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Working on client designs during down time…

#NAOHOAstory: In 2017, after an encounter with Paula Burns Events & Weddings, I finally mustered the courage to hire a stall.

I’d held off advertising at events like this, due to fear and past experiences with racism and sexual harassment. Growing up in an environment where people harassed me every time I stepped outside, made me uncomfortable to put myself out there in this way. It was too vulnerable…but I knew it was holding back NAOHOA from being discovered, so I kept moving forward.

I’m glad that times have changed (for me at least – more about that in my podcast, @ajourneysharedpodcast ) and overall, it was a fun experience chatting to passerbys. Many thanks to Paula (@paulaburnsweddingsandevents ) for being so friendly and accommodating, and Zan (now my fiancé) for helping me set up, despite it happening between night shifts at a new job. 😅 If it weren’t for this event ‘breaking the ice’, I probably wouldn’t have done Comic Con soon afterwards, where I met a lot of you guys~! 💕