The post Interview With a Blogger: Me And Orla appeared first on Strawberry Squeeze.

Over the last couple of months I heard a lot about Olivia Bossert, and since following her blog, social channels and photography, I cannot get enough! That’s why I was stoked when she agreed to answer some questions to feature her on Strawberry Squeeze. I’ll leave her do the talking though:

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m 24 years old, a fashion, portrait and wedding photographer, blogger, and the editor in chief of Atlas Magazine. I’ve been living in Falmouth, Cornwall for 6 years now, after I moved here from my hometown of Geneva, Switzerland to study at Falmouth University. I fell in love with the sea, the lifestyle of Cornwall, and a boy, so I couldn’t leave!

I started Atlas alongside one of my best friends, Megan Breukelman, between my first and second year of my Fashion Photography degree. Atlas is a print and digital magazine geared at the promotion of the next generation of fashion creatives. Needless to say, I’ve got my fingers in many pies!

Why did you initially decide to start a blog?

I started my blog in the summer of 2015. Initially, it was out of desperation to have a place where I could express myself, but also to talk about the health issues that I had been facing since I was 14 years old; Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I’d suffered with IBS for such a long time, but had started to have a bit of a break through thanks to going on the Low FODMAP diet a few months prior to starting my blog. It was such an exciting time when I began to FINALLY feel better.

I’d also had a really, really long time off of any photography due to focusing my full attention on Atlas for two years, and my desire to shoot again was slowly creeping back in. Funny enough, starting my blog has totally brought back my personal creativity!

What do you blog about and why?

I began writing about and sharing recipes and tips for IBS sufferers, but found pretty quickly that I wanted to blog more about my photography and other things as well. So it has quickly transitioned into a lifestyle blog. I’m interested in so many things, and the whole point of starting my blog was that I wanted a place where I could express myself freely, with no restrictions, so that’s what my blog is; if I’m interested in something, I’m going to share it.

You’ll find anything from the photoshoots I’ve recently done, to event’s I’ve attended, trips I’ve been on, food I’ve liked, beauty products I love and clothes I like to wear. I’ve not really done many fashion posts yet, mainly out of shyness, but it’s actually top of my list to try and do more of in the next couple of weeks… so stay tuned!

Any advice to anyone that wants to start a blog?

Funny enough, oliviablogs.com isn’t my first blog. I’ve had countless blogs since I was probably about 12 years old, but none of them stuck. I had a real go at it when I was 16, but I didn’t share it with anyone because I was so shy and self conscious about it. With hindsight, I wish I’d ignored that voice and just carried on because I think it would have been so empowering.

If you’re worried about starting a blog because you’re worried what other people will say, ignore them. I’ve found that since I started the blog I now write, I’ve grown in confidence, and I enjoy it so much. Just do it! Don’t care what people think. You’d be surprised: most of the time people are really impressed!

What are the best aspects of running your own blog?

I love the fact that I can be as creative as I want, and just chat about anything that comes to mind. If I’m feeling super creative, it shows itself in the blog. It’s really a space where I can just be myself, and I love that. I also like being able to share advice and ideas. One of the posts I’m proudest of is called “Being Brave” which is all about me being brave, and writing that post felt a bit scary and vulnerable, but once it was out there, I felt so empowered and positive.

What are the hardest aspects?

The hardest part is probably the self doubt. I still suffer with that a lot, and wondering if people just don’t really care about what I’ve got to say. There are so many blogs out there now, so many more than when I was younger, so trying to be seen above all the noise can be a bit intimidating. But I try not to put too much pressure on myself and remind myself that ultimately I’m using my blog as a creative outlet, not so much as a business venture.

Which social media tools do you use the most?

I love Instagram so much. It’s the place which feels the most creative to me, probably because I am a photographer so I think in pictures. Images are my entire life, and they have been for as long as I can remember. I use that and spend the most time there.

I’m starting to like Twitter more and more though. I didn’t used to! People used to ask me about Twitter and I’d say I didn’t like it because of the word restrictions. But actually, throughout the past few months I’ve been trying to be more active on Twitter and I’m seeing really strong benefits from that. It’s a community of such talented people, and you can make great connections!

What is the best opportunity blogger has given you?

