I grew up in a very small town, Corbin, in South-Eastern Kentucky. I would like to say that I am now proud to be Southern but in my younger years it was a struggle. I was an only child and definitely a bit odd (unique) at times. I was hyper and marched to the beat of my own drum. Growing up gay in the South wasn’t easy and I craved to be around more diversity and open minded people.
I remember as a child watching movies and TV shows that took place in big cities about glitz, glamour, success. Deep down I craved that so much but it seemed so unattainable. As young as 10, I remember having big dreams and fantasies of a different way of life. I was actually obsessed with Prince William, Elton John and the Spice Girls (Baby Spice in particular).
This developed my fascination with England and left an imprint of wanting to have a beautiful British wife one day who had blue eyes and blonde hair (thanks Emma Bunton). My love for the British accent deepened when I watched the L Word and fell in love with Helena Peabody (played by Rachel Shelley… more on that later).
In my teen years I struggled with my sexuality and my coming out journey was challenging. I even ended up having a minor eating disorder when I was a teenager as a result. Feeling alone at times led me to fantasise living in London, having success and a beautiful British wife. I had a hard time focusing in school, and to put it bluntly, I was a bad student. As a result, my grades would not have reflected where I currently am in life.
A lot of people had doubts that I would ever leave my small home town. I even remember a teacher once saying to me “you fit into Corbin so well, I can see you living here the rest of your life.” I thought to myself “you are so wrong, just wait and see!” Thanks to my mother and my desire for a different life, I thought big. I had big dreams that to some at the time, and even to myself, seemed near impossible. Yet, somehow I made them a reality.
So let’s recap, here I am at aged 12-16: years old:
– A bad student with no interest in school with terrible attendance and I was pretty much late everyday. I actually hated school with a passion.
– Scored badly on my ACT because I refused to study (despite having a relatively high IQ).
– Failed math twice and had to go to Summer school (twice!)
– I had a few teachers who didn’t believe in me and thought I’d pretty much amount to nothing due to my tardiness. However, upon reflection, I suppose they had reason to think that. (Shout out to Mrs. Pendergraft, Mrs Daniel and Mr. Miller for seeing my potential and having a positive impact on me).
– I didn’t like authority and was a bit unfocused (I did get diagnosed with ADHD as a child but was never medicated…)
– I suffered from bulimia, anxiety and a bit of depression.
– My heart was massively broken in high school.
– My coming out journey was horrendous and I was outed! (long story)
So how did I go from the above to the below:
– Moved to Hawaii at age 17 and completed a Bachelors Degree from the University of Hawaii. I graduated with honours (while studying abroad twice in the South of France and London). Overall, I lived a rather happy life in Hawaii for 6 years.
– Met the girl of my dreams (my literal dreams) who is British, blonde, blue eyed, incredibly smart, classy, educated, funny and all around amazing . She is now my wife and we’ve been together for over 12 years. (Remember my original list of what I had written down).
-Engaged in Hawaii, married in Palm Springs, CA and honeymooned at the Four Seasons Maui.
-Visited 30+ Countries.
-In addition to Kentucky and Tennessee, I’ve lived in London, Windsor, Aix en Provence, Cardiff, Hawaii, North Carolina and South Carolina.
– Currently live in Windsor, next door to the Queen and the same town as Elton John (remember my obsession with the royal family and Elton as a child!)
-Own a beautiful home with my wife, situated near Windsor Castle, for the past going on 9 years.
– Have citizenship to the UK (I’m now a dual citizen).
– Co-owner of successful businesses, which allowed me to quit my 9-5 two years ago and work for myself with my wife.
– Co-created our successful personal brand ‘What Wegan Did Next‘, which has given me so much fulfilment and opportunities from our YouTube channel, blog, instagram’s, etc.
– Part of my job was (thanks covid) travelling the world and seeing the most beautiful places on earth and getting paid to do this. In addition, working with some of the biggest brands in the world.
– Written articles for, and have been featured in, big publications such as Marie Claire, Cosmo, The Guardian, BBC, etc.
-Been featured on TV several times on channels such as TLC, BBC and BBC One.
-Launched a publication with my wife, The Femme Edition, which is our latest venture.
-Singed with a talent and modelling agency.
– Above all material things which are great, I’ve achieved self happiness in my heart and feel that I’m where I am meant to be in life.
I manifested it by writing down lists of where I wanted to be, dreams that I had and truly believing in it, as well as already visualising it as if it were present. At the end of the list/ dream, I always write “this will 100% inevitability happen” and sign and date it; like it was a contract with myself and the universe.
I started this at the age of 14 because someone told me “if you write something down, it becomes a reality”. So I took that to heart and would write so many notes to myself, which I now realise now as manifesting my dreams to life. I didn’t know how they were going to happen, I just 100% believed that they would. As a result, the right opportunities and people have crossed my path and I’ve acted on these opportune moments.
An example of this, I wrote a list of my dream wife (physical and personality attributes) and one click of a button changed my life to bring her into reality (this story is wild, shall save for another article). A result of divine intervention/ faith and manifestation guided me to find my wife Megan, all the way in England, on Myspace!
Another example: I knew that to be the person I oh so wanted to be, I couldn’t become the person in the South. So I took a big leap and decided that I was going to move to HAWAII for college! All I thought about was Hawaii. I fantasied it about it, envisioned my self already there; I wanted it so bad. I applied to Hawaii Pacific University first and gave it all I had and sadly I wasn’t accepted due to my grades. I was devastated. So I had to move on to Plan B and I wrote one kick ass mission statement, and I have no clue why or how, but the University of Hawaii accepted me! I moved to Hawaii and lived with my moms best friend for the first 6 months as she and her family were the only people that I knew there.
I used to go on these long walks in Hawaii for exercise, but I would have my deepest thoughts on these walks and would get lost in my literal fantasies and dreams. A life with my dream wife, living in the UK, being successful and the list goes on. I would often imagine my dream life in detail, picture it happening and believe that it would. I imagined what I would be wearing, grabbing a coffee in London and getting into a Black Cab.
What I didn’t realise at the time, was that I was manifesting and using the law of attraction for my life I live today. I had no clue I was using mediation techniques and mindfulness but my goodness it worked. I ended up doing long distance from Hawaii to the UK and moved to the UK to join Megan in 2012 and haven’t looked back since!
Yes I had bad grades and some teachers didn’t think I would lead a successful career… Yet I ended up having some great jobs in Sales and Marketing, but ultimately I made my own career. Since 2017, my wife and I have worked for ourselves. When we started our blog in 2009, being a ‘Youtuber’ or ‘Influencer’ simply didn’t exist. We just wanted to help make a positive impact in the world, even if we just helped one girl come to terms with, accept and embrace her sexuality!
Fast forward to 10 years later and we have a combined following of over 250K+, get paid to travel the world, and work with brands that we love, and most importantly have helped so many; more than we ever thought we could imagine. From girls to women even to parents! Every time we receive a message thanking us for the impact that we’ve had on their life, it is truly so humbling and honestly a dream come true for us both.
Oh & remember my fascination for a British wife thanks to Helena Peabody aka Rachel Shelley? We’ve met quite a few times in real life and guys, SHE KNOWS MY NAME!
I never knew how I was going to get out of the South, but I knew that I was and believed that it was going to happen and flash forward, here I am living next door to the Royal Family & Elton John, and living my dream career and life! So my advice to you is to believe in your dreams, write them down and manifest them and imagine yourself living that dream.
Let me know if you manage to manifest your dreams into reality! Drop me a message on instagram @wbacon11.