#True Story: Marketers are born ... not raised

When I was 13, we went on a family vacation to Vegas. (That was pre the "What Happens in Vegas" marketing campaign, when they tried making Vegas family friendly. Marketing #FAIL) ... and wouldn't you know, Ray Charles walked into the elevator my brother and I were in!!!!!!

The four of us (Ray had a guy assisting him ...) rode the elevator for what felt like the longest 5 seconds of my life. My brother and I were frantically trying to place this iconic human being, but we kept falling short of his name. I piped up and said simply OMG - el senor Charles the consummate gentleman turned his head in a counterclockwise motion and said "How ya doin?!"

He proceeded to get off on the 3rd floor ... and my brother and I ran screaming into our parents room. We were so ecstatic - we finally figured out who he was!?!?! We shouted out Mom, Dad - we were just in an elevator with "the guy from the Pepsi commercials."

OY!!!! ...Very true, very nerdy story ... HA!!!

Here's to hoping your big Pepsi in the sky is never warm, Mr. Charles!!!

A Permission Slip to be Unapologetically Awesome

I'm an artist. This is my platform. Doesn't get much nerdier eh?

SOO, I want to try something. I've gone through a HUGE personal change, and since it's working for me - I want to see if it will work for you.

First, a little background ... up until a year ago, I was a terribly unhappy person. I don't even like the word unhappy, I was more like a robot. I always had a smile on my face, and was this little bundle of energy - however it was more of a regurgitation of information and stories; things I leased in life that temporarily defined my experiences but didn't define who I was. I actually had no idea who I was. I wanted desperately for someone to tell me that. I thought, well - I'm 24 ... right about now, I should be married with kids and that whole shabang. After all, thats what the people in movies do ... they're never wrong! So, I set myself up in a weird series of relationships with some not so very nice people in the hopes of them telling me who I was. YEAHHHHHH ... what a joke. I wasn't waiting for a ring, I was waiting for a life. I always had a lot going on, and a lot of really really really awesome things to be proud of. However, I was somewhere out to lunch. I didn't take ownership of a single thing. It was just something I did, because I didn't know what else I was supposed to do. 

This site managed to change everything for me. I did this. I created the concept, coded it, marketed it, promoted it. I eat, sleep, and breathe this site. Thinking of ways to expand, listening to people, finding out what is working and what isn't ...I took all the changes in things that I wanted to see and made it happen. Of COURSE I would not be here if it weren't for you all, however - I really just don't care. I would still be doing my thing if you weren't, and that is AWESOME!! I am unapologetically AWESOME, and FUCK that feels GREAT!!!

I JUST DONT CARE, and that is SOOOO FREEING!!!!!!!!! I would be doing this if not a single person came to visit this site - so that must mean that this is something deeply ingrained in my true essence and core, not just who I think I need to be. I don't sit there and say, my, my, my, today I guess I'll have to find something to post. I just DO IT because I FEEL IT! I am FEELING things I've never felt before. I'm feeling alive, happy, joyous, at peace. Don't get me wrong, I am still neurotic and potentially psychotic ... but again, I Just. Don't. Care.

I don't care what label you place on me - because I am a nerd through and through. Being nerdy to me is more than just some weird social excuse for being slightly odd, it is the ultimate permission slip to the greatest field trip in life. I get to see things, do things, talk to people, and relate to them on levels I could never otherwise comprehend. What is our common denominator? We're all NERDS!!!! I LOVEEEE reading all the emails, and posts I receive from you all expressing your passions in the nerdy realm - wow, they're just SO out there!!! AND HOW FABULOUS!!!! People have just been waiting for someone to say this is okay, this is cool - I know I was!!!!!! Had social media not come around, I don't know where I'd be. I've learned SOO much about people, and had such a great psychological shift in my own awareness and my own perceptions of life and being; it's incredible. I just am! I never have to debate my nerdiness to someone, they just know. So just BE!!! You already have all the answers inside of you to every question you could possibly ask yourself. We aren't afraid of failing in life, we are afraid of having TOO much power, being TOO successful, having TOO much .. SCREW IT! Focus on one drop of water filling the jug at a time, and buckle up. You're never given more than you can handle and I know through and through that the nerds of this world are about to dominate. Stop letting other people define you and your worth. You be you, and I'll be me ... now let's be AWESOME!

Here ... print this article out. Write yourself a permission slip for being awesome today. Use this as a get out of whatever card, and take this as an excuse to start living the life you always imagined.

To Whom It May Concern,

Please excuse ____________________ from _____________________ today. They are a vital component in world domination and their presence is being requested at the table of life.

If you have any questions, please email me at JenFriel@TalkNerdyToMeLover.com however, I probably won't get back to you right away, because I'm out living life and being awesome right along with them.

Thanks. 

Sincerely,

Jen Friel aka That Nerdy Chick

There's your permission slip ... now go be unapologetically awesome.