Getting diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in my 30s was never part of my plan. In a season of life where I was supposed to be building, growing, creating, and dreaming — everything suddenly shifted. But along this hard, unpredictable road, I’ve learned some things I never would have understood otherwise. Today I want to…
Back in the peak blogging years between 2010-2014, I worked with countless PR firms and marketing teams, receiving over $20,000 worth of product annually. Companies like Dyson, Graco, Britax, KitchenAid, Ninja, Fisher-Price, and countless others regularly sent me products to review and promote to my audience. I was part of an era where mom bloggers…
Back in 2009, if you were a brand trying to reach moms, there was one golden strategy: mommy blogger product reviews. During the rise of personal blogs between 2009 and 2017, thousands of stay-at-home moms, part-time working moms, and passionate lifestyle bloggers built huge followings by sharing honest, relatable content. Product reviews, sponsored posts, and…
Micro influencers are changing the way brands do PR. While big influencers have huge followings, small influencers (1,000–50,000 followers) often deliver better results because their audiences are highly engaged and trust them. For brands, working with small influencers can feel more like word-of-mouth marketing. Their followers view them as real people, not just ad platforms….
I’ve organized my PR contact lists into separate categories for different creator niches. Each list is hosted privately on Google Sheets and is password-protected to prevent scraping, protect brand privacy, and ensure that only genuine creators can access the contacts. The password is shared on my TikTok to help real creators gain access safely Beauty…
When you’re going through something as physically and emotionally intense as cancer treatment, the smallest gestures can feel like lifelines. A warm smile, a thoughtful message, or in my case—seeds. Zinnias. Dahlias. Snapdragons, etc. More than I could count, all gifted by someone who barely knew me, but somehow knew exactly what I needed. That…
When I was first diagnosed, I was overwhelmed. The tests, the appointments, the uncertainty—it all came at me like a tidal wave. But in the middle of all that fear, a small package arrived in the mail. Inside was a beautiful scarf and a handwritten note from a woman I had never met, yet somehow,…
What It’s Like Living with Lymphoma — and Why Medical Research Gives Me Hope I never thought I’d be writing this. Like most people, I went about my life assuming that things like cancer happened to other people. Not me. Not now. But life has a way of shifting in the most unexpected ways. A…
Hand-Picked Essentials from Independent Makers The day I heard “Diffuse Large B Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Stage 3,” my world tilted on its axis. The shock, the fear, the endless questions – it was a whirlwind. But then came the practicalities, like preparing for my very first chemotherapy treatment. I remember feeling so lost, scrolling through…
When I was 20 years old, I became completely hooked on Desperate Housewives. The women of Wisteria Lane were dramatic, flawed, relatable, and unforgettable—but none more so, to me, than Lynette Scavo. Lynette was the definition of strength under pressure: a mother of four, a working woman constantly trying to juggle it all, and someone…