Hello, beautiful people! I know it has been a very long time since I’ve posted a blog post! If you knew half of what has been going on then you would certainly understand. I don’t even know where to begin but I will try and make this as quick and transparent as possible. So grab your popcorns, drink and kick back and relax girl!
First, my family and I moved out of Maryland. I am still mind-blown that this even happened. I have so many emotions and I can’t even put them into words. But it happened. I will say that I am going to miss being there. Although I had no intentions of living in MD in the first place, God had a plan for me being there all along. I met my husband and my in-loves, had our babies, met amazing friends, learned how to be on my own, how to use the transit system and more.
Also, I received my Master’s degree there, learned a lot about the hood, different cultures and so much more. I even started my blog there and here I am 6 years later, still going at it! I’ll do a blog post on what I’ll miss and not miss about that place. With the good, I experienced a few bad times that made me hate being there. I tried to leave and escape that place on many occasions. But God kept me or led me back there for a reason. But through it all, my time there was for a reason and a season and now the time has come to leave it all behind and begin a new life with my little family down in Texas!
Second, as you can see, my blog has a new name, new look and all of that good stuff!! If you don’t know, I am about to 30 soon Y’all. As I am entering this new decade of my life, I feel this sense of change coming upon me. A change in all things spiritually, mentally, financially and professionally. I don’t think I shared my journey on here in depth but I will give you a synopsis on how and why I started my online journey.
August 2013, I left my Government job to become a stay at home mom. I started blogging back in 2012 documenting my natural hair journey but that was about it. Once I noticed that I didn’t have anyone to talk to while at home in the daytime since my husband and friends were working, I needed an outlet to keep my mind off the silence. So I continued to blog and started to incorporate my feelings about becoming a first-time mommy into my blog. Then one day, I started looking up a hair tutorial on YouTube. Keep in mind, I used to go on YouTube to listen to music or look up tutorials.
Then one day, I realized that although I was blogging about my hair, that I could do my own tutorials. So I got on my old HP laptop and started talking on it and uploaded my first video in September of 2013. As I started getting into the YouTube thing, I noticed that there were regular people who literally picked up a camera and shared their day to day lives. When I saw that, I thought that was pretty interesting and something that I thought that I could do as well to keep me occupied. Once I had my daughter and told my husband about it (I had to make sure he was okay with it since he’s an introvert and not into the cameras like that) I started vlogging my journey as a new mom and wife.
Well, here I am 5 years later still blogging and content creating! I had no idea that I would still be doing this, years later. Let alone starting this in the first place. But this journey has NOT been easy OR the best. Although I love it and it is a passion that I love doing (both blogging and content creating) I have had my moments of uncertainty as to why I am doing this. Honestly, I want to go back to work.
I LOVE to work, make money and now that I have two kids, I have to take care of my little family, save money for their future and ours as well. You don’t understand I keep applying for jobs but NO ONE wants to hire me or they find me unqualified for the job. I have over 50 denial emails and letters from employers since becoming a stay at home mom. Honestly, I’m embarrassed to share that but it’s my reality.
Being a full-time creator is NOT cheap. You have to invest A LOT of money into your craft to make sure that you are producing great and high-quality content. I feel like I have been investing a lot of time, energy AND money into my craft and I haven’t seen much return on investment on my part. Money that I don’t have at times or have to wait until our means allow. I can’t buy clothes, products, and stuff for my videos how I want because I don’t have a 9-5 to invest back in my online business how I would like.
At first, I wasn’t doing it for the money because I was confident that I would be working my dream job by now. Seeing as to how things have changed since I’ve started, no one wants to hire me and the potential to make a living online is there, I have no other choice at this point.
Some, if not most of the brands that I have worked with have ONLY been collaborations because I love the products. But it still takes A LOT of time and energy to create content to promote free products. I know my numbers are small compared to other influencers but I’m still learning and working to build organically. I have turned down A LOT of opportunities because exposure doesn’t pay the bills or our student loans. And I’m not going to promote just anything that I don’t use or believe in for exposure or a check!
