Monday Moments: Work Hard Be Nice

It’s been almost 3 months since I’ve started blogging full-time and I don’t know if I was just too busy with law school to notice before but jeez louise is the blogging industry a bit strange and I’ll tell you why. Today’s post will dive into the hard truth about a few bloggers, my overall experience and how I cope with it. If you relate, I’d love to hear your feedback! If you’re new to the industry or just don’t know much about it, I hope to be as real and honest as possible with you so you get a glimpse of my world.

I’ve made a few relatively close blogger friends over the last couple of years but not a lot. I wouldn’t say I have a “clique” or “blogger bestie” as most do. I kind of ride solo and personally, I do like it that way. I created my blog to talk about my style only and my personality should shine through in each and every picture and post. This is my personal space and I absolutely love it because I get to post everything that I like and enjoy and also share my thoughts with you. Honestly, I figured that’s what the industry should be about. Each individual blogger being themselves, sharing what they love and being brutally honest at the same time. However, I’ve noticed that’s not always the case. I’m going to break this down into 3 categories that I believe are important in any career path really and touch on a little of my experience within each category.

BE YOU

This one is everything! There’s a lot of different meanings behind be you and tons of different examples of people that tend to deviate from who they are. For example, this one is small but there are some people that are obsessed with their Instagram feed and how a certain photo should look to the point where they plan ahead and make sure their last 9-10 photos at least look relatively consistent. I used to try and do that but it started to feel less organic and wasn’t really me. I think your overall feed aesthetic matters but it can be easy to lose sight of the overall point of blogging. You’re here to share your story and post relatable things to your audience that happen in your every day life whether it be fashion related beauty, fitness, etc. Life isn’t always consistent so no need to portray a consistent feed if that’s not really the direction your life is going. Also, if you’re not happy with the way your feed looks, take some time and play with a few filters and see what best suits your personality rather than what looks good on another blogger’s feed. You just have to be who you are and let that shine through rather than focusing on how things may look to others or changing who you are to fit a certain aesthetic.

Another example of being you relates to brand sponsorships. It may seem that some bloggers take on sponsorships with brands that they don’t believe in / probably haven’t even tried the product! I’ve chatted with some of you regarding this and you know, it may very well be true. The idea of it bums me out because if you do that, you’re basically just selling yourself out for a paid gig. One thing I’ve always told you guys from the very beginning is that I will ALWAYS be honest. What do I mean by that? When I write a review about product I was given, it’s going to be 100% the truth. If I receive an email from a brand that I don’t believe in or don’t think it fits my personality, I will politely decline. I’m very particular about the brands that I work with and I want to make sure everything I share is something that I already love or something that I’ve at least tried for a few weeks before giving you my feedback.

BE REAL

I was born and raised in Dallas, TX and this will always be a place I call home. When I started blogging full-time, I wanted to be more social and hang out with more Dallas bloggers to network and make a few close friends along the way. I have made a few that I absolutely adore and couldn’t imagine life without them now! However, just as in any industry, there are some real mean people out there. But for some reason, the blogging industry feels a bit like high school. A lot of people actually told me that some bloggers that live close to me are too “cliquey” and quite frankly, just mean. I started noticing that more myself over the last few months when I personally have reached out to a few fellow bloggers and have been ignored or they would respond with faux excitement and stop responding. The funny thing is when I see these girls in person, they’re all happy and friendly…actually the better term to use is fake. They’re just fake. It’s sad that some people are that way! It may be jealousy (but of what?!) or just some internal “clique” disagreement, but I have to say it’s quite disheartening. It’s so important to be real and down to earth (especially in this industry) so it really does suck to see how some people are. I actually took a lot of the negativity and fake behavior to heart but I realized now there’s no point in letting those kind of people have any impact in my life. I’ve learned to ignore, move on and focus on me. If you’ve ever experienced that, do the same! It’s all about quality over quantity when it comes to friendships and fake people are too toxic to keep around.✋🏻

BE HELPFUL

I can’t stress this one enough! When a blogger DM’s me or texts me asking for any help or advice, I’m there for them. I’m not shady, I’m not hiding information, nor am I trying to be competitive. That’s it! It’s SO simple to be nice and helpful, right? No. I don’t know what it is about this industry but there are some girls that are SO competitive to the point where they won’t share contacts, won’t respond to messages, won’t keep you in the loop of future events, etc. It just boggles my mind. The blogging space is big enough for all of us– there is absolutely no need to be so secretive. If you’re a blogger or just starting out, my advice would honestly be just be wary of who you talk to because it sometimes can feel like we’re living in Mean Girls right now.

Just within 3 months of actually focusing on blogging full-time and learning the industry, those are the 3 tips I can really stress and offer you. Some of it is negative but that’s the cold hard truth without any sugarcoating or fabrication. Keep in mind, everything I just wrote really only refers to a handful of bloggers that I’ve personally be in contact with and my own personal experiences. I don’t mean to offend anyone at all by writing this post, I just simply want to share my experience so far within the last 3 months and give you guys the truth of what goes on behind the scenes. I can fortunately say that I have met a few ladies that are the SWEETEST human beings ever and I’m lucky to have them in my life! At the end of the day, there’s a mix of different personalities in the industry and you may encounter the good, the bad or both.

Before I leave, I just wanted to remind you that no matter how small or big you may be, always stay humble and focus on you! It can be easy to get caught up on the little stuff that may bother you and that’s okay. We’re only human. We just have to then figure out how we can move past it and for me, talking to my husband and writing it out really helps! Just remember to keep doing you, work hard and stay nice. If you ever need anything from me, I’m all ears! I’ll always strive to be myself, be real and be helpful towards others. I firmly believe in order to grow in your career you have to grow as a person so no matter what I’m always finding ways to be better me in every aspect of life.💙 Thanks for listening to my experiences / supporting me and as always, we’ll chat soon!

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