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On A Personal Note…

I feel like June is trying to sneak by us too fast! Doesn’t it seem like the Summer goes by so fast? You blink and it is over just like that lol. I know so many people wait for Summer because the local beaches are open, they can have their favorite Summer treats (mine is funnel cake), they can finally go on that vacation, break from work on so on. I am hoping to enjoy Summer this year, get out to the beach as much as I can and not let the season get away from me. Also its not officially Summertime for me until I hear the song belonging to the below GIF lol.

I also can’t believe we are in the second half of the year already. I have been seeing a lot of posts floating around on Instagram reminding me of my goals to level up and get myself together. I’ll admit that I’ve slacked a little bit but I’m determined to get back on track and smash these goals. Along the way I had to change some of my personal goals to best meet what was going on in my life. The ones I originally set just didn’t match how I was trying to grow and evolve. It is okay to realize that some goals will not help you achieve what you are looking for and you can change them. I feel so much better about the direction I am headed in and can’t wait to celebrate at the end of the year!

I honestly want to speak on a lot of what has been going on lately but I start to think if it fits my platform or should I even say anything. I know there are some things better left unsaid but why blog if you don’t write about what is on your mind or use your platform to speak out about things? Mostly likely these thoughts of mine will come on the blog sometime soon lol.

Hope you guys are having a great start to your week and see you tomorrow!

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Its Hard Not To Be Intimidated But There’s Room For Everybody

I will be coming up on 6 years on blogging in August and honestly sometimes feel I am behind and not where I thought I would be. It seems so hard now with technology changing and everything being so fast paced to keep up (wow I sound old lol). I often feel intimidated by others who have been doing this in a short amount of time and have been reaching the level of success I’ve been trying to reach. I know I shouldn’t question myself but I find myself doing that sometimes.

This industry can really seem over saturated to some and intimidating but there is room for everyone who has the right intentions. Everyone brings something different and unique which is refreshing. You don’t want a bunch of bloggers out here talking the same way, posting about the same thing and just not bringing something different. I have changed my direction of my blog as I have been doing this but feel like I have found my niche. I do this every week because I love it, it is an outlet that is just me outside of everything else I do being a full time working mom, wife and so on. I love interacting and meeting people and just having a connection with others.

I love my online community that is growing and appreciate when people check me when I go off the deep end on my IG stories, give me encouragement and kind words. You guys keep me going when I receive a heartfelt comment that you appreciate me talking about Black Owned Businesses or to keep doing what I’m doing because I’m dope, it just makes my day. It makes forget about that thought of not wanting to do this anymore or being intimidated about someone else’s success.

I honestly get super intimidated at times (maybe a couple times a week…) when I see my fellow blogger friends with all this engagement, people always reposting them and tell others to check them out, the sponsored posts and so on. Please don’t get me wrong, I clap and cheer on their success. I am happy when other bloggers hit their goals and are just out here doing it!

I literally sit at my laptop or on my phone and start to wonder what am I not doing? I go down this rabbit hole of thoughts and start trying to analyze what I can improve on, how can I switch things up, how can I grab my audience better to I can have that engagement, what do I have to do? When those thoughts start, then here comes the self doubt and criticizing and just a lot. I have to stop, take a few steps back and check myself and just remind myself why I do this.

It can get hard out here but you have to remember why you are doing this and stay authentic to yourself. You are allowed those moments of frustration but as the saying IG goes, ” You’re allowed five minutes to be emotional then you gotta be gangster”.

You should not let other people’s success get to you. You just cheer for them, be happy for them and get focused on yourself. You are not in competition with anyone, we are all striving for success and should help each other along the way. I had to learn all of this the hard way and still learning.

Hope you guys have a great weekend and see you Wednesday!

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Black Owned Business Feature: Taupe Coat

I can’t believe we are in June already and Summer is almost officially here. I have plans to make it to the beach this year with my family and just have a great time. Today on the blog is another Black Owned Business Feature with Taupe Coat.

I met the owner of Taupe Coat, Bethany at Fearless Con this year and she was so sweet and down to earth. I enjoyed the conversation and getting to know her. I was excited when she told me that she owned a nail polish company and I wanted to support. I was not disappointed when I tried out her products.

I love that the polishes are vegan and 10 free which means it does not contain the harmful and harsh chemicals normally found in most nail polishes. Over the years I have started to get rid of those polishes that contained those chemicals and now only use polishes that non toxic.

I love the unique shape of the bottles, I thought is was so cute and nothing I have ever seen before. I also love how unique and different the colors are. There is something for everyone if you love bold and brights colors to simply neutral. The formula of this polish is amazing. It is not too thick and so easy to use. You can get away with one coat with some of the colors.

Taupe Coat also has an amazing non toxic polish remover! It blew my mind the first time I used it (I have a highlight on my IG stories using it, naturalle_drea). I didn’t realize how much regular acetone remover was damaging my nails until I used the succulent remover. It is a plant based formula that helps to hydrate and nourish your cuticles and nails.

I highly recommend checking out and supporting Taupe Coat. You can check them out here: https://taupecoat.com

So that is it for another Black Owned Business Feature. What are some of your favorite nail polishes? Comment below and let me know. See you guys tomorrow!

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Stop Comparing…You Are Unique For A Reason…

It seems like social media is really driving a lot of things today. You can find out the latest news, gossip, reviews on products and so on. There are so many “influencers” out there and it seems like everyone is trying to be one. You have those that are doing it all for the right reasons and those who just want free products and think the job is easy it. It is not! I use the term “influencer” loosely because there are people out there that are not really influencing others in a positive way. They promote a bunch of products and tell you to love yourself knowing that people will buy whatever they recommend or try to imitate their lifestyle choices.

I honestly had to stop following a lot of those people because they were making me feel like I wasn’t a good enough blogger. I was tired of seeing them with the goals I had in mind and it was driving me crazy that I couldn’t reach them and making me feel like I could never do any of those things. I would be wasting money buying the products they recommended and some of them didn’t even work or were just horrible. They also didn’t practice what they preached to their followers. I shouldn’t feel bad about myself when I see your picture, watch your stories or come to your page. I felt I was being influenced in a bad way and unfollowed them all.

Now I feel so much better with the people I do follow. I’m being influenced in a positive way and feel inspired by them. It is hard trying not to compare yourself to others on social media. We all have the common goal of success but it would be so boring if everyone was doing the same thing or had the same personality. You are unique for a reason and bring something different to the industry. Everyone has different personalities, editing styles, techniques of doing hair or make up and so on. You can learn so much from others.

Transparent Moment: I was so excited when I was chosen to be an ambassador for Bask & Bloom. It was a goal of mine to work with a natural hair company, especially a black owned one. I honestly didn’t think I would be picked but was so grateful for the opportunity. When I saw the other women I was going to be working with and looked into their pages, I was immediately intimidated. There was a point where I felt I didn’t belong in the group because I felt like they were all so much better than me. I saw how much engagement and support they had from others, the editing skills, how many other companies they have worked with, the number of followers and so on. Now this didn’t make me feel negative at all, it inspired me to do better and level up. I had to realize I was chosen for a reason, someone saw potential in me and knew I would be a fit in this group. It took me a little bit to see that and I am grateful.

I had to stop comparing myself to others, look at what I bring to the table and what is unique about me. It can be hard but I encourage all of you to do the same. What is unique about you?