Ohhhhh, the question that I get asked more often than I’d like to admit.
It’s weird. “Are you going to do this full time?”
And by
this
, we’re talking about blogging/influencing/content creating. Whatever you want to call it.
If you asked me 5 years ago if I’d ever take my blog full time, I’d probably told you a hard no. But now? I don’t know. I’m still leaning towards no, but the more I get asked the question, the more I entertain the idea of taking this business full time.
COLLABORATIONS WOULD BE EASIER
Do you know how defeating it is when I was invited to a breakfast or lunch meeting/event and couldn’t attend because of my 9-to-5? I’m lucky enough to work with brands who understand my schedule, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have the time to create and foster these relationships with brands by attending early events with them.
I’d also be able to have more time to dedicate to content. Although I think I’m doing a decent job with my content, I feel like I could be more thoughtful with it. Right now, Allie and I meet every few weeks to get a ton of content in. I typically shoot 1 look in 15-20 minutes. We’re QUICK. But imagine I had ALL day long to think through different locations? Take time with my outfit post? I’m sure things would look a lot different over here.
TRAVEL WOULD BE EASIER
This is another thing I think about. A lot of the times, I can’t go on trips because I have a set number of vacation and personal days. I have to be very strategic with how I plan my PTO days. And on the days we’re in market? Can’t even think about that.
BUT IT’S NOT THAT EASY
I’ve been seeing a lot of, “Influencing isn’t hard.” And then the whole “it’s not rocket science or you’re not saving a life” debate comes into play. And then it blows up. I get really sick of that argument because you can make these arguments about any traditional 9-to-5. Like hi. I work in the fashion industry. I assort product and help with inventory opportunities to help grow a business. Am I saving lives? Absolutely not. Is my job hard? Yeah, it can be tough when you have a lot of expectations to meet.
My point is, it’s not easy to be an influencer and
be successful enough to make it your full time income
. A lot of people have really weird misconceptions about those who run make a full time income from their Instagram and websites. The Internet makes it very easy to assume that everyone’s lives are perfect. Either audiences assume an influencer has EVERYTHING together based on their posts. But who actually knows what’s going on in that influencer’s life?
It’s a highlight reel. Nothing more and nothing less.
Sure, there could be vulnerable moments, but for the most part, it’s only the good things.
While we show what goes on “behind the scenes” it’s still a lot of highlights…even if there are stressful moments involved.
We loooooove the idea of hustling
. We looooove showing that side off online.
And health insurance. Don’t get me started on that. When I started my new job, my insurance didn’t kick in for 60 days. I had to pay $900 for shitty health insurance (that didn’t include dental…and I need a lot of dental work/care). If I did this full time, there’s no way I could afford $450 a month without sacrificing something else in my life. It’s just not something I want to do right now.
So if you made it this far, I guess I don’t necessarily want to change up my lifestyle right now. The dual income, the security of steady biweekly paychecks, the benefits, working in the fashion industry…it’s all keeping me chained to that 9-to-5 life. And right now, I’m ok with that. It works for me. It’s not easy by any means. But it works.
For now.