Honestly, it’s probably the friendships that I’ve made since starting my blog. I have made SO MANY friends this year, all thanks to the fact that we blog, or they’ve read my blog and reached out to me. I feel like I’ve found “my people!”

Where do you see yourself in five years time?

I’m not sure if I’m honest. I’ll be 29 (ah!) and I imagine still in Cornwall. I’d like to be photographing campaigns and editorials more frequently, and spending less time answering emails. Really, I just want to feel happy and enjoy what I’m doing with my days. Maybe that will be working full time on Atlas, maybe that will be full time photography, maybe it will be blogging. Whatever it is, as long as I enjoy it, I’ll be cool with it!

Three blogs you love that we should know?

Oh god, only three?! I’m going to direct you to my bloglovin feed because I follow so many (https://www.bloglovin.com/people/oliviabossert-3006119/following) but three that are very different but that I adore and always read are On Serpentine Shores by Alex Barker, What Olivia Did by Olivia Purvis (she has such great fashion sense!) and Elle & Company.

The post Interview With a Blogger: Olivia Bossert appeared first on Strawberry Squeeze.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m an 18 year old girl who is a little obsessed with trying new beauty products and the latest fashion trends – sorry bank account. I’m in my first year of university studying Media, and when I’m not knuckling down on my assignments, I’m usually blogging.

Why did you initially decide to start a blog?

I have blogged on and off since I was about fourteen. I always loved writing and I’d watched YouTube videos and read a few blogs here and there since I was about eleven or twelve, so I wanted to try it out for myself. I just wanted to be part of the blogging community by sharing content about the things I loved! Blogging was also a great way for me to escape from school work and let my creative juices flow. I started to take blogging more seriously in 2015, however have stepped up my game even more since the start of 2016. I’ve realised it’s something I really love doing and I don’t want to stop!

What do you blog about and why?

I blog about beauty, fashion and lifestyle, but mostly beauty. I love trying new makeup and sharing my thoughts and opinions about different products, some old and some new. I’ve been a fan of makeup ever since I was in my early teens, so blogging about makeup products is something that I really enjoy. I like to post OOTD’s to share my latest fashion pieces, and I also like to post more personal lifestyle content, for example I have done a post on my experience of being in a long distance relationship, as well as a post about getting motivated to work out. I feel like posts like this can relate to a lot of people and the feedback is always really rewarding. I enjoy baking too, so a few food posts pop up here and there.

Any advice to anyone that wants to start a blog?

I would say to just go for it! And try not to take it too seriously, it’s supposed to be fun and way for you to escape from day to day life! Try to work as hard as you can to meet your personal needs, so don’t feel like you need to post all the time, but enough if you want to keep your readers interested. Blog about what you love and not what you think your readers will love, otherwise you won’t truly enjoy blogging. I would also say try to interact with other bloggers as much as possible. A comment on someone’s new post can make their day, plus leaving a comment might persuade them to take a look at your blog too

What are the best aspects of running your own blog?

I think the best aspects of running my own blog is definitely being able to talk to so many new people who are interested in the same things as I am. I love interacting with other bloggers on Twitter, it’s so fun and really makes me feel like part of the community! I also love the feedback I get on my posts, reading and replying to comments makes my day and I appreciate every single one of them. Looking back on older posts is also fun because I can see how I have changed both as a person and a blogger. It’s great to look back on all of my hard work too!

What are the hardest aspects?

The hardest aspects are probably writers block and keeping the creative juices flowing! Sometimes I just find it so hard to think of an idea for a post, or I might have an idea, but simply cannot put it into words! I also struggle with taking photos sometimes; I will take them but won’t truly be satisfied with them. It’s hard to not compare your photos and content with other bloggers but this is something I’m trying to overcome, as I do try my best and there’s always room for improvement!

Which social media tools do you use the most?

The only social media tool I use for my blog is Twitter. I use Bloglovin’ of course to follow new blogs and scroll through new posts, however in terms of self-promo and interaction, Twitter is the one for me. I love taking part in blogger chats and interacting with other bloggers. Simply replying to someones tweet is enough to get a conversation flowing! Twitter is also great for promoting blog posts, as you can add hashtags so loads of other bloggers can find it, read it and even leave a friendly comment.

