Tonight’s extended meeting with Joel Cox was very informative to what it takes to become someone who wants to enter the world of media. I appreciate Joel’s realistic mindset and personality towards his experiences of interviewing talent in order to find good people with great values. I was thankful to ask Joel a question regarding the amount of people in the industry that throw journalistic integrity to the side to gain viewership and followers for economic gains. His responses validated my thoughts that going about the business the right way by showing respect and being yourself has even more value than just a salary. How your peers view you is so important as there are enough great people in the industry that will notice how you’ve handled yourself with professionalism and treated people with kindness. There are several ways to climb the ladder and I’d like to thank you Joel for letting me know that if you do things the right way then you can still get to where you want to be without shortcuts. His conversation tonight only has me more intrigued about the industry than ever but most importantly is how can I live my purpose in life and reach the most amount of people through love, truth and kindness in my lifetime.

Dear Vernon,

The odds of us crossing paths were slim, but the domino effect of connecting with you was life-changing.

When I tell people I know you, their first question is often, “How?” You played in the NFL while I was still in elementary school. You live in Texas. I have only visited the Lone Star state a few times. Our friendship came out of nowhere. It was 2017, and I was in bed randomly looking at LinkedIn when I saw a post about someone writing a letter to their younger self. I am unsure what made me read the story, but I clicked. The letter was so well-written and powerful. It was about your life story. You were the product of gang rape, and you shared your complicated relationship with your later mother. You mentioned something in that letter that you didn’t understand your mother’s reaction to her attack, but I could relate to her because I am also a survivor. So, I reached out to you to explain how my mind took time to process what had happened to me. I hoped that sharing my story would give you some clarity and peace.

You responded to me almost immediately, and I think we chatted on the phone the same night. Then, the Super Bowl was in Houston that year, and I was headed down. We met in person, and you told me you were friends with Sheryl Sandberg, the then-COO of Facebook. She had recently written a book about people who persevere and mentioned you in the book. You introduced me to Sheryl, who asked me to share my story on her website publicly. I couldn’t say no to Sheryl, which led me to write an open letter to sexual assault survivors independently. My letter changed my life. Besides freeing me from years of shame and angst, it inspired me to move to Florida and start my company, The Unsealed. The Unsealed is a platform where people can write and share open letters about overcoming adversity.

Through the years, we’ve remained friends, and you have shared your story on The Unsealed’s website and several of our weekly conversations with our community. You encourage me. You inspire me, and you believe in me.

While I know we’ll always be friends, I still think it’s crazy we even met in the first place. I rarely read articles I see on LinkedIn, if ever. And it is even less often that I reach out to its author. I genuinely believe whether it was fate, or maybe your mom up there pulling strings, or one of my late loved ones, that night that I was lying in bed skimming LinkedIn, there was a larger power play – using your story and our newfound friendship – to lead me to my purpose.

Forever grateful that the stars aligned,

Dear Wylie,

In 2012, I moved to Buffalo after receiving an offer to work as a sportscaster at a local station there. While I was excited about the opportunity, I was a little nervous about moving to a new city that I had never been to before my interview and where didn’t know a single soul. While I made friends quickly, within a couple of months of living there, I felt like there was a missing piece to my life in Buffalo. And that missing piece was you.

I had this strong urge to get a puppy. Besides college and a year or two before moving to Buffalo, I have always lived with at least one dog. While I searched far and wide for the perfect puppy, I ended up getting you from the same place my parents purchased your older sister, Cayley.

As soon as we met, we were inseparable. When you were a puppy, you never wanted to leave my side – so much so that you would cry when I was in the bath, and you would often try and hop in the shower with me. You never wanted to sleep alone, and somehow you managed to win the hearts of all my neighbors, so you were rarely ever home alone.

We’ve been together for ten years, and you have been by my side through many ups and downs. You’ve growled at the boys who broke my heart, and you cuddled with me every day during 2020 – a year mostly spent with just you and me because of a global pandemic. While you like to pee everywhere, marking your territory, and you try to make babies with my parents’ Maltese, Mia, I still love you so much.

You have brought so much love, warmth, and companionship to my life. You have been a part of my journey in ways I am sure I don’t even recognize. And while we have moved to three different cities and dealt with so many unexpected challenges, one constant throughout our last ten years is the love we show and have for each other.

Thanks for always having my back and giving me kisses on command.

