9 Things I Learned at BlogHer17

My first ever blogging conference has come and gone. I was right, it honestly did make me feel like I’m officially a blogger. Like.. this is real, I’m really doing the dang thing. To be surrounded by so many people who have done it before me, or are doing along side of me, was so empowering. We talked, shared stories, I learned a TON and most importantly it was a little baby step out of my comfort zone. 

Don’t get me wrong, I had to have a few glasses of wine to calm my anxiety and nerves and there were a few times I hid in my room. But, that is ok. I took the HUGE step toward showing up at the conference by myself with the intention of meeting new people and learning even more. I have accepted that I am someone who doesn’t do well in major crowds for long periods of time and that is ok.  For a little bit, I kept thinking “I’m a blogger I shouldn’t feel this way, I should be out there like everyone else”. But, that made me even more anxious with the pressure I was literally creating. I learned to let go of that feeling and just fully embrace who I am. There are a few things I need to work on, but that is what this experience has taught me. 

Here are a few personal takeaways from BlogHer17! 

I like rosé better than red wine: WHAT!? I pride myself on being in love with red wine, yet here I am.. trading it in for Rosé. It is just SO easy to drink and I feel like it can be enjoyed at anytime of the day. SOLD.

Stay in a growth mindset – I have always believed that you can do anything you put your mind to. This weekend just made it even clearer and defined what that meant to me. 

Live in the moment – While this is not something I necessarily learned at Blogher17, but it’s def something I was reminded of. By allowing yourself to live in the moment, you allow yourself to just take it all in and be up for anything. If you always have a plan you may miss the amazing things that can happen in the unplanned, like meeting new people. Now, I’m not saying don’t ever plan, but I’m more so saying be flexible.

Make deposits into your relationships – Phew. This one was MAJOR KEY to me. At breakfast one morning, the topic was about mistakes made on the journey to success. What I took away from it is, don’t forget to make deposits into your relationships. Sometimes you get so caught up in the day-to-day, the what is next and forget about what and WHO is already there. Make deposits into your relationships, call yo momma (although I do that every other day..), support others around you. This will also make it make easier to ask them to support you in return. Just a big happy circle of relationships…. you know what I mean.

It’s ok to be an introvert. – accept it and run with it. By 9pm each day I was just DONE. I couldn’t handle anymore anxiety or talking to people and that. is. ok. This is who I am. Like I said before, I shouldn’t feel like I need to change to fit this ‘mold’ of who I thought a blogger is. I’m a blogger, we’re all different, we all get our energy differently. If I want to go back to my hotel room drunk af off the rosé and talk to myself… then it’s ok to do that. 

On the flip side, I know I need to get over the dang anxiety, but I’ll get there…. baby steps. 

but, put the fear aside – let me just reiterate that being an introvert just means getting your energy from being alone. Being scared on the other hand… that’s something different. The thought of being in crowds and meeting new people literally scares the SH!T out of me. However, I mustered up enough confidence to just introduce myself to people and be all in. Not “as in” as I wanted to be (bc I was effing scared) but, enough to get through it and make a few connections.

Do things you wouldn’t normally do – I went to dinner one night with a few bloggers, 2 of which I’ve known online for a while, and 1 I had just met. The thought of this SCARED me. But, I put the fear aside and went for it. This also goes back to being flexible, I ended up staying out untill 10pm with someone I had just met that night because the convo was that good. Going to dinner with people I just met… that’s something I wouldn’t normally do, but had I not, I wouldn’t have had that much fun or made that connection.

Know how to network – For the love of GOD, I need help in this department. A major thing at this conference was meeting brands. I don’t even want to go into detail on this one because it hurts me that bad to think about my networking skills LOL. Send all your tips my way! 

Know you’re valuable –  I’m really not sure why it took me until now to realize this. But, when you value your work, others will value it too. When you put time and effort into something, it does not go unnoticed. Maybe because I actually got to have conversations with people face-to-face who said they see what I’m doing. It made me realize that I’m not just writing to nobody, I’m actually producing content people are interested in.