“Don’t underestimate the power of your vision to change the world. Whether that world is your office, your community, an industry or a global movement, you need to have a core belief that what you contribute can fundamentally change the paradigm or way of thinking about problems. “
– Leroy Hood, BrainyQuote
Intro
There was a young man from Kolkata, India named Jeet who wanted to share his frustrations about working in the WordPress world. He was struggling to get a decently paid work. Mostly, he was getting a low budget contracts from clients in America or Europe.
On the other side of the world, there was an American guy Topher who listened to him. He wanted to help but as an American, he didn’t have any real experience with the problems bothering Jeet and didn’t really know how to help him.
However, he had the idea to find other people who face similar problems, hear their stories, publish them and in that way help them connect with each other and the whole WordPress community. This in return opened up a whole new sea of possibilities for these people.
Here starts the amazing story behind HeroPress.
“If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.”
– Buddha, goodreads
Hi, I am Ana and today I will share my thoughts about HeroPress and the value of HeroPress for the community at large. My story with HeroPress started a few years ago when I find myself waiting impatiently for every new essay to go live. Different people, coming from different parts of the world sharing their life journeys. It was so inspiring to hear about different cultures, languages, work problems they are dealing with or even very deep, private things. I could identify myself with many of them and it was like “Oh, I am not the only one who experienced or had to deal with this and that problem…”.
So let’s start :).
Diversity
“Diversity really means becoming complete as human beings – all of us. We learn from each other. If you’re missing on that stage, we learn less. We all need to be on that stage.“
– Juan Felipe Herrera, BrainyQuote
Diversity is the key to the healthy world in which I want to live. Any community that wants to exist needs to let diversity to live and to embrace it. Sharing all these beautiful essays on HeroPress from different people is sharing diversity.
Writing and sharing information about the problems we have in our countries, with our jobs and how we overcame it, can help other people from the same country as well as other countries, to find a way to solve their problem. If you can help one person this way, touch her/his life than the value of it is enormous. It is a very important to see how things are working in different parts of the world. To see how some people struggle with things a lot of us take for granted or are fighting to survive because their country is in the middle of the war. Diversity makes us rich, it makes us complete, it teaches us a lot and encourages us to do better things.
People from all over the world, different cultures, languages, nations, genders…and with amazingly different stories are sharing one common thing and that is the WordPress community.
Diversity = HeroPress = connection, help and friendship = Community ❤
Life Changer
Many times in my life I heard people saying that the most important is to get a job and if you like it or not doesn’t make much difference. If it’s true, that it’s not important to like what you do, why are so many people dissatisfied and unhappy?
I’ve been studying Civil Engineering and during all those years of study, I was sure that this is something I really don’t like. I somehow bought into this Mantra that says: “this is a way how things work and you have to get used to it”. The sooner you forget about some unconventional ideas about your future, the better. There are so many people that are or were in the same position. They wish to quit their job or study and do something they love but they just don’t know how, or even worse, they don’t even think it’s possible.
This is where the HeroPress plays a big role. Reading essays from real people about their struggles gives us the courage to do the same thing. We can hear and meet real people who, regardless of their, sometimes terrible circumstances, decided to quit their jobs, change their lives and make a living with WordPress…and they succeed.
Most often within our friends or family circuit, it is hard to get the approval of anything that is outside of the “ordinary”. They don’t want you to quit your job, they don’t want you to change. One reason is cause they like who you are and are afraid to lose that. The other reason is that they came to peace with “that’s how things work” mantra and simply can’t understand why you’d want something different that is so “impossible”, unpredictable and insecure.
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.“
– Robin Williams, BrainyQuote
Reading stories on HeroPress, from so many different people around the world, gives us inspiration and strength to push ourselves, to look beyond our everyday problems and try to make our dreams come true. It can have a huge impact and even change ones life completely.
HeroPress = Life Changer
Make a small impact on the community
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
― Jackie Robinson, BrainyQuote
One of my favorite HeroPress essays is one written by Maedah Batool, amazing girl who trained more than 700 women that are now earning a living with WordPress. She shared her knowledge to help them to work from home and make a living with WordPress. This is a beautiful example of how you can impact others lives and make a community grow. Maedah essay can inspire all of us to do something good for others, to make a small impact on other lives. Sharing our stories, passions and knowledge can change this world for better and connect people around the world.
HeroPress = impact other lives = stronger and better community
Mental Health
Today, a lot of people experience some kind of physical or mental health problems. Most people don’t talk about it, they are too shy or even think, something isn’t right with them. Usually, our families and friends don’t have time for “that kind of problems” and you end up alone. I had the luck to have Marko on my side when I was straggling big time with panic attacks, but many people don’t have someone by their side.
HeroPress can offer comfort and understanding to these people by letting them see how other people faced the same issues and managed to conquer them. There are a few people who opened their souls and wrote about their personal life and struggles with depressions, anxiety, suicidal thoughts etc. Sometimes we are simply not aware how much sharing and talking about the mental health can help someone. Just hearing and reading that other people have the same problem as you do, helps a lot. You don’t feel alone anymore!
2 years ago I got the message from Topher and he asked me if I would like to write an essay for the HeroPress. First, I was like, oh that’s a great honour, but I can’t. What can I share that is useful for other people? What can I tell about myself? I don’t know anything special. These were all thoughts that flew through my mind. However, after I talked with Topher I decided to do it, to finally open myself and do something I’ve never done before.
