Making a Dream into a Reality
Hi there!
Thanks for stopping by! Welcome to What’s Em Style – my little corner of the internet to explore my more creative side. With what began as an idea, led to a dream, and is now launching into a reality. I am overjoyed at the opportunity to write and express, in words, all the things I love.
This blog is for the girl who enjoys the finer things in life, who relishes in the Nancy Myers aesthetic, who could spend hours scrolling on Pinterest, who finds joy in taking care of her body, and who finds life in Jesus.
Ever since I was a little girl, I enjoyed writing. I would write short stories for my parents in elementary school. I wrote personal narratives, poems, and short stories in high school (I even won some awards - my claim to fame). In 2020, when the world shut down, I took to the internet to write on a different blog than this one, another blog named Grace Abounds to encourage others in a time where there was so much uncertainty and fear. I stopped writing in college out of a lack of time, not desire. Recently, the desire has been stirred more as I have been seeking to find an outlet to be creative as a young adult, newly married, trying to navigate post-grad… how hard could that be? Well, as I continued to crave creativity, I began to dream about writing for a personal blog again, and this is how I turned my dream into a reality! And you can too!
Here are 5 practical ways I made this dream a reality:
01. Capture the dream
Start big or start small, but just start! I began dreaming of What’s Em Style during a season of immense stress and drain in my life. A friend pointed out a craving for slowness and creativity in my life that I hadn’t yet recognized. Upon this revelation, I sat down to journal out my thoughts, prayers, and desires.
I am a visual person, so I began to draw out my thoughts with circles and arrows and squiggly lines. I noticed patterns in my time of journaling all pointing to a creative platform to express my thoughts about topics that I love. Thus, the idea of What’s Em Style was born.
What was once started as a silly Instagram page for posting my neutral outfits, became a place to post content that I found joy in as a creative outlet, which is not developing into a dream of having a space to write about topics that I love!
02. Cast a vision, direction, and goal
There are a lot of things I could say here. When I started dreaming, I had many squirrly thoughts about what I could do, where I could go, how would this work, etc. I could see the potential, but not the direction. I went back to my journal, to my prayers and to my dreaming thoughts to develop a vision and goals for What’s Em Style.
I knew I wanted this blog to mean something to people. I thought to myself, “what do I enjoy reading?” and “what content do I enjoy seeing?” These questions bred my direction and vision for this platform. Think of it like a cupcake. I wanted to create a space for people to read simple blog entries that would be sweet and rich simultaneously. Rather than choosing a niche to write about, I am choosing to write for myself on topics I love. This would be the base of the cupcake. My personal life and faith would be the sprinkles on top. My ultimate goal in all of this is to use a gift that I have, writing, to communicate to others my joy for life, homemaking, design, health, and style.
03. Consider those who have gone before you
Naturally, I didn’t even know where to begin… I mean I kind of did, but not on the scale that I was dreaming of. So, I went to Pinterest (as one does) to seek out advice from those who have gone before me in creating a digital media platform. What I found was more than just the “how to’s” of starting a blog, but the heart behind why you would start it. Sure, it’s nice to have the best website and growing platforms, but that means nothing if your heart isn’t in it fully.
I read so many blog posts on starting a blog, developing a brand, what to do & what not to do, how to invest your time to promote growth etc. Purposeful Dreamers, Taylor Stanford, & PHMillenia were only a few who inspired me to take the next few steps in making my dream into a reality.
04. Create a platform
Now it’s time to get practical. I had the dream, the research, and the direction I wanted to go with What’s Em Style, and it was time to bring it all together. When creating this blog, I looked into multiple different blogging platforms, what they offered, and ultimately, I decided to use SquareSpace as my platform.
As I developed the website, I also wanted to consider the brand I was creating as well. I considered what colors to use, the fonts I would stick with, and the style of the website. I wanted to make sure every detail was streamlined across every platform. What I mean by this is that I wanted my blog to match my Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, etc. I used Canva to streamline all of these platforms to create my branding for What’s Em Style.
I found a lot of joy in this part of the process because I was able to see all of the pieces coming together… finally! I loved playing around with blues and greens to find the shades I was looking for. I cared deeply about which fonts I used to communicate the feminism, sophistication, authenticity, and approachability of this space for all readers alike. I learned that there can be a lot that is communicated in the colors, fonts, wording, and images I chose to use on this blog. Every decision and detail was intentionally made to create a platform I am proud of & eager to share!
05. Cultivate your reality
Post. Publish. Promote. This is the final step in making this dream a reality. Its as simple as just doing what you set out to do. What this looks like for me is simply writing. Planning blog posts. Creating matching Instagram main grid posts and stories. Publishing to Pinterest. All the above to cultivate this reality!
I hope this blog meets you where you’re at everytime you visit this page. Whether in your drought of life or your wellspring of creativity and wellness. Let’s be friends and take on this dream together!
XO,
Em
