Thirteen years. On March 24, 2011 – 13 years ago today – See Jane Write was born. The past 13 years have been filled with trials and triumphs, grief and gratitude but absolutely no regrets.

See Jane Write began as a meeting with a dozen women writers at a Mexican restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. We talked about our writing dreams and the obstacles we faced while pursuing those goals. Two months later I hosted a workshop on how writers could use Twitter to elevate their writing careers and 40 women showed up. Shortly after that, I hosted a panel discussion on blogging, and 75 women showed up.

Much to the chagrin of my very frugal (but very supportive) husband, I continued to host See Jane Write events for two years paying for everything myself and not charging attendees a cent.  In 2013, for the sake of the Bowser bank account, See Jane Write became a bonafide business and is now See Jane Write LLC. The See Jane Write Collective – our paid membership community was created. I started offering courses and coaching, too. And instead of being a community only for women in Birmingham, we now have members across the country.

To celebrate See Jane Write becoming a teenager, yesterday I had a birthday brunch with some Birmingham-based Collective members. A time was had! We talked about marriage, motherhood, politics, the Royals, solo travel, college memories, writing (obviously) and so much more. We dreamed about renting a Barbie pink RV to travel cross-country and visit all the Janes in other cities.

I have so many dreams for the future of See Jane Write, but first I want to reflect on the past. I want to share 13 lessons I’ve learned during 13 years of See Jane Write.