What a crazy ride. It is hard to believe that one year ago today I quit my corporate job and decided to pursue blogging full time. I always laugh when I think of that time because I really had no clue how it was going to go. I told my parents I would only be doing it for 2 months then would reenter the 9-5 world. Little did I know what would happen when I was able to fully put my mind/soul/energy into something.
SHOP THIS DRESS
So for anyone new here – I decided to leave my corporate job in product development mainly because the brand I worked on for three years was getting phased out of the company. The company offered to place me on a new team but I knew in my heart that, that was not the decision I was meant to make. I already knew that product development wasn’t the career path for me. I also thought that after I took the time to chase the dream of working on this blog full time, I would probably reenter a 9-5 in social media. At the time all of this was happening in my professional life, Kelly was also making the major decision to move to LA full time and pursue a new job in the PR agency that she worked for. There was a lot of change happening and I thought that maybe the universe was telling me that I needed to give it a try. Sitting here and writing this now, I am so happy that I did.
There truly is nothing in the world that I would rather be doing as a career than this. Looking back I am proud that Kelly and I never gave up. I always like to point out that this did not happen over night. We started the blog in 2013 while we were both in college. We were getting made fun of on the daily by others that didn’t understand or thought we were only looking for attention. We then worked our asses off for three years working two full time jobs in hopes to somehow make this a reality. My timing came at the perfect moment in my life. I desperately needed a change and I have since discovered so much of myself in the process. I have worked this past year to help make Mimosas and Manhattan into a full lifestyle brand covering all topics, including video, bi-weekly blogs, IGTV, Pinterest, Newsletters, Twitter, Facebook and now a separate podcast! Looking back I know none of this would have been possible unless I took that leap of fate.
As some of you may know, from IG stories, I work hard at trying to break the negative connotation that comes along with being a full time blogger. So many think this job is a joke, our parents fund our lifestyles, or we are lazy. However this past year has been nothing but that. I think going into it I did crave that I could make my own schedule, not have a boss, and essentially do what I wanted when I wanted, however I quickly learned that could not be more untrue. I almost get more anxiety if I am a little lazy in this job or hungover in this job than I did in my corporate job. The reasoning for that is because I am solely responsible now for my income and this company I co-founded. If I do not work hard 24/7 then I am not maximizing the potential of the business. In my 9-5 I was going to get paid bi-monthly no matter if I had an off day or a sick day, the paycheck would always be there. That was a harsh reality for me! I think there are many that think we can party/drink whenever we want, sleep in until noon, but that is not the reality. If we were doing that we would not be able to sustain the companies that we have built. I have worked harder this past year than I ever have. What motivates me is wanting to continue being better, money i.e being profitable each and every month (not going to lie!!!), and working with Kelly to make this into an empire HOPEFULLY lol.
However with every success there are also things that we learn along the way. I think I have grown so much this past year. I have made mistakes but I have learned from them. I have had major lows where I doubted myself so severely and beat myself up so badly that I thought I wouldn’t feel normal again. I have drank too much at events because I didn’t have a meeting until 11 the next day, and had to cancel it for being too hungover. I have had severe anxiety and felt lonely at times, but in the end I have been able to turn it around, learn from my mistakes and celebrate the successes I have had. It has truly been a crazy year but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. In all I want you to know that no one is perfect. I am certainly not perfect and as open as I am on the internet in no way is that fully who I am.
Once someone told me that I wouldn’t understand the outside world because my job had me living in a make believe space of rainbows and butterflies. If I can get anything across in this post, it is that, that is not the reality of my life. I never want anyone to think that. There are highs and lows to everyone. The internet and Instagram are only highlights. We are all special, deserving and succeeding in our lives and the world needs more of that positivity. 🙂
Thank you all for coming on this journey with me and Kelly and we hope you stick around for a few more years. 🙂
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