Page 52 of Good Vibes Only
“Yup! Totally free. And then a few other companies noticed my reviews, andtheystarted sending me free stuff, too. And I had my own coupon codes and whatnot, so I got a tiny slice of everything my readers bought. Just for writing reviews.”
“Holy shit! That’s awesome. You got yourself a nice little hustle going.”
She giggled. “Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t atonof money or anything. But hey, for a broke college kid, it ruled having a little extra money in my pocket.”
“Oh, hell yeah. That’s beer money.”
“More like clothes money, but sure, whatever.” She giggled. “Anyway, it didn’t take long before I outgrew my LiveJournal, because all I ever blogged about anymore was toy reviews, and I kept getting more and more readers. So I started a website and kept growing my platform there.”
“Dude, Mac, you’re kinda brilliant. This is so interesting.” I stroked my chin. “But what if the toy sucked and you hated it? Did you have to be nice or could you bash it?”
“I was alwaysnice,but my reviews were always honest, too. I let my readers know up front that I got these toys for free in exchange for an honest review, because transparency is the only way to build trust. And I told all the companies, don’t send me your product if you’re afraid to stand behind it.”
“That’s good. People trust your reviews more when you can be honest.”
“Exactly.”
“So you were doing this in college. But you only opened your shop a year ago. So what were you doing between then and now?”
“Well, after college, I moved to New York, which was a whole other story,” she said.
She gave me a summary of her time living in the big city. She’d moved there with a group of friends, including Sofia, to try out the “young professional thing,” as she called it.
“I had an office job, which was okay, I guess,” she said. “But they work you to the bone. And after a few years of living there, the novelty of living in the big city faded a little. Everything was just so expensive and time-consuming. Andugh,dating in New York is justawful!”
“Why’s that?”
“Everyone’s so focused on themselves. And there aresomany people. It felt like, at the first blip of trouble, everyone’s ready to bail and move on to the next shiny object that catches their eye,” she said. “I guess I started to feel like life in the city moves too fast to allow for true romance to develop.”
“Huh. I’ve never thought about it like that. But I can see what you mean.”
“The good news is, since I wasn’t having any luck finding any decent men, I had plenty of time to write reviews,” she said with a wink, and we shared a laugh. “And I just kept plugging away on my site, expanding it one review at a time.”
McKayla continued her story. When Dean Miller was named the General Manager of the Vegas Sin, Sofia decided to move to Las Vegas to take a job with her dad.
“And she’s my best friend, so I said screw it, I’m going with you!” McKayla said with a carefree shrug. “I was ready for a change. And I was looking for ways to turn my site into more of a full-time thing. Once I got here, I had the idea to open a store myself, and it all kinda came together from there.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe it’s weird to say since I just met McKayla, but after hearing her backstory, I felt really proud of her.
“That’s awesome. I’m so happy for you. You’re living your dream.”
She wore a bashful smile. “I guess so.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because it’s just started. It’s not like I’m a success or anything yet. Time will tell if this is actually a good idea—” she swallowed, looking troubled, “—or a really terrible and costly mistake.”
I waved my hand through the air. “Nah. Fuck that. Hard work pays off. And I can tell you’re like me. You bust your balls out there. You’ll get rewarded for it in time; you’ll see.”
“My balls?”
“Sorry. You bust your ovaries. Whatever you wanna say.”
She giggled.
“So I’m curious about something,” I began with a sly grin. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Oh lord.” She drew a tentative breath. “I suppose it doesn’t hurt toask.”
