Chapter 5: Spreading the Fire

Continued from Chapter 4: Possessing the Fire...





... It's was the announcement that I was making www.furnacelevel.com!!!

It was an ambitious, some would say, ridiculous vision. I had no reputation of "The Furnace" outside of the school and now I was going to dedicate a site to it... at least that is how it started... because I soon realized that you can't have a site that just talks about a personal thing that others won't be able to understand. You can't have a webpage that lacks the involvement and participation of others. How we all grow is by sharing with each other: stories, experiences, moments, time. And that summer, it was the time for "The Furnace" to learn this lesson, spread his fire of inspiration and energy, and grow a little himself!

Around the 25th of June (it could have been couple days before or after), I bought the domain name www.furnacelevel.com, marking the start of a new dream coming to life, and a dream that would develop into something that I could never believe possible at the time. If you have ever heard the phrase "a quick functional plan now is better than a well-thought out plan later"? Well, if not, I feel this was another one of those important moments that had a huge impact on my future up to the present moment. If I had not acted then by progressing "The Furnace" identity and his Furnace Levels, there would not be a future for this "fiery motivational guru" that we see today, nor the motivation and strength that he provides to others to help them reach their personal dreams.

However, shortly after buying the domain and sharing this very exciting news with all of my classmates and loved ones, something terrible happened that quickly put all of the energy for Furnace Level on the rear burner. Not more than 48 hours after taking the ownership of www.furnacelevel.com, two of my close classmates, along with two other students were involved in a fatal car accident that left most of town, and especially my school community, in deep mourning. It was the first time that I had lost people that I would usually interact with on a daily basis in some way, shape, or form. It was a sad summer for me and my classmates, especially after seeing each other again for senior year, missing the two individuals from our group, for they will forever have a special place in all of our hearts. It is unfortunate that they are no longer with us, and I'm sure they would be pleased to see the progress of Furnace Level today.

Despite the tragedy early that summer, "The Furnace" eventually got focused back on creating the webpage for Furnace Level, learning new things about the web and websites each day. It was a fun, time-consuming process being able to start a project such as creating a personal website. (I highly recommend it to others because you learn a lot and there is always more to learn. One thing leads to another, and then another, and the development of your skills and knowledge of the web becomes endless too. It's pretty interesting stuff, at least for me.) Then later, the development of the Furnace Level logo I remember as being a really critical time. I drew hundreds of sketches for how I wanted the design to be and even posted them online to get feedback from my friends. It was a really hard decision, but finally I settled on the logo that Furnace Level currently has now.


The 4th of August, 2009 Furnace Level level went live for the first time! During those beginning days, it consisted of a lot less than the site has now, since I used a simple website template creator. It wasn't until March 2012 that I decided to start to learn web code for myself and build my own website using dreamweaver. It was another big step for Furnace Level, and now, it has expanded into a site with many pages for people to read inspirational fire horoscopes, watch motivational videos, listen to pump up songs, buy Furnace Level apparel, receive updates and inspirational messages from "The Furnace", and much more!


The Furnace is here to make a positive change on this planet! He is here to get us all motivated and inspired to reach the maximum of our potential and leave our own impact on the world, no matter how large or small. If you want to be part of the movement and live the Furnace Level lifestyle, visit my website at www.FurnaceLevel.com and get fired up! You are the answer to your dreams! The Furnace just here to make sure you reach them.


Make sure to follow me on Twitter for daily inspirational messages!


The Furnace