I thought I would share how I got started blogging because it has been a common question I have been receiving lately!

Read my first ever blog post here with a full introduction!

A lot has changed since that first post, but I thought I would share more of how I got started blogging and why I decided to start a blog!

When I first started my blog in December 2015, i had no idea what I was doing, but I wanted to do something creative! At the time, almost 3.5 years ago, I was in a very numbers based sales job and I wasn’t using my creativity at all.

THE START TO MY BLOGGING JOURNEY

I loved to rearrange our apartment and redecorate it and I found some bloggers on IG that I started to follow. They all kind of inspired me to start sharing my home decor ideas which ultimately led me to starting a blog.

I have always loved to write and even took some creative writing classes in high school and college. I love being able to express in writing what may be harder to say out loud. So the idea of combining my love for writing, plus my love for home decor seemed like a great idea!

So let’s rewind and go back to when I decided to start my blog! I remember telling my family and friends I was going to do this and everyone was so happy and excited for me, but no one really knew what that meant, myself included! I did a little research, but only the basics and just started my blog!

I literally knew NOTHING about blogging. I have truly learned as I have gone along, which in some cases has been great and some cases has been tough.

I started as all home decor. Sharing our apartment and how I was decorating it and rearranging things. Then a few months later, we bought our house. This ultimately would be huge for my business, but I didn’t know it at the time. I was still working my full time job and my blog was just a hobby and for fun so I didn’t see that buying a house would be so instrumental in my blogging career.

In the beginning, I focused more on IG and learning how to grow that rather than growing my blog, which in hindsight, I should have done the opposite, but that’s ok! I met so many people through IG who have helped me learn a ton about blogging which has been incredible!

I enjoyed sharing all the updates we did to our house along the way from painting to DIYs to new furniture finds. It was so fun being able to document the entire journey and now I love going back to see all that we have done.

MY BLOGGING SHIFT

About a year after we bought our house, we found out we were expecting our first baby! We were so excited to become parents and to bring a little one into our lives!

Still working at the same full time job, plus blogging, plus being pregnant was a lot. My blog was still just for fun, but I did do some small part time work with it. I was still using the same platform I had started with. My blog had been around for just over a year at this point.

I knew that I could make blogging a full time career now. I had seen others do it and had done much more research on blogging and how to be successful at it. I loved my blog and being able to share all my home decor ideas and now my pregnancy and motherhood journey.

Becoming pregnant was kind of the turning point for my blogging career. I loved my blog and wanted to make it my job! I knew I could do it and I knew it would be hard work, but so worth it! I also wanted to be able to stay home with my baby and not return to my full time job which required a lot of travel. This was more motivation than anything else.

John Paul and I had a lot of conversations about me being able to stay home prior to Dominic’s birth and how we would make it work. He believed in me and my blog and making it my business. Still, at this time, it wasn’t a business, it was a hobby that I started to take very seriously.

DOMINIC’S BIRTH

I stayed with my job until Dominic was born, still blogging on the side and learning and learning and learning! I would spend time on the weekends and at night just researching how to be better at blogging and how to make this a full time career so that I could stay home with my baby and still bring in an income!

When Dominic was born, my whole world changed. I obviously became a parent and my heart grew by about 10,000,000 sizes. Just looking at him, I knew I could not go back to my full time job.

This was crunch time for me. Sink or swim kind of thing! I had maternity leave for about 3 months and I either had to make those 3 months count for my business (plus being a new mom!) or I had to go back to work or find a new job! It was a crazy time, but I loved it!!

I switched my blog from the original platform i was using to a more blogger friendly platform. I did it all myself and didn’t hire anyone to do it because I knew that would cost money and we didn’t have the money to do it. Here I became my own IT department, figuring it all out on my own. I am still very proud of myself for doing this and not messing anything up!

When maternity leave was up, I didn’t go back to work. It was time for my blog to really shine! I had a new platform, I had new ideas, I had more knowledge!

THE HARD TIMES

It was hard at first, you guys!!! I was blogging at least 2 times a week, plus taking care of Dominic and navigating all the ups and downs of being a new Mommy. I wasn’t seeing many financial benefits to blogging yet. It was still almost like hobby blogging because there wasn’t much of an income.

