Sunday, March 18th made 5 years since we launched our site and Tea in the Shade really became a “thing”.  (Many thanks to our royal highness Beyonce’ for making that happen).  Sooooo much has happened within this time and I thought that I would share a recap of the most important takeaways on this journey (so far)

1 – “Someday” will always be “someday” if you don’t just go for it .   Very early on in our friendship (we were coworkers actually) we realized that we always had really funny commentary on our favorite shows and pop culture happenings.  Our coworkers would even come and listen to us and tell us that we should have a show.  Sometimes we would discuss the what ifs.  We’d always say “I would love to have a blog” or “Ooohhh I wish we could have a talk show”.  Fast forward to BOOM, we started our blog.  That was going pretty well, then we were approached about doing an internet radio show based on our blog.  Now, this was pretty much what we would always discuss doing one day, but we expected “one day” to be at least few years away.  We were so hesitant even though it was clearly what we had put into the universe.  But we did it, and I’m so glad we did it.  Moral to this story: God doesn’t work on your time.  So when the door opens, just shut up go through it.

2 – Joint ventures will test friendships .  This one is obvious, but it’s one of those things that you don’t really understand how real it gets until you experience it.  For my sis Petty Kash and I, it was a little trickier for several reasons.  One major thing was that our friendship was still fairly new when we started this.  We hadn’t hit those normal bumps in the road that friends endure.  Another factor is that we are both textbook Cancers.  Emotions, assumptions, and being just plain stubborn are definitely some of the things that amplify misunderstandings.  It’s even harder when you’re sharing a business venture.  But thankfully, we made it through every rocky moment.  I can honestly say that she is one of my truest and dearest friends.  I couldn’t imagine my life without her and I DEFINITELY can’t (and never will) imagine Tea in the Shade without her.  Yes, doing business with friends can be tricky.  But if it’s sincere and your intentions are pure, your friendship will only get stronger in time.  Communicate, communicate, communicate.

3 – Your friends might not support you.  Get over it. No lie, I still struggle with this one.  I would bet everything I own that not even 3 of my closest friends actually listen to our show.  And they’ll never be mad that I typed this because they probably won’t even read this post.  But that’s okay.  We have people from all over the country and even overseas (Hey Shane!!  We love you out there in the U.K.) who are faithful listeners.  I wouldn’t trade that for the world.  Don’t get so caught up who’s not supporting you that you miss out on realizing just how many people really do.  It’s not the end of the world.  No grudges necessary.  I don’t love my friends any less.   Your destiny is not dependent on the people around you.  What’s for you is for you.  Just keep going!

4 – It’s okay to try new things, but it’s also okay to stick with what works.  As I’m sure most of you all know, we recently made a major change to our format.  At first we were a blog, then we switched over to being an internet radio show.  We were actually only a blog for about 5 months before we started our show, so most people really know of us a show and not the blog.  Last month we made the decision to just be a podcast.  There were lots of reasons, but nothing major or dramatic at all.  We just honestly needed to do what was best for us as individuals and our brand.  It was something we discussed for a while, several months for sure.  But I was so hesitant because it kinda felt like a step back.  We had a pretty faithful Facebook live audience and it just seemed like a risk.  But it was the right decision.  I said all of that to say, while you should definitely try new things and take chances, it’s also okay to just go back to whatever honestly works.  You don’t have to follow trends.  We started our podcast five years ago and went three years without adding any new episodes.  But it feels so right this time.  We’re just as excited every week as we were five years ago.  That’s all that matters at the end of the day.

To be honest, there were countless things that I learned over these past five years and there’s no way that I could squeeze it into this one post.  Whatever your dream is, whatever your “One day I’d like to……..” is, just do it.   You never know where it could take you and you deserve to take a chance on yourself.  So go on…..get your ass up and make something happen.

To my sis Petty Kash (I made sure not to use your government here lol) you really put up with me for five years.  You’re a soldier girl!  But for real, we are dope as hell sis.  Thank you so so much just for being who you are.  I know this hasn’t always been a breeze but you stuck through it all with me.  I meant what I said, I absolutely can’t imagine life without you reading me and getting me right on together.  There is no Tea in the Shade without you.  Cheers!

And to everyone that has ever read our blog posts, interacted with us on social media, tuned in and chatted with us on Facebook live, and/or listened to our podcast I cannot thank you enough.  We would not be able to keep this going without you.  I hope that you enjoy it as much as we do.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!