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12 Apr

The Black Women’s Expo: Beauty, Branding, & Blogging

I wasn’t the perfect panelist for The Black Women’s Expo.. so I thought. When I was asked to join the panel for such a huge event I gave the side eye. Then to make it even more troubling, the focused topic was blogging & how to make it a successful business( oh lawd). I struggled with whether or not I qualified for this  topic at this time. Blogging and success did not quite calibrate on my scale as equal parts. Calculating how much I’ve invested versus how much I’ve profited seem to be more reason why I should not speak. Blogging is a difficult and time consuming job, even more so when you’re turning a passion into a business. My experience is, it definitely goes against the grain of a smoother transition.

The Backstory

When I started blogging I was completely unaware that it was a career for many. Hence, my preparation time was not subjective to an actual business game plan. It wasn’t until almost a year in I realized the blogosphere worked off strategy and perhaps passion, but not solely passion without strategy. About a year and a half into it I learned there were multiple ways to gain followers and likes- which didn’t exactly correlate to an authentic or original accumulation. I saw it countless times when Instagram would clean up followings and a blogger would go from 60k to 20 or 30k in a matter of minutes. This was a strategy I was ultimately not very fond of. Although in the blogging world nowadays, I started from the tail end which translates, it would be like a turtle hitching a ride with molasses before I “arrived.” Which has proven to be true😬. This didn’t discourage my drive to create a blue print for my passion gone business.

My blueprint consist of:
(1) Being 100% original and authentic. This began with my unique and distinct way of displaying plus fashion, creating covetous look books, and curating thought provoking and profound content. Figuring out what’s missing is the journey I’m on. I gotta be the culture add.
(2) Staying focused on the audience that’s before me. I would rather engage in the few who truly trust me versus the many who help sell my brand. Taking care of who I am assigned to does my heart joy.
(3) Be fearless in my pitches, trust in  authenticity, my love and passion for what I do( not receiving fame & attention but pouring life into plus women from the inside out) and displaying fierce imagery while having 100% confidence the right brand or company will notice.
(4) Utilize tools, education, and research I’ve done to render myself leverage within the blogosphere. I have learned so much about the business of blogging (through my mistakes) and consistenly educating myself will further my journey into success. Which brings me to my 5th point… I N V E S T
(5) I have invested so much in myself and in my blog. The work I dedicate now cradles “My PREPARATION time, only to manifest lucratively in my REAL-time.”

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So, after battling whether I was the perfect candidate for this panel, the verdict was absolutely! I regret primarily relating the speed and profit of my growth to my success versus relating my work in progress to my success. All the practices above I implement everyday in some form or another and it has rendered me almost 10,000 authentic believers across social media. I have watched my likes grow from 80-100 to 300 plus.

Don’t allow social media hoopla or monetary value to structure who and what you are rather than allow your calling, your gifts, and intellect to make room for you when there’s clearly no room at all! Remember, you are no prisoner of your body so strut the runway fiercely and fearlessly. See you next runway!

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Style Links:

Tunic: ASOS CURVE Cotton Mini Shirt Dress

Leggings: BCBG Leggings (Mine are old, I’ve linked BCBG leggings they are my favorite brand for leggings)

Denim dress: Click here for previous blog post

Boot: Click here for previous blog post

Handbag: Click here for previous blog post

Hat: Click here for previous blog post

 BWE Photography: Vivian Sinya

Instagram: @viviansinya

So Shenell

SoShenell, the Plus Size Chicago-based Fashion Blogger represents a multitude of fashionable, stylish, confident, sexy, unique, and healthy full figured gems.

1 Comment
  • Shavon

    Shenell you are so dope girly!!! I mean. that.

    April 12, 2018 at 6:18 pm Reply

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