Happy International Women’s Day! A couple months ago I opened up a q&a on my instagram and I got a lot of repeat questions… “How did you get into Fashion Blogging?” “What are you trips to get into Fashion Blogging” “Have you always been a fashion blogger?” I touched on this a bit with my answers, but I wanted to dive a bit deeper into it here for you guys.

HOW DID I START FASHION BLOGGING…

SOO blogging… where do I even begin. Well lets start from the beginning. My sister Rachel, told me about blogging and how I should start one to document my wedding process. I had no idea what I was even doing and really had no idea what I was getting myself in to. Instagram was not around, blogging was new and I was pretty much winging it. I had just gotten engaged and thought, why not? I can look back on this for memories. So I started blogging, It was pretty much a big hodge podge of randomness with wedding planning mixed in. To my surprise I started to get people, other than my mom and grandma, reading.  I started to really get into a weekly posting schedule and I loved the interaction with my small following.

After about a year, I dabbled in recapping the bachelor and bachelorette. My grammar was atrocious, but I basically typed my exact thoughts as I was watching and my readers loved it, so I continued to do that for about a year.  If I am being honest, typos still happen more often than they should.  My next posting topic was party planning. I really do have a passion for party planning and get pretty giddy when a friend gets married or is pregnant! During all of these random blogging topics, I was consistently getting questions/emails about my outfits.

Fashion blogging was very new back then. I followed Pink Peonies, Atlantic Pacific, Gal Meets Glam every day and loved their confidence and of course clothing. I have always loved putting together outfits and helping my friends find an outfit that made them feel amazing.  I was known as the dress queen by my friends and we would always shop together before we “went out” on a Friday night. We had the BEST times together and some of you guys may remember me blogging about that too!

Well I got a bit brave and started doing outfit posts when a local boutique, Savior Faire, reached out to me. I was SOO nervous! I mean, I am NOT a model and was as awkward as I could be in front of a camera.  I was constantly worrying about what people would think about me. I remember posting outfits on instagram on a daily basis and feeling downright silly, but deep down knew it was something I wanted to pursue and see where it went. I scrolled back to the beginning just the other day and it is pretty humbling and a bit funny to see where it all started.

(from my very first fashion blogging post)

So after dabbling into fashion and getting an unexpected great response, I started to share more and more outfits. It was always something fun to do with my mom every weekend for a couple of hours. We started with a point and shoot camera too! I then went for 1-2 posts a month, to 1-2 fashion posts a week and then grew from there.

(2014 throw back and my very first BIG campaign with Old Navy!)

Thru my pregnancy with Olivia, I shot pregnancy looks and really started to get a fire for the industry. Believe it or not, I shot an outfit the NIGHT BEFORE I had Olivia haha.  It wasn’t until 2014-2015 that I really started to take things a bit more seriously. I invested in a better camera, started paying more attention to my analytics, started getting campaigns and was more consistent with my posting. Instagram also started to take off and sharing outfits on that platform became more of a normal everyday thing for users to see. There was an INSANE amount of trail and error when it came to photography and we are still learning things to this day.

(throwback to 7 months pregnant with Olivia and ammeter photog skills haha)

2014

(2015)

Gaining confidence happened over time. Of course, you will never be everyone’s cup of tea and that is ok. Are there outfits that I absolutely cringe over now, YES! My word, YES!  Are there times I let my insecurities get the best of me, YES! Are there times I want to throw in the towel, YES! I am truly my own worst critic and a lot of the pressure is self inflicted. I am a “wear my heart on my sleeve” type of girl and while I have developed thick skin, I am human and things will get the best of me.

(2015)

2016

I believe that with any job you can’t just have the passion, you need the work ethic and drive too! Passion is what gets you excited to do the work, but without the work ethic, you will get nowhere. You also have to be willing to adapt quickly and learn new things as you go. I am STILL learning things about blogging, even as long as I have been doing it. I have seen the industry change SO much over the years and there will be more changes to come. There has been a lot of trail and error with everything from outfits, topic ideas, blog design, etc. It takes a lot of work to run any type of  business and nothing worth having, comes easy.

2016

2016

Blogging has brought me more opportunities that I could ever dream of.  I know I have worked my ass off over the years, but I am always in disbelief when opportunities come my way. If I did had not taken that awkward leap and went for it, I would not be here today. Nothing holds you back like your own insecurities and DO NOT let your insecurities stop you from trying new things. A lot of good life lessons come from trial and error. Every morning you have the choice to hit snooze and dream a little longer, or wake up and chase your dreams.

A look back onNYFW thru the years! Which was a HUGE dream of mine to attend. 

2014

2015

2016

2016

2016

2017

There are a lot of not so pretty things that come with Blogging as well. It is really really hard to shut things off. Social media never sleeps, there is always something to be done, and the ugly word, comparison, can get the best of you. In this industry, if you slow down, you can fall behind. It sounds absolutely ridiculous to even type that, because noone can go 110% of the time, in any job, and not crash and burn. When you have an extreme passion for your job, it makes it even harder to take a step back. The most important question to ask yourself is, what other parts of your life are you passionate about? Your Faith, Your family, your health, your friends… There are more important things in your life that deserve your time and the world will keep spinning if you do not post on instagram, send a couple more emails or run that one last report. Living at a hectic pace will not only affect your health and relationships, it will reflect on your work as well. It is a slippery slope and one that is REAL easy to fall down on. I have always preached setting boundaries for work/life balance and ALWAYS give yourself grace.

I honestly feel like I have been on a roller coaster thru my blogging career. There have been lots of highs, plenty of lows and I feel like I have been flipped upside down.  There is one thing I will always be, true to myself and never do anything that does not feel like ME. It is important to learn from your mistakes, allow yourself to grow, and never be afraid to chase your passions. It is always worth to take the leap even if you fall afterwards. Be nice, have integrity and DO YOU because guess what, YOU are wonderfully made! The world is a big place and there is room for every single one of us.

To wrap it up, I am so fortunate to be able to do what I love and have the opportunities I do. I never ever take any of it forgranted and thank God daily. I am excited to see what is in store and to continue to grow as a wife, mother and friend.

Whew! That was a long one! I hope you enjoyed taking a stroll down memory lane! I know I had some really good laughs spending the last 4 hours looking thru old outfits. Man, I loved me some color back in the day haha! Have a wonderful weekend xoxo Tara