The term “Instagram” husband/boyfriend has blown up in the blogging industry over the last few years. I know that some men truly are an Instagram husband/boyfriend in the sense they take their significant other’s photos and call it a day. But let me tell you, my husband is way more than just that and he DOES way more than just that. He is my genuine business partner.
I started my blog in 2015 because Ajeet, my boyfriend at the time, went to Costco and bought a camera. I remember we talked about the idea of blogging for months but we really didn’t know where to begin. He finally told me that the only way to really learn is to just do it and so he bought a camera in 2015 and has been taking my photos ever since.
That’s not all he did though. Ajeet was not only the reason I started my blog but he also is the reason my blog is still running. He was the guy behind the scenes that took my photos, edited my photos, built my website from the ground up, worked on SEO for the website and constantly came up with creative ideas for the business. More than all of that, he’s been my biggest and earliest supporter. A lot of you know I went to law school in Dallas, TX and after I graduated, I decided to take a leap of faith and move to LA to pursue blogging full-time. It was such a difficult decision because I didn’t want to let anyone down around me but I just knew I was meant to be doing something else. Ajeet was one of the few people that not only supported my decision to blog full-time but encouraged me as well. He has been my biggest supporter since day one! Even when I lost friends and had doubters from every direction, that only encouraged us more to keep going.
Ajeet did all of that while maintaining his full-time job. It was not until April of 2018 that my work ethic + endless grind and his constant support + help lead us to be in the position where he could join Next With Nita full-time. We both worked our brown butts off for 3 years straight to get to the point where we could support both of us in LA from our blog. Ever since he quit his job, he’s taken on more tasks including being the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and CGO (Chief Goofball Officer) of the company!
There is truly a lot that goes into running your own successful business, it’s not just about having an Instagram husband. One day, I’ll write a post or show you in video form of all the things we do and how crazy things get behind the scene to keep things running at Next With Nita. Here’s the thing: you wear many hats as an entrepreneur. From actually leading the company to executing the day-to-day tasks to keep the business running. That means finance, operations management, publicity manager, graphic artist, creative mind, marketing manager, production, bookkeeper, etc. We wear every single one of those hats and then some. Most influencers hire an intern to do their social media (responding to comments, engaging) but that’s nothing something I chose not to delegate because you all follow me for me and deserve a response from me (or Ajeet!). We handle most everything in house and that’s how we like it. Without Ajeet in the picture, my business a) wouldn’t be a family business but b) wouldn’t even be here today. We are teammates, we are #SuperManns.
Thank you all for reading this and your continuous support. Ajeet and I seriously owe everything to you all because without you, we wouldn’t be able to live our dream! I’ve said this before but we have a long way to go. We are focused on slow and steady growth, cultivating the community we have now and continuing to build a strong foundation so that we can grow into something more. We have much bigger goals and plans for our future and we’re only getting started. Just know we are working nonstop to not only maintain our growth, but to continue finding creative ways to build in the industry and keep the trust we’ve built with each and every single one of you. It’s a tricky industry so you have to be in it for the right reasons to really see true growth, you know? It takes a lot to run a successful blog and create such a beautiful community and I thank my business partner and not Instagram husband, Ajeet, every single day for doing this with me hand in hand.
That’s right, my business partner. Not just an Instagram husband.
Nita Mann and her business partner, not Instagram husband, Ajeet Mann
