Celebrating 10 years since I started my business @soulsociety 🥂 It started as a random idea in 2012. I remember telling a few close friends “I’m thinking of starting this travel thing because no one ever talks about travel from the Black perspective. These travel reviews, stories and shows are clearly not for us or by us.” I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do or if it would resonate, but I just know that I was tired of not seeing Black people’s images and perspectives. So I started sharing my travels and then slowly started integrating others’. I soft launched it with a mini-mag and distributed at @epicandco trunk show. It evolved to take on many forms. A blog, podcast, social media content, video content, curated trips, partnering with @thepointsguy to create a mini-documentary film series Heritage Journey tracing my roots to Africa which I shot with my brother @emilianostyles, events including partnering with my homie @fab_roc_ for the most lit rooftop day party series in NYC @milehighclubevents, partnering with countless tourism authorities and DMOs for campaigns and so much more. It ended up really being a thing. I never imagined that this thing would get covered in magazines, newspapers, websites and live television. For the first 4-5 years of business I never even showed my face or said who I was (until I realized it was being detrimental to my business.) Anyway, my point is I don’t think about all these wins daily. My head is absolutely not gassed. Probably because when you’re in it you see way more Ls and struggles and challenges than wins. But today I can just focus on the wins. I’m honestly just realizing how much I’ve actually done by rounding up this post of some highlights. I’ve now been to 65+ countries, including 13 in Africa. I don’t think I would have gone as far as I have without actually being inspired by this community. Thank you everyone who has been a part of this journey in any capacity. I cannot believe it’s been 10 years. Wth?! But thanks God for the dream and work ethic. And thank all of you for riding with me.