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After people find out that I have a blog, the most asked question is “What made you decide to start one?”.
There’s a number of reasons. This question can’t be answered with just one sentence. It was a combination of things all linking hands to form one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Yes, that’s right. I would consider this blog one of my best decisions to date.
This blog almost happened out of accident. I never set out to start a fashion blog. I didn’t even know that this whole blogging community existed. I had no idea. Chiara Ferragni, Atlantic Pacific, The Blonde Salad, Cara Loren, Cupcakes and Cashmere. These words meant nothing to me. The thought of people posting their outfits online would have astonished me at this age. I had never heard of such a thing.
Anyways, in grade nine, I stumbled upon Tumblr because of my friend Ivy. (Surprise Ivy! You’re the reason When I’m Older exists!) She had showed me a tumblr called Bluquote when I asked her if she knew of any good quotes that I could use for my Facebook status. Yes, I was weird. But, I instantly fell in love with Bluquote. I thought it was one of the coolest blogs ever. So, I set out to make my own tumblr. For those who don’t know, tumblr is all about reblogging images. So, that’s what I did. Day after day, I would constantly be reblogging cool photos. And a good number of these photos were fashion-related photos. So, to keep track of those ones, four years ago, on this very day, I started a separate tumblr blog, which I appropriately named When I’m Older. My thought process for this name consisted of storing these photos so that when I was older and had the money to shop, I could buy these items. A lot of other people liked this idea of a fashion-only tumblr so I began to acquire a decent amount of followers. But at this point, my tumblr still consisted of reblogging photos. Nothing more, nothing less.
Then, one day, I was watching a Youtube video (EleventhGorgeous), where they were doing a review about this makeup company (Be a Bombshell Cosmetics). I remember drooling over this makeup, wanting some for myself. So, I decided to send this company an email. I wrote up a sloppily worded email explaining myself- My name was Taylor, I have a fashion blog, I have x amount of followers, could I do a review on their makeup? I have never been more excited receiving an email back saying that they would love to send me some makeup to feature. To this day, I am so grateful for this company giving me a chance. To think if they had of just ignored my email, I probably would have never emailed another company again. I would have never posted any original content. But they did email me. And they did send me makeup. And I did post a review. And I loved every minute of it. I loved telling all my readers about my thoughts and opinions. I became addicted. I started contacting more and more companies, each one agreeing to work with me. I was a machine. I stopped reblogging photos. The only things that went on When I’m Older was original content.
As I gained a larger and larger readership and made a name for myself in the blogging sphere, I stopped contacting companies. Those companies were now contacting me, asking to work with me and the rest is history. I started to take this whole idea of blogging seriously. I fell in love with everything about it. Sure, the perks of receiving free product in the mail was great but that’s not what wakes me up in the morning. That’s not what makes me jump on the computer and immediately open up my blog. I love writing. I love sharing my thoughts. I love receiving emails from Louis Vuitton, Elle, Cosmo, Aldo, telling me they love my blog. They love what I’m doing. I love them telling me that I should be so proud of myself for being an entrepreneur at such a young age. I love having a reason to put together cute outfits. I love talking to my readers. I love forming relationships with fellow bloggers. I love constantly thinking of new ways that I could improve my blog. It’s become such a hobby of mine. Actually, hobby isn’t the right word. This blog means way more to me to just be considered a hobby. It’s become such a large part of my life.
I can’t imagine ever stopping this blog. I hope my life never gets too busy that I won’t be able to continue. I want this blog to follow me throughout my whole life, to track the changes as my style changes and revolves. But it won’t only follow my fashion taste. As I grow older, this blog will record my life, how I felt graduating high school, my choices in university and eventually starting my career, once I figure out exactly what that is going to be. This blog has become almost like a diary for me; a time capsule of sorts, preserving my fading teenage years and capturing my upcoming adult ones. So, here’s to another couple of years (or couple of decades) of When I’m Older. I hope you all stick around on this journey with me, let’s hope it’s an interesting one!
Love,
Tay
