They called us niche. Then our story went viral.
The NYT praised We Are Spiraling and a Business Insider story about us was the most popular on their site for more than a day.
Last Tuesday, while most people were beginning to wind down and traveling home for Thanksgiving, I awoke to a note from Business Insider.
Sarah Needleman, the reporter who covered our story about how Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was advised to straighten her curly hair throughout her career, wanted to let me know the article was the second most popular on their website.
Her email came through at 5:38am pacific. By the time I replied saying “OMG!” during normal-people PST hours, she had a new alert for me: “make that #1!!!!”
I had pitched my interview with Wasserman Schultz to Sarah, who covers leadership and workplace issues, because Congress is, after all, the former DNC head’s workplace. The congresswoman had described to us how once, she went to the House floor for votes after straightening her hair, and her male colleagues “went berserk,” gasping that she looked amazing and should wear her hair that way more often. (FYI that is actually an insult. Smash play to hear more.)
The story held that #1 slot much of the next day as well. For a site like BI, that usually means hundreds of thousands of readers. It went so gangbusters that Sarah told me she and her editors were planning to publish a second story about how curly hair is a much bigger deal than people think, and interviewed me about why I started We Are Spiraling.
That second story ran on Thanksgiving day at 2:26am pacific. I again woke up to a surprise to be grateful for. I made some social media content and closed my laptop for the day, heading off to my best friend’s house with a dutch oven full of gouda mac and cheese. (Casarecce pasta — never elbows — if you were curious.)
On Black Friday, I was on my laptop making a social media reel when I got an email about a new We Are Spiraling subscriber. When I opened it, I immediately got another in the thread. That was my signal to check my personal Gmail.
Subject: Open Thread: Black Friday, Zegna, LVMH, Prada, curly hair.
From: The New York Times
“it’s worth a listen” — Vanessa Friedman, fashion director & chief fashion critic for the New York Times
In just two weeks, I went from 0 to publishing my first episode to having a show that’s been covered by the New York Times and Business Insider (twice).
For the first hour after the NYT newsletter by chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman dropped, I was in so much shock that I couldn’t even make a social media post. I had to take a hot shower to calm my system.
I knew it was coming. I had cold pitched Vanessa a week before that episode’s publication to see if she’d be interested in a preview of the congresswoman’s comments. She replied to my email within seven minutes. (Yes, it was a totally cold pitch. We did not know each other before.)
Vanessa gave me a heads up that she planned to include the interview in her newsletter, but 1) I didn’t know how — my assumption was that it might be as simple as a one-bullet link 2) I don’t count chickens before they hatch. As a former reporter, I know things can always change. Nothing is guaranteed.
To say I’m grateful to see We Are Spiraling already resonating with wide audiences is an understatement. A little over a year ago, I quit my job to start building MAYURA and this newsletter/show.
Since then, so many people have said, “how much is there to say about curly hair?” I can’t even count the number of men who have asked me what percentage of the U.S. population is curly. I’ve always said: that’s besides the point. That’s like assuming only chefs like cooking shows. Our stories are about people more than they are about hair. Who hasn’t felt at some point in their lives that other people are trying to put them in a box?
This journey has been exciting and humbling and exhausting and *so* much fun. I’m not dwelling on these wins for long. (I barely dwelled on them for three hours, to the frustration of friends who suggested we celebrate.) This is probably founder disease; there is so much more to create and even a year in, even after launching, we are at the start.
These are the kinds of stories I’ll continue to bring you: real reporting, real people. Thank you for supporting my transformation from investigative tech reporter to curly hair beat reporter.
Lastly, if you’re a subscriber, thank you for supporting We Are Spiraling in our earliest days. The best is yet to come. Share this newsletter with a friend and follow us on Instagram for show previews, MAYURA updates and curly baby photos.
Curly icon of the week
Fellow Substacker Kareem Rahma, because Subway Takes + his notes on this platform make me laugh every day.
Subscribe to the pod on Apple and Spotify.
To work together, reach out to partnerships@wearespiraling.com.