500 of you? I'm not crying, you are.

I hit 500 subscribers a few days ago. We’re at 556 now.

Alhamdulillah. I’m crying. I’m grateful. I’m screaming. I’m terrified. I’m so, so happy.

At first, I told myself I wouldn’t say anything until I hit 1k. But omo, this joy is too loud to keep quiet.

Five hundred and fifty-six of you trusted me with your emails.

You liked what I wrote enough to come back.

You saw something in me. Enough to stay. Enough to give me a chance.

And I don’t take that for granted—not for a second.

I started Feminist Inc. almost three years ago. I was struggling with my mental health, and writing became a way to survive. Now, I’m in a better place. And Feminist Inc. is too. I remember the nights I almost gave up. The days I’d call my best friends, panicking, crying, overwhelmed. I’d say I had nothing to write, nothing left to say. I’d tell them I wanted to stop.

They’d tell me to hold on.

Why I gave up on feminism, myself, and humanity, and how I’m trying to get back on track.

I remember almost giving up—on the newsletter, on myself, on life. Feminist activism had drained me. I felt empty. Done.

I remember wanting to do a Christmas special last year but I couldn't because I didn't have the energy for it. And then January came and left and I hadn't posted anything. I was seeing everyone's happy new year post and I recall just feeling like a failure.

Somehow, I gave

Talitha Etta

something I had written a while ago and she encouraged me to post it. That was my first post of the year on the 14th of February.

And people liked it. They related to it. And I felt less alone. I felt like my words truly mattered. It was refreshing and beautiful and I felt good. Because I really needed an ego boost. And so I wrote more. And more. And more. And I'm still writing.

So, thank you Talitha, for encouraging me to put my work out there.

And thank YOU. Yes, YOU. Stop looking behind your shoulder. I'm referring to you. Thank you for subscribing and engaging and liking and commenting and everything. The whole works. It means the world to me.

I want Feminist Inc. to get even more personal. I want to share more of myself, more of my life, more of the chaos (I mean peace) behind the essays. And I want to do more collabs—with community members, with people who care, with people who have something to say.

In fact, I asked some of my most active subscribers to challenge me—to dare me to write about things outside my comfort zone. Topics I might not have picked on my own. And the responses? Whew. Y’all didn’t come to play. So, look out for some really interesting essays!