Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodi Chromey.
Hi Jodi, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Are you wondering how I got started blogging? It’s kind of ridiculous. I was an early internet nerd, hanging out in usenet groups in the 90s. In the fall of 1999 I started working at a company that made digital photography software. As part of my training I learned how to make animated GIF and it made me interested in not just being on the web, but making stuff for the web. At the same time a friend from the Soul Coughing usenet group told me I should start a blog because he thought I’d be good at it. So I read four chapters in HTML for Dummies and set to work. This was at the birth of Blogger when you had to code your site yourself. I launched iwilldare.com July 31, 2000.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
All lives have obstacles and challenges. I Will Dare literally built my career and has saved my life. I went from corporate copywriter to full-time web agency blogger to freelance writer and web designer. I started my freelance career after getting laid off for the second time in two years, that was May 2009. My goal was to freelance for the summer and then go back to a cube in the fall. I never had to go back.
In March 2023 I suffered a stroke that not only disabled me, but left me with $21K in medical debt. It was the community I built through I Will Dare and social media that got me through that first year after the stroke. They donated $25K to help financially and have cheered me on as I work to process the huge changes I’m dealing with.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I guess I’m known for having a lot of opinions and then sharing them on the internet. I love writing about books and music. I’ve been telling the story go my life on the internet for nearly 25 years, and while it started out as an experiment to see if I could build an operational website it’s become my life’s work. It’s the thing I’m most proud of.
What does success mean to you?
My definition has changed since the stroke. For a long time I defined success as my ability to support myself financially. You know, pay the mortgage, pay my bills, stay out of debt. But now, now I’m not so sure. It might be something as simple as being able to walk with a cane. The stroke has messed up my balance. Standing and walking are really difficult now. So I’m in the midst of trying to divorce my self worth and views of success from capitalism. It is not at all easy.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://iwilldare.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jodiwilldare/
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/jodiwilldare.bsky.social
