his story is titled after one of the most frequently asked questions I hear from the women entrepreneurs of our community—and believe me, I can totally relate. When you’re pouring your heart and soul (and time and money!) into newsletter after Facebook post after video and hearing nothing but crickets  (excluding maybe those two likes from your business besties), you can start to feel like absolutely no one is reading, watching or listening to what you have to say. It can feel very isolating, when you’re behind your computer screen all day and working so hard to share your life with the world, and it takes a lot of courage to power through the silence.

Believe it or not even at this stage in my career, the question crosses my mind from time to time. What I’ve realized however, is that it takes a lot of momentum, consistency and time to get to the point where everything you throw out into the world is met with the digital equivalent of a standing ovation. And here’s the thing: for the majority of people, it’s not standard operating procedure to give feedback. Think of how many blogs you love, Instagram accounts you follow, or e-blasts you’re always stoked to see in your inbox. How often do you hit reply and say, “Wow! Excellent newsletter today, honestly it was life-changing. Thank you so much for doing what you’re doing—please keep going.”

Umm…never? Most of us are not in the habit of sharing feedback with the people whose work we so enjoy, even though we would love nothing more than to receive a grateful note of appreciation from time to time—or let’s be honest, daily. So sometimes it takes a serendipitous occasion to remind us that our people ARE out there and they’re definitely listening and loving it—even if we can’t hear or see them.

While in Dublin the Universe brought me one such occasion that reminded me of this, and it totally took me by surprise in the most beautiful way. There are certain places in the world, like London or New York City, where I feel like I’m somewhat known because I have a number of friends or clients there. But Dublin is not one of those places. I didn’t arrive thinking that anyone there had ever heard of me or my work and simply imagined I’d be enjoying a low key week with my husband, exploring this brand new destination and doing a photo shoot for this issue.

Here’s what happened. Glenn and I checked into the gorgeous Shelbourne Hotel in the heart of Dublin with a few more suitcases than usual. I had been traveling for four and a half months and even though I do send bags home, I was fresh from the Divine Living Academy live event in Paris, followed by photo shoots in London, so my wardrobe situation included quite a few more shoes and blouses than one would normally have on hand. Typically when I’m arriving anywhere, my fantastic magazine team has already secured a rolling rack, steamer and about 50 extra hangers to be provided to my suite—but this time around the amount of hangers was not quite enough.

So as I began to unpack and get organized, I called down to the front desk and requested an additional 25 hangers. Making the call, I felt a bit squeamish and diva-esque imagining what the staff must think (even though I KNOW that’s not my business). When I realized that those extra 25 hangers were still not enough, I was quite apologetic to make yet another request and afraid of demanding too much. So when a lovely woman showed up at my door in a very professional suit with a name tag, holding all the hangers, my mind quickly started to spin, thinking I was about to be scolded.

She said to me, “Gina DeVee?” I said, “Yes…” and she replied, “I have something to tell you.” I seriously imagined her saying something like, enough with the hangers already! Housekeeping is now officially out—you’ve used them all up! (It’s amazing where the mind can go.) Instead, she said this: “I know who you are and I can’t believe you’re here. I’ve been following you for years. I read the magazine and when I saw you had checked in, I asked if I could bring you the hangers myself because I wanted to meet you! Your podcasts are amazing and I listen to them over and over!”

I was not only relieved but obviously blown away! She was in guest relations, not housekeeping, thus explaining the suit, and I immediately invited her in, put down the hangers and gave her a huge hug. We had a lovely chat and I told her how happy I was that she came up and said something, because it is so wonderful to hear when your work is meaningful to someone out there in the world.

I wanted to share this story with all of you, not to brag, but to demonstrate that I could have just as easily never met this woman. I’m sure that for all of us, there are many people out there just like her who won’t necessarily have the chance to cross paths and express how they feel in person. For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of randomly meeting someone who reads your blog or listens to your podcast, that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there!

So if you’ve been wondering if anyone is listening, I’m here to say that the answer is yes. Believe me—your purpose matters. There’s always someone out there who needs to hear the message as delivered in a way that only YOU can. From the photo shoots you’re doing, to the Facebook posts you’re writing, to the mailers you’re sending out, I can promise you that many lives are being blessed as a result of what you’re doing to show up every single day.

As the years go by and your momentum builds, I’m certain you will receive more and more letters, comments and real life introductions thanking you for the life-changing work you’re doing. Remember that there are a ton of people out there just like you and me who are looking forward to downloading the newest episode of someone’s podcast, reading someone’s latest blog post or watching their new video series, even if we may not take the time to stop and thank them.

On the other hand, perhaps it’s time we all make the effort to do so more often. There’s a line from the Course in Miracles that says, “Anything lacking from any situation is something you yourself are not giving.” So if you’re feeling isolated, disconnected, or like you’re talking to a wall, start giving out the feedback and acknowledgement you’ve been longing for. Next time you read or watch something you really love, take a couple of seconds to share praise and thank the creator for the work they’re doing. I’m sure that you’ll absolutely see a lot more love and gratitude in your own inbox as a result.