Tunic: Forever 21 (also love this dress version) | Denim: Levi’s | Booties: Vince Camuto (similar here & here) | Bag: Chloe

I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S BEEN 5 YEARS SINCE I STARTED TO BE BRIGHT!

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I remember the night (or very early morning of 2am) when I made a WordPress account to start a blog that would document my college projects & capture my personal style to hopefully land me a job in NYC. I had no idea at the time that I was beginning something that would not only become my full-time career at age 26, but also change my life for all the right reasons both professionally and personally. I discovered a passion I never knew I had, and sparked a drive that has defined how I live & enjoy my life. I seriously never imagined I would be SO HAPPY in this stage of my life and I owe my blog for 95% of the reason why I am.

For this post, I wanted to share the reasons why I started my blog & why I kept it up. I still think it’s pretty crazy that I’ve been able to maintain something for 5 years that solely exists because of my decision to continue creating for it. I’ve learned SO MUCH throughout my blogging journey & if you’re in place where you’ve considered starting one for yourself, I encourage you to read the reasons why I support your choice to do so.

WHY I STARTED

I wanted to get a job in the city & was told by a potential employer that it would be beneficial to put everything I’m doing online. Thats the main reason why I got started on it, but overtime I started recognizing my eagerness to start sharing things outside of my graphic design projects (i.e. my personal style). I’ve always had a love for English and writing, so my blog was already exercised through something that genuinely enjoyed.

Over time, I found myself sharing things that I found making my life easier as a college student (i.e. affordable outfit finds) and found that there were other girls out there who were also on a budget and looking for inspiration to look the part, but not at a costly price. That’s when I refocused my blog to capture more content pertaining to my life & style. Once I did that, more and more readers started visiting my blog and I found my blog to have become more of a resource rather than an online portfolio.

WHY I KEPT IT UP

First of all, anything that you wake up & look forward to is THE DREAM. I found my blog to be exactly that. It made me genuinely happy to have a space of my own that I was in charge of. It became a place where I felt control & empowerment, especially when I felt like everything else in my world was hanging on by a thread. Not to mention I felt constant encouragement by my family, friends, and peers who were reading my blog and would go out of their way to tell me that they appreciated it. That motivated me to keep it up and provide more and more knowing there were people out there looking forward to it.

I found a passion through blogging that I didn’t know existed, and soon this passion became the driving force behind wanting to make it my full-time job. I took on internships and post-grad jobs, working late into the night to maintain my digital brand because I knew how badly I wanted it to become my career. I constantly told myself that there will be a day where I’ll look back and be thankful for the all-nighters and weekends I chose to work on my blog because it would make me appreciate how far I’ve come to achieve my goal.

And it happened! On October 12, 2017 I made my dream and everything I’d been working towards become a reality – I quit my 9-5 job and officially became my own boss of my own brand, turning my blog into a full-time business.

WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER STARTING ONE

YOU LEARN MORE ABOUT YOURSELF: I learned more about myself throughout this journey than I ever imagined. It brought along a new sense of self-awareness and drive that makes me feel so empowered. I understand myself better now than I did 5 years ago through all the opportunities and challenges I was forced to face & handle straight on.

BUILDS YOUR CONFIDENCE: Through blogging I’ve been able to voice my own opinions and put myself out there on such a vulnerable level, which in turn has taught me to stop being so scared to make mistakes. I used to be someone who would always play it safe, afraid to get caught in a crossfire or get in trouble. I was existing, not living up to my true potential. I learned how to recognize and build my strength while admitting to the things I needed to improve on through my published posts, and taught myself how to professional handle both complimentary and critical commentary along the way.

CHALLENGES YOU: Although starting a blog is easy, managing it is not. Coming up with interesting ideas, interacting with readers and building a community around the blog are awesome challenges that force you to keep learning and growing. I remember getting invited to my first Fashion Week but I had NO ONE to go with; the idea of going alone terrified me but I knew I had to suck it up and attend because it was such a huge opportunity to build my blog. Turns out, there were a ton of people there by themselves and striking up a conversation became much easier than I initially thought. I ended up making some great friends that I still keep in touch with today!

PLATFORM OF CONTINUOUS GROWTH: Sometimes I take a trip down memory lane and view my archived posts from the summer of 2013. It’s CRAZY COOL how far I’ve come since beginning this blogging adventure of mine in college to now living in the city and taking it on as a full-time career. In a few years, I’ll (hopefully) be in a place where I’ll become a mommy blogger. Consider a blog as a timeline of your life now & where it will be years down the road. Your blog will never outgrow you nor you will never outgrow it. From the content your providing today to the places it will take you, blogging will only provide you with more opportunities to take yourself to the next level, professionally & personally.

ALLOWS YOU TO HELP OTHERS: One of the reasons I started and kept my blog up is because I wanted to provide one girl with an affordable outfit resource that she could turn to when figuring out what to wear to her first interview. My goal was to help inspire just ONE person, and in the process ended up helping more people than I thought. If you strive to inspire young people to discover and explore their true potentials, then start a blog. Ordinary people everywhere are choosing themselves to do extraordinary things in other people’s lives via a blog. You can do it too, and now’s the best time ever to start.

DISCIPLINES YOU: Sometimes I can’t believe I’ve managed to publish content weekly for 5 continuous years, and not once feeling like I should quit. Showing up at regular intervals is hard, but blogging helps you cultivate that discipline. I found myself responsible to put content out there Monday through Friday because there was someone out there who was looking forward to reading it. Telling myself that other people are relying on me provided me with the incentive to show up & get the job (or written post) done. I’m grateful for it because it’s made me a better me.

GIVES YOU FREEDOM: Since starting my blog, I’ve become such a happy person because I have the ability to make the rules of my own self-made business. Blogging gives you the freedom to work from anywhere, at any time of the day and provide content about the things you actually enjoy. It can give you the freedom to flex your creative muscle and define yourself in the digital world we live in. Additionally and with some hard work & patience, it can afford you the freedom to travel the world as you please while making a modest living from your blog.

ARE YOU THINKING OF STARTING A BLOG?

OR IN THE BEGINNING STEPS OF YOUR BLOGGING JOURNEY?

 Let me introduce you to the ultimate resource that I’ve personally developed for both aspiring & current influencers to make the process a MUCH EASIER one to take on!

When I first started my blog, I had NO IDEA what I was doing & wished there was some sort of e-course or checklist to refer to that would make journey a bit easier to navigate. It would have saved me a TON of time and energy just getting my foot in the door if I knew where to focus my energy on from the get-go.

Which is why I’ve developed an e-course that will not only help you start a blog but also provide you with proven growth strategies to apply to your blog when getting your content out there for the world to see!

The blogging industry is SO MUCH FUN and will take you places you never thought imaginable. There’s space for all of us as influencers & I invite you to come along while having faith that you can do it too! Don’t let the fear of not knowing how to start & go about growing your brand stop you from  experiencing the biggest adventure you’ll ever take on!

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TAKE ME TO THE E-COURSE!