Rise Up a Rockstar — Community Post
Hi everyone, I wanted to introduce myself and share a little about what I’m building here. I’m a veteran, a dad, a musician, and someone who has lived through a lot of the kinds of struggles people don’t always talk about openly. I grew up in a chaotic household, experienced both physical and mental abuse, and spent much of my adult life navigating complicated family situations, domestic violence, and systems that weren’t always designed to support people in my position. For many years I was a single dad raising my son largely on my own. His moms stepped away from the picture early, and it was mostly the two of us figuring life out together. Today he’s in college, which I’m incredibly proud of. It wasn’t an easy path, but we got there. One thing that meant a lot to both of us was a project we started called Liam’s Lunches of Love. Together we made and handed out around 30,000 meals to people experiencing homelessness. It was our way of trying to give something back to the world, even when life felt hard. Ironically, life has come full circle in some ways. Right now I’m rebuilding. I’m currently living out of my car while I work to get back on my feet. That experience has given me an even deeper understanding of how complicated life can become for people who are trying to keep going despite setbacks. Out of all of this, I created a community called Rise Up a Rockstar. The idea is simple: a place where people who are struggling, rebuilding, or trying to rediscover their purpose can support each other. It’s especially focused on creativity, personal growth, and turning difficult experiences into something meaningful. Inside the community I’m also developing a free app designed to help people build creative habits and structure in their lives. It’s meant to be a little more fun and engaging than the typical productivity or self-help app. Right now it’s still in beta, which means there are definitely bugs and rough edges. Because of that, I’m looking for people who might be interested in beta testing it and giving feedback as it develops. Anyone is welcome to try it out.