Ch-ch-changes....

You’ve seen it over the last two years. First the print was large, I made it smaller. Then you weren’t sure of the month, I put the month on each cover. You thought
more issues of care needed covered, I added sections. I have switched and shuffled. Moved and changed. Adapted and adjusted as I’ve gone along.

That’s a trait I picked up from care. Adapting and adjusting are tools every foster kid picks up whether they want to or not. It starts the first time you’re jolted out of
your comfort zone. Maybe a caseworker to you from school, maybe the police removed you from your home or, worse case scenario, you wake up in a hospital with
no real recollection as to how you got there. This is your first taste of discomfort and change. This is your entry into your new life.

What follows is a constant wave of change. New school, new personality (you’re pissed), new teachers (who think you’ve done something wrong to end up how you
have), new faces (that you have to convince you are normal) and a new home (by far, the scariest part). But you adapt and adjust or the system will swallow you.

Ironically the magazine is pretty much the same thing. I am constantly scared, constantly changing my approach to make things better.

From the very beginning I wanted to do more than was expected of me. Surely a former foster kid who was kicked out of high school and found a family instead of a
college degree, shouldn’t be able to do too much. That pissed the foster kid off in me like you would not believe. I’m a competitor by nature, a characteristic that was
only reinforced by my time in care. First to the bathroom in the morning, first to get my food at dinner and first one in line at allowance time. I enjoy being first. I don’t
crumble, complain or cry when I’m not first but I’d prefer to be first.

So when I thought about what people would expect from my efforts, I figured they’d have little or no expectations from me. Rather than accept that as a get out of jail
free card, an excuse to do the bare minimum, I decided that didn’t suit me. I want to be first. It wasn’t good enough to be the first former foster kid to start a magazine
(I’m sure there are others, they’re just a lot quieter than I am). It wasn’t good enough to cover more areas of the foster care system. It wasn’t enough to get big name
celebrities to talk to me. It wasn’t enough to get some of the biggest names in foster care to write for me. It wasn’t enough to grow an audience from scratch without
any donations or help from an outside source. The fact that I have done this alone with only the help of writing contributors is still, not enough.

As I put a cap on the second year of Foster Focus in existence, I am not satisfied. Mistakes still happen, issues still leave late. Sometimes it takes nearly a month after I’
ve finished an issue before it gets to a subscribers home. I own that. That is my fault. Poor time management, improper budgeting and an overwhelming self imposed
schedule are all areas where I am weak. Areas I will build on and learn from but areas where I can not afford to fall behind in anymore.

Whether I hold myself to too high of a standard or maybe I just think too highly of myself, but I believe I am setting the table for future former foster kids to have an
easier path. I’ll never be sure if I’m actually having an impact or if I’m really kicking down the doors I think I am, time will give that answer. But for now I have to
believe that the actions I take and the choices I make are going to impact the next crop of Alumni entrepreneurs.

In my mind there is a beaten down kid who can write. He or she is strong enough to get through care, they’ve got the same mentality I have and they’re ready to take
on the world. In my mind, I’m making it easier for them to achieve their goals, like the folks who came before me. Reality or not, it’s my JOB to make sure no one tells
them no. I will take all the rejection, I can take all the backlash, I can take the criticism. They shouldn’t have to. My climb is less difficult thanks to the people who
took the steps before I did, who am I not to take on that responsibility for the next group?

All of this was to let you know that Foster Focus will now be released during the same month it is produced.. My hope is that it will lead to a more timely delivery of
the magazine and more up to the minute coverage. Another change, that I am hoping will lead to the desired result of being number one.

In the words of the rapper “The Game”(former foster kid)...

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere, so you can get to know me.”