Tomorrow, I’m another year older. As I reflect on my past birthday blogs, I’m grateful that I listened to the voice in my head that told me to pursue a creative life wholeheartedly. I have a different kind of birthday wish this year. It’s one that benefits others, and especially the artistic community that I love.
This time, two years ago, I began questioning what I really wanted to do with my time. I read a book in the summer of 2017 that made me reflect on the value society places on money compared to how much we value time.
I thought about how I could pay-it-forward and create something more fulfilling so I rejuvenated my business accordingly. I re-branded it and my business motto became “something to sing about” whereby I tracked down and featured everyday people achieving extraordinary things.
My mission is to celebrate the incredible achievements of fellow disruptors, innovators, outside-the-box thinkers, and promote independent artists’ and entrepreneurs’ achievements.
– Jennifer Trijo
Once my mission was clarified, I started The Serenade Files blog in January 2017 and took a professional gap year in 2018 to return to the stage. I focused on creating more, so I auditioned for shows, toured with theatre productions, travelled more, musically-directed shows, and it inspired me to reinvent the blog further. I created the magazine two years later in January 2019.
The magazine has been a great joy for me to work on. I value being able to showcase my contributors’ written and visual work and interview inspiring artists, this has been very fulfilling. I love spending my time and money on this aspect of my business. I have always advocated for creatives being paid for their work and, in an effort to grow my self-funded publication in the future, I’m going to find ways to continue to fund The Serenade Files magazine through creating more original work.
My Writes of Passage
I’m happy to announce that my first custom-made book / e-book goes on sale today. My Writes of Passage is an original creation made with love and designed to pay-it-forward. This custom-made book is filled with original song lyrics and poetry that I have penned over the years.
My birthday wish is to continue to bring you stories about the amazing artists who are creating every day, and to be able to help social enterprises such as Beyond Blue and Orange Sky Laundry by donating a portion of my business’ profits to their causes. I’d love you to help me out by checking out My Writes of Passage now.
I really believe that arts and culture are the cornerstone to our society and the last couple of birthday blogs provide context about how I got to this point, 360 degrees: another birthday wish and Shedding my old skin.
