Sonicjeb Eats on the News! #iAmHamptonRoads: A Reflection Piece.
We all have things that we’ve said we wanted to do but have “just never gotten around to them”, myself included. Honestly, launching sonicjebeats.com has been something I’ve been talking about for almost five years before I buckled down, bought a website domain, had an official logo drawn up, and started reaching out to different restaurant owners and other food bloggers to find my place in the wonderful foodie community of Hampton Roads / Coastal Virginia. I know I’ve just started, but I’ve had so much fun since I launched last year, and I can’t wait for what the future has in store for me, but with that being said, it’s always nice to be recognized and appreciated for what everything doing in the present.
Last month, I’ve got a message from Chelsey Hernandez from the “Hampton Roads Show” saying she was interested in doing a segment on me for their “I Am Hampton Roads” segment, which highlights a local individual and shines a spotlight on what they do in the community. My first thoughts were “why me?” and “I’m not sure if I’m interesting enough to do a segment for the news.” Imposter syndrome was setting in heavy; however, when I was speaking to Chelsey about all that I do in my day-to-day life she got more and more excited about filming the segment, which put me at ease and gave me time to reflect.
For those of you who don't know, in addition to being a food blogger, I’m also a local high school teacher, as well as an improvisational comedian. Comedy is something I started doing around three years ago. It was really scary and I definitely had to break comfort zones in order to get comfortable performing on stage. The more I participated in improv, the more that I saw it helped me in other aspects of my life, and I eventually fell in love with it. Since I’ve started taking improv classes at Push Comedy Theater in Norfolk, I’ve scored a part-time job performing improv on the weekend, and I’ve also performed on stages all up and down the east coast, and I’ve made plenty of lifelong friends; furthermore, if I had not have broken my comfort zone and tried something that looked interesting to me, I would’ve never been opened up to so many awesome experiences. Moreover, everything involved in starting Sonicjeb Eats and taking Improv Class at Push Comedy Theater comes full circle in the values and lessons I try to instill in my students. In order to be successful, you have to be willing to break comfort zones, try new things, act on thoughts, ideas, and passions, and be willing to take learning wherever you go even beyond the classroom.
As I’ve said previously, it feels really good to be recognized for your accomplishments, whether it be by former students, an audience member at a comedy show, or somebody who follows my food recommendations on my Yelp account. All in all, filming for the Hampton Roads show was a fun and eye-opening experience. Speaking about my hobbies and reflecting on everything I’ve accomplished so far felt amazing, and I can only hope that everything I’m doing inspires others to follow their passions and spread positivity. A big shoutout and much love to Stephanie Cooke and Chelsey Hernandez for the amazing opportunity to be featured on I Am Hampton Roads. You can watch my segment below. I hope you enjoy it! :)
