As 2016 comes to a close, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at what this year brought about for Amidst the Chaos.
Before I get into some of the highlights, I want to first stop and say a huge THANK YOU to all of YOU for your continued support of this blog. Without YOU, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to turn this little hobby into a full blown business, which helps support my family.
And with that said, this is my first and most exciting reflection of 2016: this blog turned a profit! In less than two years in this industry, I was able to work with some incredible brands and all while bringing home an income. This blows my mind for two reasons: first, because this blog is less than two years old and secondly, because I get to work with brands and help make a living for my family, all while staying home, mostly sitting in yoga pants, drinking coffee and hanging with my kids! Had someone told me two years ago that this would become my full-time job, I would have probably laughed at them! It’s been a wild journey and I truly feel like I’m only getting started.
So let’s get into a few specific highlights that the blog has brought about!
One of the top highlights from this last year was being invited to join a parenting panel on Canada AM on how to talk to your kids about race, alongside two other bloggers. While I had done a few local television segments in the Toronto area, this was the first national tv appearance! It was so quick, so fun and such an honor to be invited.
In 2016, we began participating in the One Room Challenge (ORC), a challenge where bloggers and interior designers redesign one room, in six weeks, and share the journey with their readers. In April, we did our first challenge with our boys room. Not only was it so fun to be able to partner with brands as well as link up with amazing bloggers, our room went on to be featured in both House Beautiful and Apartment Therapy! For our first challenge, I was blown away by the response! And back in November, we revealed our second ORC challenge room: the master bedroom, which was picked up as one of House Beautiful’s Top 15 from the One Room Challenge!
One of the amazing things that happened this year, which I briefly mentioned above, was the amount of brand relationships I was able to build. While I had a few opportunities late in 2015 to partner with brands, it was nothing compared to the partnerships that were built this last year. I’ve had the opportunity to work with so many, some of which include: Joe Fresh, Johnson’s Baby, Colgate, Home Depot, PC Insiders, Netflix, Jergens, and so many other amazing brands!
What I love the most about building brand partnerships is when I’m able to have ongoing relationships with a brand…not just one-time campaigns. When you work with a brand and do the campaign well, they come back and want you to do more with them. That to me, is my favorite! I’ve been blessed to have ongoing relationships with brands like Para Paints, Carter’s OshKosh, Playtex Baby and probably my favorite, Walmart. Walmart has brought so many amazing opportunities when partnering with them from potlucks with other local bloggers to back to school campaigns to a summer media tour, where I got to go on TV at various local stations, to talk about party planning tips!
Beyond the blog, I’ve experienced quite a large growth on a few of my social media channels, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But the one that excites me the most right now is watching my YouTube channel more than quadruple this fall going from about 600 to now close to 3,000 subscribers! I have had a blast working on my channel, doing more videos and tutorials. And I’m REALLY excited for what 2017 has in store for my channel, but I’ll save those exciting details for my first post of the New Year!
Overall, it’s been an incredible year for the blog as I’ve watched it grow and because of that, been given so many wonderful opportunities. And as I said above, I have so many of YOU to thank for your ongoing support. Without the readers, these partnerships and opportunities wouldn’t be possible. I am continually amazed and humbled that readers keep supporting this blog and the doors that God continues to open. So, my sincerest thanks!
In conclusion to 2016 and in looking ahead to 2017, I wanted to ask you 10 quick questions on your feedback about the blog. Rest assured, these are totally anonymous, so I won’t have any idea who is writing what. But I want to make sure that the user experience is one that you all enjoy as well as I want to make sure I am sharing content that you guys love and want to share with your family and friends. So if you wouldn’t mind taking just a couple of minutes to provide your feedback, that would help me in planning ahead for 2017!
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Many blessings and all my love,