Coffee Chat Vol. 1

Happy Friday, loves! I am looking forward to a fun weekend ahead. Today I wanted to start a new series called Coffee Chat! For me, there is nothing better than catching up with a friend over coffee. It doesn’t matter if it’s our first time meeting “in real life,” our weekly coffee over breakfast, or catching up after six months of re-scheduling and picking up right where we left off. I’ve made some of my best friends by deciding to grab a coffee together. I’ve also had some of my toughest conversations over coffee.

I decided to bring “Coffee Chat” to Life With Emily as a way to simply chat with my readers! While I wish I could meet and catch up with you all over coffee (#caffeineshakes) this is the next best thing! Every single chat will be a bit different (every coffee date is a bit different, right?) so if you have any suggestions on what you would like to chat about, feel free to let me know below in the comments or email me at emily@lifewithemilyblog.com.

Today I wanted to chat with you all a little bit about life, my blog, and what’s to come! Yesterday was a pretty exciting day for me and my business! I worked with a professional photographer and was interviewed for a local feature about my blog and how I turned it into a full-time career. Some of the questions I was asked really got me thinking about my dreams for my blog and my business.

One of the greatest parts of blogging, in my opinion, is the opportunity for growth. It’s a little bit surreal sometimes when I look back at where this blog started. In the past five years this blog has grown tremendously. When I started taking outfit photos I had a point and shoot Canon camera that I would place on my bookshelf, set the timer, and run over to my “spot” and pose for a photo. LOL. I now have someone who is a professional that I meet with on a weekly basis to shoot outfit photos, sponsored posts, and other features.  I get to work with brands and companies who I would have never imagined of working with five years ago. And there is still a ton of room for growth and improvement which is exhilarating and exciting to me!

But that’s not to say that I live some perfect life and have some perfect job either. I can promise you that’s not the case haha! I am super fortunate to be able to have a job that I enjoy and look forward to every single day. Two years ago I certainly couldn’t say that. I do realize that I don’t have a “conventional” job, but my job still has it’s own set of ups-and-downs just like everyone else’s! Are some days overwhelming and frustrating? Yes. Have I had full on melt downs over screw-ups, business accounting, and other things? Absolutely. Is my boss a total b*tch somedays? Yep! haha jk, but I can be super hard on myself sometimes! Are there things that have happened in my life that I keep private? Of course. 

This year I want to work on growing my blog, growing my audience, and expanding into new verticals on Life With Emily. When I was going through responses on my reader survey, a huge portion of you really want to see more personal posts. You want to see and read more about me and my life. I can’t blame you! While I love blogs that have gorgeous outfits, I am a nosey person and I want to know more about their life other than just what they wear! So this year I am going to try to open up more about myself and my life. To be honest, that really freakin’ scares me!! It’s a little scary to put portions of your life out there for others to read and critique…but I’m willing to step out of my comfort zone! Another thing you all want to read more about is blogging. Everything about it, from how to start one to behind the scenes stuff, so that’s to come! I want this blog to be a space that you all enjoy coming to, just as much as I do. So please if you ever have anything you want me to chat about (or just want to chat with me one-on-one) feel free to email me at emily@lifewithemilyblog.com

I’m looking forward to our next coffee chat, friends! Happy weekend!