It started out as a mistake. I was at a college/trade school, in the library getting ready to sign into a chat room, under the screen name "Wheels". Wheels, which I'd started to say was my nickname while I was there. Let's face it, a lot of people who are disabled and use a wheelchair nick name themselves Wheels. I was no different. Until I had to go to the restroom, and I'd asked a classmate to sign me into the room, under "Wheels". So I return and see that he did enter that name, just not the correct spelling. He spelled "Wheelze". I looked at the screen funny. I'm thinking to myself first, "idiot". (lol)
I know that that's mean, but at the time, I didn't care.(he turned out to have a major ego) which now I think I can attribute to his lack of confidence. Anyway, I was looking at how he spelled this and I didn't like it. But I went with it. I left that school a few months later. Once again, college hadn't worked well for me. Over time I started to like how that was spelled, and I knew that I wanted to do something big with this name.
I started using it more often in chat rooms. I even started to create email accounts with that name. But something in the back of my mind told me that I wanted to go big with this. For some time, nothing really came of it. I was still only using it in chat rooms and email accounts. I wanted the name "Wheelze." to be known and heard in as many places and by as may people as possible, but how can I make that happen? I have no marketing experience.
Fast forward years later. I'm in Washington DC with my mom, taking what we thought of as a trip of a lifetime. A chance to be in our nation's capital. What a great feeling. So on our last night in DC we're sitting in a very nice restaurant, and I'm eating one of the greatest steaks that I've ever had in my life. Talking to the sister of one of my mom's in-laws. We started talking and somehow or other I started telling her that I was a blogger but, I wanted to start expressing my thoughts through the spoken word, rather than the written word. I had proven that I was a good writer, I'd even gotten into a bit of trouble because of one of the blogs that I'd written. So I tell her all of this. We finish dinner, talk a little while and then get up to leave. We wake up the next morning, pack and hop on a plane back home.
The next day I check my email, and there is an email from one of the women that we'd had dinner with. I guess she was really listening to me. Because she'd only sent me a link. "BlogTalkRadio.com. At first I thought, "Hmm, this isn't really what I was looking for but, let me take a look and see what this is all about. Lots of research on this site, learning and thinking and one month later(June 28th, 2009) I'm about to air my first podcast/radio show on the internet. "On-Air"with Wheelze is born. I wanted to focus on social issues, not so much on very serious topics. I wanted to be heard all over the world, and I was, and am, in at least three maybe four countries.
Again, fast forward to April 15th, 2011, I'm doing an internet search on broadcasting websites. I find a website called Spreaker.com. Unlike BlogTalkRadio, I don't have to pre-schedule a broadcast, I can go on the air and share any thoughts that I have at that moment. This is what I originally had intended to do almost two years ago. So on a Friday night, I get on the air for just a few minutes and "Thoughts" with Wheelze is born.
A sudden burst of inspiration has hit me and I'm loving it. And now I've re-created a Twitter account (@WheelzeOnLife) I've also created a LinkedIn account for networking.(Thank you Caryn Ellul-Huffman for that idea) And next month, my mom and I are on our way to New York for the Blogworld New Media Expo.
I'm feeling a little more confident in myself lately. And it's a great feeling. Here's to the future, my future. May it be bright and filled with success.
"Catch Ya on the Flipside"
~Wheelze~
