Tomorrow marks the one anniversary of launching Roll with Jen.
I was just looking back at some of my inaugural posts, which spanned many subject areas: entries about my Paris food adventures with the mack daddy of food bloggers, David Lebovitz, posts about my favorite vendors at the farmers markets, brunch at then fledgling Revel, and local weekend getaways to Lopez Island.
My hope was that a few friends and maybe my mom would occasionally read rollwithjen.com. But thanks to a strong support network of people who not only encouraged me and consistently gave me feedback, they shared my work with their friends and network. Roll with Jen grew and my writing evolved.
My first fb post about Roll with Jen on May 22nd, 2011
Just as publicly-owned companies share their progress with stakeholders and their plans for the future, I want to do the same. I feel a deep connection and responsibility to all of you who have supported me in building Roll with Jen into something more than a hobby.
Here is what’s next:
1) Launching an iPhone app - I launched an iPhone application that I am hoping will serve as a helpful and fun resource when you are looking for a great place to eat. It is free and you can download it here.
2) Weekly columnist for the Seattle Weekly’s Truck Stop - I am having a lot of fun writing a weekly food truck column for Seattle Weekly’s Voracious food blog. It is fun working with other talented and vibrant writers at the Weekly and meeting other small business owners.
3) Shooting a pilot in Japan this summer. Eek. I am most excited about this development. Click here to check the details. The link includes a video equipped with bloopers at the end and everything.
4) Keeping the blog updated with fresh content – I will continue to post on Roll with Jen and am looking to round up more guest bloggers.
The sign the lovable Showa staff put up for me at my Roll with Jen appreciation party back in November
If you are not into mushy thank you’s, I recommend skipping this section.
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A special thank you to:
- Kristin Costello for encouraging me to start Roll with Jen and for also building my site so I didn’t have a way to back out of following my passion, Anne Hurley for coming by my desk the day after I launched and assuring me this would be more than a hobby, Erin Anderson for continually keeping me on my toes with social media and for getting on my case about not using Twitter, Pesha Nguyen for her artistic skillz, eternal moral support and for nominating me for King 5′s Best Food Blog competition, Nate Jones for creating a beautiful logo and header for me, Jewell Rutledge for early brainstorming, Justin Schoen for giving me tips about search engine optimization during our lunch breaks, Kari Mar for giving me journalism pointers, Katherine Leggett and Kim Kamolz for constant encouragement, Larry Rose for helping me with development efforts when he’s not busy dj’ing his awesome show on KEXP, Chuck Skoda for building me a beautiful iPhone app that 100% meets my requirements, Janet Chang and Changren Yong for your detailed beta testing on my mobile app, Aidi Tamura and Tim Sinnett for commenting on my fb posts when I first started so I didn’t feel like a loser, Suzanne Sheldon for commenting regularly on my blog when I first started so I didn’t feel like a loser, and Mark Williams for putting up with me as I chronically multi-task between eating, conversation and photo taking during our nights out.
I also gotta’ call out my buddies at ZAAZ who have been with me on this year long journey. I feel this halo of energy around me as I embark on the next phase of Roll with Jen.
XOXOXO
If all I have to do is comment to get a call out – I can do that! I mean – it’s really difficult for me to comment since you know how shy and quiet I am.
I’m so happy with how RWJ has grown and expanded. The show is going to be amaze-balls (as long as you can learn how to crack an egg.)
You’re going to keep up the TRuck Stop articles too, right? I heart those.
Glad you are digging the Seattle Weekly truck stop articles. They are really fun to write and the people who own the trucks are really fun to meet.
An awesome person with an awesome idea naturally attracts people to them to assist in the endeavor. It’s been fun watching this whole project grow! It feels a bit like this is really just the beginning…. Go get ‘em!
Sheesh, thanks Tim:-)
Love you Jen!!!! Can’t wait to see what’s next for RWJ. xoxo
I love you more, Pesha;-)
Jen, you’re fantastic. But, more importantly, you have good taste. Thanks for all your work!
Thanks Bennett for saying I have good taste. That is a huge compliment coming from someone who doesn’t BS like you:-) Thanks for following along.
What a year! It’s only the beginning. You are an amazing person with such vision! I am soooooo excited to see what this year holds.
I will do my best to make you proud, Erin.