Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing Gennifer Rose, Travel and Lifestyle Blogger. Her blog specializes in traveling around California, natural lifestyle, motherhood. She helps readers plan the perfect vacation, curate products that elevate their lifestyle, whip up fresh recipes, and share ways to embrace modern motherhood.
Hi, Great to have you with us today! Please tell us about what it is that you do.
Our lifestyle brand is all about celebrating everything California has to offer. In our blog guides, you’ll find content for traveling, fashion and style, healthy eats, and natural living. Although we currently live in Sacramento, I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, and my husband is from San Diego. Together we live the quintessential California lifestyle with our two kids. We spend our time exploring the state and documenting our adventures on the blog.
Please tell us more about your journey.
I was first introduced to modern-day blogging at one of my first corporate marketing jobs. My company hired bloggers to create content with their products, and it was my job to negotiate their contracts. I quickly realized that I wanted to be on the creative side, away from the cubicle life and out in the world. So I bought my first camera and started a simple blog. Truth be told, I was really terrible in the beginning, but because I loved the process so much, I kept at it and took every opportunity to learn and develop my own style. We are now full-time content creators. We somehow made our hobby into a dream job.
Please tell us about the story behind the blog.
For years I had a full-time job and my blog as a hobby and side hustle. My nights, weekends, and holidays were spent traveling and then squeezing in time to write the blog post. I definitely had a lot of moments of frustration where I wanted to start blogging full-time, but I wasn’t quite there yet. We had rent and bills to pay, which meant we needed a steady job with a reliable income. Moving out of San Francisco allowed us to reduce our cost of living and take more time off to focus on our own business.
What’s your most memorable experience?
My daughter is 3-years-old, and my son is 3-months-old. Becoming parents has to be at the top of our most memorable experiences, especially since we bring our little humans everywhere with us. Because we are self-employed, we have the freedom to both be home and travel with our kids. The world really does look a lot more magical through the eyes of children. They have the ability to see all the small joys that we adults take for granted.
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
I would say that investing in your continued learning is really important. It’s easy to get complacent and just keep doing the same thing over and over again because it’s in your comfort zone. All of my growth came from both learning new SEO copywriting and photo editing skills and also upgrading my camera for more impactful images. I have returned back to school several times to take classes on subjects that I needed to improve. Remember, we are forever students because there’s always more to learn.
Any message for our readers.
If you happen to have a hobby that you really love, making it a full-time occupation is possible, but it won’t be easy. It will take several years of balancing responsibilities and, of course, the classic blood, sweat and tears. Be very strategic about when you take the plunge into making it your sole source of income, and always have a Plan B. It may take multiple attempts, but failure is just a learning experience, not necessarily an ending.
Fantastic! So tell us, how can people find out more about you?
You can visit our blog and our Instagram @genniferrose_blog.
Thank you so much, Gennifer, for giving us your precious time! We wish you all the best for your journey ahead!