Hey Steemers! For my birthday, I’m giving myself steemit. Thanks, me! http://i64.tinypic.com/xn4y2u.jpg So, let’s start with the basics. My name’s Alli. Or Allison. Actually, no—my name’s Allison. But I started going by Alli when I was 11 because I was in Middle School and everything was dramatic and I needed a cause. *Mom, Dad, I hate my name! I’m waaayyy more of an ‘Alli’ than an ‘Allison’, so you guys need to call me that from NOW ON!* http://i64.tinypic.com/23r4q6c.jpg (see how smug I was?) So dramatic. But (lucky me!) it worked. Now for the last 14 years I’ve been answering questions like *Now, how do you spell that? Two ‘L’s and an ‘E’? Or do you spell it with a Y?* I tried to start fresh as Allison at my last two jobs, but I was introduced to both bosses as “Alli” by friends, so I was screwed from the start. Anyway, enough about my name. What else should I tell you guys? Let’s see... I’m a 25-year-old college grad from Arkansas. I studied Journalism in school because I wanted to help people tell their stories. Now I’m passionate about marketing *because I want to help people tell their stories.* I love stories. And I love people. (Duh.) http://i64.tinypic.com/2h8ah5x.jpg *About the whole marketing thing.* That’s kinda why I’m here. I currently work in editorial at a startup content marketing agency, and it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Also, just bein’ real, *I’m pretty good at it.* But I realized something recently. I get so into marketing for clients and marketing for the company I work for, but I’ve never put much into marketing myself. I never really thought I was worth it *(Am I worth it?)*. And I’ve always been a little scared. Scared that if I share anything real (that has my name on it), it could somehow affect my work life or some of my relationships. But I’m over it. Recently, the company I work for part-time gently told me that they lost a couple of key clients and won’t be able to promise my paycheck anymore. They certainly won’t be able to promise transitioning me to full-time, which I (perhaps naïvely) thought was happening very soon. It’s not their fault, it’s just the business of startups. But it’s not my fault either. I’m ready to start doing what I can control. If I don’t post to steemit right now, *today*, that *is* my fault. So here I am, internet. I was raised by conservative Southern Baptist parents. I have an older sister who has three beautiful kiddos with my brother-in-law, and a younger brother who’s getting married at the end of the year. The three of us have matching tattoos, which I think is pretty neat. I love my family more than anything. But I’m also *very* different from them. http://i65.tinypic.com/2555fms.jpg (The one holding us is my sister, not my mom.) I got married at 21 and divorced at 22. I was horrified that I would have to carry that baggage for the rest of my life, but then I realized that everything is impermanent and nothing really matters. And I’m 100% comfortable with that. I nerd out about Star Wars and Cosmic Encounter (the board game), and my dog is named after a Battlestar Galactica character *(Sweet Gaius, him love him mama so muuuuch!)*. I love HBO and hammocks and the cosmos. I cried a little this morning because I saw the new baby bird in the nest on my front porch for the first time (He was chirping at me for my birthday, guys!). It’s easy for me to get overwhelmed by how beautiful everything is. Sometimes people think I’m just acting and sometimes people think I’m just stoned. But it’s just that I feel things *really* deeply. Believe me, it’s not always a great thing. When I was 18 I was diagnosed with adult-onset night terrors and a hoard of additional sleep issues. I have a history of panic attacks, but I get better and keeping them in check every day. I have an *incredibly* irrational fear of wasps. (I thought about skipping this one, but it's a pretty big part of my life.) Music takes me to a spiritual place, even though I’m not sure I’d consider myself a spiritual person. I’m an ENFP (surprise!). I stopped eating animal products about 6 months ago. And I guess I’m sort of a horror junkie. I also have a large collection of porcelain dolls. http://i68.tinypic.com/264oyur.jpg *Am I interesting yet?* I feel like I’ve already written too much, so I’ll leave you with this. Be honest with me, guys. Is there any part of you that would be interested in reading more stuff from me? I’m excited to dive deeper into some of that ^^, and probably other way-more-important things that I’ll indubitably forget to mention and kick myself for as soon as I hit post. I mean, if you guys are down. I’m down. Thanks for reading, and let me know if there’s anything specific that you’d be interested to read about in the future! I think this is gonna be fun... http://i65.tinypic.com/19phd1.jpg OH, and I was told I need this for verification purposes: http://i66.tinypic.com/2vn2ghu.jpg