What do you enjoy about blogging the most?

There’s so many things I love about blogging. I love the ability to be creative in terms of my writing style and my photography. It’s such a good feeling when you write a post and you feel truly happy with how it turned out – it makes all your hard work seem worthwhile! Again, I love getting to know new bloggers through reading their blog and interacting with them on Twitter too. It’s so nice to be able to share the same passions as loads of other people. Blogging is great!

Where do you see yourself and your blog in five years time?

That’s a tough question. Hopefully I will still be going strong with my blog and I will still be happy doing what I’m doing. I am very satisfied with my blog and my overall blogging experience at the moment so I hope that continues in the future.

Three blogs you love that we should know?

I love Lauren’s blog at http://itslaurenvictoria.blogspot.co.uk. She does really creative and well thought out posts, plus she’s so sweet and friendly whenever I chat to her. Her blog is always up there when I’m trying to find new posts to read.

I also love Lucy’s blog at http://www.foreverseptemberr.blogspot.co.uk. Her photography is fab and her posts are always great. She did an amazing post on ways to tackle anxiety, which I thoroughly enjoyed and found very relatable.

I also love Lauren’s blog at http://laurenashleighbarden.blogspot.co.uk. She has done some amazing reviews of beauty products that are always so detailed and informative. Her reviews really let me know whether a product is worth buying or not, which is great!

The post Interview With a Blogger: Oh Hello, It’s Hannah! appeared first on Strawberry Squeeze.

If you haven’t read it, I recommend you go check out her great photography and adorable dogs NOW!

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m a huge dog nerd with a fashion and travel blog. I work part time in PR and Marketing and rarely get enough sleep but am usually smiling.

Why did you initially decide to start a blog?

Actually the idea came from a friend, over a coffee one day almost 5 years ago. She suggested my love of fashion, style and photography meant I should have a blog of my own and that if I did she would read it. (Her name is Fi and so the blog name was born). I love creating stories and composing images so it feels natural for me to share these things on the blog – it’s a great creative outlet for me.

What do you blog about and why?

Life and the things I love.

Any advice to anyone that wants to start a blog?

Work hard. Do what you love and love what you do. Try to be consistent, whether that’s posting once a fortnight or once a day, keep it regular. Connect with as many people as possible and work on building those relationships – often it’s not what you know but who you know and being based outwith a major city (Glasgow vs London for me) means you have to work twice as hard to build that aspect. And don’t forget… it’s nice to be nice!

What are the best aspects of running your own blog?

Complete creative freedom.

What are the hardest aspects?

My overflowing inbox! Basically I run every aspect of my own business so juggling the business side as well as the creative side can often be a challenge timewise.

Which social media tools do you use the most?

Instagram… I love it. And it’s full of dog spam which always makes me happy.

What do you enjoy about blogging the most?

Wow, it’s a huge variety of different things and that makes it exciting. First of all, styling outfits and creating good stories and images for blog posts. Social media (Instagram all day every day!). Endless emails, travel and meetings. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Where do you see yourself and your blog in five years time?

Wow, I don’t know. I’m not a huge fan of trying to shoehorn life down a planned out route so I guess I’ll just see where life takes me. Five years ago I couldn’t have predicted I would be here right now – I only launched Thankfifi 4.5 years ago and Instagram wasn’t even a thing then… Things I do know are – I will be surrounded by dogs, likely still blogging, travelling as much as possible and hopefully smiling!

Three blogs you love that we should know?

Gary Pepper Girl’s photography and level of creative editorial always blows my mind… Other favourites include Pinch of Yum for the food envy and Sincerely Jules for the palm trees, travel and easy style.

The post Interview With a Blogger: Wendy From Thankfifi appeared first on Strawberry Squeeze.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Anna, a self-employed designer, copywriter and blogger based in Cornwall (aka, the most beautiful county in England! Yep, I said it). I work from my home in the ‘The Deep South’ with my partner and French Bulldog, Pepper, where we watch too much Netflix and eat way too much pizza.

Why did you initially decide to start a blog?

