Those Who Inspire Me

This post is a weird one for me to write. Some of you will think that’s silly or that this shouldn’t be weird at all, but trust me, it is! I was talking to someone a while ago about the way we know people in this industry. The creative industry fills my social media now and I love it!! Huck (for those of you who are new, this is my long-term boyfriend) has always followed more car and golf social media accounts than actual people he knew. I used to think this was kind of funny because he would talk about these golfers like Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Smylie Kaufman like he knew them. He wanted to have the same type of clubs and drivers as one, be sponsored by the same company as another and have the same swing as another one. When we first started dating I thought this weird. Admittedly, recently I’ve told him he’s weird because he has a slight man-crush on Rickie Fowler in the manliest way J  

It didn’t really click with me that we, as creatives do the same thing! Referring back to what I said at the beginning, a friend of mine (I can’t remember who it was, so if it was you, thanks for the inspiration!) and I were talking about how sometimes we forget that we don’t personally know these people we see as we scroll through Instagram or watch their stories. We receive Newsletters, watch them on Instagram stories, press a little heart to show we love their latest post, watch a webinar that they are teaching from and even sometimes become friends on Facebook! I get swept up in all of it and think I have like 40+ new friends all the time when in actuality I’ve probably only met about 10 of them and only really KNOW about 3-- 4 if we’re really pushing it!

Something I’ve really loved recently about this industry is that a lot of these women have been opening up about the not so pretty things right now. Something that has been brought up is that we almost “hide” behind the screens and post these beautiful photos, perfectly organized desks, professional headshots and all the pretty things in our businesses and lives. So, because of this, a lot of them have been sharing more of the nitty gritty, harder to admit details; messy buns and desks and the hard parts about life and owning a small business. I LOVE this. As a younger woman starting my own business while still in school, it was so overwhelming and even scary to see all these “perfect” women with their beautiful homes, working space and lives. Seeing them be real and open about how their lives aren’t always as perfect as the photos may seem has encouraged me!

I feel like getting to see this side has made me want to meet more of these women (and man) and REALLY get to know them and hopefully someday work with them! So, here comes the weirdness in my little post!! Some women who have made me laugh, be encouraged, love their work and their style and feel like we could really get along (yes, I feel all of these things through Instagram posts, call me crazy) are Callie Lindsey, Lauren Carnes, Megan Martin and Tyler and Ashley Herrinton. Their work has inspired me and I love seeing how they grow each of their businesses! This post has come from a wave of being brave and putting it all out there. If you asked me to write it yesterday, it wouldn’t have happened and I wouldn’t plan to do it tomorrow either, just right now.

On a side note, I guess Creative Women and athletes/sports fanatics aren’t that much different when it comes to being inspired.

All the lovely creatives, thank you for reading this SUPER long and a bit out of the ordinary post!