“I believe there is power in words, power in asserting our existence, our experience, our lives, through words.”
— Jesmyn Ward, The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race (2016)
Dealing With Growing Pains As a Freelancer
Raise your hand if you speak wayyy kinder to others than you do yourself. Yeah, me too.
I posted something to my stories that stopped me in my tracks because I realize it’s something I do as a freelancer way more than I’d like to admit. I shame spiral.
Whoever Said You Have To Do Everything On Your Own Is LYING To You!
We (women/Black folks/POC) need to STOP thinking we are weak just because we want (and need) help with running our business. I know I'm a recovering "Strong Black woman" and even in the small instances when I do something like outsourcing my errands, I get a bit of "who do I think I am" syndrome. But it's not just about working hard y'all, it's important that we work smart too.
I made 5 silly mistakes working as a social media manager and I don't want you to make the same ones.
I'm going to get SUPER uncomfortable with y’all and be vulnerable about some of the biggest mistakes I made when I first launched... and some that might have even happened within the last six months.
Why?
Because *somebody* could stand to benefit from reading this so it doesn't happen to them.
Stop Running Away From Who You Are
I've shared this before, but when I originally launched, I did NOT want pink to be a part of my brand color palette. I also didn't want black.
I didn't the colors to be "too feminine".
I didn't want something "too dark".
I didn't want to do something that felt cliche.
Welp, clearly that didn't last long.
Grace Over Grind
Can I be honest for a minute... or more?
You have those moments when you're TRYING to keep it together but as -soon- as someone you're close to asks how you're doing, you're ready to crumble and cry?
Yep. That's how I've felt these last few weeks since I got sick.
Auntie asked me how I was feeling and how was my mental health? I kindly bs’d my answer but truthfully... this hard yall
20+ Black Friday Deals For Service Providers and Creatives
This is not a drill! It’s a great time to invest in your business and I’ve got you covered with the rundown.
From memberships to candles that provide mindset shifts, I got you!!
Lemme know where you’re shopping in the comments and be sure to share this if you found it helpful!
One Year With You
Happy Halloween, family!
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but today is my one-year anniversary! Wow wow WOWWWWWWW.
I’m in awe as I’m typing this because I remember exactly the wide range of feelings I was experiencing last year before I went live. There were so many things going on in life that just felt wrong, but my spirit led me to take a chance on myself and I am SO glad I did.
The Diverse Stock Photo Round-Up You’re Looking For
Fun fact about me: Anytime I see a conference I am interested in, the first thing I do is check out the speaker lineup. If I’m not feeling the diversity or lack thereof, I’m not going. Period. There’s no excuse.
Another thing I do as a consumer when I’m reviewing a brand’s social media is to check and see if they have people that look like me (you know, darker skin, fuller features, coily hair, etc). If I have to continuously scroll, I’m not spending my coins, and it’s as simple as that.
My October Surprise
After 2.5 years since I last wrote on Thirty30Courtney, here I am finding myself “officially” back on some sort of writing journey. For those of you that know me, know that I suffered an incredible loss 4 months ago (more about that here) and ever since then I have been slowly trying to pick up the pieces and rest. My FMLA journey from my 9-5 is starting to wind down and while I am processing many feelings about that, I do have to give praise to the blessing that I was able to take a step back from my “normal” day-to-day.