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Thursday, December 12, 2024

    The End of an Era: My Journey with Hustle Mama and the Legacy We Leave Behind

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    The End of an Era: My Journey with Hustle Mama and the Legacy We Leave Behind

    As I sit here, reflecting on the incredible journey that has been Hustle Mama: The Magazine for Today’s POWERHOUSE Woman, I am overwhelmed with gratitude, pride, and a bittersweet sense of completion. What started in the year 2000 as a series of essays chronicling my life as a single mother of three, working full-time, going to school full-time, and juggling the demands of raising children, has grown into a movement that I could have never imagined. Hustle Mama became a global platform for women of all walks of life—an international community dedicated to Helping, Uniting, Sharing, Teaching, Leading, and Empowering families, communities, and the world.

    When I look back at those early days, my heart is full. Hustle Mama was born out of necessity. It was my way of expressing myself, sharing my story, and documenting my struggles and triumphs. As a young mother, I often felt overlooked and underestimated. Like so many women, I faced the constant uphill battle of balancing my career, education, and family life. Those challenges shaped me and ultimately birthed a desire to create something that would shine a light on the stories of women just like me—women who were doing extraordinary things against all odds, often without recognition.

    The journey to Hustle Mama Magazine wasn’t easy. In fact, the idea itself was sparked from rejection. After being turned down by a blogging magazine that didn’t want my contributions, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I had always been a creative thinker, a pioneer, someone who believed in doing “first things first.” If they didn’t want me to write for them, I’d create my own space. And that’s exactly what I did.

    From the beginning, I was committed to making Hustle Mama a platform where everyday women could shine. I wanted them to see themselves featured in an international magazine, standing proudly next to the famous and recognizable names. My vision was simple: I wanted to give women—those who hustled every day for their families, communities, and dreams—a stage where they could be celebrated.

    Our journey was ahead of its time in so many ways. We were the first to use the flipbook hyper technology platform and the first magazine to stream audio and visual elements directly from the pages. I can’t tell you how hard it was to get people used to that (LOL). We were among the first magazines to develop an app in the app store and among the first to translate instantly into more than 10 languages (today, that number exceeds 60). I believed from the beginning that Hustle Mama would transcend boundaries, not just of geography, but of race, ethnicity, identity, and economics. I wanted our readers to feel seen, heard, and empowered.

    But the story of Hustle Mama goes even deeper. Here’s a little secret that I’ve never shared publicly before: I took on the name Hustle Mama as a personal challenge. I was tired of how the word “hustle” was often associated with negativity, and I wanted to shift that narrative. I wanted to redefine what people thought when they heard “Hustle Mama.” It wasn’t just about the grind; it was about helping, uniting, and empowering others. If I could change one word, I believed, I could change perceptions.

    The mountain was steep. I built the website myself because I couldn’t afford to pay the person to do. I didn’t have any money. I wrote all the articles and handled the photography again because I couldn’t afford to pay. I taught myself everything could and did the layout alone. The funny thing is now that I look back on the earlier issues, I can see my less than sufficient skills. LOL. It was exhausting, but the vision was clear, and I wasn’t about to let anything stand in my way. The Hustle Mama Movement took on a life of its own. People began to recognize the brand, and I spent years and thousands of dollars defending our trademarks. But I never stopped believing in the power of this movement, in the tribe of women who gathered around it, and in the impact we were making in the world.

    The evolution from a blog to a magazine, a podcast, a radio station, an app, merchandise, books, and an educational platform was nothing short of remarkable. But it wasn’t just about me; it was about the women who trusted me to tell their stories, the entrepreneurs who looked to us for inspiration, and the community that grew into a family. For 24 years, we shared our triumphs, our challenges, and our dreams.

    Now, as I step down as the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Hustle Mama, I do so with a heart full of gratitude. I have aged out of my own creation, transitioning into the next phase of my life and stepping into the Powerhouse Woman I always strived to be. The Hustle Mama Movement will forever live in my heart and in the hearts of the women we’ve touched across the globe. My hope is that the magazine continues to be a place where women, no matter their background, can gather, grow, and empower each other.

    As I move into this new season, I look back on all we’ve accomplished with immense pride. The content we’ve created over the years lives on—eternally—helping women to Heal their Hearts, Hack their Lives, Harness their Power, and Build their Digital Empires. I am eternally grateful for the support of my parents, family, friends, and every woman who has been part of this journey. Hustle Mama will always be part of who I am, but more importantly, it will always be a testament to what can happen when women come together to uplift, inspire, and empower one another.

    This moment is bittersweet, but it is also a celebration of what we’ve built together. I have birthed, built, and love Hustle Mama with everything in my heart and soul and forever will! Thank you, my Hustle Mama Tribe, for being part of this movement. The best is yet to come.

     

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