And I still remember your first draft of your first essay. The class may be sunsetting, but the hues on the horizon live on in the vibrant community relationships we have formed that persist.
“The class may be sunsetting, but the hues on the horizon live on in the vibrant community relationships we have formed that persist.”
So beautiful, Karena!! 🌅
And so funny you remember my first draft (which was definitely a mess 😂). We’ve both come a long way and I’m grateful to have you as an OG on my writing journey! 💜✨✍🏼
Simone, I still remember our call before my first cohort to make sure I was ready. Thank you for propelling my path into WOP. 🙏. The essays I’ve published and the connections I made changed my life.
Thanks, Matt! SO grateful I stumbled across your tweet offering free content strategy calls back in summer 2021 and took your advice to join WoP.
It’s been crazy inspiring to see your journey from mentor to lead mentor to Director, especially given you used to drop off zoom calls as a first-time student. 😂
Your consistency at the gym and in your writing is motivational and inspiring and I swear I will always remember reading about how you were drinking crappy gas station coffee and writing while your daughter was practicing with her team thinking “this is the type of parent I aspire to be” if I’m lucky enough to have kids of my own.
Congrats on all your achievements and excited to see what your next chapter brings. It’s bound to be an incredible one post WoP! ✍🏼💜
I love the story! Thank you so much for sharing. I just signed up for the last cohort of Write of Passage and I’m so excited to become involved in the community.
Awesome tips. I hadn’t heard that Write of Passage was ending. I just started listening to the Why I Write podcast and real enjoy it. Looks like you learned a lot over the years within that community. It’s interesting that your point number one was to send cold emails. I just heard the opposite point of view yesterday. However, I’m siding with you. Cold doesn’t have to mean generic, carbon copy emails. As long as you make them personal and show that you’re not just copy and pasting and sending them out en masse, I think they still have a shot of landing occasionally.
Thanks, Craig! The podcast looks excellent, I’m looking forward to watching some episodes in the near future.
I agree, as long as cold messages are personal and engaging, they’re an incredible resource. Spamming people with generic messages, by contrast, is a waste of time and a bad look.
Such great takeaways! What’s left unsaid is what an amazing mentor and friend you’ve been throughout the Write of Passage process. I still remember when you shared my essay in your curation piece, it felt so meaningful to me that someone had *seen* me during the course and thought my writing was worth sharing. On top of that, you’ve been instrumental in creating so many key relationships when you joined other women in creating a space for Women in WoP. Just wanted to say I really appreciate having you as part of my WoP experience as well!
“The two of you built something incredible that will continue to inspire people for decades to come.”
Perfectly put Alexandra. Thank you for writing this. It captures and describes much of the magic that WOP is.
Something tells me the WOP band and all the participants will come back together again in some way, shape, and form. There’s too much goodness for it not to.
Thanks, James! Likewise, I know we will stay in touch and I hope and believe we will eventually have an in person reunion with a bunch of people to celebrate all our growth. 😊
Thank you for sharing with us, Alexandra. I really wanted to be part of Write of Passage, but it was too expensive for me, I wish I had cold emailed too. It just felt so out of reach for some reason. I am from India, so I think I anyway got to know about it too late, only when I thought of writing beginning of this year.
Sad to know it's ending. But so happy for you and your journey. It's equal parts exciting & inspiring! Wish you the best for your future. :)
Thanks, CansaFis! I will never not be impressed by how fast you could provide top notch editor feedback on student essays, nor how good it felt when I was lucky enough to have one of mine land in your queue. 🙌🏼
I hope we get the chance to work together again in the future. Thanks again for your feedback on my Bridesmaids-meets-Nelson Mandela piece. 😊
You’re an inspiration. Why? Because this 144th piece is a wonderful example of your generosity, what you value and a call to everyone to get past their doubts and do it! ❤️
"Write of Passage was life-changing for me.
Full stop."
Ditto
Same!! I haven’t been able to articulate all my feelings since the announcement but Alexandra this captures it!
Thanks, Sadia! So glad we connected. 😊
So glad it connected us, Rick! 😊
WoP7 was life changing!
And I still remember your first draft of your first essay. The class may be sunsetting, but the hues on the horizon live on in the vibrant community relationships we have formed that persist.
“The class may be sunsetting, but the hues on the horizon live on in the vibrant community relationships we have formed that persist.”
So beautiful, Karena!! 🌅
And so funny you remember my first draft (which was definitely a mess 😂). We’ve both come a long way and I’m grateful to have you as an OG on my writing journey! 💜✨✍🏼
Cohort 7, baby! Thank you for sharing Alexandra—always meaty and well-written.
