Can you believe it has been two years? I can’t! I thought it would be fun to reminisce about where this all started and answer a few questions I always get.
When did you start your blog?
I started my blog in March 2010 when I was in my second year of business school. I had absolutely no time to be blogging since I was juggling my job and business school but for some reason over Spring break (when I had no classes or homework) I thought it would be a good idea.
How did you come up with the name?
I am an introvert and it is often hard for me sometimes to let the true me come out. So I knew that I wanted to be anonymous and I needed a name to go by. I wanted it to be about career advice so I listed all of the topics that I wanted to write about and all of the possible names. I always brainstorm with my husband overthings like this because he is always good at jingles and putting words together:) I think he thought I was crazy for starting a blog since I had no free time. But, like the great husband that he is, he encouraged me to do it because he knew it was something that I really wanted to do. I am not sure which one of us said the name Classy Career Girl first. All I know is, one of us said it and it stuck. I never ever looked back because it perfectly described me and the advice I wanted to give. I looked up the definition of class: elegance, style, high standards of personal behavior, skill and grace. Name: check! Now what to blog about…..
Why did you start your blog?
To be honest, I never ever would have thought of myself as a blogger. In high school I HATED writing and reading. It was the worst. My strengths were in math and I don’t even remember reading a good book in high school. It is terrible to say it but I think I may have gotten away with a lot of Cliff notes (sorry mom). In college, my roommate would laugh at how many times I would write something and then hit the delete key over and over. I hated to write and if my English teachers knew I was a blogger, they would probably laugh. Fortunately, after college my friend convinced me to join a book club and I realized that I loved to read and went on a reading frenzy. In business school, I had a marketing class where we had to write 2-3 page papers every week. The first couple of weeks I just stared at the screen and it took me HOURS to do one paper! I soon realized that I didn’t have time to waste so I decided to just write whatever I thought and see how fast I could get the stupid papers done. The more I wrote, the easier it became and at the end of that marketing class, we had a project where we had to complete a marketing project on selling children’s clothing. My job on my team was to analyze what blogs we could market and advertise with. My friends sent me some blog recommendations and I started to become obsessed with reading A Cup of Jo, Oh Happy Day and Black Eiffel. The best part of this is that it was for a school project so I could read blogs all I wanted to:) I started thinking that if they can write these blogs, then I can write a blog. I knew I had a creative side somewhere inside but I never knew how much of a creative side I really did have.
How did you start your blog?
I started with blogger. Simple design because I knew nothing about widgets. It was so easy and so addicting. After 6 months, I won a blog design from the fabulous Angie at Strosgirl’s Designs. It was perfect and my site finally got the look that I wanted it to. After a year and a half, I decided to transfer from blogger to WordPress only because I knew I wanted to grow my blog and there were things in blogger that I couldn’t control. For instance, I didn’t own my blog, blogger did. I now am self hosted on WordPress.org and I highly recommend it.
What is your advice to someone thinking about starting a blog?
Do a little bit everyday and take action. Don’t be afraid of what you are going to write about or what if you can’t blog consistently or who is going to read it. Who cares! Start somewhere. There are so many free blogging platforms out there, you really have no excuse. And you won’t find your voice until you start writing. I can honestly say that it probably took me 6 months to a year to find my voice and discover the type of blog that I wanted to have. But it was a great way to journal and keep track of what I was learning and how I was feeling. Like this WSJ article says, blogging is a lot like therapy….
