Goodbye

After two long months, I've decided to inform my subscribers and those who know me from Vocal that I'm officially leaving the site. After displaying my concerns about lack of representation and creating a challenge to help those in Ukraine allegedly, I've been disappointed. As I've stated many times before, I consider myself an OG to Vocal, and my being a ride or die for the company since 2018 should speak volumes. I still haven't received a letter or email from the managers, PR, or the CEO on improvement.

Like many things in life, everything comes to an end at one point. I started writing on Vocal as an outlet for my depression and anxiety, and now I leave an admin of my own Facebook group, therapy, other writing projects, etc. I feel like Vocal has helped me become Vocal, and with that, I have to move on to bigger and better things like Medium. I can write about the benefits of Medium all day, but I'm not here about that.

I've learned a lot about myself and others. I've encouraged, fought, supported, tipped, and showed love to as many Vocal writers as possible. I made some writer friends and fans over the past few years; a few months ago, I leaped and changed my group name to Saloon for Writers. I no longer wanted to advertise for Vocal it's values no longer align with my own. My group isn't exclusive to stories and poems on Vocal. I welcome all platforms to join. I wrote about that here.

I've encouraged short story collaborations and urged members to leave positive reviews on Trust Pilot because, at the time, I was naïve. After reading members' frustrations and constantly Vocal giving people a hard time, I felt angry because many of us pour our souls into our writings, and it's shameful that Vocal doesn't give credit where it's due. I've noticed favoritism, the same five people getting Top Stories, a lack of diversity to challenge winners, and Vocal doing a terrible job of paying their writers. Flagging someone's page as "spam" and telling Stripe that someone's account isn't real is sad. If you can't afford to pay your writers, then say that but attempting to smear other writers in the mud because they cracked the code to have more traffic on their page is real cowardly. Own up to your wrongdoings. Have some integrity.

I've read a handful of Medium stories on how Vocal mistreated some of the writers. That is why I'm leaving. Vocal doesn't value writers, and it is a company that doesn't know how hard it is to tell a compelling story or, in many cases, be vulnerable. I can't stand for that cause. If Vocal had a union, I would be the first to join. I would encourage you to invest in a stock portfolio through Nasdaq. Shares are currently at $0.68. You deserve every penny of this company. Without its writers, the company wouldn't be what it is today so please, current writers, make sure you do everything you can to get your stories read.

I came. I conquered, and I won.

My profile will always be here whether you discovered me for the first time or you've been someone who has supported me since the beginning; my stories will always be here for you to read and gain inspiration. Please share, and give insights and tips. If you aren't on Medium, you are welcome to use my referral to feel it out before being a paid member. Please add it here if you're not a part of my mailing list.

Thank you