I love you, WyWy

With lots of hugs and kisses,

I just wanted to say that while part of tonight’s discussion was about New Year’s resolutions I heard many good points and ideas by our professional guests in the mental health field. I wanted to speak in depth more about goal setting and making plans for your own personal improvements. I agree than having a goal with a plan in place is the way to go however its the contingency plan that is the insurance policy for if you fail or temporarily lose focus. Here’s my advice. If you decide to broadcast it to the world through social media have one person that you can absolutely count on to kick you in your ass for when you lose your way. You’re going to need them. Pick the person you trust most to tell you what you need to hear not what you want to hear. We all have that someone that will keep it real with us. Let’s face it, these resolutions that our now goals with a plan you probably already tried them before right? How did you do? If you have more than one thing on your list you know you have some returning Jeopardy champions that beat you last time don’t you? Damn right you do and you’re not alone. It will be challenging as hell because if it were easy then you wouldn’t have waited until January 1st now would you? Hell no you would’ve of!

So what do we do now? We’ve got our goal, we’ve got our plan, we’ve got our backup motivational ass kicking truth teller ready to help hold you accountable. Now what? Now we ready our mindset. We believe in ourselves. We rid our minds and bodies of all the negativity junk food that is out there in the world and on social media for our ears and eyes to absorb. You surround yourself with good people. Start becoming the person you expect to be not who you want to be. A lot of people want and how does that usually go? Sounds like the path of least resistance where you hope to get lucky to hit your goal. That’s why someone’s response to your want is usually, “good luck with that” followed by an eye roll. I think you see my point. If you want to be difference choose different. If you expect that change then you must make change. If you back down that same road without change you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. that’s not enough. Not this time!

These are my words and my letter to you our community here at The Unsealed. This community is going to grow and one of the main reasons is because us as members are going to grow too as individuals and as a community. If you want special then let’s be special. We going to come in here week after week writing letters or interacting in the meetings and say how you are now better equipped to handles the situations that will be presented to us in 2023 because our mindsets became more positive, more focused so we achieved more goals which led to my increased confidence to overcome the obstacles put in front of me. I did this because I believed. I survived because when i needed it someone else believed in me to because they saw the changes I made in my life. It’s all there for us if we expect it to become our own realities.

Together we can become stronger both physically and mentally. We can and will become a better version of ourselves. The changes you’re going to make can and will become permanent. Lock in the positive mindset have your go to for support and be the amazing person your meant to be and share your talented gifts with the world. Life is short so not only get the most out of it but give to other’s lives as well. That’s what a community is meant to do.

Forget the New Year’s resolutions and create and solidify the New Me resolutions! The New Me doesn’t require a date, time or year. Your commitment to the New Me starts now! Go get it and remember to love and forgive yourself in the process. Share your success.

From the bottom of my heart

Thank you

I wanted to take some time to share my thoughts on this community. In 2020 Lauren reached out to me and talked about her business and what it represented. I immediately could feel that she’s taking a chance by leaving sportscasting but she’s found her purpose and motivation for a much greater cause. I felt that she was very brave to 1) tell her own very personal story of overcoming adversity but 2) to turn something from an idea into a business that people will buy in on. She went all in. She bet on herself. She puts in countless hours of effort towards making sure that her idea, her creation, her purpose is stainable long term. Why? Because a business needs to be financial successful? Sure. But that’s true for any business to survive and grow. I personally believe in fact I know this and know this for sure and that’s because this community that was once an idea that was hers is now a reality for all of us. I believe the biggest driver of that is because she genuinely cares for people, their lives, and protecting their stories of meaningful life events. We as members put our trust in her by sharing what we’ve experienced and how we’ve adjusted so she can share this with all of you. How great is this opportunity? To help others through what we’ve learned. Is that a new concept, no but what separates Lauren and this Unsealed community is how we go about respecting each other during this experience. It takes a lot for many people to just freely open up about their troubling past, your current challenging situation or what your afraid of about your future. We’re also having these conversations with what started as complete strangers. Maybe that makes it easier for each of us. It is in fact that safe space that’s needed. Non judgmental. Just freely speaking with a reason for positivity to be the result behind the end of every sentence. Whether your writing letters and joining us in the weekly meetings of a writing workshop or with a guest there’s always something to gain that can affect your life in a way where you carry that positivity out into the world. Kindness is a great thing to share, always. I’ve never once left a meeting where I didn’t feel better about what i learned and how i could apply that back into the world. That is purpose. That is value. We should all value our time we spend doing whatever it is that is consuming our attention at that moment. We can’t get it back so we might as well enjoy it.

To all the members that I’ve had the pleasure to get to know through our meetings to writing letters and giving feedback to messaging on other platforms I want to say thank you. I hope that in some way that our interaction has had meaning to you to help you get through this thing called life. We’re all broken people learning from each other to teach each other how we can heal one another and to fix ourselves to become the best version that we want to be. We heard so many great stories from our guests/ members on how they’ve overcame what was put in front of them. Some have to battle each and every day to stay on top of their adversity. That teaches us to never give up. Our bodies our designed to fail but our spirits are not. Even when the energy doesn’t seem to be there we rely on one another to be recharged, to be sparked by the spirit of someone else. That is humanity at its peak. At its finest being there for one another. That’s what this Unsealed community means to me.