In this essay, I also shared my personal struggle with anxiety and panic attacks. The essay went live on the first day of WordCamp in Vienna and I met so many amazing people that wanted to talk about the anxiety and they opened up to me about it. We talked a lot about what we are struggling with and how we deal with it. Most of them don’t have people around them to understand what is going on or to just to have compassion and empathy for the problem they are having.
In the end, my point is that we all have a story to share that can help or inspire someone and that in itself is already a big value for the community. Sharing that kind of stories, from my personal experience, is not easy at all. You are opening yourself in front of many people and you might feel vulnerable but at the end, when you see you helped someone, it is well worth it.
HeroPress = talking about the mental health = connecting & helping people in community
Conclusion
Many times we all feel stuck, having our own problems, don’t know how to help ourselves, let alone others. HeroPress is a place where you can find a kick to push you forward. Inspiration on how to share knowledge, help others in the community, how to find a better job and motivation to fulfill your own dreams. It is a place where people around the world are connecting and making our world a better place.
“HeroPress isn’t about hero worship. The contributors are not the heroes we’re focused on. Everyone can be a hero to someone and everyone should be a hero to themselves. Our goal is to help anyone who wants to become their own hero.”
― Topher DeRosia
People from WordPress community about HeroPress
“HeroPress shows us that WordPress isn’t just any one story. It is stories of many people from many places. Some close to us and some very far away but just as important.”
Andrey “Rarst” Savchenko
“Many of us in the WordPress community know each other, but we rarely tell our stories. HeroPress is a critical force in sharing the deep personal connections that we all have to WordPress and open source software.”
Jeff Matson
“For me, HeroPress is such an incredible platform. It easily brings together people from all around the world with one thing in common, WordPress. And through those inspiring stories, it makes them better. It builds their power, motivation, and trust. And I’m not talking only about the people reading HeroPress, but the contributors as well. Topher has a great way of inspiring and building trust. Trust that you and everyone out there has an awesome story that needs to be told.”
Rodica Andronache
“By sharing the stories of the eccentrics, adventurerers, misfits, accidental geniuses, and everyday people who make up the WordPress community, HeroPress inspires readers to realise that whoever they are or whatever they do, this is a community where they are welcome.”
Heather Burns
“HeroPress shares WordPress stories from inspiring people all over the world. It allows us to witness other people being enabled to raise their voice through WordPress and to make a living, no matter who they are or where they are located. It’s so valuable to share these stories because they sometimes make a change in their reader’s lives.”
Carole Olinger
“HeroPress fosters compassion and acceptance in the WordPress community through the unique stories of people and their successes and challenges. Its strength is in showcasing some of the community’s incredible people by approaching tech topics from the human side, something we don’t always see in this special space of ours.”
Bob Dunn
“HeroPress is one of the most inspiring WordPress blogs that I have read. I have read so many stories of people like me who faced challenges and whose lives were empowered by WordPress. The stories let me know that I was not alone and that if WordPress could change their lives, it could change mine too. The stories in HeroPress really help to put a human face on the WordPress Community. When you read these stories, you can’t help but want to get involved with WordPress!”
Thabo Tswana
“HeroPress has brought so much to the WordPress community. It has allowed so many people to share their stories and has made me realize how immense and distinct the WordPress community actually is.”
Stacey Bartron
“I have contributed to Other Open Source Softwares but reading stories at HeroPress makes me strong and feel connected within WordPress Community. WordPress helped me to became an entrepreneur TODAY!”
Muhammad Adnan
“Each time I read a new post on HeroPress I’m touched by the stories and strength of people. Reading back older posts, it’s like reading through the history of WordPress. With it’s ups and downs. Valuable content that reflects the closeness and friendship in our community.”
Rian Rietveld
“HeroPress is really an inspirational to many of WordPressers around the globe. Sharing and reading experiences helps us feel more inclusive in the community and boost our morale for the betterment of the life. ”
Sakin Shrestha
“Value of HeroPress is Topher himself. Without him we would not have these great stories online.”
Sami Keijonen
“It’s an inspirational platform, which will motivate many to start their WordPress journey.”
Nisha Singh
“I remember the first day I saw a post on HeroPress. It was posted by one of my teammates, Hardeep. While I browsed the website, I saw that there were posts by other people that I know from the community and I spent a few hours reading some of their stories. Most of you probably think that you’ll only read stories of successful people. But what about the others? Each story has its lesson and we can learn something from each one. The most important thing is that one will discover that everyone has their struggles and solutions. From my point of view, the HeroPress website is a great source of motivation and learning.”
Madalin Milea
“HeroPress is an important outlet to remind the community of the trials and diversity of mind and situation people supporting WordPress face. Being able to share that and help others makes a world of difference.”
Tom J Nowell
“Topher is an incredible guy. His HeroPress initiative has helped many WordPress folks share their untold stories with the community. Maedah and I have both shared our essays to pen down our enthusiasm for WordPress and the open web. I think platforms like HeroPress are necessary especially for an open source community like WordPress — giving people the opportunity to express their lives, fears, successes, and everything in between does not only empower them but also inspire others to take note.”
Ahmad Awais & Maedah Batool
“HeroPress is valuable to the community because it’s filled with hopes, promises, and tales of dreams come true. In a world filled with bad news, HeroPress is consistently a beacon of positive energy.”
Jeff Chandler
At the end of this article, I just want to say big thanks to Topher for affecting our lives and making us better persons. Thank you for the HeroPress ❤!! Also big thanks to all who shared their stories on HeroPress and who participated in this article, you rock :).
Feel free to share your views and thoughts in the comments below!