It’s ok, you can breathe.
See what I did there?
Seventeen years ago when I first heard of blogs (more like weblogs because that’s what they were called back then), never did I imagine that one day I’d have one as my real life job. What started out as a hobby and curiosity for me has very slowly evolved into something I both love, and enjoy as a business-owner. To give you the full rundown, we’ll have to start from the beginning…
In 1999 I was enjoying my teen years full of Abercrombie & Fitch, AOL chat rooms, and inflatable furniture, in no particular order. One day I became friends with a girl who had her own website, a webblog, if you will. I thought it was really, really cool and was amazed that anyone would take the time to read about her personal life. She wasn’t by any means a boring person, the concept was so foreign to me that I couldn’t grasp it at the time. I asked her how she made it and she introduced me to HTML. I spent many years working hard to learn coding, creating a new layout every month, and slowly growing a readership (It was small by today’s standards, but large back then!).
I blogged about ridiculous things like buying new jeans and eating pizza for dinner (wait, I still do that?), and most adults in my life questioned how safe it was to have a blog. I should clarify that I never posted any personal information, but that the internet wasn’t as friendly feeling back then, either. In 2005 I went through some life changes and shut my sites down to move on with life.
After I graduated school I got a real job as an Office Manager / Accountant, but my passion was always in Fashion Design. I pursued it on the side and in a crazy roundabout way, it eventually led into me starting an online magazine, and then a photography business. I worked hard at both, for a long time. My husband started this little blog in 2008 for us to document our family’s adventures. I missed blogging quite a bit, but it was never a big deal for us.
In 2010 my photography business was featured on Groupon, and the boost in income and clientele allowed me to quit my day job. Life was crazy for a long time. I worked harder than I’ve ever worked before. The excitement slowed and I became more interested in blogging again. I updated more regularly, focused on the business and growth side more, and at the start of this year I stopped marketing my photography business to new clients.
The transition felt pretty seamless, as I am still doing photography. The only difference is that me, and you, and my sponsors are now the “clients”, and the subject is usually something more personal to me like my home or family. I love that I get to be creative and helpful, and am forever thankful for the opportunities this blog has given me and my family.
Leave a Reply