Earlier this year while recuperating with a broken ankle, I began to council my niece on devising an action plan that would take her from a career in healthcare to one that would provide her with a creative outlet for her artistic talents. What are her talents you ask? Well, she is a thrifter; she scans various local thrift stores for vintage, designer merchandise. She told me it has been years since she purchased clothing from department stores. I was well aware that her dream was to have her own store, stocked with goodies, not just vintage clothing, but shoes, handbags and jewelry. However, the money and the educational ambitions of her husband made it impossible, and the whole idea of becoming an entrepreneur was put on the back burner. It was a dream delayed, but not denied; at least I was hopeful that she would have her store one day.
Since, I was out of work for three months; I began to develop my own blog on career development. My active enrollment in the CDF program was a springboard for starting a blog about something that became my passion; career development. Personally, I believe that doing what you love is essential, and that it is never too late to make a plan and pursue it. I also believe that there is more than one way to find fulfillment, you just need to be creative. Clearly, my niece wanted to share her talent, but having a store was not the only medium to create interest and build a business.
One day, I suggested she start a blog, she was fascinated by how easy it was to create a space to showcase all her thrifted items. I took the liberty of setting up a generic space on blogspot.com by creating the URL, http://www.thriftreveal.blogspot.com; while labeling her with the sultry name of Velvet Dawn. I showed her how to put her creativity to work. I mentioned that she needs to recruit followers to her blog and everyone would become a potential customer for her store, which I assured her would one day become a reality.
Within the week, she had designed a blog that was fun and appealing; she added short commentary on daily events and created staples such as Pink Monday, Thrift Thursday and Sassy Saturday. She turned a spare room into a studio and began to stage and photograph items to be posted to her blog. Now, its many months later and she has nearly 70 followers and she is recruiting more every day. Most importantly she began to collaborate with other bloggers by posting their blog on her site and inviting each to follow. She told me that she discovered talents that she never realized before such as, writing, photography, relationship building, and the entrepreneurial spirit to make her own store a reality.
Last week her husband graduated from school and passed his boards; it’s all on her blog! Now, she is at a crossroads, how to convert her followers into customers and turn her blog into a retail revenue stream? Well, this week will be out scouting locations for her store and the business plan is in the works. The friendships with other bloggers have been a great resource for my niece; some are business savvy and successful enough as bloggers to attract advertising and each has become a mentor willing to share their business acumen.
Blogging in this instance was a way to make connections and explore opportunities in a growing market of life styling and vintage merchandising. In the end, a simple suggestion lead to an action that is only the beginning of a journey of self discovery and career fulfillment.
Have you blogged today?
