Look What Grew,

because I stayed.

I’ve always loved writing emails.

They carry things differently - softly, personally, with intention. Text messages are expected. WhatsApp messages are normal. But an email? That’s rare. When one arrives, you slow down. You sit with it. You read.

Before I discovered Substack, I wrote emails to people, sent one by one. Every weekend, I’d input an address, paste a message I’d written just for them, and hit send. I loved it deeply.

Until it became hard to keep up.

Ten people became forty, and suddenly I was asking myself, How do I send forty personal emails every weekend and still breathe? 🥹 I didn’t want to stop, I just wanted it to be easier.

One day, my friend Onyinye said, “Hosanna, I’ve found something you can use.” She walked me through it patiently because I was genuinely clueless. That’s how I started on Substack - January 8th, 2024.

It was slow, but it was steady.

I told myself that if I hadn’t seen many things through in my life, I would see this one through. I wrote through ten likes and zero comments. I wrote through engagement and silence. I remember how excited I was when I hit 24 subscribers. I told everyone who cared to listen.

So yes, I understand when people celebrate 2, 5, or 10 subscribers. If you’ve ever built something from scratch, you know what it means when even one person resonates. One applause can feel like a standing ovation.

There was never a moment I considered stopping.Someone must need this. Someone must be blessed by it. Someone must be grateful that I put words to what they couldn’t say themselves.

So I showed up.

Once a week. Once in two weeks. Sometimes twice in a month. Sometimes once. But every time, I poured my heart into my writing, into every publication I was given the privilege to create.

People assume I get paid because of how intentional I am. But no, this is my baby. This is mine. I built this. For almost two years, I’ve been in your faces with my writing. And along the way, I’ve heard:

“I needed this.”

“Don’t stop writing.”

“Your words healed me.”

“I’m grateful for you.”

The currencies will come. But for now, I’m holding tightly to these word-currencies.

I want to be remembered, among other things, as Hosanna, the girl who wrote.

Today, I’m grateful. For strength. For consistency. Writing is hard work. It requires tenacity. I’ve published 50 personal pieces and 13 collaborative ones. I’ve reread them all, and every single one carries the same spark. Not once did the fire go out.

Look what grew because I stayed.

From one inbox to a thousand.🥹✨

Thank you -1,000 subscribers across several countries. 🤍

Love,

Hosanna.♥️✨