Friends, I Have Big News

Friends and family, I’ve been keeping something under wraps and I’m finally ready and excited to tell you about it!

Since May, I have been working tirelessly on creating on my first WordPress blog and e-commerce website. This has been something I’ve been eager to do for years but always just lacked the time and energy.

I’m going to be transparent and vulnerable with you… I have been afraid of judgment for what I’m about to tell you in this blog post.

Determining a niche for the blog has been the most challenging part aside from the website design itself. I have a lot of passions that will shine through on this blog. Reading, thrifting, relationships, home decor, and planning events, are a few that I will be writing about.

I designed Kindly Kal with the goal of encouraging better relationships and becoming a better version of yourself. For me, self-improvement is done through reading, which is why one of my main topics will be on books.

Speaking of reading, I have also have been busy crafting bookmarks, that will be available for purchase on the website! This part sort of happened by accident. I created a handful of bookmarks for a book club I hosted and decided to create several more for the website. I know I am always looking for awesome bookmarks and thought, why not create my own?

Since another great love of mine is flea market and thrift store shopping, I will also eventually be including flea market finds on my website. This was inspired by one of my favorite blogs. I enjoy decorating our home with thrift store finds and want to inspire others to do the same!

When I was 8-years-old, I wanted to share kindness with nursing home residents on Valentine’s Day. I walked a half-mile up the road to pass out heart-shaped cards.

I don’t say this to toot my own horn, but I enjoy creating things for people that will spread joy. This may be in written form, a craft or creating an experience. I am hoping these creations will be shared through this blog.

Both my parents were model entrepreneurs growing up. My mom owned her own daycare business for 20 years. My father operates his own aviation company and makes a profit from his Youtube channel as a side hustle. They have helped me learn about business ownership and management throughout the years.

Last year, I designed a website for my dad’s Youtube Channel, Frosty Life. I used Wix as a basis to build the site and was familiar with it from owning a photography business of my own in the past.

I decided to launch my website through WordPress. When I built my dad’s I was working full time and wanted to create a beautiful website, but WordPress was still too new and unfamiliar. I have been very happy with both platforms, but also have enjoyed the process of learning both sites.

In May, I quit my full-time job to make this my new full-time gig.

I have spent hours pouring over everything I can to learn about WordPress. Youtube videos, trips to the library, reading other blogs, etc. I structure my week similar to how I did working for someone else. I have deadlines, goals and structured weeks.

I know what some of you are thinking: I’m crazy.

I recently told someone this news and they had an abundance of questions. How do I make money? What are my weeks like? How did I learn to do this?

I plan to write a more in-depth blog about my decision to quit and how I’m planning to still make an income, but here are a few key points about this decision:

The decision to quit my full-time job was made thoughtfully.

The decision was made along with my amazing and supportive husband.

To be frank, this decision really isn’t for anyone to judge because it is right for us. Only we know the depths of our needs and wants. For someone else, this decision wouldn’t work and that is okay too.

The decision was made with the intent to generate income but knowing it will take time to build up to that.

This decision was made after 7 years of professional experience in marketing, e-commerce, and public relations. I wouldn’t be able to do this without the abundant experiences I’ve had so far in my career.

The main decision driving this choice though:
I am driven by family first. When we are blessed with children, my goal is to be home to raise them. In addition to raising our children, I want to have a writing platform and business on the side.

Will it be the same as working full-time before? Likely not, but my amazing husband has a job to support our family along the way and I’m okay with it. It doesn’t make me less of a go-getter!

Here is the kicker, quitting your job to be a stay-at-home mom, when you don’t have a kid yet is scary and sort of feels like I am doing something societally unacceptable. I realize most people quit after kids but this was not the right choice for me. I’m safely assuming being a new time mom will be hard. I am using this time, without kids yet, to lay the foundation and get started.

I no longer have to juggle and decide between my passion and managing a full-time stressful job. I’ve tried many times to do both and I was too burned out to do both.

I do struggle though, which is why it’s been hard to share this journey openly. I struggle with, “what am I?” It seems most conversations are centered around our job titles and “what we do.” I struggled with knowing what to call myself. Blogger? Homemaker? Stay at home dog mom (kidding!)

The answer is still unclear to me, but I give myself grace. I am still laying the foundation for this new journey as a blogger and someday stay-at-home-mom. It is okay to feel in between in life. I think a lot of us run around trying to look put together. Most of us aren’t.

I have been afraid of judgment for my choice, but yet, I am 100% sure that this is the right choice for me. I know that I am a self-motivated individual and that this the dream job and life for me. Is it perfect? Heck no! Am I still vulnerable about it? A bit, but I’m building confidence. Will some people still judge me? Probably, but I’ll get over it.

I believe it’s inspiring to take risks and especially ones that scare you.

I will share posts on my personal Facebook that I strongly feel my Facebook friends and family might generally be interested in.

My goal though is to build an authentic community who will follow along this journey on the Kindly Kal platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Youtube (eventually), Pinterest and of course, the blog.

If the topics I’m writing about are of interest to you, I encourage you to like, comment and follow along. You can find social media icons in the upper left corner of the blog. This will be the best way to keep up with what I am writing about.

If what I write about isn’t your jam, that’s okay too. I understand you may have your own interests and my blog might not be one of them!

If you took the time to read all of this, thank you. It’s weighed heavy on my heart for months, but at the same time, I have been working so hard to get the website to a point I’m ready to start sharing. It was difficult to talk about when I was still in a research and building phase. I wasn’t ready for questions, because I was still asking them of myself. I’m feeling excited now to share this with people in my life! Thank you for letting me share this with you.

Special Shout Outs:

To both my side and Jordan’s side of the family: We couldn’t be more thrilled with the support and love you’ve had for us on this journey. Our families were supportive and encouraging when we shared the news.

My Tribe of Amazing Gal-Pals: I shared my decision to quit my job with a few friends. Thank you for being trusted friends that I could share my heart and insecurities with. Shoutout to Lora for helping me concept some ideas for the blog too and share some other amazing local bloggers I can follow!

Jordan (Hubby): You inspire me to be a better person every day and we talked about this journey even in our dating. Thank you for being my sounding board, for putting up with my late-night thoughts, proofreading my posts and getting excited with me over the small victories. Also, you were my first Kindly Kal follower, thanks, honey.

Although I’ve been hush about this, I really am open to sharing more about my experiences in the last few months. I am excited to be open and honest about this choice. I also genuinely enjoy talking about blogging, writing, WordPress, Youtube, social media strategies, you name it!

Lastly, if you have a passion, I encourage you to go after it. Seriously, stop putting it aside. Start small or dive in the deep end. Be okay with making mistakes. Heck, be okay with judgment. In the end, it’s your life and I hope you’re each doing what you can to live it fully.