I feel like I haven’t told this story on the blog, correct me if I am wrong though. My memory is not the sharpest (note to self: more brain games).

It’s kinda my pet peeve when blogger’s say “the most asked question I get is…”. Not being a hater, but come on, that just comes off as a little ehhh, pretentious, IMO. This post is not the MOST asked question I get. Probably the most asked question I actually get is “WHERE’S LINDA?”.  A post on Where’s Linda would be short- probably at TJ Maxx.

This question is actually just one I’ve just been asked recently on a podcast (listen to it here), & when answering it, I felt bad that I haven’t even told my peeps the story.

So- my life before blogging.

Well, I think I actually kinda sorta started blogging in highschool. Lauryn (aka The Skinny Confidential) & I created something we called DT our freshman year in highschool. DT stood for diary time, & we were obsessed w/ DT.

While other kids would go off campus for lunch, Lauryn & I would huddle up in the hallways cutting out pictures from magazines and gluing them into our journals. It was a book full of collages, but looking back on it now (I still have it), it was like a book full of blog posts on paper.

We were blogging before we even knew what blogging was.

Then, I went to college & DT retired.

TBH- I absolutely hated college to start. I cried & cried & cried when I had to live in a dorm & my parents told me if after 2 months I wanted to come home, they’d let me. Mind you, I went to Cal State Long Beach & was literally one hour from home… but I hate change & I was so homesick.

Obviously, just like my parents probably expected, I made some friends & decided to stick with it past the 2 month mark. I did end up enjoying myself & definitely learned a lot, but PERSONALLY- I probably would’ve done better at FIDM. My parents are not the most traditional, but when it came to college- they were adamant I go to a four year school.

I graduated with a degree in fashion merchandising & a minor in textile development, so the last two years of school were super informative. The first two years, general education, not so much. Ballet 101 & marine biology are probably two subjects I will never need in my practical life. During the end of my college career, I started Fashionlushxx on Blogspot.

Yes, there was originally an XX on the end. The blog, back then, was nothing but a mish mosh of pictures & school projects. It was a way for my family to keep up with my fashion projects & a place for me to dump all my inspo. It was my virtual DT, & that was it.

Post college, my no.1 goal was to work in fashion merchandising in the action sports industry. I had an internship w/ Reef one summer, & it was my DREAM to work for them post graduation. They had told me, once I graduated, to apply… & when I went to apply, I found out the women’s department was no longer.

Scratch that idea.

I went back to the drawing board, talked to some friends, & ended up getting referred to a marketing company who was looking to build a social media team. I honestly wasn’t that hip with social media at the time, still hesitant to sign up for Instagram, but somehow I landed the job.

It was for a coupon website called Cheap Sally *rip babe* & I was to play the actual role of Sally herself. Sally was on Facebook & Twitter and her goal was to be friends with alllll the Mommy bloggers. This was only my first real peek into the lucrative world of blogging, as we were actually paying these bloggers to talk about Cheap Sally. We through huge parties for Mommy bloggers w/ celeb guests like Gordon Ramsey (the Mom’s LOVE Gordon). Little did all these Mom knows, the tipsy girl in the corner who is probably drinking too much champs at a work event is the actual Cheap Sal.

During my time at Cheap Sally, I was learning a lot about the blog world, & began focusing a little more on Fashionlush. Lauryn had turned her DT into what is now the INCREDIBLY popular blog, The Skinny Confidential, & she encouraged me to focus more on Fashionlush (dropped the xx at this point).

On my lunch breaks I would buy a co-worker lunch in exchange for taking photos of my outfit (which look back, those were so ouch), I ended my days editing photos & posting content till 1am, & on the weekends I would do DIY projects for the blog. DIY was my niche back then, so lots of crafting was happening.

Eventually, Cheap Sally closed it’s doors & with it went my job. I remember sitting in a conference room with 15 other Cheap Sally employees, being told we were being laid off, & a few people around me started crying. CRYING. Honestly I couldn’t believe it. It felt like I hit the lotto. I got to sleep in the next day & was now eligible for a little unemployment till I figured out my next move.

I called Lauryn after I packed up my desk, & she said, give blogging 6 months. If it doesn’t work, go back to corporate.

If you know Lauryn or read her blog, you just listen to the bitch. She’s got good advice, I will give her that.

I did need an income, so I worked part time at a ready to wear clothing store called Prêt-à-Porter. It was a small boutique, owned by a firecracker of a lady, Sami Starr. She was also a big player in this story because she allowed me to make an income while being creative.

She taught me how to sew, I was making all my own clothes & selling them in her store, I learned how to make jewelry, opened up my own Etsy shop, & was just living my best self eating & breathing fashion. All I would do at work was create & take photos. Sami let me do my thing, while teaching me so much along the way. She taught me real life shit like how to sew on the bias, the importance of customer service, how to MAKE MY OWN PATTERNS. It was seriously more than I ever learned in school. She also took photos of me for my blog & helped me think of DIY projects for the site.

The blog was able to grow, while I was still able to work. It was the perfect situation. Eventually though, the blog started to get enough traction that I decided to really make it my full time focus. I still remained close with Sami & I will forever owe her for where I am today & my killer skills on the sewing machine.

This is supposed to be a happy story, so I will keep this part short, Sami recently passed away & it has left a huge hole in my heart. She was one of the most talented women I have ever met & taught me more than any education ever could. I now have a Prêt-à-Porter tattoo on my arm so I will always remember her & what she taught me.

Post-Prêt though, is when things for Fashionlush did start to pick up. The more time I could devote to it, the more it would grow & really, the rest is history from there. I didn’t start my blog with the intention of it being a business, it was truly a hobby to get me through college, but it evolved & we grew together.

Nowadays, blogs do need to be started with more intention because it is such a competitive industry, but when I really decided to make Fashionlush my full time job, I did so with a plan. I started with a focus on DIY, which was such a small niche, I really think it helped get me on the map. Once I started to build an audience, I began to branch out to other topics.

Which is probably the best advice I could give anyone looking to start a blog- START SMALL & be a big fish in a small pond.

&… I feel like that’s a good place to end this super long story. If you stuck around till this sentence, thank you for reading!!! I love you all <3 x, E

shop the look:

dark red fur jacket | Motel Rocks ‘artica’ black dress (sold out- similar here & here!)| Public Desire burgundy sock boots | Forever 21 oval sunglasses | Frasier Sterling rose hoop earrings

the edit | not your average LBD

[ PHOTOS BY ZACK DOWDY ]