I’ve only been a licensed attorney for a year and a half. That being said, I am not too far removed from the stress and struggles of law school final exams. Prior to law school, I had never taken a final exam that had me shook the way that the idea of law school final exams did.
My Torts professor gave us a midterm to gage how we would perform on a final exam on the material up until that point. I did my best but I definitely panicked and doubted myself throughout the entire thing. I basically failed it and was devastated. I wasn’t sure how I was going to learn all of the material, but I knew going into finals season, I needed to get my mindset right.
Similarly to the LSAT and the Bar Exam, mindset is everything on law school exams. I have drafted this list of affirmations to help all law students who are currently studying for exams.
I remain calm and focused during my law school exams.
My mind is sharp and I will do well on my exams.
I easily recall the rule of law during exams.
I always write thorough yet concise legal analysis
I perform well under the stress of law school exams.
My value as a legal professional and person is not determined by these exams.
I have prepared for these exams and will do my best.
I hope these are helpful for you during this finals season. Remember that you ARE just as capable and are clearly intelligent as getting into law school to begin with is no easy feat. Believe in yourself, do the work, and repeat these affirmations to handle your law school exams like a pro. Good Luck!
I know we are past two months into 2023, but something about this upcoming Spring resonated as the new year more than January did for me this year. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while (which I greatly appreciate) then you know that I always have a Word of the Year instead of “New Year’s Resolutions.” I’m not knocking New Year’s Resolutions but I’m someone who tends to fall into perfectionism and all-or-nothing type outlooks and failing at resolutions in the past led to my Word of the Year approach.
In order to still focus on self-improvement, I have generally kept up the practice of having a Word of the Year. However, I did not have one last year or make a vision board and honestly, that’s probably why it was such a hot fucking mess. You can read more about that in my last post. Anyways, this year I have decided to get back into my practice of having a Word of the Year. This year’s word of the year is Intentional.
I chose the word intentional because last year felt as if I was just taking things day by day and doing things randomly instead of intentionally. Upon reflecting on a lot of things that held me back last year, I came to the conclusion that if I had acted intentionally in all aspects of my life, I wouldn’t have felt the way I felt throughout the year. Living life going through the motions of going to work and going home and randomly making time for myself and my loved ones didn’t cause my depression but it definitely did not help.
This year, my focus is to do more things with intention and to create a life that feels good to me. I want to be intentional about whatever I consume, whether that be what I decide to watch on tv, what podcasts I decide to listen to, how I want to move my body that day, or what food I want to eat. I’m not saying every decision needs to have some profound reasoning, but I do want to be more mindful and intentional about the life I’m living. I chose the word intentional at the beginning of the year and have been keeping it in mind since.
Do you have a word of the year? If yes, comment with what your word of the year is for 2023 and tell me how it’s been going keeping this word in mind. If not, think about it for a bit and comment with what you come up with. I look forward to reading yours!
Hey readers! I know it’s been a long time since I last posted on this blog. My absence was due to one thing after the other happening in my life. As I like to put it, “life be life-ing” and the last year and a half or so, it definitely has been life-ing. The last post I posted was a life update and that was back in October 2021. Since then, soooo much more has happened.
Let me just say that 2022 was a wild year. 2022 might have been one of the more challenging years in my life. For those who are into astrology, I was in the midst of my Saturn return and let’s just say that Saturn was really letting my hardheaded ass have it! I have learned more about myself, my relationship dynamics with others, and just about the world in general in 2022 than any other year of my adult life. While 2022 (and a good chunk of 2021 as well) was extremely challenging, it was also full of blessings. Rather than get into the nitty gritty of it all, I will give a very brief summary.
Since my last post:
I decided to opt out of the CA Bar Exam.
I was invited to my first influencer event in Vegas.
I started going to therapy.
I was diagnosed with depression
My childhood dog died.
Went through a really bad breakup.
I completed my judicial clerkship.
I started dating again.
I got my first job as a practicing attorney.
My mom’s cancer came back.
My mom went through radiation again.
I celebrated a year of being a licensed attorney.
My mom’s radiation worked.
I’m finally feeling settled as a new attorney.
Since I graduated law school, I’ve been struggling to find the balance between blogging, podcasting, and creating content. I was already struggling with it in law school but the struggle has gotten even more REAL now that I’m a whole attorney with a case load.
I’ve gone through a lot of self-reflection the last few months and I’m come to some realizations as far as my future as a blogger, podcaster, and online content creator overall. For a long time I was just really unsure of my message and what I wanted to say to my audience. This blog isn’t meant to sure as some post where I tell you all I have magically figured it out. However, I have discerned what kind of content creator I don’t want to be and I think that is a good starting point.
If you’re still reading this and support my blog and I in any way, I appreciate you so much. I hope 2023 has been treating you well so far. My 2023 has been off to a decent start and I have good feelings about this upcoming Spring season. My Saturn Return is over and my 30th birthday is coming up very soon. I’m more than excited and will be creating a lot more content that centers on my experience in my 20s and things I learned along the way.
