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| Image via Coming Up Roses |
I am literally bouncing out of my chair with so much excitement over this Meet the Blogger feature! This month I interviewed one of my ABSOLUTE favorite bloggers, Erica from Coming Up Roses! I admire Erica’s passion and drive for not only her blog, but her life outside her blog as well. She is goal-oriented and beams so much positivity that readers can’t help but feel inspired after every post or Sunday evening CUR newsletter! Check out my interview with Erica below:
–Tell me a little about yourself – I love strong coffee, bold lipstick, leopard print, high heels, inspiring quotes and joyful people. I’m 22-years-old and about to graduate from the Wharton School at UPenn, get married, get a house and launch a business, all within six months – so I’m crazy. Ha! I’ve got a bit of a candle obsession. And a shoe obsession. And a bag obsession. And I’m one cat short of crazy cat lady status.
-When did you start your blog and what got you motivated to start blogging? – I started my blog in September of 2013 but didn’t start “seriously” blogging until about a year and a half later! I had been writing for a fashion magazine at my school and just wasn’t feeling totally fulfilled – I wanted to do more and I wanted complete control of the process instead of going through multiple rounds of editors. I also really loved feeling like people were positively impacted from reading my writing. I wondered if I’d have any luck at starting a platform that could be a sort of inspirational community for people. So I started Coming Up Roses!
-How did you come up with the name Coming up Roses?My mom actually came up with it! (We’re besties). It stems from a few things. 1.) “Everything’s coming up roses” is a pretty popular cliche, but I think it’s missing the realism of life on one side…and also nailing it on another. Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, so blindly going through with a false sense of optimism could be really detrimental, actually. BUT, life IS sortof all roses. Roses are so beautiful…but they’re not without their thorns. They bloom and eventually wither and die. It’s like us, in a sense…we’ve all got limited time, we’re not perfect, but we’ve gotta make the absolute most of it all while we’ve got a chance.
-How has your blog change since the beginning? – It’s just gotten more professional, for sure. I used to have grainy iPhone photos and whatever texts and colors floats my momentary boat and just didn’t necessarily think of it as a business – just a personal diary basically! Now…it’s just totally different. I try to keep it still super inspiring and uplifting and useful, though!
-Describe yourself in three words! – Bold, joyful, eclectic
-You are currently juggling so many things. What is your advice on keeping sane and getting everything done?– LOL I would say I’m debatably sane at this point. 😉 Prioritize and know that it is TOTALLY OKAY and TOTALLY NORMAL to NOT be able to “do it all.” When I try juggling every single thing at one time, it’s just a total hot mess. Compartmentalizing your brain is key! Be able to look at something objectively and determine whether or not it’s something worth handling right this very second, or if it should be pushed to the back burner for the time being when something more important for the right now has come up. If it’s on the back burner, keep it there until you’re ready for it. Trying to actually juggle it all at once is a recipe for disaster…and burn out and anxiety and sadness. Also surround yourself with amazing people who support you, love you, and are there for you through thick or thin. SO necessary.
-What is the best compliment you’ve received? Wow that’s tough – anytime I get a compliment it just completely makes my day, even if it’s just a stranger saying they like my shoes at Starbucks haha. But I’ve gotten a couple from people saying that I “inspire them everyday” or that they look up to me, and a few from people who got a lot out of a lot of my more in-depth blogging or branding-related posts on CUR, and those mean the world to me. I just really want to help people and be able to positively impact people’s everyday lives, even when we’re miles apart. So if people get that from reading CUR, that makes me really happy. (*TIP* Start a folder on your desktop with screenshots anytime anyone leaves you a compliment or nice words. Save it for a rainy day when you’re feeling hard on yourself or sad, then pull up a few to remind yourself of your own awesome!)
-You’re very knowledgeable in brand strategy and blogging in general, what is one piece of advice all bloggers need to hear to have a great blog? Think of everything through the eyes of a first-time reader. Whether you’ve got a blog or a business or both, don’t hit “publish” on anything that you wouldn’t be okay with someone seeing on your space for the very first time. If it’s not your best work, but that day a ton of new peeps show up to check you out, you might turn them off with content that’s not your best – and that’s not fair to either of you! They deserve your best, and you deserve to attract the right people with your fabulous content. Before you publish a less-than-stellar picture or throw up a quickie post just for the sake of posting, think, “If someone come to my blog for the first time today and sees this, will they come back? Will they want more? Or will they not care?” It’s a harsh reality check sometimes, but I swear it really helps up your game and take *yourself* seriously, too!
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| Image via Coming Up Roses |
xoxo
Olivia
Love the interview. It is always nice to know more about the blogger behind the blog and I think a interview post like this is great 😀
Xx Blue Ducklings
http://www.blueducklings.wordpress.com
Fantastic interview 🙂 Enjoy learning about other bloggers and why they do what they do! Great share!
Awwwwwwww she seems so sweet! I'm going to check out her blog now!
THANK YOU so much for featuring me, sweet girl!! I'm so honored. 🙂
Coming Up Roses
Loved hearing these things from Erica! Just this weekend I had my own personal melt-down over not being able to "do it all" but I feel so much better since I changed some things I was doing. Not being able to do it all doesn't mean I can't do it at all either. There's usually a happy medium.
I am glad you liked the interview! I always love finding new bloggers!
Thank you so much!
YOU'RE AN INSPIRATION!!! Lets hang out
Thank you for the wonderful responses!! xo
I am so glad this inspired you! I am the exact same way and often find myself stressed out because I can't do it all! Erica is so inspiring and helpful in that department! xo
This was great. Erica is super inspiring!
http://www.thewonderlanders.com
I'm so glad you like it, Em! xo
Welcome Erica. Nice to see you here. And I love your mint blazer in the pic 🙂
http://perkymegs.com/
Lovely post, dear! .x
http://www.fayeisabella.co.uk