OKAY GUYS…. I guess today, I am kind of interviewing myself? I went through & pulled some of my fave interview questions that I’ve been asked & just combined them for you guys. Kind of an interview mash up? Remix? Compilation? IDK…. but I thought it’d be fun!

I have done a handful of interviews with amazing people over the years & thought it’d be cool to share them with you guys. I was just googling “Fashionlush Interview” & reading through some of these questions I kept thinking: “BUT WAIT, DO MY READERS KNOW THESE ANSWERS?”… it felt weird other people’s readers knew all this about me/the blog/my business/etc. & you guys may not know this information!!

There are so many great questions about branding, how I came up with the name FASHIONLUSH, what the dark horse means, how we started blog-doo, and SO MUCH MORE! Enjoy bbys.

How and why did you start blogging and creating content full time?

I started blogging in 2009 while I was working towards my college degree in Fashion Merchandising. Blogging was pretty new to me, & new in general, but I became obsessed with reading blogs & reading blogs consumed A LOT of my time! Eventually I just went ahead and started one of my own. It was a hobby at this time, because my main focus was school, but I was having a lot of fun with it.

Another reason I started a blog, my computer’s memory was full. HAHA. I was saving so many inspirational cool things to my desktop that I ran out of memory. I then put those images on my blog. Fashionlush in 2008 included a lot of photos of Mary Kate & Ashley. lol.

You can read alllll about my blog journey here & here!

What is the story behind the name, “Fashionlush”?!

Being that I was in college when I started the blog- everyone around me was a lush, in a totally normal college way *aka drinking a lot*. I enjoyed getting loose at karaoke night every week, but my main focus during this time was fashion & school. So… Fashionlush vs. boozy lush just worked at the time. I made it one word to be different, I guess, everyone loves to called it “FASHION LUSH” but I am quick to correct.

I am lucky I love the name, because it’s actually not how I would recommend anyone start their blog current day. The whole process needs way more thought & planning, but also not TOO much thought/planning or you will be faced with a serious failure to launch problem.

Think about it, but don’t over think it when choosing a blog name. Always get second opinions as well, because if I didn’t, I may still have that horrid xx attached to my blog name (if anyone remembers OG Fashionlush… it was originally Fashionlushxx, which was giving off porn vibes to some. LOL.

What does the quote in your Instagram bio “my money’s riding on the dark horse.” mean?

I can’t remember who came up with the DARK HORSE thing, but I thinkkkk it was Lauryn. Basically the idea behind it was I am kinda quiet behind the scenes & also not always the most confident in my abilities- but then I would just come out with a bang.

Example: Lauryn’s wedding. I was DYING NERVOUS about my speech, but then I did my speech & you couldn’t tell I was pissing myself & it was a really fucking great speech. DARK HORSE vibes. Get it? The quote itself, I was googling dark horse one day & that quote popped up. It really resonated with me & I LOVED IT.

Favorite post you’ve ever written?

My favorite post is probably the one when I came out to my readers about my struggle with pretty severe anxiety. I wrote that post for me because my anxiety was spiraling & I was honestly reaching out for help. The response I got was overwhelming. Just knowing I am not alone in that struggle helped me so much & I have since gotten the chance to help other women struggling with debilitating anxiety (which has also helped me with my own!).

How did you learn to find and share you voice on your blog? Were you always comfortable sharing your voice on the blog?

I definitely wasn’t always comfortable sharing my voice on the blog. In the beginning I feel, looking back, I was trying to fit a mold of what I assumed people liked. Over time, the longer I blogged the more confident I became & my voice just evolved with the blog!

I think finding your voice is always a process though but my best advice is to just try to be yourself & pretend you’re talking to a friend. I talk to myself a lot when writing a post cause saying things out loud helps me really think about how I would authentically say something.

What is the question you get asked most as a blogger and influencer? Any tips and tricks for someone new to the blogging world?

I think the question I get asked the most would be just that- how do you become a blogger. It is such a loaded question & so much goes into it. I started it as a hobby knowing very little, but now it is a competitive industry so you really have to go into it with a solid plan. That is not to intimidate anyone- but it’s just a good idea to be strategic before you jump in head first!

