Friday, March 20th, 2015 I finally worked up the courage to launch the first iteration of my blog, A Styled Mind. From the moment I moved to NYC and began building my social circles, the main question I always faced was, “What do you do?” After about 90-days of this repetitive conversation and my peers explaining that “what I did” could not be defined by my 9-5, I knew I had to put something else in motion. My love of style and writing was something that I always held dear throughout my college career, and though I initially considered being a stylist, creating my own brand seemed more tangible and less reliant on the relationships with others. As my mind began to wonder when, where, and how I could start, I began journaling constantly. I would go to work and bounce ideas off of my coworkers, while getting their opinions on names, logos, as well as gain insight to their own interests and what they would like to see. Finally, once I had gathered enough “field research,” it was time to pick a date! In all honesty, I’m not sure if any of this would’ve gone as smooth without the help of my dear friend Alvin, may he rest in peace. Despite being employed by the same company at the time, he played a pivotal role in building out the foundation of my website and shooting my photography for about the first year, FOR FREE. I remember being absolutely delirious after a full day of work, writing my first 3 blog posts to launch, and staying in the office until nearly 10pm getting everything live; but we did, and I couldn’t have done it without him.
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I had absolutely no clue what I was getting myself into, or what this journey would bring. What I did know, was that on the first day of Spring in 2015, I had made the decision to follow my passion for as far as it would take me! To my surprise, I was able to use this platform as a creative outlet all while balancing a corporate job, creating content for some of my favorite brands, and finding a community of like-minded creators, some of which have become real-life friends! I have never taken an extended break, and while I don’t know if the pressure to post will continue to haunt me, I think at this point it’s worth a try. I know that this is far from the end, and I still have SO many more ideas with regards to expanding the ASM brand. However, at this very moment, I just want to focus on this milestone while being extremely gratfeul and proud of how much I’ve been able to accomplish over the last decade. I may not be where I thought, but I’ve gained so much from where I started. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your consistent support, encouragement, likes, shares, and follows over the years.
This is not the end…until next time!
