BF Turns 2 Bloggiversary Party Co-Hosted by HomeGoods & Hope At Home - fashion illustration by Kara Endres of Sprinkles in Springs and cake by Magnolia Bakery - Photo by Takahiro Watanabe
When I started this little adventure called BeautyFrosting 2 years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I had never written a blog. Actually, I had never even really read a blog! I mean they seemed like such a fad and, um, who had the time?
How BeautyFrosting came to be.
Then one day I found myself in Dallas sitting at our fave family spot, Mi Cocina, pondering the possibility of moving home from LA to Dallas. I was at the lowest point of my life having ended a 7-year relationship and having left my job that I’d had for years with Barbra Streisand as her personal shopper. I was down, depressed and my life wasn’t looking so beautiful.
I was searching for an answer and I found it while talking to my mom and one of my oldest, best friends – Kristin Merritt Liles. We were talking about beauty, baking and how much I love connecting with people and came up with the crazy idea of starting a place of positivity and light filled with all of the people and things I love so much. From that little, crazy nugget of an idea, BeautyFrosting was born.
Looking back, I realize that this one little leap of faith gave birth to so much. In the months following, I hit the ground running. I researched blogs that had similar aesthetics to my own, learned about the best ways to start a blog and would spend hours on Pinterest getting very clear about what exactly I wanted BeautyFrosting to be about.
Celebrating BF Turns 2 with dear friends - photo by Drunken Pixel
Introduce yourself to people, be kind and be clear about what you want.
Knowing what I know now, I realize that folks must have thought that I had some major cajones – or maybe they just thought I was naive. I was told repeatedly by brands and other bloggers that I was doing it all wrong – backwards even. I was building the brand and consulting the PR before the blog had even been written or made its online debut. But I was doing it my way and it just made sense to me. After all, why would anyone (brand, person or otherwise) want to work with me if they didn’t even know who I was? Yep, that’s where my southern sensibility comes in. Whether it seemed smart or not, pr agencies and brands that I still work with have told me since that they worked me simply because I seemed charming and honest. So there ya go, folks – charm and honesty are the way to go!
Work with the talented people you already have around you.
Rather than be yet another blog to hit the already-saturated market, I decided to spend 4 months sending emails and making phone calls to hundreds of pr agencies and brands. I decided to pool my brain trust of dear, talented and creative friends to create a blog on a budget that was literally less than $200.
Rather than be yet another blog to hit the already-saturated market, I decided to spend 4 months sending emails and making phone calls to hundreds of pr agencies and brands. I decided to pool my brain trust of dear, talented and creative friends to create a blog on a budget that was literally less than $200.
I created a logo and branding template – that would shape the entire blog and brand – thanks to my talented best friend and former roommate, Vanessa York of Shindig Shoppe. After all, who could understand my aesthetic better than my best friend who had lived with me for 2 years? I asked my talented photographer friend, Amy Opoka, if she would take my profile photos for the site and she did an amazing job of executing my vision on a shoestring budget.
This early experience taught me how crucial it is to collaborate with the talents of those you know best. I learned to always ask because the worst that could happen is that they say no. By the way, no one ever said no.
Celebrate every milestone in life.
Ask my mom and she’ll tell you – I love celebrating and I love me a party. Even as a child, I would try to find reasons to celebrate every occasion. My Barbies were getting married? Let’s throw a wedding! I got an A on a test? Let’s have a tea party! I made the cheerleading squad? Let’s have a tex-mex party! So in true Dawn-fashion, I decided to throw a Cupcakes and Cocktails debut party here at my house to celebrate the debut of the blog before anyone had even seen it. Besides being a precious affair, we brought out the laptop and let friends and former coworkers get a sneak peek at what BeautyFrosting would be. I really think a lot of things got rolling because of the choice to celebrate this little milestone. And celebrating milestones is a great way to remember the gratitude every step along the way.
Most important lesson learned on this journey? Don’t be afraid to be a fool.
Was I fearful of starting a brand new chapter of my life? Hell, yes. But you get past the fear, accept that you may indeed be a fool and get past yourself. I asked pr companies to send samples before I even knew what that meant. I asked friends to devote hours of their time and because I believed in this so much, they believed in it and wanted to be part of it, as well. And I realized that it was more important to appear confident than it was to have 1 million readers. I have never been more proud of anything…and that’s coming from someone who was never raised to be proud. This blog has literally changed my life and I am so much better because of it.
Most Importantly…Thank YOU.
I know that I am nothing without all of you guys – my readers and social media followers – finding interest in what I write about, take pictures of and who I am. So, I want to thank each and every one of you who read this every day, like my pictures on Instagram and Facebook and tweet at me. (By the way, 2 years ago, I had no idea about what any of that was – that’s how much things can change in 2 years.) I have a feeling that the next 2 years will bring even more exciting change and I hope that you will be there for my journey every step of the way. You have made my hearts so full.
xoxo,
BF
BF
BF Asks: What’s your favorite feature on BeautyFrosting? What would you like to see more of?
