What is Ever Get Home?
Ever Get Home is a newsletter by me, Jamie Tworkowski. What a strange thing to have a gift we walk away from. I don’t want to do that anymore. It’s time to write again.
After years of false starts and crying wolf about a second book, after an extended season of personal and professional change, this is a return to telling stories. About life. About people and places and connection, pop culture and mental health and songs I can’t stop listening to.
I’ve been daydreaming about joining Substack since I left TWLOHA in 2021. I’ve been loving it as a reader and a paid subscriber. I’m thrilled to now be in the mix as a writer, to explore and learn and grow this space together.
Who is Jamie Tworkowski?
I’m the New York Times bestselling author of If You Feel Too Much and the founder of a non-profit organization called To Write Love on Her Arms. After 15 years with TWLOHA, this is a new chapter. I’m writing and speaking independently—still passionate about mental health and suicide prevention but excited to have the freedom to focus on anything that moves me. Lately I’ve been hosting lots of small-group conversations and enjoying one-on-one conversations (aka coaching) as well.
I was born in Morehead City, North Carolina. Lived my first five years in Emerald Isle, where my parents owned a surf shop. We moved to Melbourne Beach, Florida in 1985. My dad got a job as a sales rep for a t-shirt company. A decade and a half later I dropped out of college to pursue a similar path. I spent the first eight years of my career in the surf industry, starting as a sub rep for Quiksilver and then as the Florida sales rep for Hurley. The Hurley gig was in many ways my dream job but I left in 2006 to start TWLOHA. The organization was born from a story I had written about an attempt to help a friend who was struggling with drug addiction, depression, and self-injury. The story went viral on MySpace, along with t-shirts I began selling as a way to help pay for my friend’s treatment.
When invitations started coming from colleges and conferences for speaking events dedicated to the organization’s surprising origin story, the layers were not lost on me. My Mom once said that TWLOHA was basically everything I had ever learned or cared about— people, writing, t-shirts, music—all of those worlds colliding. And I enjoyed the irony of being a college dropout invited to speak at colleges. I still do.
Florida is where I grew up and where I live today. We have a complicated relationship. There have been seasons in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville as well. Life and work have taken me to Australia, the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, India and Iraq, Canada and Mexico, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and all 50 states.
I’m Joe & Janet’s son, Jessica & Emily’s brother, Landon & Declan’s uncle. Gracie is my little best a friend, a ten-pound yorkiepoo who watches television, and likes to sleep against my back. I’m a lifelong surfer, a music lover, and a basketball fan. After years of cheering for whichever team Kyle Korver played for, I’m an Orlando Magic fan again.
Why should I pay for this?
Your support allows me to treat this like a job. The more people who choose to become paid subscribers, the more I’m able to focus on this project.
Some posts will be for paid subscribers only, so the main reason to pay is for access to all of the posts. In terms of value beyond the writing, paid subscribers get to enjoy the community aspect as well. From connecting with like-minded folks in the comments and chat, to founding members gathering via Zoom. Telling stories will be priority one on my end, but I promise there will be some fun surprises as well. (Merch anyone?)
As always, thank you for supporting me. When I left TWLOHA after 15 years, it was certainly a risk. I sometimes tell people that I’ve quit my dream job twice. But change is part of life and maybe Ever Get Home can be part of what my dream job looks like now. It’s only possible because people like you care enough to support my work. If you decide to come along on this new journey, as a paid subscriber or by gifting a subscription to someone you love, please know that I am grateful.
