One Year On Substack

Celebrating the milestone with this entry and the chocolate mousse cups I purchased at Costco.

I quietly launched this little gem on October 11th of last year. I have been writing a monthly newsletter on a different email marketing platform since July of 2021 and I wanted a new fresh place to create personal essays. A la this Substack was born!

I love my time here. And I’m absolutely celebrating myself for the work I have put into this creative expression. What I’m also celebrating is all the amazing people I’ve been able to connect with via my writing. I’m not rolling with the bigwigs but what far outweighs that are the wonderful comments and hearts that get shared, and the beautifully personal and in-depth stories I read on a daily basis.

There is a lot of noise here on Substack. How to Grow. How to Monetize. How to Get Featured. And the Celebrities are here now. La-di-freaking-dah. Substack is certainly getting social media adjacent, and as an emerging platform, you can use all sorts of extras and tools to boost engagement and exposure. That sort of sucks because the reason I’m not on social media is that comparison pulls me down every single time. However, it is possible to avoid that here in one way or another. It takes work, but it is possible. I deeply appreciate

Jenna Park

’s heartfelt take on this tension of being a writer in the “creator economy”.

Platonic Love

recently did a whole piece about Substack Jealousy (featuring or mentioning a few of my fave writers like

Clara

,

Ochuko Akpovbovbo

, and

Anne Helen Petersen

) and it certainly gets to the heart of what clearly all of us, from the tiny pubs to large enterprises, brush up against.

What’s also true is that there are people here just writing and creating. Processing their experiences and sharing into a void for the love of it. I’m really content being in that group. I’m over here writing to my 119 subscribers, reading my 47 publications, working on my writing, allowing my perspective to expand, finding joy and connection in the

SmallStack

community, and staying inspired.

As I approached this first-year milestone I wanted to put my pride-filled and celebratory energy into refining and elevating my digital diary. I enlisted the help of

Erin Shetron

who, through her creative strategy offering, so graciously guided me to dial in this publication, button up the branding, bring clarity to its next chapter, and strengthen/jazz up my About Page. Getting help from an aligned collaborator was so invigorating. 10/10 would recommend! She also helped me strategize the pros and cons of bringing my small biz branding newsletter over here to Substack.

Because I’m a sentimental gal and because I really do think that reflecting back helps to keep moving forward, here’s a little showcase of some entries from the past year.

Some of these did great, others literally only 17 people read, and some I just really love because what I was trying to say or work through came across.

What are my boobs for?

I’m pretty sure this one is my most-read entry because boobs are in the title. Yet I’ll take it because the struggle/vulnerability resonated.

Here's to openly weeping at a stranger's brunch table

These were big feelings I didn’t want to forget and I’m glad I wrote them down. Sharing grief is complicated and extraordinary all at once.

Life is devastatingly beautiful

Lee Singer and I just finished binge-watching Heartstoppers, and while this entry is about an entirely different show, I had similar feelings and god damn I just love good television.

I Think I Woke Up Today to be Mediocre

This is my most recent and it just felt good to be honest about where I’m at while keeping hope for the next chapters to come.

Where I write when I’m not dictating to Siri with the dessert I can’t wait to eat.

Speaking of what’s to come… I’m slowly but surely working on an entry about how I’m pretty sure my dead dad’s spirit is a hawk in the sky and another about why I can’t stop myself from quietly weeping at sporting events.

But most importantly, THANK YOU! Like literally YOU for being a reader, a subscriber, a follower, a supporter, or all of those things. I’m so grateful for your time and attention. It truly means the world that you receive my words through this carrier pigeon of the internet.

<3 Emmy

I’m so glad you’re here and would be even more jazzed if you tapped the <3 to give this a “like” and/or shared it with a friend. I post new entries once or twice a month and you can catch up on my thoughts about being medicore, boobs, regret, mothering, the internet, and finding meaning in it all until the next one arrives.