If you know me, you know that I can’t sit still and typically need to do a million things at once. I fill my schedule with as many things as I can and completely overwhelm myself. It’s a blessing and a curse. I’ve always got something to do, and I always feel obligated to do something.

I wanted to start my blog for a few reasons that I dive into below. I also provided a brief outline of how I got started. If you all like this, I’m happy to go a bit deeper into the process I took to start this blog.

The Truth

IG and social media is often a highlight reel. When I decided to start my blog, my marriage was on the rocks, I felt like a shell of myself and didn’t know how to regain confidence. I still haven’t really opened up about my divorce, maybe one day I will feel safe and comfortable to do so in a healthy and appropriate manner but for now I’ll try to be as transparent as possible. I had completely 100% lost myself.

I googled phrases looking for help and how to find what was “normal” in a relationship and what wasn’t. I couldn’t find much. I think a lot has changed since those days but I dreamed of being able to help others going through a tough season. Which is ironic that I haven’t opened up on the blog about that part of my life. Again, maybe one day, but I do hope that through even this blog post, people know that I’m here if you need something. If you’re going through a hard season, don’t have shame in reaching out for help, whether it be a best friend or a stranger that you’re needing that support from. Goodness knows my best friends dealt with me in the worst of it and had I felt safe to reach out to strangers, I would’ve probably done so. I’M HERE, DM me on IG and let’s talk if you need help.

Instead of diving into the blog like a diary at that time, I tried to find the spark within myself that I had before. That part of me that loved being in front of the camera. I was really able to take a run at that through taking photos and building an IG community of friends. I’m so grateful for everyone that I get to interact with on IG and hope to one day unravel the craziness that occurred during the first few years when I started the blog.

Game Night Outfit

I’ve always had something aside from my full time job. From a very young age I desired to be the center of attention. I was always posing for photos, or trying to put on a show. That's carried onto my adult life especially through my years dancing with the NBA team, the Denver Nuggets and being the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche in-arena emcee. It’s safe to say, Ive never seen a camera or a microphone that I didn’t like.

During Avs games, I often had people coming up to me asking me where I got my top, or jacket, or shoes. The blog felt like such a perfect opportunity for me to feature my “game night outfits” where people could find the details. It started with me gathering discount codes and just sharing pictures/details about my outfits. Then it grew into being able to monetize my outfits using apps like ShopStyle & LIKEtoKNOW.it (more on that below). It even led me to the opportunity of getting to partner with local brands and wearing their clothes during games.

The Freedom

With the blog, I feel this sense of freedom and entitlement. I have my own thing that I can do all by myself. I’ve been on a team most of my life and I finally had something that gave me the ability to have my own opinion, and express it. I still struggle to be fully transparent with everyone. Social media is often such a highlight reel, I think it’s important to show the not-so-good stuff too but it takes time to feel comfortable in doing so. Goodness knows I’m still working on it!

An Outline of Starting My Blog

Here’s an outline using bullet points that I went through in order to start my blog. I also put my timelines next to most of the points so that you can see realistically what it took me to start it. This is not the same for everyone, I’m sharing my own experience and mine only.

Find your niche - What makes your blog unique? Why would someone want to read it? What do you bring to the table that no one else can?
- Approximately 2 - 3 months to generate & answer those questions
Come up with your title - Is it your name? Do you want to highlight an aspect of what you’ll write about? Again, what makes it unique? Is it easy to find/remember?
- Approximately 2 weeks for me to generate Rosé, Rocks & Retail Therapy
Buy your domain title - I bought mine through Google, GoDaddy is another option too
Decide on a web host - I use Squarespace
- This took approximately 1 month
Decide if you want to build the blog yourself or seek professional help
If you choose the latter, seek out who you can hire and what their rates are
- This took approximately 2 weeks to decide on
Work with your web designer to build the blog - I use Kiki & Co.
- 6 - 8 months - this took the longest but it was well worth it and I love my blog design/aesthetic! I could not have built this myself.
Content Generation - Start blogging!!

Resources - LIKEtoKNOW.it

I wanted to throw a quick blurb in here regarding the LIKEtoKNOW.it app. Most of my instagram posts involved the LIKEtoKNOW.it app. This app is an invite only based app that allows you to tag the clothes/items that you’re posting about. If a follower screen shots that photo and opens up the app, they have the ability to shop the items you’ve tagged. I also incorporate the LIKEtoKNOW.it shopping posts onto my blog. I did this through my web designer who installed this tab onto my blog. You can do this on your own using their code, but even as a tech savvy kinda gal, I still don’t know exactly how to do that.

Need a recommendation to be accepted onto the LIKEtoKNOW.it app?? Email me & I can help!

To a certain degree, it’s far more valuable to pay someone for their expertise than waste hours of your time trying to figure it out on your own. Don’t get me wrong I’m SUPER cheap and will do anything I can to cut corners (not always the best thing), but I recognize that time is money and also time is sanity. You can’t bog yourself down with a billion tasks. You’re setting yourself up for disappointment when you can’t accomplish them all…trust me I know that feeling well!

So reach out to your web designer for help with the linking of the LIKEtoKNOW.it app to your blog. Don’t have a web designer or don’t want one? Then check out some tutorials online or youtube channels that will help walk you through it based on the blog host site you’re using.

How To & Why I Started My Blog