In 2015 I started an online magazine called WHTB, which stood for We Have to Believe. It was my pride and joy from an idea originally birthed in 2012, when I had just decided to move back to Johannesburg after having relocated to Cape Town and lasted only one year. All I wanted to do was create a platform where we spoke honestly about our life journeys, pursuit of joy, happiness and success however it looked for all sorts of people. This was one of the bravest things I had ever done and I’m unreservedly glad I went for it.

It took my courage and actions 3 years to manifest this magazine. Initially my sister and I were going to we venture into this magazine space together and we did, in hindsight our priorities might have been misguided. We did everything from registering a company, getting logos made, business cards and got a website. We did everything but kick off and look it was ok we did what we could with the knowledge, skills and courage we had at the time. Eventually we just stopped doing, found ourselves stuck planning and talking.

Flash forward to 2015 I decided to go for it again because the dream lived in me still so I went in guns blazing. This time clear that wasting money or time wasn’t going to be part of the plan, I was going to do everything myself. Built a website myself, made my own logo using a free app, found collaborators, created content, interviewed people and managed the 3 social media pages linked to the mag. Look life was busy man a young lady was moving and shaking, I speak only truths. I’m actually not sure how I managed, what I can tell you though is that nothing could have stopped me, my drive was in over drive.

Things went well for a few months and I learnt a lot with zero experience in what I was doing and subsisting of Google and YouTube. At some point reality grabbed a hold of me and I just wasn’t coping balancing my side hustle and main hustle became difficult. Finding time to do everything I needed to do just became extremely onerous. Getting contributors with no money to pay for their content was interesting. Ultimately had one solid contributor a long time friend. Sadly the cookie crumbled and after 8 months I called it quits just stopped doing anything. One day I got an email notifying me that my site renewal was in a couple of days. Went about life and forgot to renew it, when I finally remembered my contract had lapsed and I had lost all the content on the website. A rookie error I hadn’t backed up my content and just like that www. WHTB.co.za was no more.

Looking back and realising all the knowledge I gained it truly dawns on me that I am so much richer for having tried. Sure this wasn’t a success story but it’s my story and it part shaped the person I am today. Maybe one day I will start the magazine up again. Right now though the plan is to continue writing and honing my skills.