I’ve been an ‘on/off blogger’ since age 13 really. Writing has always been my passion and, as an extreme introvert, I’ve always been heavily involved in the online world (God forbid I ever have to socialise with other humans in real life!). In the early days on MySpace, LiveJournal and Blogger I just used to witter about random thoughts and do a few beauty/makeup review things, but I never really stuck at it for more than a couple of months.

However, in January 2015 I decided to commit to a project for once. I’ve always been the kind of person who can’t just come home after work and do nothing… I like to get stuck in with creative projects, and always be doing something productive.

So I wanted a creative outlet for my spare time, and I thought – what better to write about than my love of Cornwall? Hence, The Cornish Life was born.

What do you blog about and why?

Okay, so I don’t exclusively write about Cornwall (I’m not a travel agent, right?). I include a lot of random stuff in there too, such as random thoughts that pop into my head, my general life experiences, holidays and, of course, my dog.

It’s basically a ‘lifestyle blog’, and a collection of my day to day thoughts and activities. God knows why anyone reads it, but (amazingly) they do, and I really appreciate that!

Any advice to anyone that wants to start a blog?

If you want to start blogging because you’ve heard you can make money from it and have the work-from-home blogger lifestyle, don’t do it. I see loads of people on various Facebook Groups I’m part of say they want to start a blog and their first question is ‘how do I monetise it?’.

Do it because you enjoy it and because you want a creative outlet, or if you’re a business, do it because it’s a great form of content marketing and awesome for building an authentic brand.

When I started in January I just did it for fun, and so that maybe in a few years I could look back at all the cool stuff I’ve done, but my blog has slowly grown and it has opened up a load of opportunities and friendships to me, and that’s awesome, but that’s really just an added perk that I don’t expect.

What are the best aspects of running your own blog? What are the hardest aspects?

My favourite thing is having my own space on the internet where I can write about whatever I want. I have a brand and website design business and I have a business blog on that website where I write about marketing and such like, and while I do enjoy that, I can’t just write whatever I want, because it’s supposed to be kind of professional.

I also love that I have made friends through my blog (hello Cornish bloggers!), and that I’ve been able to use my blog as a portfolio to prove my writing skills for jobs and clients.

The hardest part? Consistently thinking up fresh content that isn’t just copying what everyone else has done. It’s fairly impossible, as the internet is essentially saturated with blogs now, but it helps to work on your personal writing voice and make sure you write about things from your unique point of view.

Which social media tools do you use the most?

As a copywriter for several clients (which involves managing their social media accounts), and as someone with a small business who needs to promote their services, my life revolves around social media. I use mainly Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to promote The Cornish Life, but man, by the time I’ve spent all week doing social media marketing for other people I do not feel like spending more time on it.

I mainly automate stuff now because… bleh.

Where do you see yourself and your blog in five years time?

I am a typical Type A person who likes to make long lists and 5 year plans, but honestly I haven’t made one for The Cornish Life (yet?). Because blogging, marketing and general online stuff is changing all the time, I just feel it’s impossible to predict what ‘Blog Land’ will even look like in 5 years… but I’d like to do more community stuff and networking with other Cornish creative people!

Three blogs you love that we should know?

I follow well over 200 blogs so it’s pretty hard to pick just 3, so these are just off the top of my head fellow Cornish bloggers who are amazing:

Brainfood (Annabel writes about ‘life after stroke’ in Cornwall, and is super lovely in person too!)

On Serpentine Shores (Alex’s blog includes the most stunning photos of the Cornish landscape, if they don’t make you want to come live here, nothing will!)

Salty Sea Blog (Photographer, Sarah, writes the most incredible posts with stunning photos to match. I could read about her life all day long; she tells it like a story.)

The post Interview With a Blogger: Anna From The Cornish Life appeared first on Strawberry Squeeze.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

Hello! Oooh this feels like one of those icebreaker activities you get at the start of a course or something. My usual go to interesting fact about myself is that I was once on antibiotics for 6 months as I was bitten by a tarantula whilst cycling around a tea plantation in India, but I guess that’s probably not what you’re asking for! I’m Alice and I’m an environmental consultant living during the week in the middle of the countryside in Devon and at the weekends by the sea in Plymouth.