Cohort 7 for life!!! 😂 SO grateful our paths crossed in that fateful fall of 2021, Simone. You’ve been an inspiration ever since.
Hence this post: https://open.substack.com/pub/alexandraallen/p/stumble-and-stabilize?r=nb7od&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I hope someday we finally get to meet up in person and toast to our cohort 7 launchpad and all we’ve grown through since. ✍🏼💜
Simone, I still remember our call before my first cohort to make sure I was ready. Thank you for propelling my path into WOP. 🙏. The essays I’ve published and the connections I made changed my life.
So glad to have met and worked with you through Write of Passage. You've brought so much to the community!
Thanks, Matt! SO grateful I stumbled across your tweet offering free content strategy calls back in summer 2021 and took your advice to join WoP.
It’s been crazy inspiring to see your journey from mentor to lead mentor to Director, especially given you used to drop off zoom calls as a first-time student. 😂
Your consistency at the gym and in your writing is motivational and inspiring and I swear I will always remember reading about how you were drinking crappy gas station coffee and writing while your daughter was practicing with her team thinking “this is the type of parent I aspire to be” if I’m lucky enough to have kids of my own.
Congrats on all your achievements and excited to see what your next chapter brings. It’s bound to be an incredible one post WoP! ✍🏼💜
I love the story! Thank you so much for sharing. I just signed up for the last cohort of Write of Passage and I’m so excited to become involved in the community.
Thank you, Alivia. I’m so excited for you! Look forward to crossing paths within the alumni community at some point. Have an amazing cohort! 💜
Awesome tips. I hadn’t heard that Write of Passage was ending. I just started listening to the Why I Write podcast and real enjoy it. Looks like you learned a lot over the years within that community. It’s interesting that your point number one was to send cold emails. I just heard the opposite point of view yesterday. However, I’m siding with you. Cold doesn’t have to mean generic, carbon copy emails. As long as you make them personal and show that you’re not just copy and pasting and sending them out en masse, I think they still have a shot of landing occasionally.
Best.
Thanks, Craig! The podcast looks excellent, I’m looking forward to watching some episodes in the near future.
I agree, as long as cold messages are personal and engaging, they’re an incredible resource. Spamming people with generic messages, by contrast, is a waste of time and a bad look.
Such great takeaways! What’s left unsaid is what an amazing mentor and friend you’ve been throughout the Write of Passage process. I still remember when you shared my essay in your curation piece, it felt so meaningful to me that someone had *seen* me during the course and thought my writing was worth sharing. On top of that, you’ve been instrumental in creating so many key relationships when you joined other women in creating a space for Women in WoP. Just wanted to say I really appreciate having you as part of my WoP experience as well!
Thank you so much, Michelle! You are so sweet and I’m so glad our paths crossed. Excited to see all that you accomplish in the future! 💛
“The two of you built something incredible that will continue to inspire people for decades to come.”
Perfectly put Alexandra. Thank you for writing this. It captures and describes much of the magic that WOP is.
Something tells me the WOP band and all the participants will come back together again in some way, shape, and form. There’s too much goodness for it not to.
Thanks, James! Likewise, I know we will stay in touch and I hope and believe we will eventually have an in person reunion with a bunch of people to celebrate all our growth. 😊
Thank you for sharing with us, Alexandra. I really wanted to be part of Write of Passage, but it was too expensive for me, I wish I had cold emailed too. It just felt so out of reach for some reason. I am from India, so I think I anyway got to know about it too late, only when I thought of writing beginning of this year.
Sad to know it's ending. But so happy for you and your journey. It's equal parts exciting & inspiring! Wish you the best for your future. :)
Thank you, Ishita! You can apply for this scholarship opportunity for the final cohort: https://x.com/david_perell/status/1832144498844942457?s=46
Omg thank you for sharing. I thought it had already shut. 🥹
The deadline is in 2.5 hours. Off I go 🏃♀️
Good luck! 🤞
…awesome advices…and great thanks to the woo for an introduction to you…
Thanks, CansaFis! I will never not be impressed by how fast you could provide top notch editor feedback on student essays, nor how good it felt when I was lucky enough to have one of mine land in your queue. 🙌🏼
I hope we get the chance to work together again in the future. Thanks again for your feedback on my Bridesmaids-meets-Nelson Mandela piece. 😊
You’re an inspiration. Why? Because this 144th piece is a wonderful example of your generosity, what you value and a call to everyone to get past their doubts and do it! ❤️
Thanks so much, Eric! You’ve been an inspiration to me as well. Appreciate you my friend! ❤️☺️
Beautiful and inspiring post, thank you for writing this!
Thanks, David! Appreciate you reading. 😊