Although I still struggled with shooting sans sunglasses, I did my best to get good shots despite loosing this security blanket. I stopped stalking other bloggers and started looking for inspiration within. It didn’t happen over night but I gradually started to shed the sunnies, show my face (and personality), and dress outside the lines. I quickly realized that if I wanted to be successful, there were a lot of unknowns, but I was sure of one thing – if I was going to spend my nights, mornings, lunch breaks and weekends working on Color Me Courtney, the brand I was going to build had to be 100% unapologetically me. I was putting all of my energy into working from 9-5 and keeping up this blogger charade in my free time. I bought the sunglasses they wore, attempted to re-create outfits that emulated their style and tried (and failed) at perfecting their poses … I was miserable, and not at all me.Īfter about two weeks I was exhausted. I found and followed big bloggers then started mimicking their outfits, Instagram aesthetic, and photography. I went into it as I do most things – by studying. To be honest, I didn’t really think I could have a full time job as a blogger – I thought I would always have both, a full-time job and CMC. When I decided to turn Color Me Courtney into a business and a brand, influencer marketing wasn’t anything like it is now. I had just attended my first Fashion Week and started my first day at Coach, when I decided to turn my blog into a business (before then, I had only used it as a resume boosting tool to show potential employers that, despite having degrees in business and an MBA, I had a real interest in fashion). I had about 1K followers on Instagram – consisting mostly of people I had gone to high school with. So, get ready to expect the unexpected and learn a little bit more about me – PLUS to say THANK YOU there’s a giveaway at the bottom of this post – yay! Most Importantly, this post is about embracing your uniqueness and daring to be different (because as you know, perfect is so boring). I’ll start at the beginning, share my story, and include some tips and tricks along the way. Today we’re traveling back in time as I share some of my history and growth over the past few years. I don’t do this to be mean or to keep secrets but because “how to grow on Instagram” isn’t a question I can answer… but, if you’re interested in building a brand – and finding your own place in the industry – then I can help you … here’s my story. I get so many questions about how to grow on Instagram or become a full time blogger and to be honest, I don’t answer them.

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