Getting Cancelled: Let's Talk About It
December 2023
Happy December friends! I hope you’ve been able to find some rest and rejuvenation in the end of this year. I recently held a vision board making night with some friends and ruminating on the future has me feeling very proud and joyful for 2023. In this short newsletter I want to share with you what I’m proud of accomplishing this year, talk about that video we all saw, and share what Denver spots I’m excited about visiting in the New Year! 🎉
Year in Review
First and foremost, what a year of growth! At the start of this year I had a little over 5k followers on Instagram and now I’m ending the year with almost 30k! The same with TikTok- I started the year off with about 20k and now I am almost at 40K. Humility be gone - I did that shit! And the Instagram gods decided to give me an end of the year gift by pushing a video to where it got over 2.8 MILLION views!
Outside of social media, I got to use my creativity in many other ways - I made a guest appearance on my best friend’s Podcast. I play an in-the-know, sassy, interstellar being who gives you all the recommendations on the hottest places to go in space … sound familiar? If you’re looking for something to do during that odd week between Christmas and New Year, give it a listen - I promise you won’t be disappointed. Listen Here.
I am a huge proponent of celebrating your success/accomplishments - if you don’t, WHO will? So below are a few other of my accomplishments of this year:
Traveling to 4 new cities (still thinking about you Rhode Island)
Committing to monthly get-togethers with my friends so we stay present in each others’ lives
Going on about 20 new friend dates (hellooo social butterfly Rayna)
Getting published in not one, but TWO magazines
Ditching the filters on Instagram (this one is a really big win)
Laying the groundwork for a new business. Hey hi Neighbor, how you doing? 👀🥂✨
I encourage you, before the year ends, to spend just 5 minutes reflecting on your top 5 achievements this year. You are an amazing, talented, important human being and you deserve to be celebrated too!
Spots I’m Excited to Visit in 2024
A relatively new plant and goods store that opened in Jefferson Park.
A super sexy, swanky restaurant in Denver that boasts a detailed cocktail list.
I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to get to one of their crafting events that pop up all over Denver.
A Brunch spot in my neck of the woods.
The new soup dumpling location in LoHi with an hour wait time. ☠️ I must admit I’ve already been once and I’m obsessed.
Influencer Tea
While this year was absolutely incredible, it did not come without its fire, and boy was I feeling the heat. For everyone that didn’t see it, in the beginning of December, a rather aggressive video was posted that was more or less a hate video towards me. I’m hesitant to talk about it because I hate giving this situation attention, but it had a real impact on me and to deny that would be lying. The woman in the video was mad at me for recommending a spot to visit for the holidays when it didn’t stand up to her expectations. She claimed that I had lied about the niceness of the spot, that I had glamoured it up, and that ultimately, I was giving shitty recommendations about the place to “get my bag”. The Denver influencer scene was shooketh, at least to my knowledge, nothing like this had happened before. It was a public call-out that gained thousands of views across TikTok and Instagram.
It’s been a few weeks since this happened, and I’ve been working through a good amount of emotions. First there’s the guttural shock, jaw-on-the-floor reaction. Then there was the OMG what do I do, what do I say, how do I act! Followed by the hurt. I was hurt by the comments saying they hate me, I was hurt by the silence of my fellow creators. And I was even hurt by some of my fellow creators profiting off the video by insinuating that they gave more honest recommendations than I do. And the most recent emotion I’ve come to work through is anger. Anger at the situation, anger at that video creator and just the usual, why me?
But as I’ve come to process, digest and work through these emotions, I’m only left with one - gratitude. I’m a silver lining kind of gal. I get to come out of this situation on the other side, knowing I handled myself with grace, knowing who stands in my corner, knowing that I’m a really good influencer, and knowing that I care deeply for this Denver community. A rogue video doesn’t take any of that away from me. So let’s not ruminate on this any further, just know I’m good, I’m strong, and I’m going to keep doing what I do best, which is connecting people to their local Denver communities.
Proud of you for keeping your kind heart Rayna, it can be the hardest thing in a tough situation like that. What a wonderful year and so much to look forward to in 2024. Wishing you all my best 🤍🥹☕️