Photo by Peri Pakroo, cake illustration by Edie Everette.

Funny how things happen. We had a hole in the schedule for this week’s podcast, and as I was mulling over the calendar I noticed February 4 was Pyragraph’s 2nd birthday! Hot damn! What better way to celebrate than welcome ourselves as guests on Self-Employed Happy Hour? So that’s exactly what we did. I scrambled and found a bakery to make us a custom cake within 24 hours, got extra champagne and OJ, rolled out the red carpet for us and BOOM we had a show. You can listen below, or over at iTunes.

I like milestones. Sometimes I need an excuse like a birthday to stop for a moment and consider the bird’s eye view of our path over the last two years. For me personally, Pyragraph’s early days are inextricably entwined with some tough times for my family, which I’m very happy to say have brightened considerably. These days I can enjoy the normal insanity of a start-up without the extra layer of bonus angst about scary medical stuff. It’s a very good thing.

Every time you read, share, comment upon, and otherwise engage with our posts, you sustain us.

It’s hard to believe that a year ago I had never met Josh Stuyvesant or Jeremy Kinter, who are now such core members of our editorial team. Mega thanks to them for bringing such great energy, content and good times to Pyragraph! And epic thanks to Sage Harrington for all her amazing hard work, good cheer and general loveliness in helping build our editorial machine.

We had a couple special guests on the podcast as well: Cara Tolino, who joined us recently as Outreach Manager, and we couldn’t feel more lucky or stoked to have her on board. Ditto for our Creative Resident Mary Holyoke who is helping us build a creative department, one illustration at a time.

A few other birthday thanks are in order to some folks who couldn’t be at the podcast: Dave Dabney did our awesome redesign (and our awesome original design too), and we likely wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for him. Thanks Dave! Love and thanks also to my husband Turtle, who from the beginning has helped support Pyragraph and Self-Employed Happy Hour in every way imaginable. And major gratitude to our awesome sponsors, contributors, readers and listeners (special shout out to Pyragraph Premium subscribers!) for being part of our expanding world. Every time you read, share, comment upon, and otherwise engage with our posts, you sustain us.

Little by little we are growing, publishing more posts from working creatives all over the world, sharing more advice about pursuing creative careers, paying more artists and writers for their work, and developing a stronger voice for creatives at all stages of their working lives—not just those who have “made it.” We are all making it. Every day. We’re jubilantly happy to be making it with you.

Photo by JAK Media.