I graduated at a very strange time—it was the economic downturn of the early 2000s, so upon returning from UC Santa Barbara to Seattle, my degree in Political Science left me pretty much…no where. It felt impossible to get a job. So I ended up parlaying another aspect of my life, athletics, into something I never thought I’d do—personal training! I worked at a gym for a year and the job ending up facilitating a move to Maui. So all in all, it was a great way to get prepared to go back to grad school! 

I also thought I wanted to work in politics—I’d had the dream since an early age and so that’s exactly what I did (after the personal training). I moved to Washington, D.C., got a Master’s degree in Public Policy and ended up working for a US Senator. But, to make a long story and a number of years short, politics is really all about communication. It’s the ultimate lesson in how to do good PR. After realizing I really was a west coast girl at heart, I transitioned out of politics and into PR, working for small and then very large branding and PR agencies.

While I enjoyed it, PR wasn’t fueling my passions for other parts of life—namely décor, fashion, travel, food—really all things that I think bring joy into our daily lives. So when I bought my first home in Seattle, a little condo that happened to be #34, I thought “I’ll start a blog about my renovations and decorating process!” This was back in 2007 when Apartment 34, Décor8 and Design*Sponge were some of the only games in town. My best decision? To start blogging daily and not stop—it’s what’s taken me from then, to now.

All of my training for design, fashion and styling has been “on the job.” I worked as an event planner for a few years and that definitely helped me learn a lot about design and entertaining. I’ve also assisted fashion stylists and I read stacks of design and fashion publications voraciously. But I do believe that a lot about your approach to design and aesthetic are intuitive. And you never stop learning. However, my formal education and initial career has played a huge role in helping grow Apartment 34 to what it is today. My knowledge of branding, PR and strategic communication strategies, as well as my understanding of media as a marketing tool, has definitely helped me turn my blog into a business.

Everywhere. Obviously blogs, Tumblr, Pinterest, but I also really try to hunt for new inspiration offline—books, magazines, travel and restaurants. I always keep my eyes wide open. 

The heart of a brand is what it values. What do you stand for? What are you about? I started my branding career working with nonprofits. Nonprofits all have mission statements—what they’re trying to accomplish. But really every brand should have a mission statement. How are you trying to make the world, or maybe just someone’s day, a little better with what you’re doing? Once you’ve nailed that down, you build the rest of your brand to support and communicate your mission.

Connect, connect, connect. Reach out to others. Create communities—help one another. Apartment 34 would not still be around nearly seven years later if it weren’t for the amazing community of bloggers that I call both colleagues and friends.

Oh, how I wish there were such a thing as an “average day.” One key to success in a whirlwind industry like blogging and consulting is that everything is always different and you have to stay nimble. I am what you might call a power multi-tasker, jumping from answering emails and drafting content for the website, to producing a photoshoot and having a meeting with a client—all in the same day. Somehow I try to cram in a Pilates session, a walk with my dogs and an evening with my husband in there too. It’s neither easy nor glamorous, but I really do love it more than anything I’ve done to date.

You spend more of your time working than doing anything else in your life, so you really want to find something you love. This is often a combination of things you’re passionate about, but also things you’re good at. When you have a list of tasks, what do you always put off to the very last moment? That’s a clue of the type of work that you probably will not find fulfilling. What do you eagerly jump into? What gets your mind and heart racing? That can help you find things that might make a good job or a good career. You want to find something that continually motivates you to learn and grow.

For the longest time the biggest challenge was there only being one of me. You can only do so much. Figuring out that I needed to ask for help—aka, hire employees—and then fully trusting them and giving up my Type A, perfectionist, control freak tendencies has helped a lot. But really, the most challenging part is just figuring things out as I go. I haven’t run my own business before and while there are handbooks and training and classes and tons of resources to help you figure everything out, from accounting and IT issues, to how to run a good meeting, ultimately, at the end of the day—it’s on you to make it happen. That’s a scary thing to face—but I love it!