Being A Blogger | What Does That Mean?

20 Oct 17 Washington, DC, USA

Being A Blogger | What Does That Mean?

Photos by: Armandhugon

Outfit Details: Dress (here), hat (here), and boots (similar): GoJane | Sunglasses: Old Navy | Bag: BCBG Generation

As of December of this year, it will officially be 1 year since I started blogging full-time. I've had my blog for what will be 4 years next month and even though I treated it serious all the time it wasn't until the end of last year when I decided to take it officially full-time. For those that are new here, I want to give you a quick backstory.

Since I was 18 and got my first job working retail, I worked the traditional 9-5 since then. I studied accounting in college and shortly after I graduated I realized I didn't want anything to do with it. Fast forward to 2015 and my husband and I relocated from the NY/NJ area to Washington D.C. for my husband's job. Months passed by and I wasn't able to find a job down here and I took it as a sign to do my blog full time. Well, that didn't work out. I had a sense of panic of not having a stable income because I had been used to the whole 9-5 for pretty much all my life. A few months after I found a full-time position for a tax assessment company making great money. My co-workers were great, my boss was super welcoming and the money was absolutely great. I remember telling my husband one day a few months after, everything is great at work but I feel unhappy. I wanted a more creative job because this tax thing was not making me happy. Fast forward to the beginning of the holidays of 2016 and I got laid off due to budget cuts. I remember being very upset because I had never been let go and just felt anxious about my income. This was a sign from God and I just didn't know it. I took that time to start working on my blog again full-time since I wasn't working anything else. This time was different I felt motivated and determined to make this work because I just didn't want a 9-5 anymore. My husband, who's my number one supporter told me to take this as a sign and work on my blog full-time and just dive head first into it if I really wanted this. Fast forward to today and that's exactly what I did and now my blog is my baby, my job and my source of income. I've never been happier at any job than this one.

Being a blogger, content creator and digital influencer is an amazing job but also lots of hard work. It bothers me so much when people say bloggers don't do anything but take pictures of outfits and pretty lattes all day. Sometimes I wish it was that easy but is not. A lot of my family members and friends still don't understand this creative outlet and don't believe it's a real job. From my experience in having a blog for 4 years and doing it officially full time for 1 year, there is a lot of heart, hustle, sweat, and tears that go into this job. Below is a simple outline in a nutshell to what a blogger does and pretty much consist of what I do. Not every day is the same and some weeks are more hectic than others.

Create: content, editing photos, writing, scouting locations, taking photos,

Establish: brand relationships, social media presence, partnerships, negotiations

Update: editorial calendar, media kits, reports, invoices, budgets, research

Manage: emails, contracts, invoices, finances, budgeting, scheduling, tech, platforms, stats,

Attend: meetings, conference calls, events, shows, press releases

This is the tip of the iceberg and I can get into more detail for each of these tasks and I'm sure I missed some. There are ups and downs to this business but I love what I do and every day I work hard and put in 100% into my work. I wake up every day at the crack of dawn to tackle emails, projects, opportunities and create content. Some days do consist of sitting in front of the computer doing more admin stuff and some days I'm running around like a chicken without a head outside doing things. There are also days where I sacrifice time at home with my husband because I'm working until late hours of the night.

It's a real job so don't be fooled by the highlight reel you see on social media because behind every post and every pretty photo hard work goes into it.