Storytelling Is Not Only For Successful People

My biggest take home from Dsgn Discussions, Uyo (2023).

I love this YouTuber, Folasade Daini. I’m subscribed to her YouTube and I follow her on Instagram and Twitter. I can boldly say I’ve watched every video she has put out on YouTube…shorts. You might feel that doesn’t make me a complete fan, and that’s okay. I’m still building that discipline to sit through videos that are longer than fifteen minutes.

“Does that mean you don’t watch movies?”

Something like that.

Anyway, sometime last week she posted this video about reflection—looking at how far you’ve come and remembering there was a version of you that didn’t think you’d make it here today and how they’re looking at you thankful and all.

Every time I came across that video and tried to tap into that “feeling”, it was fake.

I didn’t feel it. Gratitude, I mean.

Not that I didn’t want to, I just couldn’t. I couldn’t relate to not thinking I was going to make it. I used to be a big dreamer and talker too. It didn’t feel great that all big talk amounted to nothing. I just felt…down.

Not until about 30 minutes past midnight on 16th March, 2023.

Picture taken from one of my jotters. Check time stamp.

The top of this page says, “think about a name that screams ALL-IN-ONE ”. I wrote that sometime in September/October last year.

Now, you might be wondering if I actually did.

Progress Report: I didn’t think of a name “that screams ALL-IN-ONE”. Well, I did but none came. Here’s what I did instead:

I love writing. Anyone who knows me knows this. However, I don’t think I can make a career out of writing because… (I don’t think I write stuff that people would want to pay to read). That’s it in the bracket for a reason.

I love visual design. I don't know what aspect I want to niche in yet. I love brand identity design, poster designs and motion too. That may sound chaotic (to you who has decided on a path), but that's just a piece of my brain.

I love community management. I am enthusiastic about creating great community experiences for SaaS products. Don’t ask me what SaaS products are, though. I’m still learning to differentiate a SaaS product from a non-Saas product, but Victor Fatanmi said you don’t have to be an expert to talk about something.

So, hey! I want to manage communities for Saas products.

I recently saw Wok of Love and seeing that Maeng Dal is this guy in Alchemy of Souls is enticing. That's by the way, though.

Just kidding.

Honestly, I’m not certain what niche I want to manage communities in. I believe I’ll figure that out as I progress.

However, I found that name I was looking for. This name captures the two most important aspects of my life.

It's CXDG.

I’ll explain at the end. But if you think you know what it means, you can drop your guess by responding here.

I wrote this “story” inspired by the 30 Day’s storytelling guide I was able to get by being on Fullgap’s waitlist.

Fullgap is the future of freelancing. A mastermind product that manages all your creative projects for you. Well, except the creative work to be done. That’s yours.

Fullgap seeks to make your work easier by bringing every service you will ever need to handle projects to one place. Temidayo_VO, a member of the team, explains it better here.

I think I can relate to that video one of my favourite YouTubers posted because about five months ago, I was in search of a name. Today, I have it. Elysa from October 2022 is thankful.

The cxdg. Elysa the cxdg. Elysa the community x design girl. I could use CXDG because it’s an abbreviation, but I love the lower caps…for now.

I’m not yet “full”. When I am, I may take up CXDG. I hope you remember this.

Fullgap’s Storytelling Guide is supposed to lead you for 30 days, but like Victor said, (paraphrasing) you can tweak it to your convenience. Make it 60, 90 days. To get it, all you have to do is join the waitlist.

At Fullgap, they say “Power to the Creative Ones ”

Photo by Victor Fatanmi on Twitter

Do you know how powerful you would be if you took that guide and implemented it?

Just saying. I don’t consider myself a successful person. Chances are that you don’t either. But telling your story can make all the difference. I wish you would just read this as Victor put it. As you’ve read from me, I’d really love to read from you too.

I can also be found telling bits and pieces of my story on LinkedIn and Twitter maybe Instagram later. Let’s connect?

Yours creatively,

Elysa the cxdg.