Unlike most years, I actually had time this year to sit and listen to a few of the seminars. So for this week's Love List, I thought I'd share some of the key messages I took away from this year's event. And if you weren't at BlogPodium, have a listen to our latest In The Storyhouse podcast.  Erin took the reins on this one and shot it LIVE, interviewing people at the conference. She really captured the vibe of the day.

I'll be back to regular home and design content next week. Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!

Photos courtesy of Gooseberry Studios

You Do You

We had an amazing roster of speakers, each successful in their own right. The one commonality I saw though was how individual they were. They weren't trying to copy anyone else's success. They weren't following a blogger guidebook of "you must do this to be successful". They truly FOUND and LISTENED and TRUSTED their own voice. You could really see how "they" were their brand, "they" were their blog. Which leads me to think, the question isn't "what do I want my blog to be", its more "what do I as a brand want to be"? What do I stand for?



Connection. Conversation. Collaboration.

Blogs can be a solitary endeavour. You can sit behind your screen, put fingers to keyboard, and try and figure things out on your own. But making connections in the real world - talking with other bloggers who share the same passions and dreams, who provide answers and their own examples of success and failure - you get so much farther. It's so important to seek out those connections. Whether it's over a coffee or at a conference, those connections can provide the inspiration and motivation to keep going.


Authenticity = Vulnerability

Authenticity is such a buzz word these days. Some think being authentic means showing the messy, unfiltered side of life. But does seeing a blogger's messy house really make you think they're more authentic? Hearing Shea McGee speak - and seeing how her online persona is so well aligned with her offline personality - gave me a different perspective. For me, being authentic means putting yourself in a position of vulnerability. It means being okay if not everybody likes your decor choices or thinks you know nothing about fashion or doesn't agree with how you parent your kids. It means being true to you and putting that voice into your content. As Shea put it, "you can be the juiciest peach, but not everyone likes peaches". And that's okay.



Authenticity can be hard to put in practice, because it means showing all sides of your personality - not just the ones that paint a picture of a happy, stress-free, perfectly decorated life. But when you do take that risk, everything becomes so much EASIER. When you are vulnerable and expose how you really feel, you start to attract the same.

You Are Already Awesome