Hello!

Hi! My name is Mya and this is my first attempt at a blog.  I hope you'll hang in with me for the ride, as my plan is to make it a fun one!  In my blog, I will share information on myriad subjects regarding the LGBTQQIA communities and provide insights that will be helpful to you.  Please look forward to my bi-monthly submissions that will enlighten you about the LGBTQQIA consumer and be helpful to you if you are currently in a position that involves sales and marketing outreach to this valuable market segment.  We will also talk about sensitivity training, HR issues and equal rights, among other topics, and of course, we'll share videos, links and tons of other LGBTQQIA resources.

I've been working in this arena for more than a decade and have learned a lot....a LOT! One of the first things I had to figure out was the LGBTQQIA acronym.  Of course LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) was pretty obvious, but I was stumped at the beginning about the Q, I & A.  So here we go: the first Q stands for Queer (stay tuned, there's lots more to come on proper usage of the word Queer), the second Q stands for Questioning, I represents Intersex and A is for Allies.*  The LGBTQQIA acronym is used by many, but most commonly, you will see the abbreviated LGBT, and this is what I will use in future blog entries. Please also note that I will sometimes use Gay to denote LGBT and understand that my terminology is always inclusive of every LGBT community.  

This is just the beginning and I'm very excited to share with you everything I've learned over the past 12 years.  My only wish is that someone could have taught me all of this in a workshop, a webinar, a class or a blog!  

And remember if there are questions you would like answered, or specific topics you would like to see addressed, just let me know -  mya@myareyes.com.

*For more information on LGBTQQIA, please take a look at this article from 

the Advocate magazine.  http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/advocate-45/2012/08/22/lgbtqqia.