four amazing years in the fitness industry, I switched careers again turning to social media marketing. I jumped on board with a social media marketing company that folded due to unforeseen circumstances.
Now I have my own social media marketing company called Do It All Marketing. I love being able to work on my own time and schedule. I love being able to help friends and wonderful people market their businesses. Naturally because I work from home with limited distractions from others, I manage to get work done in a timely matter.
It is not all sunshine and rainbows with running a business though. I wish I was making more than I am, but I am doing ok. I constantly have worries creep in my head about staying afloat. I get quite lonely when the only company I have for 7 hours of my day is my cat, unless of course I am meeting with a client or potential client.
The other downside is social media can beat you down at times if you are on it for long enough. Considering it is my job to be on it, I certainly feel the brunt of it sometimes. The more I am on it, the more difficult it becomes for me to truly unplug. I was telling my wife the other day about how much of a funk I was in because of it.
I have found solace in going to movies recently. It is something I loved doing in college and shortly before my son was born. My gameplan is to catch a flick once a week or so to give me a true way to unplug from it all for a while. It helps. I know if I am sitting in a theatre that my phone won’t touch my hand. Plus going by yourself to a movie is such a peaceful and pleasant experience.
In the middle of waiting for all the processes to get back up and running, I found myself with more time than I could handle. I needed something to do and I relaunched the blog.
One of the things I love about doing it now is that I can apply all of the things I do for work such as ads, graphic design, videos and more for the blog which is a major reason I decided to relaunch.
My only regret is deleting the old FB page instead of just deactivating it because I went from 700-800 Followers down to 371 across all the platforms. However, it has only been 3 months so it is growing at a better rate than the first time. More importantly, the traffic on the site has increased by nearly 300%.
Just the other day, I went digging through some old columns. I loved seeing the evolution of Hotard Huddle.
When I first started the blog, it was strictly a sports blog. My style was unapologetic and unfiltered. It was the anti-journalist site. Screw PC. I will call it like it is. If I felt like calling out someone for being a douche, then I would call them such.
Over time, it evolved into a more sports and entertainment based blog because I enjoyed writing about TV and movies as well. Eventually, I started writing about my life and my family as well. A big reason I had stopped was because I no longer wanted the ultra personal stuff I posted on there. I made those posts private with my relaunch.
So now the name Hotard Huddle doesn’t just apply to sports. It is my own personal zeitgeist. The blog encompasses my thoughts on life, sports, entertainment, politics and everything in between.
While I have toned down the cursing and name calling, I certainly don’t always shy away from it. I never shy away from calling a spade a spade and stating my thoughts. Sometimes, colorful language may be warranted.
One thing has remained over the course of it all…sparking conversations. I enjoy discussing a wide variety of topics because I enjoy hearing different perspectives. In wanting to hear different perspectives, that doesn’t mean I won’t challenge you on them. If I believe a statement is made in ignorance, I will call it out and explain why. I do that in hopes you would do the same to me if I have an incredibly bad take.
I have certainly had people be critical of my blog over the years and they are some of my biggest supporters. They know I appreciate that.
I have had my use of the English language criticized because of the colorful commentary. In fact, just the other day someone said I shouldn’t have dropped an F bomb in a column about my son. I felt it fit in the sentence so I used it. One of the ways I try to write is conveying the manner in which I speak. I will continue to do that.
I released my first podcast recently and one of the suggestions was slowing down on the topics at the end because it sounded rushed. My buddy didn’t realize that was the idea of the final segment because he was listening on Spotify so there was no indicator of what the segment was. I will take his feedback and create a liner to explain what the segment is so anyone who listens isn’t confused anymore.
One of the ways I have been critical of myself is I launch so many things that I feel like people who used to pay attention, have tuned out. I don’t necessarily blame them. I know who they are and it sucks. But to some degree, I get it. I have had two different blog/podcasting sites. On Hotard Huddle, I have a launched a variety of podcasts and shows. All of them were fun and I enjoyed them. But it was hard to maintain. I bit off more than I could chew. I tried to do them with friends and adulting gets hard bro.
I have my ups and downs with the blog just like anything else in life. But damn, it feels good to be writing again. It feels good doing another podcast. This time I think it is sustainable because of what I know now and what I have learned over the last year.
Here we are on post number 300 for the Hotard Huddle which is pretty cool. I still have a decent following of those who support the shit out of it and I appreciate that more than they know. I do my best to thank them every time they share, like or read a post.
Maybe it takes off and I can make a little money from it. Maybe it doesn’t. But I have always wanted to be a writer/broadcaster. So writing and podcasting is what I will do. I enjoy it and I hope along the way that others do too.
Maybe it isn’t exactly what I had in mind as a child. Thanks to the internet, I can be the writer and broadcast I always wanted to be. Here’s to number 300. Hopefully many more along the way.
#HotardHuddle #HonorTheHuddle (Thanks for that hashtag Pierce)
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