On Living the Dream

I've never felt 100% normal about my blog. When people ask what I do for a living I'm always shy about it. It's not a “normal” job. Blogging can be exceptionally lonely. You aren't going into an office. You might have meetings (not this blogger) or go on trips. But for the most part, you're doing it on your own. And even though there are others out there who blog full time, it's hard to find someone who really gets you.

But I did find that person. I have one person that I talk to (besides Michael and the dogs) every single day and that person is my coworker of sorts. Taylor, of The Daily Tay, is not only my fellow blogger. She's my mentor, friend, inspiration, and the kick in the ass I so often need.

Yet we've only met in person once.

On her wedding day.

But Taylor is someone so incredibly passionate, inspiring, hard working, and she's living out her dreams and I need to share her with you. I think it's important to see how others figure out their non-traditional paths and create a life that they love. Whether she likes to admit it or not, Taylor has done just that. I asked her some questions to figure out how she does it all. Here's what she had to say:

1. Give me the brief overview of who you are.

I'm Taylor and I am currently writing this post from my couch, the same couch I sit on everyday, in Chicago, Illinois, with Harlow snoring exceptionally loud next to me. I am the oldest blogger on the planet. I think I started back in the 90s. But who can tell at this point?

2. Why did you start blogging?

Because I had a job I hated and was incredibly bored in my cubicle and needed somewhere to record my sarcastic little rants about the boss who drove me nuts. In hindsight, the boss probably wasn't that awful. It was most likely all me, because I was 21 and who isn't awful at that age?

3. What did you do before blogging?

Go to class. Because I was in college! 🙂 However, before I went “full time” blogging, I've had a plethora of jobs that I failed at, mostly sales related, mostly things that ate my soul. I don't do well “with management,” thus I knew I had to find a job where I managed myself.

4. What point did you really start making money blogging?

Keep in mind I was on the slow track. It took me about five years to realize that people other than Perez Hilton made money by blogging. So it took me awhile… I do take some sponsored content when something really excites me or catches my eye, however for the most part I prefer to make money “from blogging” in other ways. Such as… T-SHIRTS!

5. How did you start your t-shirt business?

Three years ago in August I printed my first shirt on a whim and hoped I would sell ten. Today, I think I've sold about 50,000 in total, give or take. Math isn't my strong suit.

I started it by creating shirts that didn't exist, but I knew I would want to wear. And then I got them to the masses by working with influencers, or “bloggers” as we called them back in the good old days. You can have an amazing product, but if no one sees it, what does it matter?

6. How do you balance your blog, business, social life, and Harlow?

First of all, my social life is Harlow. And my blog is my business! So right there we've narrowed it down to two.

Harlow always takes first priority. You know what they say, happy dog, happy blog-ger. Ugh, that was the worst. Feel free to edit out.

But seriously, my mornings are my most productive so I try to knock out the hard stuff between 8 a.m.- noon. I crash in the afternoon for a bit so I know this is ample Harlow-walk time. Around 6 p.m. I get a boost of “let me do all the things” energy so this is when I do the busy work 🙂 I think the best thing is to know yourself and when you're best work times are. Everything feels a lot less forced when you're in a good state of flow.

7. What kind of marketing strategy or social media has worked best for you?

Quality over quantity.

8. What's the hardest part about blogging in 2018?

Keeping up with Joneses.

9. How can someone make a name for themselves in the blogging world today?

When I figure that one out, I'll let you know. For now, start with Helene's courses, she knows more than I ever will.

10. What's the best part about working for yourself?

1. Planning my day exactly how I want. And by “I” I mean Harlow.

2. Having a schedule that allows me to work from anywhere.

3. No longer having the suffocation feeling that working in a cubicle gave me.

BONUS- Helene didn't ask my most popular post, but I WANT TO SHARE. In 48 hours it garnered about 70,000 views and I still get hate mail because of it today. It's called, A Letter From The Mad Pooper.