A little bit about me…

Sometimes it seems as if all bloggers start to look the same, act the same, and talk the same. For a blogger, the biggest challenge consistently is to differentiate yourself, while staying true to who you are. I consistently post tons of content regarding styling tips, seasonal trends, and unique looks, but I feel like I don’t get to show you guys who I am (behind the scenes) very often.

Being Real.

I try to be super authentic and consistently post on snap chat and Instagram story. Those social media platforms give you a better idea of what I am doing day to day, but not neccessarily who I am.

I wanted to use this blog post to allow you to scratch the surface of who I am. When I really sit down and think about who I am now, where I’ve been before, and where I want to go, many thoughts come to mind. Even just to think that I am actually running a fashion blog blows my mind. I would love to start to give you an idea of who I am by sharing some of my past.

My Past.

Growing up, I was one of the biggest tomboys you could ever imagine. I wore basketball shorts that went past my knee 80% of the time and had a binder full of baseball cards that I collected with my older brother. When I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I didn’t say that I wanted to be a singer, teacher, or doctor, I said I wanted to be in the WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association). To this day, I have never met another girl who had similar ambitions.

When I wasn’t decked out in sportswear, I was extremely girly. I loved shopping at LimitedToo and Abercrombie. When I started to dress myself I was super bold with all of my outfit choices. I never cared as much about what other people thought as long as I felt fabulous in what I was wearing (& some things have never changed).

Overcoming Shyness.

Although I was incredibly bold with my outfit choices, I was extremely shy. I dreaded my birthday dinner every year because when my parents would take me out to eat, I would almost cry when the waitresses and waiters would sing happy birthday to me. I was embarrassed being the spotlight in any situation.

Because of my past and how shy I used to be, I am shocked to see what I am doing now. Starting out my blog was definitely a challenge. I was so confident in my styling ability and fashion knowledge, but nervous about living in front of a camera. Having to go out in public and sometimes even stand in the middle of the street on my college campus scared me half to death.

In the beginning of starting my blog, I would specifically plan my shoots at odd times of the day and in private or not so crowded locations. If people were walking by me, I would pause the photo shoot and pretend I was looking at an email or something. I am telling you guys, I struggled really hard with this part of my blog.

My Words of Advice.

After getting back out there day after day, I started to care less what people were thinking about me. I kept telling myself “if they really knew what I was doing, then I am sure they would be impressed” as well as “when am I ever going to see these people again?”. If there is any advice I can give you guys from my experience, it is to not let other people keep you from reaching your goals and ultimately achieving your version of success. 

Of course, I have a relevant story to back up this advice. A couple months ago, I was doing a photoshoot in my hometown, Cincinnati. When I was posing for the photos, two girls walked by me and started dying laughing. Of course, because I was being self-conscious, I automatically assumed they were laughing at me. I was so tempted to stop my photo shoot and just hope I had some good enough photos.

Luckily I didn’t do that. Instead, I reminded myself that I didn’t even know these girls, I would never even see them again, and who knows if they were even laughing at me to begin with. I decided that in order to make this a successful photoshoot, I couldn’t care what they were thinking. I decided to keep going with the photo shoot and I am so glad I did. To this day, that photoshoot created my most popular photo to date on Instagram.

Fear of Failure.

The number one thing that holds people back from success is their fear of failure. To me, it wasn’t so much failing, but fear of what other people thought. Since that situation, I have learned to tune out everyone around me and really focus on the moment and working toward getting the best possible picture, no matter what people think of me.

That was a little bit about my past and right now, I am a fresh out of college, 22-year-old starting to figure out my purpose and passion in life. I have always seen myself as the hardworking corporate woman. I graduated from Miami’s Farmer School of Business (one of the top ranked business schools in the country) hoping to pursue my career in business.

Planning the Future.

My life has always been planned out to the T, from the moment I was old enough to start caring about my future. In eighth grade, I chose an extremely academically challenging high school so that I could go to a great college and graduate with a degree and a full-time job offer.

When the job search started early into my senior year I was absolutely persistent and determined to get a job offer before Christmas, and after countless interviews that wasn’t going to happen. Then I decided I would push it back until graduation, but I was determined not to walk at graduation without a job lined up.

As you can probably guess, graduation soon arrived and still no job offer, just countless final round interviews leaving me empty handed. This was the first time in my life, where I honestly didn’t know what to do. Every other time in my life, there was a light at the end of the tunnel followed by a next step.

I started to become distressed, confused and anxious about not having a job. I decided to start working part-time at Nordstrom (even if it was just going to be a week) until I officially got that desired job offer. A week has turned into four months so far. During this emotional roller coaster, I have really turned to God and decided to stop trusting and relying on my plan and to start working towards his.

My Faith.

While I had so much trouble in my job search process, I’ve seen immense growth from my blog. I believe that at this point, there was a reason why God was closing doors and saying no to these full-time opportunities in New York City and Chicago.

Although I am not giving up on the job hunt, I have decided to 100% rely on God’s timing and his plan for my life. In this process of waiting, I have been blessed with many other opportunities and relationships. I can’t wait to see what the future holds!

I hope that this blog post painted a better picture of who I am, some blogging situations I’ve struggled with, and advice that you can take with you. Don’t be shy and please feel free to ask me questions below or leave a comment.