If you check out my blog life section, I have tons of post to help you get started!

If someone is struggling to figure out their niche in blogging, do you recommend a niche? If so, how do you think they can go about narrowing it down?

I definitely recommend a niche to start. Once you gain a loyal following, you can branch out more, but it’s smart to start small. There are so many bloggers these days, you have to find what makes you a big fish in a small pond rather than being a small fish in a huge ass ocean.

When trying to determine your niche- think about what you want to see that is missing in the blog space, what you’re passionate about, what you’re good at, & how you plan to provide your readers with useful content versus fluff content. You can’t just be a fashion blogger anymore, you have to provide your readers with more value than just links to your outfits!

What has been your “favorite” hurtle or challenge as a blogger?

I think the biggest challenge with blogging is juggling all of the content creation. It’s not as seamless as it may look. Getting the perfect shot for Instagram, along with getting up a great blog post, it’s a lot to manage sometimes along while still trying to have a social life away from the computer.

ALSO- the competition factor amongst bloggers is annoying & the inauthenticity I come across way too often in the blogging world. I have worked hard to build an authentic audience, so when I see bloggers buy their way to the top & it WORKS for them… it can be very upsetting. You can spot an inauthentic blogger miles away, but they are getting jobs before me & that can definitely be frustrating! I did a post on inauthentic blogging that kinda breaks down how to spot it, & how not to let it hinder your own personal growth.

Tell us about blog-doo, the blog design company you started with your BFF, Lauryn Evarts from The Skinny Confidential. What is it the most rewarding and the most difficult aspect of owning a business with your BFF?!

blog-doo is a blog design company we started 6 years ago & it has been such a fun experience! We are both super passionate about helping other women create their own badass brands/blogs that they are proud of. The internet is vast & there is room for anyone… it’s all about collaborating, not competing, which is WHY we wanted to create blog-doo!

The most rewarding aspect of owning a business with my best friend is the fact we get to be creative together. We are always having brainstorming meetings, planning the next project, & calling each other at all hours of the day with fun new ideas.

The most difficult aspect is we bicker like sisters haha. We have been best friends for 16 years so I think it comes with the territory. Luckily we get over things pretty fast, like one hour & we’re on the phone again shooting the shit about something else.

How did you learn to code and how long did it take you to learn how to code?

I actually taught myself how to code back in the days of Myspace. Lauryn & I wanted the prettiest Myspace accounts, so of course I started learning HTML so I could customize our pages. I forgot about coding for a long time until I started the blog. I am a sucker for good design, so I started relearning code (HTML, CSS, PHP) to style my blog. I did a few blog redesigns, got pretty good at it, then I did Lauryn’s blog… & that is what gave us the idea to start blog-doo. I loveeee coding. It’s nerdy I guess, but I have a lot of fun coding & figuring out how to do cool new things to my site & our client’s sites!

What was the catalyst that brought you to creating the Fashionlush Presets? It works so well with the Fashionlush brand… how did you come up with that?

the reason I did the presets was mainly because I started sharing some before & after editing pics called “tap to edits” on my insta-stories. I was getting SO many DM’s asking what filter it was & since it was always my Lightroom presets & I hated I couldn’t give a more accessible answer!! I already had my presets made & tweaked to perfection- so I figured it made the most sense to share them with everyone. Editing photos is one of my favorite parts of blogging, so this has been a lot of fun for me & I am already working on more presets (coming soon!).

What’s your biggest secret weapon for editing on the go? Any app you couldn’t live without?

When it comes to editing on the phone, I kinda hate it because I have so much more control in Lightroom using the Fashionlush Presets… but I’d say my holy grail app is FaceTune!

I use the whitening tool to remove the YELLOW from my photos (hate yellow) & obsessed with the details tool. Details tool is great for collaborations because you can really make a product POP from the photo (you can sharpen up the brand name or the entire product- i.e. jewelry!!). Details tool also looks great on eyelashes, glassware (trust me, throw a pretty glass cup into your flatlay & use the detail tool- loveeee this!), & any important outfit details.

What I’m Wearing: