My Entrepreneurship Story - 3A

2012 was the year I felt the most lost in life. I didn't know what direction I wanted to take with my career and personal life. At the time, I wasn't working and was only going to school part-time. I was also suffering from depression and anxiety that thinking about my future was the last thing on my mind. For months, I secluded myself from my friends, and since I didn't work, I barely had any social interaction. With the help of my then therapist, I set out a goal of getting myself back in a good state of mind. One where I was happy and motivated. During that year, I was reading a lot of self-help books and focusing on bettering myself mentally and physically. One day, while scrolling through Facebook, my cousin shared a blog post about her life in South Africa. Back then, I didn't know what a blog was. All I knew is that I loved how she captivated me with her writing and how fun it was to keep up with all her posts, that included life updates and recipes. She's an extremely healthy person, so reading her tips and advice filled me with the positivity that I so desperately needed.

After several months of therapy and hard work, I was in a functional space in my life. I was still a work in progress, but I remember thinking, wow, I'm not sad anymore. I was doing well in school and was back to being social and surrounding myself with like-minded people, but somehow I felt something missing.

One random morning, I woke up at 6am and thought to myself...I should start a blog. Then I went back to bed.

Two weeks later, I started my blog, Metanoia Living. That was January 6, 2014.

What started out as a hobby turned into an LLC and my business two years later. I remember when I landed my first sponsored post, I couldn't believe a brand wanted to pay me to promote their product. Before then, I received free product in exchange for a post-which to me was good enough. Thanks to blogging, I've been able to share my creativity with thousands of people, travel the world, connect with amazing brands and fellow creatives, win awards for my craft, and maintain a debt-free lifestyle. Although blogging has changed tremendously throughout the years, the opportunity to become your own boss and become an entrepreneur is higher than ever. Digital and influencer marketing is the new normal now. Companies allocate millions of dollars each year for social media marketing and bloggers. You can see proof when you scroll Instagram how influencers dominate that platform while making a nice living for themselves.

Although it may seem an easy or perfect job, it's not. It's a lot more work than people realize. Most bloggers are a one-person business, meaning they do everything themselves. From photography, marketing, social media, photo editing, pubic relations, website design, and networking, to name a few. Plus the countless hours content planning and running a real business, it sometimes feels like there aren't' enough hours in a day. But it's true what they say when you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work.

Blogging and influencer marketing doesn't seem to be going anywhere if you ask me. After five years, I'm still blogging and loving it. Even though it might seem like a saturated field, I believe there is room for everyone. At the end of the day, no one is you, and that's what sells.

I enrolled in ENT 3003 because it's a required course, but I hope to learn as much as I can to further my business since so far I've done things without a blueprint or guidance. Although blogging is still relatively new, the lessons and knowledge that I will acquire from my professor can be applied to any business.