I absolutely love cooking (and eating) delicious food, being outdoors, seeing as many friends as I possibly can squeeze in each week, adventuring around the UK (and the rest of the world when I can afford it!) and keep active as much as possible to balance out a job that mostly involves me sitting on my bum all day! I have a great relationship with my family and am hugely sentimental about keeping in touch with friends from all walks of my life, whilst also sharing my time with my lovely boyfriend Adam.

Why did you initially decide to start a blog?

I spent years reading other people’s blogs which combined with my forever love of writing, I thought to myself, why am I not writing one of these?! In my day job, there’s also little scope to be creative so it’s a lovely space to think about the things that I enjoy in life and join in with the fun that everyone else is having online.

What do you blog about and why?

I blog about all the things I love in life, which happens to be a miss-match of food and drink (lots of recipes and reviews!), adventures whilst I’m out and about, books I’m reading, blogs I’m loving and a whole bunch of other lifestyle-type bits like DIYs as we slowly but surely do up our little flat, musings on life, things I’ve seen that I think are worth sharing and generally things going on in my life.

I never really started the blog with a particular genre in mind, so that’s how it has stayed and I like having a mix of different things as it doesn’t restrict me to talk about specifics but instead I can pick and choose the things I’m loving at the time. I also went to university in Cornwall and spend three absolutely glorious years gig rowing my way around the county and they do say Cornwall gets into your blood, so you’ll probably see quite a few posts from there too!

Do you have any advice to anyone that wants to start a blog?

Get involved in the blogging community, and don’t be scared to ask questions! Most bloggers have an email link on their site, and trust me, HTML is bloody difficult! There have been loads of times when I’ve got completely stuck and reached out to the wider blogging world who have then come back with so many helpful hints and tips – one guy even made me a personalized redirection plug-in for free – how nice is that?! Don’t get cross when stuff goes wrong, it’s usually much simpler to fix than you think! Also, don’t underestimate how addictive it can be (your friends, family and other half will just have to get used to having a camera pointing at EVERYTHING).

What are the best aspects of running your own blog? What are the hardest aspects?

I have LOVED meeting so many new like minded bloggers! I’ve now been to a few events and struck up online friendships with some people and it’s great. Everyone is so positive and friendly, it was something I’d always heard about but didn’t quite believe the extent of it until I actually got involved myself. I also really like how many new blogs you discover once you’ve started one yourself – my main issue is having the time to read all of them!

The hardest aspect for me is time. I have a pretty busy life as it is, and blog posts take much longer to write than you’d first imagine. I really like that I’ve got so much more into photography since starting Wooden Window Sills, but by the time you’ve factored in taking photos, editing photos, writing and checking over the post, then putting it all together, even a simple shortie can take hours to produce.

Which social media tools do you use the most?

I’ve always used facebook to keep in touch with friends and family, so my facebook page is great tool for sharing your blog with people you know, however, I haven’t found it as useful for increasing your traffic from strangers yet. Instagram is fab, I probably spend most time scrolling through people’s photos compared to any other social media at the moment, and it’s also really quick to upload things and easy to drive traffic to through hashtags. However links aren’t as easy as they don’t appear as hyperlinks in each post. Twitter is pretty new to me, so I’m still getting to grips with it and can’t say that I use it to its full potential yet.

Where do you see yourself and your blog in five years’ time?

Oooh now there’s a thought! I’d love to think that my blog would have developed into a routine in five years, though I have a feeling the whole internet will have massively changed by then anyway so it’s quite exciting to see where it’s going to go and what directions blogs will take. I think it also depends how my personal life shapes up, and how much time I’ll have to spend writing post content. In five years I’ll be 28, so I’d really like to think that Adam and I will own a lovely house together than we’ve got just how we like it, and are in jobs that continually challenge us whilst also are enjoyable and interesting. I might even go as far as saying potentially marriage might be on the cards by then (but that one’s not really up to me to determine! Ha J ) and I’ll hopefully also own a dog!

Three blogs you love that we should know?

I’ve always loved and admired Cat’s beautiful blog Take Courage, Amanda at Rhyme and Ribbons is fab and recently influenced my blog considerably by hosting The Bake Off Bake Along, and my most recent blog feature has been the lovely Stephie at Tea In Your Twenties.

The post Interview With a Blogger: Wooden Window Sills appeared first on Strawberry Squeeze.