Blogging as a career is not an overnight thing. I was 2 years into blogging and still not seeing much reward in the form of an income. I didn’t let this discourage me though. I tried to stay positive and keep working hard. I did more research and found some FB groups to help learn even more. I joined several networks to book campaigns through. I learned more about Pinterest and the importance of it for blogging.

I quickly realized that starting a blogging career meant that you wear MANY hats. You are the content creator, the photographer, the editor, the writer, the customer service, the email responder, the IT person, the marketing team, plus more! In the beginning, you can’t afford (usually) a team of people to help you out so you do everything yourself. That means you also have to learn how to do these jobs and do them well, if you want to succeed.

MY BLOGGING CAREER TURNING POINT

I remember in June of 2018, I was watching someone’s IG stories and they were talking about Haven Conference. John Paul happened to hear the story and he was like why aren’t you going to this conference?!?!?!?! My response was that I didn’t think we could swing it and he said YOU’RE GOING! That day he booked me a ticket and I was going to Haven!

We ultimately made it into a little family vacation so it was fun for us all, but Haven was seriously life changing for me! I learned more in the 2-3 days at the conference than I had in 2.5 years of blogging! I met some amazing people and was able to meet some of my friends in the blogging world in real life! It was the best thing I could have done for my blog! Read more about my experience HERE.

Coming home from Haven, I was reinvigorated and was inspired to keep going and to keep learning. I was so motivated and knew that this blogging thing I had going was right where I was meant to be! That Fall (September 2018), my blog really took off and I was able to see that all my hard work had finally started to pay off.

I landed my largest campaign to date from attending Haven and that made me almost cry! I remember texting John Paul and my Mom and telling them how amazing this is and that I feel like I am finally breaking down the barriers that had been holding me back!

So it took me from December 2015 until Fall 2018 until I really felt like this was my career and that I was really making it in the blogging world! That is a long time when you truly think about it, but I never gave up! I never threw in the towel even when it was hard and there was not much income coming in. I persevered and knew this was what I wanted!

MY BLOGGING CAREER NOW

I would still never say blogging is easy. It is a lot of work and I am still a one man show over here doing all those things I mentioned above. I definitely know more now than I did even in the Fall. Every day I learn something new and everyday I research and try to understand blogging a little better than I did the day before.

This is my business so just like if you were to open a store or restaurant, you have to know your stuff, you have to be the one advocating for yourself because no one else will!

Blogging is rewarding in the fact that I can first of all, stay home with my babies and second of all, connect with so many people, I would have never connected with otherwise!

I have added so many more elements to my blog now from home decor to motherhood to pregnancy to style to recipes to travel and now essential oils. I love that I have turned this space into my little world and I can share with you what I want.

I may have lost some readers/followers along the way as I shifted from strictly home decor to a more lifestyle type blog, but I have gained SO many other friendships and connections that it doesn’t even bother me.

I am so grateful to you for sticking around and being here with me. Honestly, no blog would exist without readers so I am EXTREMELY thankful for each and every one of you. If I could hug you all, I would in a second!!!

MY BLOGGING GOALS

We always joke that one day John Paul will be working for me as my assistant. Although we joke, we would love for him to be able to stay home and join in on my business. That won’t be for a long while, but definitely something to dream about and reach for.

I plan to switch my platform/host to a better one in the future as my blog grows. I may do this within the next year, but for now, I am happy where I am.

I want to bring more content that is relatable to you and important to me! This is my favorite part of blogging so I love coming up with the ideas and bringing them to you!

I just want to grow and keep doing what I love. I can’t stay stationary, I have to keep moving and learning and researching on how to better improve myself and my business.

Part of why I love blogging is that you decide what you want it to be. It can be your hobby or your career. I love that if I succeed, it’s on me, but if I fail, that’s also on me. This kind of fuels me and encourages me to keep going so that I don’t fail!

i hope this gives a little insight into how I got started blogging and why I decided to do this. If you have more questions, I am happy to answer them!

I know this was a long post and i am so happy you got to this point! If you are thinking about starting a blog, I encourage you to RESEARCH and then do more research! I am still learning and don’t know everything, 3.5 years in. You can totally do it, but just know that it is hard work!

SHOP THE PHOTOS:

Thank you for being here and for allowing me to be a part of your day, HUGS TO YOU!!!!

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XO
-LA

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