En route to Snowbird, Utah for a winter retreat with the Oakley PBC Ambassadors, I’m sitting next to the most impatient and unprepared traveler and in front of 5 coughing, sneezing and crying children. Each flight I take, I’m reminded that I’m not yet ready for my own kiddies despite being 28 years old. I can’t believe my parents had 2 kids already!
From the very famous to my blogger buddies, everyone it seems is pregnant these days. Kate Middleton, Kim K, Jenna Dewan, Courtney from Sweet Tooth Sweet Life, Jess from Blonde Ponytail and Cara from Cara’s Cravings are all knocked up. Most importantly, my beautiful sister is having a girl in May! I’m so excited to finally have a niece to spoil. I have 2 nephews who live in LA and are so much fun but will never wear a tutu or let me do their makeup. I’m pretty pumped to buy clothes and accessories for the honeymoon baby!
While I’m not ready for my own child, I am reminded when I plop down in my assigned seat how lucky I am and how far I’ve come. My first ever flying business trip was to Utah with Bethenny Frankel during the Sundance Film Festival in 2007.
This weekend’s trip is almost exactly 5 years later. While my success is nowhere near that of Bethenny, it’s been a roller coaster ever since. When people ask me for tips getting started with their own business whether blogging or in fitness, my top three tips are as follows:
1) There is plenty of room at the top. Stop comparing yourself to others. Use your own voice. You are unique and have story only YOU can tell.
2) Don’t mistake your hard work for luck and never stop pushing yourself. Just when I was about to give up, I got the most amazing deal that allowed me to continue blogging. I thought I was lucky and saved every penny not sure when the “luck” would run out. Well, after a trip to Hawaii, two trips to California and now Salt Lake, UT in the past 6 months, I can tell you with certainty that it was not luck that got me that first deal. It was hard work that I didn’t realize. Ever since, deals have trickled and poured in. When you are at your quitting point, that’s when you put in the most effort and the deals happen. When you are on top, don’t forget that and get lazy. The best companies are always finding ways to improve their business and products and so should you.
3) Make your own path. No one hired me to be a full time YouTube Fitness “guru” or fitness blogger. I made it happen. To be honest, I’m still not sure how I did it but I saw how YouTube videos could make money, started making them on my own after doing it for DietHealth for 3 years and then started blogging after meeting Tina from Carrots’n’Cake. I saw that no one (at the time) was doing both. It was hard to convince the blogging advertisers to hire me based on my combined YouTube subscribers and page views but eventually they came around and saw the value. If you are passionate about a certain topic, start a blog. Start making videos. Just do it. Stop procrastinating. It’s a very low cost hobby for an entry point into the market. You just need a computer which you already have and camera.
In addition to my business success since I first visited Utah, I’ve also changed my own health standards. No longer do I love low cal packaged foods and splenda but live for oatmeal, kombucha, kale chips and real green juice among many other things.
What changes have you made in the past 5 years and what changes will you make in the next?
If you found this post helpful, let me know down below. I love knowing what my readers are passionate about.
Hey! Great Post! Have fun in Utah, I am super jealous. I hope you get to ski a ton.
I was wondering if you had any suggesting for getting advertising on your blog. I have a blog but have no idea where to start in terms of turning it into something that can make me some extra income. I would love your advice! Thanks.
OH thank you for the mention! Don’t drink the water, eh?! ha ha! Congrats to your sis!
Your tips for business success hit the mark--especially #2. It’s good to be reminded that hard work wins out--it’s not by chance that you have craved this stellar path for yourself! Keep it up! And, I LOVE Bethenny--is it true about she and Jason splitting? (please say no)!
It’s good to hear a voice reminding you not to give up. I’m a instructor/trainer here in MI with a local athletic club, and I own my own Boot Camp R.A.W. Fitness LLC. I started making videos 6 months ago that lasted 3 months (R.A.W. Fitness TV). After a 3 month hiatias I vowed to start again, but only if I was going to stay committed to making them which I have. I also write a blog on the side at RawfitnessLLCdotCom. I am a mom of 3 with multiple jobs so free time doesn’t come often. I think I’m very good at what I do, at least that’s the feedback I receive on a daily basis, but it’s definitely hard to stay positive especially when your making such great content and no one is watching. If your not a YouTube Partner, and getting on a sponsored search it’s near impossible (not impossible) but close to get out there. I had advertising on my blog which Google cancelled for what they called invalid click activity. I’m still baffled why that happened Google would never communicate or give me a reason they just seized all communication which in my opinion is poor business rapor. I did a Google search to learn what invalid click activity meant, and I don’t understand how I’m getting blamed for something a reader had clicked on. I’ve advertised with Adwords for over a year now with my boot camp business I understand how it works. I would never click on a businesses ad unless I was interested in their product, because I understand that costs the company money. However, I haven’t given up. I hope someday something I shoot, or write will stand out and get noticed. Any advice you have will be well received. This is the first time in my life I am really passionate about what I do. I know fitness is it for me, and I just want to make sure I’m following the proper steps to ensure sucess. Your right it’s not about luck. It’s always about hard work!
Thanks,
Stacy
I loved this post! I am an athletic trainer by profession but I also have a passion for all types of fitness and my goal this year is to obtain my CSCS cert!
I loved reading this post. Having known you for 28 years your success is of no surprise to me. Watching you become the person you are and choices you have had to make has been at times hard but ultimately rewarding. These past 5 years you have encouraged me to be better and challenged me to do what said I always wanted to do. Because of you I have started running, lost weight and held myself accountable for my decisions. Finally, I am SO proud to call you my daughter and I promise I will have Christmas cookies and coffee cake this year.
Starting something like you did is so inspiring! Its a scary world out there but you’ll never know if you don’t try and thats something that I need to keep reminding myself in every aspect of my career and life for that matter. Thanks for the tips 🙂
Sarah, I really liked this post, it definitely made me think about where I want to be and that I need to strive towards what I want and to go after it. You inspire me so much and I think that you are such an accomplished woman that I can really look up to. I am graduating from college in May and am a little nervous about entering the professional world and what this year brings, but I am going to take your advice and use it within my everyday life. I’m going to go after what I want and climb towards the top because I know that’s where I deserve to be. You have worked so hard and I admire all of your accomplishments thus far. I will continue to follow your journey and look forward to all that you accomplish, thank you for inspiring me to go after what I want and not letting anyone hold me back!