Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Ayala.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jennifer. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Growing up, I was given letters from my mother as a way to show her love, gratitude, or even to express her sadness and anger in me and my sisters. I learned very young, the sentimental value of a handwritten letter and my love for writing quickly blossomed from this. As a young girl, I began writing letters, poems, and my daily thoughts down in journals and for the most part, I kept them so close to my heart that I never wanted to show anyone. Writing, to me, is an extremely therapeutic way to deal with life’s daily highs and lows, it gives me a way to express emotions in my heart that I cannot say otherwise. Until very recently, I never showed my work to anyone and I wholeheartedly intended to keep it that way. However, as I have grown, I have felt this raging fire inside of me that felt the need to share my stories and poetry. My writing comes from a deep, rooted place inside my soul and I figured if I could touch one other person in this world in a way that only writing could do, then I would be happy. I remember reading articles and poetry and feeling like they wrote it just for me, it was then I knew I wanted to share my work with the rest of the world. Was it easy to start sharing my traumas, lost loves, past mistakes, and everything that is so close to my heart? Absolutely not, but in the end, I knew that this was right on the course of my life path. As of today, I have written an article for Houston Style Magazine, as a guest blogger in the UNIDAYS THE EDIT website, and began my blog named Bandagesinapen. My hope is to only write more and, if all goes as planned, to one day be able to follow my passion into another magazine. Right now, I am diligently working towards a 5k run that I am organizing in order to raise money for the family of a slain Sergeant in Houston, Texas while running a domestic violence call. With this, I also plan to raise awareness for survivors and victims of domestic violence.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t believe smooth roads happen when something beautiful is being created. Instead, I believe that the road less traveled; the bumpy one, the unpaved one, the dirt roads, those roads are the ones we have to take to create our own masterpieces because ultimately, we are the creators of our futures. I would easily say that my biggest struggle was taking the risk of being told no. I was raised in a household of four women and one man, my father, and let me tell you. He never said to us no.
For this reason, I believe that I have never really asked that could maybe be a no answer. I feared being said the word “no,” and as an adult, it was no different. Therefore, reaching out to people and asking them to read something I wrote to try and get published in a magazine was extremely hard for me. So yes, I got told no, I got told that my pitch was not exactly what they were looking for, I got told I didn’t have enough experience, but I never gave up and instead used that as my driving force. Pushing forward actually landed me with my first article in the published magazine named Houston Style Magazine.
Bandagesinapen – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I don’t have a business or a company at this time. It’s not that I do not have aspirations for that in my future, I believe that I am exactly where I should be and that when the time is right, I will be lead to that. I do, at the time, have my WordPress blog and my Instagram page that I have made particularly to showcase my poetry and writings about life in general. If I had to speak of something I was most proud of, I would definitely speak on the blossoming of this 5k run that I am organizing and directing. It has not been easy at all, but I know in my heart that in the end, it will all be worth it.
I don’t really know what sets me apart from others. However, I do know that I never try to push something out and instead, I only write when I hear it from my heart. For now, if you or anyone reading this would like me to write an article or anything related, you can contact me on my Instagram or the contact information listed on my WordPress.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Success, to me, is anything that enables someone to feel as though they have accomplished what they feel aspired to do. If someone desires to be a published writer, an owner of their own business, or anything else that encompasses their dreams and they get to that, they are successful. Every single persons success level is truly dependent on what they want out of this life. For me, in order to be successful, I wanted to be published in a magazine, and I did that. Next up, I will shoot for the stars, and who knows, maybe one day I will make it to that point. For now, I believe that I am successful in my own way, but I can guarantee you that the only way for me is up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bandagesinapen.home.blog/
- Phone: 713-321-8024
- Instagram: bandagesinapen
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