New Mexico Chile Podcast:

I did it! Never figured that I could, but I did it! Last night, I published a website for the first time! As a mother, I never perceived that I would or could have my own website! It started with writing poetry, and over the past several months on various sites such as vocal.media, has turned into a written podcast on my passions and love for traveling, food, photography, camping, and all in New Mexico! Good thing I married a native!

Vocal.media is having a competition. The challenge is titled “Members Only” and asks to share personal passions and how you plan to develop and keep a fanbase. At first I thought about my poetry. Yeah, there are people that read it, I love writing it, but it isn’t my PASSION. I had to think deeper.

What have I been doing that I absolutely cannot live without? I LOVE food, photography, camping, and most of all, my home state, New Mexico. Several years ago, I won the KRQE photography competition for an Albuquerque sunset. It encouraged me to purchase a Nikon D5000. I regularly go to awesome restaurants with my husband and enjoy taking photos of foods and sharing thoughts with my friends. I absolutely love to camp and travel and the camera is always in hand. I realize I love this and do not get a chance to do this often enough. How can I wrap all of this into one beautiful way to live?

Over the past twelve years of my life, I have been working the grind in medical billing and coding. I fell into the roll quite unexpectedly. I didn’t realize back in school how I really did have a knack for working with numbers; but it never was, or would be a passion of mine. Luckily, it will turn out as a benefit for my exciting blog, New Mexico Chile Podcast! I’ll get into this in a bit.

Billing and coding landed me my first true career job at a prestigious psychotherapy facility, Eating Disordering Treatment Center. The people there were (and are) AMAZING! But, after four years, my eyes jiggled around in my head while I tried to avoid burnout. It didn’t work. I enjoyed helping patients. I enjoyed the pay I received. I was, and still am proud of the therapists that work there and their continued contribution to helping New Mexican residents. But I wasn’t happy. For me, this was a way to survive, and put food on the table for two growing boys. And the weight on my conscience to live happily in the only life I have, grew heavy.

As a parent, I tried to keep my boys involved in various activities. One of the organizations, DeMolay, is ran by the youths, and guided by parents. I created and worked on a newsletter for them called The Chile Podcast. I thought the name a great play on words. It never picked up as it was right before COVID hit. Reflecting, this has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

After reading the vocal.media challenge, my poetry stopped becoming my focus. I had written several articles over the past month, all of which have been well received. I had added a few of my photography pieces and I began to realize something while posting. I love New Mexico. I love everything about it. When I find something I love, I want to share it. How do you share a state?

First, what are the things about this wonderful state that I embrace so dearly? There are many things, but as I mentioned earlier, THE FOOD! I learned about chile and New Mexican cooking as fast as humanly possible. I started a video group on zoom with over 40 followers regarding New Mexico cooking. I ended up with everyone enjoying the chicken enchiladas! The problem was next time, there were alot of individuals that wanted to be in charge, rather than follow. No biggie....I put the concept of videos and food aside for a later date. If I wanted to continue with a group like this, it was going to need restructuring. I have continued to share various recipes of mine, including my Green Chile Elk Shepherd’s Pie. All the recipes I have shared have been met with positive reviews. This developing idea was beginning to come into focus.

I wrote into the challenge and the article, The Chile Podcast, New Mexico True!

https://vocal.media/journal/the-chile-podcast-new-mexico-true

Now that I had a layout of my passions, at 45, it was time to invoke the highly valued, excusable “midlife crisis” card! I thought back to that podcasting attempt for DeMolay, and figured that just maybe, it was actually meant to be much bigger! Sitting down, I started looking and connecting the dots between my past, present, and future passions and goals. The New Mexico Chile Podcast came into view as a result of vocal.media! I was going to end up writing this article as an update and adding another to the “Members Only” challenge! I immediately kicked it into high gear, adding this article to update everone.

I created my own website last night. My husband and I have partnered up to share with everyone the beautiful wonders of New Mexico! The website:

http://wix.to/E0D7CCQ?ref=cl

It is, as of last night, now active and today we received our first subscription. I couldn’t believe it! Dreams really can come true...when you apply yourself.

Each member will get weekly exclusive reads on everything New Mexico! Features will include the local history, foods, restaurants, recipes, travel, camping sites, activities, and other hidden gems this amazing state has to offer! I can do this podcast weekly for the rest of my life and still not hit every part of this glorious state. At $5.00/month, each individual subscriber will get articles, photos, and videos that enhance experiences and entice travelers to discover this “diamond in the rough”. The benefits are not just for the subscribers, but for myself, and the locals as well.

First, this endeavor will give my husband and I more quality time together focused on a common love, New Mexico. It will DEFINITELY get us from being in front of the television as often; very healthy progress for any relationship. My husband, Tim, has helped me to discover so many wonders here, I couldn’t think of a better guide throughout our travels and blogs! I also get to enjoy all of the things that I live life for and love. The best part is, hopefully, by promoting these features of New Mexico, small businesses can possibly recover quicker from the Covid devastation. Through different exclusives and features, it will hopefully direct and increase their customer traffic kicking the New Mexico economy back into the positive. This multi-faceted opportunity is a true gem!

None of this would have ever begun, or come to fruition, had it not been for the “Members Only” challenge on vocal.media. This is a way to embrace my happiness through family, fun, friends, and making lasting memories and bring it all to life. The best part is I get to share all of this with my readers! I hope to see you there!