How I Started Girl with Glam – My Blogging Journey

Shop my look:

Shirt: Cotton On
Shorts: High-Waisted Light Wash Denim Midi Shorts
Sunglasses: Zoe Mirrored Cat Eye Sunglasses
Shoes: NEO Advantage
Belt: Express
Bracelet: Forever 21
Purse: Nine West

Did the blogging life choose me or did I choose the blogging life?

I’ve been asked by a few followers to share my story about blogging. I honestly had never even thought about blogging when I was in high school. I hated everything and anything about writing essays in school. Spanish was actually my first language as a kid and thankfully I didn’t have any trouble learning English but lets say that grammar is still one of my weaknesses to this day.

I wasn’t always into makeup and fashion. When I was in middle school, I swore that I would never wear makeup…yup, I actually said that. In middle school I only cared about keeping my hair from getting frizzy in the mornings. I had no absolute sense of fashion. While some friends were all about big brand names like Michael Kors, I was over here obsessed with Limited Too which has now been re-branded into Justice. That was my favorite store! Also, middle school was the time that I was faced with body changes and I really wasn’t having it. I preferred baggier clothes, was shy to wear bikinis in the summer, and just hadn’t come to terms with my own body.

When high school started, my tastes did change a little and I started to wear more form fitting clothes. However, I wasn’t the best at styling. I would wear a nice fitted tee, baggy capris, and Jordan sneakers. If only I could go back in time and help myself but I know most people probably think the same when they look back at their younger self.  I remember wearing only black eyeliner on my waterline starting in 10th grade and not even any mascara. You can imagine how weird that looked!

It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I really experimented with makeup. Each year seniors would have their own spirit week, this is a week where each day would be a different theme and the seniors were the only ones allowed to dress up accordingly. The day I was most interested in was Decade Day. You could dress up as any decade. If I remember correctly, I picked either the 1920s or the 1960s. Anyway, I wore a button down white blouse, a light navy blue skirt that had pink polka dots on it, and black flats. As for makeup, I wore a simple flush of pink blush, a rose toned lipstick, my mom’s foundation (a bit too light for me), mascara, and winged eyeliner. I got so many compliments that day.

That really was the turning point for me.

After that I wore winged liner every single day and would even leave my house late to get my wings to match as best as possible. To be honest with you guys, I still do this. My first makeup haul was the following Black Friday. I bought so many palettes and things that I didn’t know how to use. My best friend and I started to go coupon crazy. We would get tons and tons of makeup for free or just a few cents. Before going to the stores, I spent time writing the exact order I needed to hand the coupons to the cashier and at which stores so I could get them for free. My obsession was real.

I started watching Beauty Guru YouTube videos and learned how to do eyeshadow. Eventually my friends started asking me to do their makeup for their birthdays or just to go out. Everyone came to me for makeup suggestions and soon enough they were encouraging me to start a blog or YouTube channel.

At the time, I thought really me? Am I really that knowledgeable? Do I have the skills to do something like this? Do I even have the time?

Being a biology major in college took up tons of time because organic chemistry, physics, and biochem are not simple classes. As someone who is a rather shy person, I totally took YouTube out of the equation and decided to invest my time into a beauty blog. I made an account on WordPress, the free version. I originally called my blog TurtlesCanFlyX. Why? I have no idea. I wanted to be funny or random, I guess. My content consisted of makeup swatches, some outfit of the days, and makeup looks. Was I the best? No, of course not. I was just a young girl interested in makeup and fashion and wanted to share with others. You can actually still find a lot of my old blog posts from 2014 and 2015 in my archives.

The more time I spent blogging the more I learned about makeup. I didn’t realize it until it was too late, I had already graduated from college. My passion for cosmetics actually outgrew my passion for medicine. Hours were spent trying to get the perfect picture for my blog posts therefore making my parents upset.

“Why aren’t you studying? You need to be studying for your medical school entrance exam (MCAT),” they would say.

I would study but inside all I wanted to do was come up with looks, create content for my blog, and just learn more. How could I tell my parents that the love I had for medicine that I had my whole entire life, just wasn’t there anymore. I didn’t want to disappoint them so I studied for my MCAT and took the exam.

When I got my score, I knew it was a reflection of where my true passion laid. They suggested I applied to medical school and retake the exam to get my score even higher. I let my fear of disappointing them get the best of me, so I told them yes – I would study and retake the exam. A few weeks into studying I just couldn’t take it anymore. I felt miserable. I didn’t want to let anyone down. All my family and friends knew this was my dream. What if I don’t become a doctor anymore? Are people going to look down on me? Think I wasn’t good enough? That I didn’t have what it takes? These were just some questions that went through my mind.

It wasn’t until I talked to my best friend, the same one that would coupon with me, and she told me, “Forget everyone else and do what YOU want, not what THEY want.“

It was at that very moment that I understood what I had to do.

I told my parents I didn’t want to study medicine anymore and well the roof came down on me. They were okay with my decision but they wanted me to think of alternatives like physician assistant, nursing, and medical research. These were all things I knew I did not want to do. I was so confused and at a lose.

My blog must have caught someone’s attention because I was invited to the grand opening of a Kipling store in my city as a blogger. I only had a little more than 300 followers on my Instagram account at the time. I felt blessed to have been invited and couldn’t even believe that a company thought I was worthy of attending such an invite. During this time, I took a step further and upgraded my blog to a paid WordPress account and customized my website to what it is today, Girl with Glam.

I got approached to do my first sponsored post with Kohl’s and Cuddl Duds. This was HUGE for me. I couldn’t fathom that a company as big as Kohl’s wanted me to work on a campaign for them. I was beyond ecstatic. Not to mention I was going to be paid for the post. I didn’t even know you could get paid for a blog post! This opened the doors for me to further pursue blogging. Going on photoshoots with my friends just to get content for my blog became normal. I would do eyeshadow looks in the middle of the night just to photograph it. I wanted to share with my followers. It wasn’t until a few months later that I got approached by more brands that wanted to work with me or send me products for review.

I am now a full time blogger. It’s a bit difficult to explain to others what I do. My parents don’t really understand the possibilities that can come from blogging. They think I’m wasting my time and that I need to get a real job. I try not to let their words get to me so that I’m able to just keep pushing and moving forward. I recently started my YouTube channel, finally stepping out of my comfort zone. One day I hope to be able to work in cosmetic product development and be behind a new launch for a beauty brand. I know this was a very lengthy post but I hope this helps you guys get to know me a bit more.

I’m planning to make a post in the coming weeks with advice for people who are interested in starting a blog. But for now, just know that my advice is to just start. Don’t wait to buy a new camera, don’t wait until you have the best lighting, JUST START. Until then, peace out!