Get Through to Breakthrough

Get Through
to Breakthrough

Writer: Thomasina R. Legend
Photographer: DOM AGUIAR
MODEL: Miriã Mel

“Every challenge you encounter in life is a fork in the road. You have the choice to choose which way to go - backward, forward, breakdown or breakthrough”

― Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha, Overcoming the Challenges of Life

Breakthroughs! I have been waiting for a breakthrough for a good few years now. Bear in mind I started VMM as a final year project in my first year at university (2013) and soon after decided to carry it on as a magazine (though online at the time but still having to pay for it). Believe me when I say the journey has been tough and sincerely I wouldn’t have expected it not to be (because if it was easy, everyone would be doing it, right?).

Ever since I was a child, I've loved reading the stories and journeys of successful people and how they made it. One of the most common things every entrepreneurial faces is financial challenge but people really don’t talk about it in depth, which is why it's difficult for others to grasp how truly hard it is to create something out of absolutely nothing while paying the bills and other expenses that crop up. Yes, a lot of people work a day job or part time gig to finance their dreams (I did as well for a few years until my final year at university when I found out I was pregnant) but even they will attest to the fact that there comes a point on your journey when you must fully commit, 100%, to the growth of your business/dream/vision. That full/part-time gig takes up too much of your time, leaving you tired and without enough time to pursue your vision. It really can be frustrating. 

Let me tell you, I have been broke since my second trimester of pregnancy in 2015. Previously I worked part-time, which really ended up being full-time hours because I was always at work, raking in all the overtime I could get to pay for expenses VMM racked up. I even did side hustles for a while, like buy and sell, to make ends meet after leaving work finally to concentrate on final year, pregnancy and VMM, simultaneously. When I tell you I have been broke, I mean flat out broke. I am not joking. As I type these words, I have piles of bills stacked up, car broken down, can’t afford the insurance, bank accounts begging to touch the hem of Jesus (yeah, it's that critical), my friends turned sisters and greatest allies chipping in every month just so my family and I can feed. 

When I say broke, think about all the indulgences you can afford every week or month like getting your nails done, getting pedicures (yes, my feet are always hidden in socks because they look like something from hell. I will spare you the visual narrative LOL), getting your hair done, going shopping, going out to dinners, parties, etc., believe it or not, its been more than three years (soon be four) since I was able to indulge in any of those. I am still wearing clothes from 2012 because I can’t afford to buy anything and you can imagine what a hot mess I sometimes look because all those clothes don’t fit anymore due to pushing out a little person (story for another day).

I am just letting you know the extreme nature of things because I feel we need to communicate them all and get it out there in the open. It is not all fun and games. It is sheer sacrifice, dedication and the ultimate belief in your vision.  I even remember all the years my husband and I couldn’t afford a place of our own just so I could go to school part-time and had to squat with friends & family on and off, living out of boxes and being surrounded by our entire lives staring at us as we slept at night because we couldn’t afford storage space. Thank goodness those days of living out of boxes are over. 

I have been told by many that the first impression of VMM is that it's run by a powerhouse with gold coins dripping from the chandeliers. LOL, perhaps I exaggerate a bit but people really do look at it and think I am made, and thank God for that because I have worked hard to get the desired quality and branding that I envisioned. I've done that on a very stringent budget so you can imagine what I could do and achieve with more ;) The truth is I have paid for VMM out of my pocket. Every dime from paid collaborations on shoots, hiring location for shoots, printing each issue and covering the day to day running of the business is not cheap. When you are new on the block and do things completely differently from others in the industry, they immediately try to block you. I have tried for years to get funding through advertising and sponsorships but have been met with resounding rejection over and over again. I can understand and appreciate the reasoning; I am new and still building followers on social media platforms and the magazine is not about celebrities and trends. They would like to see  me deviate from my vision and follow the norm, but I can’t let my vision die because people say no. I have had to fight for this dream and this space. It's a fight to exist. 

I am waiting for my breakthrough and I know it will come. It will come not because I am sitting here wishing for it, but because I have put in the work. I AM PUTTING IN THE WORK DAILY. I have made the sacrifices and hung in here regardless of the trials and struggles that have tried to push me to throw in the towel. 

At the time of writing this last minute but critical article, I have just a week to get this volume you are holding in your hands to the printers and I am flat out broke. I have no money whatsoever. I can’t afford any more loans because I am already in debt with two. But here is the thing, I have FAITH. My faith has been truly tested and at this point it is the only currency I have. Yes, I am telling you, truthfully, I have no idea where the money is going to come from to print this volume but if you are holding it in your hands and reading it, then my faith, my last calling card has been granted. I have no shame in saying this is my TRUTH & JOURNEY. 

Listen, the journey is tough and there are some people who have been toiling or toiled longer than my few years, some 5, 10, 15, 18, 20+ years before they got their breakthroughs. There is no overnight success. It all takes time, dedication, patience, passion, desire, faith and so much more to get to the top. Whatever you are going through on your journey, keep pushing. The day-to-day is tough. No, tough is an understatement. It is painful and gruesome. But if you believe in your dreams and vision, you will push through to get through to your breakthrough.

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