June Successes!

Looking back on it, June was a pretty busy, successful month for me. I love that! :D

So, here's what I've been up to.

Recently I made the career decision to just stick to my writing and if I found any other job opportunity, I would look into it. The idea was to not stress myself out anymore looking for jobs in other areas but rather go with my gut for what I truly love and studied in school, which is writing and journalism. I am learning to be more aggressive and hands on when I see career opportunities and search for them. I've been happier keeping busy in this way trying to stay focused.

All month I've been mulling over in my mind what should be my June blog post. I didn't write one of my blog essays (although I am brainstoming them still), so I will take this chance to talk to you about "Stef's VIEWS, reVIEWS, and interVIEWS", my professional blog that I created and published at the beginning of this month.

Like "Taking it One 'Stef' at a Time", "Stef's VIEWS" is run entirely by me. The only difference is that unlike "Taking", I intend to run "Stef's VIEWS" as a business, an additional market for my writing. The idea is to interview people and cover events to feature on my site for monetary compensation. I'm not sure how well this is going to work, but I'm willing to try it. So if you're an artist, writer, performer, etc., or have a local event and you would like me to write your story, please reach out to me! I would love to write about you! :D Let's see how this goes!

I actually already published an article on there. Here is my interview with "So You Think You Can Dance" Season 11 competitor Serge Onik.

I've come to realize that a handful of the dancers from Season 11, particularly Carly Blaney, Teddy Coffey, Emily James, and now Serge Onik, have helped me professionally in their own ways so I am so eternally grateful to them for that!

This month I actually interviewed a TV and film actor for another magazine. That was a great interview and I'm excited for the story to come out. :D Also, just yesterday I was hired as a freelancer by yet another magazine company and I am wrapping up a book project with another client!

Another reason for my newfound happiness is following the "Dancing with the Stars" Live Tour, especially their opening show in Atlantic City and their two-night show a few days later at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, New Jersey, one of my favorite NJ theaters. :) I was VERY excited those two days! I was actually somewhat hoping to interview Alan Bersten and maybe some of the other tour dancers for "Stef's VIEWS" while they were here because I have been wanting to interview Alan for awhile now, but that didn't come to pass.

I keep hearing from EVERYWHERE that I should write down my goals, which is supposed to make my goals clearer and me more focused to accomplish said clearer goals. I have done this, to an extent, but this is something I am yet to do more intensely, which is odd considering I am a writer and like making lists. I have been planning some other future endeavors as well, such as with my vlogging and maybe even my creative writing, so stay tuned!

I'm also getting into volunteering lately. On June 7 I volunteered for Brides Against Breast Cancer in Weehawkin, New Jersey. My vlog for that is coming soon, so look out for it! :) I've kept it under wraps because I was working on other things, but it was one of my June projects!

I'd say that things aren't at their very best for me yet, but they're looking up. Here's to more productivity!

Also, Happy Fourth of July/Independence Day, everyone! :D 🇺🇸