With all the talk surrounding social media lately (you should google “Instagram Algorithm”… insert eyeballing emoticon) it’s making it harder than ever to see significant growth on your channels these days. With that has come a lot of cheating, comparing and insecurity — I’ve seen and heard it first hand from many of my friends and colleges in the industry. While I personally have felt that my growth has always been slow and steady, I too have taken note and felt like I needed to write this post because I know that there are A LOT of people who are frustrated with the way things are going. I know a lot of readers who have reached out to me privately, wanting and interested in starting a blog but feeling like there’s little point because, “..how will I grow?”.
Personally, I feel like Instagram has become a bit of a rat-race and a far cry from the simple app that everybody fell in-love with years ago. It started as a space to share real, raw, in-the-moment photos with your network but has somehow morphed into this big huge production where it’s hard to tell what is actually real and going on, with what is staged and strictly for profit. I’ve always been an open book when it comes to blogging and making a living through it and regularly touch-base with my reader on Stories to let them know what I’m testing out, currently loving or trying on this week. I will never share anything that I don’t love and actually use. My thinking is that it’s a lot easier for me to share what I’m actually using/wearing/doing than pretending it is by staging my entire life! It’s pretty ridiculous when you think about it but it happens more than you think.
Instead of focusing on what I don’t have and what others might, I chose to focus on the nearly 19,000 of you amazing people who have been relentlessly supporting me and my passions for the last four years! It is so easy to get caught up in what’s going on online and how people’s live’s look from the outside, but it’s even more important to stay true to the reasons you are in this in the first place. My advice would be to stop checking up on everyone else and continue to build and focus on your own lane. Be a good support to others but don’t constantly compare. Everyone’s journey is entirely different and everybody’s got their own time to shine! If you stay focused on yourself, your lane, your blog and business things are sure to fall into place when the timing is right. It takes a lot of guts, drive and work but like any job, you’ve got to put in the time to get there.
Since I’ve been spending a considerable amount of time answering questions in DM’s, I figured it’s probably time to start a new series so that I can be a bit more personal & you can get to know me a bit better. Scroll down for 5 of my most FAQ’s:
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What did you go to school for?
I went to university in Toronto after graduating high school but only lasted one year on the East Coast before coming home to Vancouver and enrolling at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. I got my Bachelor of Business in Marketing and finished two internships throughout, in Vancouver & New York. It was important to me that my education be hands-on (as opposed to more academic) so that I could bank as much “real world” experience as I could, working alongside real companies on projects that would be implemented to their businesses after the semester. It was the smartest, quickest way for me to also build up my network to hopefully get a good job after graduation (another question I get ALL the time).
How did you start your blog?
My first blog was actually created as a class requirement, since my degree was heavily focused on social media marketing. After graduation I got hired at an Advertising Agency (where I spent three years), at which time I took the inspired decision to re-brand the blog into TheWorkingGirl.ca. I feel like at that time in my life I was very much trying to figure myself out and find my place so building my brand surrounding “The Working Girl”; the philosophy of working everyday to your best self seemed very fitting.
What did you do before blogging f/t?
I’ve always worked and had a job since I was 15. I’ve had my hand in everything from retail, hospitality, serving, receptionist, office manager, franchisee (of a painting business), worked for Red Bull Canada, for public and private companies, not-for-profit and multimillion dollar corporations. I’ve done it all and then some. Before rooting my focus in my career I felt like it was super beneficial for me to have experience building skills in a multitude of different industries and businesses. My last job before blogging full time was at a leading Ad Agency. I’ve always been kind of obsessed with consumer behaviour, marketing in general and advertising (I’m the only one who still watches and pays attention to commercials lol) so without being sure if going agency side would be for me or not, I took the leap and learned more than I could have imagined. Much of which has helped me immensely in my business now. Basically, there’s never a bad or wrong opportunity in life. Take any job, don’t be afraid to jump in, take notes and you’ll learn quickly what is and is not for you. Make adjustments and keep going until you find what it is that really moves you. I encourage everyone to find something that really moves you though, you spend almost just as much time at work as you do at home with your family so you better be sure you’re doing something you love.
Do you ever get discouraged by the competition/industry?
I don’t look at it like competition. I know there are millions of beautiful, smart, creative, hardworking women who blog and who are way more successful than me! That’s okay. In fact, it would be more sad if there weren’t. I should really thank them because they help open doors & create new opportunities for the rest of us.
There is more than enough success to go around. I use to be more affected by things like that when I was younger but now that I am in my thirties and more comfortable in my skin I’ve learned my only job is to focus on myself, my lane, my blog, my vision and do and be the very best Sydney I can be. I know that the only person who can truly give me what I want, is myself. I feel like the sooner you can grasp that idea the easier time you’ll have accomplishing whatever in life it is you want.
Fave food?
Easy! Mexican. I love going to Tacofino or Las Margaritas in Vancouver.
Going to be submitting these 5: FAQ on a regular basis, so if you have any questions to add feel free to comment below or send me a DM on Instagram XO
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