The Best Birthday Gift You Could Give Me in 2021 + A Big Podcast Announcement! 

Hey, y’all. I am currently chin-deep in some blankets while I prepare for a day of doing absolutely nothing. You know why? Because it’s my birthday! 

I am so grateful to be on this earth another year and make it to another birthday, even with the continuous dumpster fire of a world we are living in right now. 

But 2021 is finally here, and that means…MY SECOND BOOK (Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual) IS ALMOST HERE! I am nervous. Why am I nervous?!

It took me 9 whole years to finally call myself a writer after I started blogging. Why? Because I was afraid of everything that came with that title. I didn’t think I measured up to the word.  Toni Morrison is a writer. Alice Walker. Maya Angelou. How dare I put myself in the same category as those greats?⁣ ⁣I could barely call myself a blogger. I didn’t see people out there like me as writers. With actual books with their names on the cover.. So… I became an example for myself. When I’m Judging You: The Do-Better Manual came out, it changed my life forever. 

My life changed because I took a big step into fear. My journey and my life’s testimony is all about how I’ve done the things that scare me, over and over again, and have been rewarded for it. I am constantly doing things that feel bigger than me, personally and professionally and it is why I am here today. 

Then in March 2020, the world shut down and I was on the hook to write a whole book… ABOUT FEAR. A whole damb book about fear being a hater. And all I could think was “HOW THE HELL am I gonna do that?” Especially when the whole world was on fire and I was ordering emergency kits for what was surely the end of whatever world we had left. Well… I climbed that mountain some way, somehow, and here we are. ) This 2nd book (The Fear-Fighter Manual) is the one I needed 10 years ago when I was afraid to call myself a writer. It’s the one I need now when I have to remind myself that being a professional troublemaker often has consequences but I’m committed to living a life of “Oh well” instead of “What if?” ⁣ I have completed THE book – which I truly believe is the BEST THING I’ve ever written. And I did it during COVID.

I never knew that I would be writing this book for everyone, but I am so thankful to have this book. Not knowing what was going to happen with COVID, I was able to write a book that is a manual for the times that we’re living in right now. Like with I’m Judging You, I need YOUR help to make sure I get this message out to everyone who has ever been held back by fear or their imposter syndrome. This book was the scariest thing I ever accomplished because I felt like this book was bigger than me.

The biggest birthday gift that you could give to me would be to support this book. I am so proud of this book and I think it truly will be an absolute game changer for anyone who reads it. 

Please preorder it for yourself, preorder it for your family, or preorder it for your friends. This book is the one everyone needs in their life right now and I am so proud of it. The support from all of YOU would be the best birthday gift of them all. 

You can preorder Professional Troublemaker: The Fear-Fighter Manual at ProfessionalTroublemakerBook.com. 

Do you live in the UK or Europe? We got you covered! It has always been important to ensure that my book can be accessed easily around the world. So I now present to you the UK and international version of my book, The Fear-Fighter Manual: Lessons from a Professional Troublemaker! (notice the slight title tweak?)

This means for those in Europe, you can have my words in your hands without any problem. The good folks of Quercus Books are publishing this version and I AM SO EXCITED!!!

I want everyone around the world to be able to pick up this book and be able to give fear the middle finger and make your wildest dreams say #GOALS! 

For my followers in UK and Europe, PRE ORDER NOW from Amazon UK (or Amazon in your country)! 

For Nigeria, you can order from Roving Heights. For South Africa, you can order from Loot.co.za. 

And related to the book, I have a big podcast announcement for you! New year, new podcast – Rants & Randomness is getting a name change! Fresh and brand new for the new year, today is the kickoff for the Professional Troublemaker podcast with yours truly. 

I am so excited for the new era of this podcast. Every week, I’ll be bringing you thought-provoking conversations with amazing people who have taken action, caused good trouble, and have consistently showed up with the courage and confidence they needed to become the fear-fighters they are today. 

After running the gauntlet that was 2020, it felt like in the face of all the adversity that came our way, we all had the chance to grow up. The chance to better ourselves and level up. 

And while Rants & Randomness was doing well, my team and I have been taking a look at everything we’re putting out into the world and want to make sure the things we’re offering you are the best of what you need to do better. Rants was great, but it had grown up a bit. Rants adulted. 

Several months ago, we just stopped doing the rants. Not for lack of material, mind you, but because as 2020 rolled along, it got crazy. (And y’all can always catch my rants on my socials.) But throughout 2020, the interviews we did were with dope people who are out in the world trying to leave the world better than they found it. People like Gabrielle Union, Dr. Yaba Blay, Sophia Bush, Austin Channing Brown, Devi Brown, Cari Champion – women and people who inspire me, who were leaving their mark and making good trouble. We want this podcast to dive deep on amazing people, and what it means to choose to be a professional troublemaker and how they do that in their daily lives.

On this week’s episode, I introduce to you the new era of the podcast and what it means to me. 

And next week on the Professional Troublemaker Podcast we’ll be welcoming our first guest, the brilliant and amazing Jessica O. Matthews! 

Follow me @Luvvie everywhere – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. And be sure to place your birthday pre-order of PROFESSIONAL TROUBLEMAKER: The Fear Fighter Manual wherever books are sold.

Follow @ProfessionalTroublemaker on Instagram to get all things podcast, book, and life!

You can listen to episodes of Professional Troublemaker on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify.

Make sure you’re subscribed and that you rate and review! Also, use the hashtag #ProfessionalTroublemaker on social media to discuss what you listen to and let me know what you think.