A couple weeks ago on Instagram (also if you don’t follow me on there, I strongly suggest you give your girl a follow HERE) I talked a little bit about why I went a little MIA on the blog during April. I only published a few posts (sorry about that!) and I was less active than usual on social media. This year has thrown me for a loop to say the least. I feel like I hit the ground running in January and life and work, and everything else in-between has not slowed down. Now don’t get me wrong, 2018 has been the most incredible year to date and I’ve been loving every second of it—I have challenged myself, traveled more than I ever imagined, and some pretty amazing opportunities have come my way. But I also needed to take a step back from Simply Audree Kate in April.
In case some of you don’t know much about me outside of this blog, here is a little breakdown of my life outside the blog, and what I do for work. I consider my business as a three-tiered company. The first tier is styling. I have been styling for over six years and the main reason I left my “day” job in editorial magazines was to pursue styling. I am now contracted with a handful of brands, photographers and other stylists. The second tier is editing/writing. The past ten months I have been the freelance fashion editor at StyleCaster.com (read my articles here) and I also freelance write for a handful of websites. The last tier is Simply Audree Kate—where I run this blog, social media, oversee a small team of interns, and manage my fashion college workshop series and eBook, Fashion Fundamentals.
This year I was presented with two different full-time jobs with brands I work with, and I ultimately turned them down. These were huge, difficult and emotional decisions I made, but at the end of the day I knew they weren’t right for me at the moment—even though I love working with them and the brands themselves. I really love what I do now, I strongly believe in what I have built the past few years and I’m excited to see what the future has to hold for these projects. During the past few months I have worked around the clock (read my 80-hour work week article here), and at the end of March I came to a crossroads when I was presented my second job offer. I instantly reverted back to my mindset when I first left my day job at 23 and I was barely making enough money to pay rent—“was I going to be okay if I turned down this job and left the company?”, “what makes me think I can survive without a stable 9-5?”. To be honest, I was a bit of an emotional wreck thinking that I turned down not one, but two opportunities to live a ‘normal’ life. But, as soon as I trusted my gut and the universe, things really changed for me. I booked a handful of styling jobs, I kept the clients I thought I would lose if I turned down the offer, I booked back to back campaigns for Simply Audree Kate, and I started taking weekends “off” and spending time with friends.
By no means do I feel like I have life or work figured out, heck, it’s a daily battle, but if April taught me anything it’s that I have to trust my inner voice. Everything works out for a reason and I just have to remember to keep my head down and moving forward. The past couple years of being freelance, I have experienced really high highs and unbearably low—crying in public—lows. And these are things that aren’t necessarily shared on social media. I talk about my highs, my projects, my successes, but never the days I feel like I failed, uninspired or emotional. Everyone has those days, and it’s okay! I decided to take April as a work month away from the blog to reset, refocus and figure out my next steps for my other jobs.
I just landed in Arizona for the month and will be visiting family, taking a couple weekend trips, and relaxing. I’m ready to hit the ground running again with work and the blog in June when I welcome my new intern team. I have a feeling that 2018 is only going to get bigger and better. The other week I heard this quote and I think it’s very relevant the past month: “Follow your convictions, passions and beliefs.” The past four months have challenged me, taught me even more about myself and gave me a sense of reassurance and drive. So I’m ready to take of this month, and I hope you’re all having a great May so far!
Below I’m recapping April and what I have been up to the past few weeks! Even though I was away from the blog, I kept pretty busy with public speaking engagements, campaigns and work!
I kicked off the month speaking at my alma mater, Arizona State University for the third time and hosted my fashion college workshop! I hosted my workshop at the journalism college and actually spoke in the same lecture room that my first journalism class was in! How surreal.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhN7eNhgVQx/?taken-by=simplyaudreekate
Next, my biggest campaign for Simply Audree Kate to date was finally published! I worked with Bustle and Denizen from Levis for an article. You can read it HERE!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhPAr_cg4LY/?taken-by=simplyaudreekate
After my trip to Arizona, I was a hair model for Loreal and Hair.com! I honestly wish I could be a hair model for my real job because I love people playing with my hair.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhiKCpkAtss/?taken-by=simplyaudreekate
In mid-April I was featured on my friend’s podcast called Owning It and a video series with life coach – Nettola Coaching. In both interviews we talked about building confidence in ourselves and businesses, being a woman in business and fashion and so many other cool topics! You can go listen to my #OwningIt podcast now in iTunes!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhrS_Wkgxto/?taken-by=simplyaudreekate
I dove into video in April and filmed some really fun and exciting content that will go live later this month, but first, I published my first video with DL1961 denim. I hosted a mini giveaway with them to give one of my readers a pair of my favorite jeans.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bht9UDtFzMU/?taken-by=simplyaudreekate
Next, I finished off the school year with my final college workshop at Fashion Institute of Technology! It was a dream being asked to speak at FIT, and I was overjoyed to see the workshop come full circle from when I launched it last summer!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhxhOUSg7EL/?taken-by=simplyaudreekate
I ended the month speaking on an influencer panel hosted by some of my blogger friends – NYCxClothes. We talked about money, pitching ourselves to brands and making our blogs into a business. It was such an honor speaking at the panel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bic-dxxHwaI/?taken-by=nycxclothesandfriends
