The other day a reader messaged me on how to see my very first post on my blog.
It was a question I’ve never got before, but a really good question… & I was also kinda weary/embarrassed. I couldn’t even recall what was that far back.
Basically- she wanted to see what it looked like when I started, so she would stop putting so much pressure on her self to be a pro-blogger right off the bat.
I really dug her thought process & it got me thinking… I don’t think I have ever shared my whole journey into the blog world with you guys?? Maybe tidbits here & there, but today I wanna share all the dirty deets how I entered the world of blogging (so late to the game, I feel like this post should’ve been written like 4 years ago. MY BAD!)
Okay, so rewind to my sophomore year at college, Cal State University Long Beach.
I was working towards my degree in fashion merchandising, so naturally I was spending a lot of time on the computer & had this addiction to saving things to my desktop. Everything, really. I would have save photos of Mary Kate & Ashley, Banksy art I liked, shoes I wish I owned, quotes I found inspiring, etc. etc.
Basically, I had my very own desktop Pinterest going on (I believe Pinterest wasn’t around yet… not to date myself or anything). Eventually, with the photos & the school work, I ran out of space on my computer.
So… I created a blogger account & started to transfer all my inspiration photos to that. I called it Fashionlushxx, which at the time I didn’t realize the xx made people think sex (hence why I dropped it) & it was serious amateur hour.
No words, no format, just a photo of something that inspired me.
Then I started to share things I was doing in school. The full length magazine I made, the first blouse I sewed in my sewing class (which I actually accidentally sewed shut up the front, making it impossible to wear),
My family enjoyed following along with what I was learning, but it was not a real blog by any means. It was a hobby. 100%.
Which in reality, isn’t the way you go about starting a blog from a business perspective, but I didn’t start a blog with the intention of it becoming my business . I started a blog because I just genuinely loved the concept, & wanted a creative outlet. I was a hobby blogger & nothing more.
Also, I didn’t have any examples to follow. Blogging wasn’t big just yet, so I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing or how I “should” be doing it. I was just going with it.
Post graduation, I planned get a 9-5er in the fashion industry (specifically in women’s action sports, not sure why… but that’s what I really wanted to do!) & I definitely tried, but instead landed my self a gig, I kid you not, playing the role of Cheap Sally on social media, the couponing queen. She isn’t around anymore (RIP Sal), but basically Cheap Sally was a couponing website ran by a fictional cartoon Mom, Cheap Sally. I was that coupon clipping Mom. GLAMOROUS, yes?
No… not at all, so I still used the blog as that creative outfit… & this was about the time things started to evolve.
On my lunch breaks I would make my coworker/BFF come take photos of my outfit, or I would have my coworker who was really good at hair braid another coworkers hair & I would photograph it & make a DIY photo tutorial (you can see one of these vintage hair tutorials here). I would spend my nights working on the blog until 2am & on the weekends I would photograph some fun DIY projects (like the DIY colored soles post which was my first post to ever go “viral”!!).
I eventually, somehow, made the switch to WordPress all on my own, which was horrifying, & then taught myself how to code my site & make it beautiful (which is actually the starting point for blog-doo as well!). Sadly I lost a lot of those first posts in the transfer… & although I didn’t know very much, I knew the next step to up my game was to get on WordPress.org.
I became obsessed w/ this whole blog world & when I wasn’t working, my nose was in the computer. More bloggers started popping up around me, I had more examples, & I just kept evolving… but still, nothing more than a hobby & a creative outlet…
…. until I got laid off. I remember it like it was yesterday. My good friend and roommate at the time was the executive assistant in the office so she gave me a 5 minute warning I was about to get the axe, along with about 25 other people. It was sad cause some people started crying, but I was STOKED.
I walked out of that office, got in my car, & called my other best friend… you guys may know her, miss Lauryn Evarts. She had just started The Skinny Confidential with a plan in mind (unlike me) & was SO happy for me that I got laid off. She encouraged me to give it 6 months, take the blog seriously, focus on it, hustle to make rent (worked some freelance during this time), & if it didn’t work… then go back to the working world.
… & the rest is kinda history from there! I mean, here I am today… doing the blog thing & still loving it just as much as when I started, & it may not have ever happened if I didn’t get laid off from my coupon clipping Mom job. Ya feel? Everything happens for a reason (& man oh man, I am SO glad I am not Cheap Sally anymore).
Not all blog stories start the same, & not all end the same either, but if you’re dedicated, creative, & persistent… I honestly believe you can kill it in the blogging world!
OKAY & I’m out (enough talking about me!). Hope you guys enjoyed the story telling time & feel free to ask me any blogging questions in the comments section!!!
ALSO, be sure to shop this gingham look below… cause gingham is just killing it lately & I am super obsessed w/ this fun dress!
x, E
wearing: Lioness ‘Sicilian Affair’ gingham dress | Windsor Smith ‘Racerr’ white flatform sneakers | Missguided chain belt | Quay ‘Santa Fe’ sunglasses
The Edit | Gingham Style
[ PHOTOS BY ARIELLE LEVY ]