Today we’d like to introduce you to Ara Mackenzie Washburn.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ara Mackenzie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started blogging when I was graduating high school. A lot was going on for me, I was learning a lot of life lessons – I wanted to write it all down and remember it. So, I started As always, Ara on WordPress.com. I remember it was something I kept secret from others and didn’t wanna share, it was my own world as I saw it and I didn’t want others to read into my private thoughts and life moments. Before and during my first years of college, I worked and modeled for a local clothing store. Being surrounded by fashion was a dream job for me, plus I got to model the fashion! I’ve always been into fashion and clothing. I won most fashionable at my school my senior year, I enjoyed dressing nice and standing out in school.
Before my junior in college, I started thinking about turning my blog into a fashion/lifestyle blog and after talking to my close friends and family about it, I finally decided to just go for it. I sat down one night and got to work on my website, I changed it up quite a bit and then created an instagram account – I knew I wanted a new account for my blogger/influencer style photos! I wanna say from the time I decided to go for it to the time I posted my first blog with pictures to post on my instagram account was a good 3 days apart. Almost a year ago now, last August, as always, Ara was introduced as a fashion and lifestyle blog!
My friends and family have been so supportive from the start, I would not have near the content I have without the help of my best friend and my mom taking photos of my style!! I love what I do, I love the people who support what I do. Creating content and writing out my thoughts/advice/hopes/dreams/favorite things and sharing it with the world has become so fullfilling to me – I love connecting with others and finding that common interest or just relating to someone else and getting that feeling of not being out there alone. There’s nothing I enjoy doing more than blogging and being and influencer on instagram, it’s a side hobby I would do full-time if I could – I’m hoping to reach that goal one day.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road to success is never easy. My mom always told me, “if it was easy, everyone would do it.” Anything worth having isn’t for everyone. I wanna say the only obstacle’s I’ve faced is Instagram’s changing algorithm’s. I say this because I feel like I wouldn’t have such a hard time with growth if I wasn’t a small blogger starting out at one of the worst times to be a starting blogger on Instagram! Instagram’s new algorithm makes it hard for smaller accounts to be seen equally to bigger accounts because photos with more engagement – like/comments – get shown to more independent accounts and photos with little to no likes/comments get shown even less to independent accounts.
Sometimes, it can feel like my account is growing at the slowest rate possible and I compare myself and the content I’m putting out to other bloggers I follow. I just have to remind myself to stay patient, get inspired by those other bloggers, and keep creating. Success doesn’t happen overnight, but when it finally does – all the hard work you did to get there will make the moment even more magical.
Please tell us about As Always, Ara.
I’m trying to build my brand, “As Always, Ara” to be recognizable. Before that, my interest lies in collaborating with new brands, growing a community and network of other awesome bloggers, and enjoying it all! My favorite part of blogging has to be working with new brands in collaborations in which I model or try a new product or product I’ve loved on for a while. I love collaborations because my followers do too! I love being able to share amazing brands with others and providing my community with discounts to some of their favorite brands! I really do feel the best way to market a product or brand is to have influencers use the item and see if they love it themselves. Influencers have a trusting community, and that’s crucial!
Growing a community that trusts my opinion and advice is incredibly important to me. Apart from working with brands, I want a space where I can share my life and my advice with others. I want to relate with other people in my shoes, I want to inspire someone to not give up or to wear the dang crop top. I want to build a space that shares positivity, self-confidence, grace, and style. I want people to recognize my posts when they see them on their feed and I hope that my post can influence them in even the smallest way, to smile. I just have a lot of hopes for my brand and I hope I’m able to share all of it with my people.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I love to look at other bloggers/influencers on Instagram. A blogger that inspires my every being is @tezzamb. I just think she’s the coolest, most carefree, positively funny chick ever and I wanna be her best friend. The content she creates always blows me away. She is super fierce and fun. She inspires me to be carefree and fun and not take life (or blogging) too serious. Another fave blogger of mine is @oliviarink. She has major hair goals and the photoshoots she puts together with her photographer @aesthetiica kill me. She is sweet and has the cutest petite style. She inspires me to be more creative with locations and my blog topics, and to grow my hair out lol. @peyton.baxter is actually the blogger/influencer that influenced me to become a blogger. I’ll never forget reading her blog, “Wait, you blog for a living?” It answered all my questions and really persuaded me to do what I had always wanted to do – make a real living out of my fashion and style! If there is anything else that helps inspire me to create, it’s Pinterest. My bio on there says it all, I’m addicted to Pinterest. I get on there for everything (I seriously have a board for every aspect of my life) and I’m always finding inspiration from their quotes and fashion pins!
Contact Info:
- Website: asalwaysara@gmail.com
- Email: asalwaysara@gmail.com
- Instagram: ara_mackenzie
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aramackenzie/
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