I have wasted a lot of money on coaching, courses (I’ll do a post on that soon) and other stuff to the point where I can’t give another coin to someone who is living in mansions and driving Benz by selling courses for $1000 to tell me things that I already know while I still struggle. This is not to throw shade because obviously, they’re living better than me but these “know the strategies, overnight” coaches and courses are something else and getting out of hand.
I say all of this to say I would love to go back to the corporate world. I will still be applying for jobs in Texas. For the time being, I will be running my blog and channels as a full-time job! #JesusTakeTheWheel Obviously, God has kept me on this journey for a while now. I’ve tried to quit and give up on it plenty of times but somehow, I’m still doing it. So I’m willing to humble myself, take my eyes off of my own plan and let God take the wheel on this one here.
At this point in my life Y’all, I don’t want to stress, worry and feel sad about what I’m to be doing in my life. I am more than just a stay at home mom. But it is certainly one of the best jobs in the world! Most of my friends have careers, making 6-figures, have certifications and doing very well. And I’m here almost 30 willing to settle for a cashier job at Target just to invest in my business and take care of my kids. I’m literally letting God take control at this point.
My journey is not like everyone else’s. I didn’t just quit my corporate job to be my own boss. I didn’t have money saved up to live off of while pursuing my passion. All of this was new to me when I first started so I LITERALLY had to (and still am) work my way from the ground up with little to nothing! And it has been HARD. But I am no quitter so I’m going to continue to work at it and see where it leads me. It’s time for me to stop allowing myself (because it’s me stopping me) to keep making up excuses and allowing fear to keep me from fulfilling my dream of going from a Broke Stay At Home Mom to a Successful Work From Home Mom!
I’m in a new place with no family or friends! So I have to keep myself occupied and working while I’m at home. I will post and create content weekly on all of my platforms. I am going to put a lot of effort, time and creativity into my craft so that not only will you all love it and engage with it but I will be proud of myself! This is something that I have always wanted for myself but never had to courage or desire to do. All I could focus on was getting a “real” job. I was down because my views, subscriber count and numbers weren’t growing as fast as others.
I felt like I was failing as a mother because I wasn’t making much money on my part to take of my kids how I wanted. Thank God my husband has supported me through all of this and made sure I had everything that I needed on this journey. But the independent woman in me likes to work hard and make money on my part. Blame my hard-working immigrant family! It’s in our blood.
As I journey into full-time entrepreneurship for the 100th time, I pray that you all will understand and continue to support me. I PROMISE to remain authentic, real and engaging as usual because I love conversing with my beautiful and amazing supporters. I am BIG on photography and how my photos and videos look. Some may look like ads. But it’s just me sharing products that I honestly like, using or just a casual moment. I want to make sure that I am executing my brand in a way that is satisfying to me, my followers and brands that follow me or I desire to work with.
Of course, I will let you all know when something it is a partnership by disclosing it. That FTC is nothing to play with and I will not get caught slipping. If it is an ad, it will be disclosed at the beginning, no excuses. (#ad or #sponsored will be displayed at the beginning) If no disclosure is there, it’s just a good image that I love and wanted to share lol! And I pray that all these sleepless, crying nights, financial investments and research that I have done will PAY OFF somehow.
That way, I can share my experience and knowledge from my journey to inspire and push someone trying to do the same because I want to see everyone win! There is room for all of us and when one wins, we ALL win!
So Cheers to new beginnings, Y’all! Whew, I don’t know about Y’all but I’m excited about change. I may not know what exactly is coming. I have faith the size of a mustard seed that God is going to blow my mind. Since I’m willing to let go and let Him have his way literally, I can feel it. Like, I always say that but then I tend to take matters into my own hands. He doesn’t operate like that. Either I’m going to trust him or I’m not. So I’m going to let him have his way and work on being a better me. I want to enter Chapter 30 a brand new woman! Let’s get it! What are some new beginnings that you are looking forward to?!