Are Blogs Dead?

So are you an influencer? I get asked that one A LOT. Especially lately since I am meeting a lot of new people in my boyfriend, Ben’s life.

What I do is unusual… well unusual for my age group. I am 38 and spend most of my time with friends who range from 36 to 45 or older. So for us, what I do is unusual and hard to understand.

I typically explain what I do to my peers (generation x, generation Y or ahem… geriatric millennials… who the eff came up with that term? lol) by giving them a quick Nesting Story origin story; Nesting Story began as my Interior Design and mural painting company after I left the design world in 2013, and I loved blogging with that.

Then boom… surprise twins were on the way, had to pause and then during my pregnancy was encouraged by some new mom friends (including a very famous blogger) that I should switch Nesting Story to a parenting blog since I was already a veteran mom and put their minds at ease with my relaxed, problem solving parenting style.

So, when my babies were a few months old in 2014 I did, and by 2015 Nesting Story had exploded and gained world wide fame.

I was able to monetize Nesting Story by partnering with brands I trust and bring in an income by doing something I love. YouTube came naturally to help tell some stories and then Instagram in general became a big deal to the entire world and the rest is history.

So does that make me an influencer?

I honestly hate that term. I prefer Content Creator or Digital Storyteller.

It’s eight years later and I’d consider myself an OG. An OG that misses blogging. I love writing. Did I ever go to school for writing? Nope, I have a fine arts background. In fact I still google the difference between lose and loose, and I’m sure every post is riddled with mistakes. Do I really care? Nah! Done is better than perfect.

I am a story teller.

Quick funny story… I went on a date, actually it was a second date during my brief single days, with a guy a little older than me. He told me he was an aspiring novelist and I said I was a blogger and I riddled off all of the big websites my writing has been published on. He didn’t take that comparison well and I didn’t like how he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. Needless to say there wasn’t a third date. Byeeeeee!

But… last year I was hanging out with a friend and his partner who is a really big deal in the media industry when it comes to approving manuscripts and he told me that he had read some of my writing and that he thought it was really good.

That meant the world to me.

Most writing pieces online these days can be found on Instagram and I cannot seem to start there. It needs to be here and then I can share pieces there. I love this little corner of mine on the internet.

So here’s what I want to do… I want to blog… a lot.

I want to treat this as a bit of a journal. I’m hoping to blog every weekday. I’ll take an excerpt and post it to Instagram, but if you want the whole story you’ve got to come here.

I’ve got so much to fill you in on…. *takes a deep breath* in the past few years my marriage ended and I have had to navigate the co-parenting ups and downs, there was a pandemic, I was single and dated, I am now coming up on one year in a serious relationship with an amazing guy and how we’ve decided to break a lot of traditional rules to put our relationship and our kids first, my kids are turning into teenagers, I moved out of town into a new house that is adorable and I am having a blast decorating it, I am moving my family and I into a healthier lifestyle after derailing during the pandemic, my career has taken some zigs and zags and I am about to launch a new company with a partner, and all of the little pieces in between.

I want to let these stories trickle out as they come up. I can’t do the over curated thing. I can’t niche. I am just me, a person who likes to share their life.

Like always my stories will be through my lens and with the over-arching theme of resilience, a fresh start, keeping my own identity and living a life full of love, wellness, beauty and creativity.

So, I guess this is day one. Welcome.

Sincerly,

Joanna Fowler…. yes, I will be changing back to my maiden name over the summer!