Excitement and Freaking Out

“What you think is your fear is just a chance worth taking”

-Deanna Kirk

Tomorrow we are filming the first episode of Wishlist!

Since the series was announced I’ve received quite a few emails about it and I thought I should chat a little about the questions you’ve asked.

Wishlist is filmed in Minneapolis/Saint Paul and the surrounding area. I’m surprised and flattered by the the interest from girls who live all across the country and outside the United States who would like to be a part of this but sadly we don’t have the means to travel. Maybe if Wishlist gets picked up by a network we will actually have the budget to film on location, lol.

Wishlist is separate from the MN T-Girls. If a member from the MN T-Girls has a wish we will do our best to make it happen. Your wish is, well, YOUR wish, not something we would plan for one of our monthly events.

You may be wondering how all of this will work and it really depends on your wish. Let’s say your wish is to get a makeover and then go shopping. The first thing we would do is coordinate a date between you, myself, and Sophie (our amazing camera queen). I would schedule a makeover for you with one of the amazing, transfriendly makeup artists that I know. On the day of the makeover we would all meet at the salon, and film some segments (maybe a little chat with you and the artist). After your makeover, we would then go shopping when we would film the two of us looking at cute dresses or whatever you would like. Once the day is over, I send the footage to Shawna (our amazing editing queen) who will magically turn the videos into a short episode. It’s posted online and you will always have a video to watch to look back on what I hope is one of the most amazing days of your life.

I’ve received wishes from girls about going horseback riding or getting a coffee or playing minigolf or scheduling a photo shoot. All of these sound so fun and I would love to make these things happen for you.

I am also aware (and completely anticipated) some of the hesitation many of you have expressed. I know that expense is a concern, especially if you don’t already live in Minnesota. I know that many wishes cost money, such as booking a photo shoot. I know that being filmed is out of many of our comfort zones. I get it. I promise I do. But a wish doesn’t have to be expensive. Many of the things I had/have on my own personal wishlist are small and simple, such as getting a coffee, going for a walk, visiting a museum. In fact, that’s one of the goals of Wishlist. To help us do something small which I feel will lead us to doing something a tiny bit bigger next time.

I receive emails about some of the things I do, such as wearing a gown at the Mall of America, and how someone wishes they had the courage to do that. Just remember it took years and years to mentally prepare for that. It took a lot of tiny adventures and a lot of small, brave steps into the real world before I was ready to twirl down the corridors of one of the biggest malls in the world.

Remember, we crawl before we walk, we walk before we strut, we strut before we dance.

Why is it filmed? One reason is that I want to, well, demystify a wish. Your wish may seem impossible. Like, how do you even make a dream happen? Your wish may seem frightening and you may have no idea how to even start. Filming it allows others with the same wish to see how it’s done. Making your wish come true will inspire others to find the courage to live their authentic self. I feel watching videos can help make something intimidating seem, well, doable. Whenever something breaks in the house my wife watches a video about how to fix it and after a few minutes and a trip to the hardware store, ta-da! Our kitchen faucet works again.

I am aware that being filmed and being online are intimidating, especially when it comes to our femme side. I absolutely understand and can relate. Going out en femme is one thing, showing the whole world is entirely something else. I don’t expect a lot of girls signing up for Wishlist who have never been out before but hopefully I am wrong. The girls I anticipate being on Wishlist are likely those of us who have been out in the real world before who are looking for something new and something fun.

And Wishlist is meant to be fun.

I hope this clears up some of your questions! I am so happy about the enthusiasm and support many of you have expressed. Wishlist is a very ambitious project and I excited and freaked out at the same time… but I think being both of those things at once is a good sign.

Love, Hannah