Letter from the Editor: December
All I can think about as we reach the end of 2017 is Holy shit, already? As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of hellapinay.com this month, I've been taking a brief pause from the craziness and constant motion to reflect back on where we started, and think ahead to where we're going. I never could have imagined that what started out as a random Instagram account and a dream of creating a platform to showcase our diverse stories, voices, and radness would one short year later have an entire team of amazing writers and contributors, have shot original content in the Philippines, thrown an event, and connected me to so many amazing Pinays all over the world. I feel blessed, extremely humbled, and encouraged to do so much more next year. I truly love and appreciate every single person who's ever reached out, commented, read our articles, and believed in the work we do. You are why we keep going.
I don't really celebrate the holidays, but winter is a great time for all of us to relax, reassess, and get ready for a new year ahead. For many, 2017 has been a year of drastic change - and the pinnacle of wackness that the general world seems to have reached rn I truly believe signals change for the better on a massive scale (although it often really doesn't feel like it). In addition to major inner transformation and fulfillment through this work, the great change for me this year has been deciding to move away from New York after nine years. It's taken me a long time to gather the initiative (and let's be real, the courage) to leave this city that for me holds almost equal parts dreams and opportunities as well as constant hustle and struggle. While it's not all positive feelings whatsoever, I do know that necessary changes sometimes carry with them great sacrifices.
As I get ready to step into a new phase of my life, I'm anxious and excited for what this will mean for me but also for what's coming up for Hella Pinay. We're going to be bringing a brand new look to the site and branding, working on more dope events for y'all, starting amazing content partnerships, going more international, and much, much more. I hope you all are down to continue this journey together.
<3 Steph
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