For new members during this next calendar I say welcome. You’ve come to an amazing place. We’re glad your here and I believe you’re here for a reason. There’s so much to gain by just coming in and absorbing the knowledge from the letters, the speeches from the guests even if you’re just a spectator that’s ok. That was me when I first signed up. What I learned though in time was that I had too much to offer than to just sit back. I was encouraged to participate and I’m so thankful I did. I had too much love to not be giving back to this group. There’s so many special people in here with a variety of talents that I want them to maximize their gifts to this world. Genuinely caring is my gift. It’s not unique but I’m so glad it’s not because I know others have this gift too. This community and its creator Lauren will help bring that out of you if you let it happen. Thank you for your trust. I look forward to getting to know you and your story.

As we all face our challenges let’s remember to stick together. Support each other. There’s no boos and only cheers. If you have negative thoughts have a short memory of them and move on. Be accountable through self accountability first. It’ll change your life. Most importantly if you need my help, just ask. It’s why I love this community so much. My door will always be open to my Unsealed family because you’ve helped me more than you know.

Thank you

To My Family,

When I was a child, kids in school tried to make me feel Christmas envy. We didn’t celebrate Christmas because we are Jewish. But I never felt like I missed out on anything. We got plenty of presents on Hannukah. Also, the holiday season usually meant a fun vacation: Skiing in Vermont, the beach in Aruba, a cruise around the Caribbean, or parties in Miami. Despite not celebrating Christmas, Christmas week was usually one of the most fun weeks of the entire year.

This year, Mom and Dad, you will be with me in Florida, and my brother will be in New York with his wife. We will have Chinese food on Christmas Day and start our shopping adventures on December 26th. That’s when the really good sales kick in. We will eat too much, and I will complain that I cannot get nearly enough work done. We will send many pictures in our group chat of the items we got exceptional deals on and of our little adventures.

Our holiday season may not have a Christmas tree, reindeer, or stocking stuffer, but like many people, the end of the year is a time for food, family, and fun. And that’s no different for us. Mom, Dad and the rest of our crazy family, I have always loved the holiday season, and that’s because of how much I love all of you.

Cheers to another year of many moments of love, laughter, and a little bickering.

With love,

Dear 2022,

When the clock struck midnight on January 1st, 2022, I had high hopes for you – the upcoming year. I planned to build a new feature on The Unsealed – a pen pal system allowing users to post their content and write to each other. I was hopeful that this would be the “it” factor that would take my company to the next level. I thought I would sit back and enjoy the show once it launched.

Personally, with COVID seemingly becoming less severe, I was excited about going out more and meeting new people. Maybe date someone new – or meet some new friends in Miami.

Per usual, the year didn’t go exactly as planned. Just like every other year, there were some challenges I didn’t foresee. My mother had a cancer scare, and I lost a friend at 40 years old to brain cancer.

It was tough, but I continued to march forward as I always do.

When I launched our Pen Pal network, I quickly realized that we were helping people and had something special. However, I also realized that we laid the foundation but still needed to build the house. There are elements we need to add. We still need to figure out a flow and a clearer user-generated experience.

Outside of work, I have met new people – some were lessons, while others have been a whole lot of laughter.

While 2022 didn’t lead to everything I wanted, I feel closer to all that I desire. I evolved personally and professionally. I have a better idea of who I want in my life and what I need to do to realize my dreams.

While my hopes for next year are similar to those from last year, I am thankful for a journey filled with amazing people, passion, and purpose.

It’s been real. Thanks for the memories, 2022.

With gratitude,

Dear Bernie Mac,

When I was 18, I got to watch your show ”The Bernie Mac Show” with my oldest sister, even though I knew about the show for a while. When she put the DVD into her DVD player, and we started watching it together, I quickly started laughing hard at the things you were saying and how you said those words.

But, the more I watched the show, the more I would learn that there was a kind heart behind your tough exterior. You would also remind me of a few family members, in terms of how you tried to discipline your sister’s kids on the show. You would start to feel like family to me, even though we never met in life.

I’ve never felt that kind of connection to a celebrity before you.

As I would get more into your work (movies and your stand-up), I would be inspired by how you spoke your mind, even though it could be some very shocking stuff. But, your fearlessness to say bold things in front of lots of people in your stand-ups, inspired me to speak my mind in my own way.

Even though you passed away in 2008, your fearlessness, courage, and big heart continue to move me through your interviews, stand up & movie clips on YouTube.

Thank you for helping me find my own strength and courage.
Gerald