I started my blog, The Sweet Life, in 2011 after becoming a big fan of other people’s blogs. The first one I loved was Eat, Live, Run — and I actually still love watching Jenna on Instagram stories today. Reading her blog made me realize I could write one too and so it began.
It has been a lot of fun over the years. I’ve made some really cool friends — like Ashley and Theodora — and worked with some awesome brands. My favorite opportunity the blog brought me was a 2-year relationship with Reebok where I was able to attend the CrossFit Games as media via Fitfluential. To be honest, blogging is really what drew me to CrossFit after reading on other people’s blogs — namely Tina’s — how much people loved it.
Going to the CrossFit Games twice was honestly a dream come true. I was flown out to California, stayed at a beautiful resort, got a TON of free clothes and gear for years and met all the top athletes. It made me fall in love with the sport even more — and have more respect for the athletes than I dreamed. As you know, I still love me some CrossFit and always will. And given that the Games were this past weekend, I was kinda wishing I could have been there!
Outside of that, though, I have attended several fun conferences and events that got me out of my comfort zone, inspired me and helped me see the power I had to create something that had influence. I loved my time working with Mizuno, Balance Bar, Premier Protein, Chobani and other brands I’m still a fan of today. I’ve been able to share my life, tips, ideas, fears, loves and more with the world via my blog.
For a couple of years there, I was getting quite a bit of traffic and really building it up, but never found a way to take it to the next level. So in the past few years, I’ve taken it down a notch and don’t blog much anymore. Gaining traffic became harder as the blog market got oversaturated so I stopped looking at it as a business opportunity. Though I’ve made thousands of dollars over the years, it wasn’t sustainable as a full-time working mom.
And I started to get embarrassed when people would mention my blog name in bios for speaking gigs related to work. It just didn’t fit anymore. I finally took the plunge and got rid of “The Sweet Life” last week. My website looks similar but the name is gone and the URL is changed. I’m transitioning to a more professional type of site now that I’m more focused on making a name for myself as a writer and expert in other fields.
I’m not sure what this transformation will really be and I’m sure I will still use the site for occasional personal posts — or to say what I want to say when I need somewhere to say it, but my “blog” days appear to be over and I’m okay with that. And eventually, I will get a real redesign but for now, I’m just trying to figure what I’m doing with myself.
I’m hoping to do more writing, gain more public speaking experience and to start another book sometime in the near future. Currently, I’m praying, searching, thinking, dreaming about what that book could be about. So far, the “one thing” hasn’t clicked but I’m hoping it will soon. I’d love nothing more than to have that project before me as a new big goal.
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