Get You a Girl That Can Do Both

You're probably here because you heard my announcement and want to get ALL the deets!  It's true, I'm heading back into the corporate sector and for the first time ever since I started working, I'm actually a little excited.  Why?  I think it's because it's more of a choice right now than a necessity.  For months now, my husband has been asking if I'm going back to work or going to remain a full time blogger.  With him being an accountant, his question came from both a place of financial security and also just knowing I was getting bored.  I resigned from my job back in 2015 to spend more time with my family.  Well that same family is now off in school all day and they don't really need me as much as they did then.  And guess what?  The Blogger/Influencer life doesn't really fill my day entirely and I'll tell you why...

Being a full time Blogger is different for everyone.  Personally, I wanted to collaborate with brands but didn't realize the amount of value you lose as an Influencer by promoting products non-stop.  This was never a route I wanted take.  Reviewing + Sharing things on my own is one thing but being paid to share something with my audience is very different.  At first it seemed too lucrative to turn anything down and it almost made me feel popular to have so many different brands wanting to pay me to promote their products.  $75 to post a flyer on Instagram, I'll take that.  $750 to create a YouTube tutorial, sure!  Continuing down this path helped pay my bills for the past two years so I don't want to pretend like it's nothing.  What I do want to share is that it's value draining.  Sure, you may continue to grow your following as your pictures and videos are reposted but slowly you will realize your engagement numbers begin to drop.  People will begin to trust you less when it comes to product promotion and before you know it, you're not influencing ANYONE.  You are in fact, working for the brands not yourself.

These days I've limited the number of brands I work with in a week and in a month.  In the past month alone, I've turned down $1900 (exactly) in offers from brands.  If I don't like the direction a brand is taking, then I respectfully ask to withdraw as it does not align with who I am.  While this does limit the amount of money I can make each month, I feel it keeps me honest.  I started doing this at the same time as my youngest began going to school all day.  So literally overnight, I had a ton of time on my hands.  Because my services are priced right, I'm still bringing in the money we need but it's not bringing in the money we want truthfully.  Bills are being paid, we are able to shop and go out to eat frequently but we want more.  We want to travel and even more, we want to buy a home.  Do you know how hard it is to buy a home using the income as a Blogger/Influencer?!  GIRL.  It's like being black.  Everything has to be 3-4 times better than what is normally accepted.  Down payments are tripled and Income is scrutinized like no other.  It's nearly impossible unless you have YEARS under your belt.

Going back into the workforce seemed like the logical decision.  I left my career for my family and my family doesn't need me (as much) anymore.  Hotel Sales has been a passion of mine for years and I've really missed the day to day action that comes with it.  Let's not forget that I left at the top of my game so returning would never be an issue for me.  When I resigned, I had been a Director of Sales for over three years with a yearly revenue responsibility of producing over $900K per year for my hotel.  ON. MY OWN.  I don't mean to toot my own horn (toot toot) but I'm damn good at what I do and it comes really easy to me.  So, why not just do both?!?  I know this Blogger game well enough for it to be a sizable side hustle and my career in Hotel Sales can easily bring in a hefty salary.  Seems like a no brainer.

So on Monday, I will start a new job as a Director of Sales + Marketing for a hotel!  Nothing will change for me as far as Blogging/Influencing goes but I will definitely need to restructure my time and manage it better.  The best part about all of this is that we already know that this job is not required for our family to function financially.  Should I be needed at home again in the future, it won't be an issue.  For now, this is our plan.  Thanks for all the encouragement and kind words left on my Instagram announcement.  I smiled reading every single comment and especially hard because some of you have been with me before any of this.  Guess I'm taking you all on yet another journey with me!  LOL... Let's go!

XOXOMCS