My word for 2020 was significant. Obviously 2020 has been a pretty significant year for everyone! But that word meant so much to me because I felt so insignificant as a blogger in 2019. I was working at Evereve full-time between fall 2019-spring 2020 while trying to maintain a presence on social media using every ounce of free time I had to plan photoshoots, create content and edit. I was DROWNING! I felt so overwhelmed but I knew that I couldn’t give up blogging, then everything changed when I was furloughed from my job in March due to COVID-19.
Before the COVID-19 craziness I was actually trying to switch into a part-time position but it all fell through. I was devastated. I remember praying in my car like, “God, you know I can’t keep going like this – I feel so burned out. Why did this happen?” But God could see what I couldn’t…that I was going to need a full-time job over the next few months. By staying in my position I was able to work for weeks after others had been furloughed and was eligible for unemployment after I was furloughed too. It’s crazy to look back and see how God was protecting me even when it felt like a big disappointment!
After I was furloughed, I decided to turn lemons into lemonade and focus on my blog! I always looked at my blog as a side-gig and never really treated it like a business because I didn’t have the time. Getting furloughed was the best thing that could’ve happened to me because I was finally able to FOCUS on my blog without juggling a job, school, etc. It had my full attention which led to brands paying me for the first time and I was able to earn more in commissions than ever before. Then a crazy thought popped into my head…what if I quit my job and started blogging full-time?
I remember sitting down with Matt and pitching him my idea. As you can imagine…he was skeptical at first to put it nicely haha! After we ran the numbers and took a hard look at our finances, we both realized that it could work. This could actually work! Matt has an amazing job as an engineer and with the income I was bringing in from blogging, we would be on a tighter budget but I could work from home which had always been a dream of mine.
We prayed about it and after a few weeks I let my boss know that I was planning on pursuing blogging full-time. (At this point I had been out of work for 4 months!) Evereve eventually terminated my position and offered me a part-time position with higher pay (a job I would have LOVED to say yes to at the beginning of the year!) but I felt like this was my time to exit. So after I turned them down it was official…I was my own boss!
2020 is almost over and it was absolutely a significant year to say the least! I am in awe of the Lord and the goodness that’s led me here. I want to continue making this a space that inspires creativity, joy and fun even in the hardest times and I hope you all know how much your support means to me! Every DM, message and comment from you is what keeps me going and I know that the best is yet to come!
XO, Lauren
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