Alicia Tenise

Jacket, Pants, and Bag: ℅ Brooks Brothers

Wow, you guys…it’s been a minute!

Life happened, and I took an unexpected blog hiatus. ICYMI: I am just coming back from a three-week trip. I had every intention of scheduling out several posts to publish before I left, but honestly, life just happened. And when I got to my first destination in California, the Airbnb WiFi was weak, my itinerary was full, and I just couldn’t get into the groove of publishing new posts.

I also had some time to think while I was away: I haven’t done a proper reader survey in over two years, and I think I’m well overdue. To be honest, balancing Instagram, and this blog has been a struggle for me over the past year. Most of the campaigns I take on are Instagram-only, and I’ve been dedicating a lot of energy on those projects — even though I still want my blog to be the primary focus. I had to shoot seven projects in 6 days before I left for my trip, and honestly, I felt creatively drained and unmotivated to work on my own website.

I’m ready to get back to my primary platform. Going into Q4, I plan on taking on less Instagram campaigns and writing more content here. October is shaping up to be a busy (yet fun!) month, and I want to get my priorities straight and my edit calendar finalized before heading into the most hectic quarter of the year.

So: I need your help. I’d love to get your feedback. Below is a short, 9-question survey. As a thank you for your help, you’ll be entered to win a $150 gift card to a retailer of your choice! Survey is below — thank you in advance! I’ll draw a winner on October 1st.
 
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Shop the Look:

 
Pretty early on in my blogging career, someone started a thread about me on GOMI. If you don’t know what GOMI is, it’s a forum where anonymous users can start threads about a particular blogger and let out all of their feelings and criticisms. I never finished reading my thread before it got deleted because most of the comments were harsh (ex. “she’s not even that pretty,” and to that I say: I didn’t realize that I was entering a beauty pageant when I started a blog). However, I did spot one pretty valid criticism: I took on a blog sponsorships campaign that wasn’t a fit, and I did a horrible job trying to integrate the product into a blog post.

I started my blog eight years ago, purely as a hobby. I honestly had no idea that I could make money off of it, let alone that it would end up becoming my full-time gig. Overall, I began doing this  because I liked writing, I loved photography, and I liked fashion. A hobby that combined all three of my passions? Sold! 
 
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