The day is finally here! I can't believe how quickly the time has passed since the day that I fully embraced my natural hair on July 22, 2009. I still remember like it was yesterday when I looked into the mirror after my big chop and was in shock of the fact of that it was my first time seeing my natural hair since I was 6!
I must admit, it has been quite an interesting journey thus far. During this time, I've enjoyed making many connections with my fellow naturalistas who have been such a great source of encouragement and advice along the way. It's also been such a blessing for me to see the growth of this site and my YouTube (Nikkimae2003) channel. I am so humbled when I receive messages saying that a particular post or video has been a source of inspiration or of great help to someone out there. You all are definitely the reason why I continue sharing my journey : )
Interacting with my natural family offline has been wonderful as well! I've had the pleasure of meeting several of my fellow vloggers and bloggers in the natural hair community in person, and I always find it funny that it feels like we already know each other because of how much we share online lol. This year was especially exciting because I also had the opportunity to meet many of my readers/viewers when I attended the World Natural Hair Show in Atlanta a couple months ago. I definitely had a blast interacting with the lovely naturalistas there, as well as the owners of some of my favorite companies like Titi and Miko from Miss Jessie's, as well as Jane Carter from Jane Carter Solution. Oh, I definitely can't leave out the times where I've met some of you all in unexpected places like Whole Foods Market, the mall, and on the street lol. I really do mean it when I say that I enjoy immensely, meeting the people that actually listen and read what I put out there : )
My journey became even more exciting when I was given the opportunity to become a vlogger for NaturallyCurly.com! They have a wonderful site full of great information and it has been such a pleasure interacting with the NC team. It was such a privilege and honor for me to attend the NaturallyCurly.com & Miss Jessies' Natural Hair celebration event a couple months ago as a hair model for the Miss Jessie's team! That was a fun-filled day I will never forget.
I am also so very grateful to the countless companies who have allowed me to review their products both on this site and my YouTube channel. That definitely has aided in my product "junkyism" lol, but it has allowed me to see and share the growing variety of products that are being created specifically to cater to us naturalistas.
People are waking up to the fact that going natural is NOT a fad and that's a wonderful thing! I'm really touched by the many messages I've received from ladies sharing how they've grown to love and appreciate themselves even more by embracing their hair as it naturally grows out of their head : )
I know the journey to going natural and even being natural is not always peachy, but trust that as long as people are still reading and watching, it will certainly be my pleasure to continue to share both the ups and downs of my own journey in hopes that it will help someone else!
Con mucho amor!
*Mae*
MY BIG CHOP
MY ONE YEAR NATURAL HAIR JOURNEY