If there is any blog posts or content you’d like to read from me, be sure to comment or connect with me on instagram here. Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your day!
Hey readers! I know it’s been a longggg time since the last time I wrote blog post. It’s actually been since the middle of March, if you wanted to know the specifics. Well it’s now OCTOBER and A LOT has changed in my life. So much has changed that I decided to dedicate THIS POST to catching you all up on what has happened in since March and what is new in my life right now!
I finished law school.
Yes, ya girl is finally done with school FOREVER. I can’t even put into words how happy I am about this. 3L Year was really rough. I was overwhelmed a majority of the time and could not figure out how to balance everything I had going on in my life at the time (hence why my blog was big chillin’ here). I elected to take 2 classes Pass/Fail instead of getting grades because I was just over the whole law school process. In retrospect I wish I had gotten a grade for one of them because I think it would have helped instead of hurt but fuck it who cares. I still graduated, which brings me to the next point.
I graduated from law school (in person).
I’m so happy we were able to have an in person ceremony. I feel for all the fellow students who weren’t able to. I received my 2nd dose of the vaxxie prior to graduation (and did not experience any wild symptoms, truly blessed) and I loved everything about the ceremony. I also won aDean’s Award y’all! It was a wonderful ceremony. We were allotted 6 in person guests and then the rest of our friends and family could watch it online. The first thing I did after graduation? I took some pictures outside, went home, took a nap, and ordered sushi on uber eats. I wish I took more pictures with my family and friends but my mom was kinda rushing for some reason so we left. Additionally, the week between graduation and bar prep, I slept. I wish I had took a trip somewhere fun or something.
I studied for and sat for the bar exam.
This (aside from taking the exam itself) was probably the worst experience of my life. Bar Prep was not fun. It was very isolating and normally that wouldn’t have as horrible (for me) if I hasn’t already spent the 1.5 years isolated from everyone during the pandemic. IfI’m completely honest, my mental health struggles worsened a great amount during this time. My fitness was not the best even though I literally have a Peloton at home. The good news is, I know what I will change when I study for the CA Bar.
I took a mini-vacation to San Diego.
It was nice to get away from everything for a few days. I will say that outside is expensive as hell now. I know the hotels and Airbnb people probably made way less of a profit in 2020 but that doesn’t mean they need to have these ridiculous ass prices. They’re going to make me stay at home some more with those prices. Anyways, usually my visits to San Diego have me all over the place but this time around I mainly stayed in PB (Pacific Beach). It’s one of my fave parts of San Diego to just chill in, which I needed. I went to the beach a few times but the best time was unfortunately a few hours before I left. The weather was perfect and sunny but not too hot. I missed the beach so much. 2020 was the first year since I graduated high school that I didn’t spend any time in San Diego. This trip was almost perfect (I would have liked to stay longer but like I said, outside is expensive now) and just what I needed before I started my first big girl job.
I started my first full-time salaried job in the legal field (big girl job).
Idk what is it about being in school (without working) that has always made me feel like a diet adult but ya girl is officially an 8-5 worker. I would have liked more time off but I am also so grateful to have a job right out of law school. I’m finally adjusted to these 40* hour work weeks. One thing I desperately need is a better morning routine. I need to become one of those people that works out at like 6am or so but I’m not there yet, haha. This is my main focus moving forward because I am too tired to workout (even though I still do) by the time I get off work and I need to get my fitness together. I have been doing a decent job with my fitness so far in October.
I was able to get my clerkship back in January and I’d write more about that experience if that’s something my law school readers want to know more about. Let me know!
I passed the Nevada Bar Exam!
On October 8th, 2021 I found out I passed the Nevada Bar Exam! I honestly couldn’t believe it because I left that exam feeling that I had failed miserably and made peace with either outcome. I was so sure I didn’t pass I didn’t even rush to take the MPRE which is needed before you can officially be admitted into the State Bar. Due to that, I will not be able to be officially sworn in as an attorney until sometime in December or after. I’m in no rush as it’s not necessarily needed for my job. I feel like I need to write a whole blog or have a podcast episode dedicated to this experience so I might do that.
That’s what I’ve been up to the last 6ish months and wow, writing this and reading it back, A LOT has changed. I’m in a transition in life that has been full of so many accomplishments and emotions. Honestly, I’ve been taking everything day by day. Now that the limbo of waiting for Bar Exam results is over, I want to focus more on creating content. Let’s hope I actually do it!
How have you been? Anything new in your life? Any questions about any of my updates? Let me know in the comment below!
If you’re anything like me, you live for motivational and inspirational quotes. I’m definitely someone who has quotes all over my vision boards, hydroflask, letterboard, planner, and wherever else I can put them. Sometimes, other people are just better at saying what we need to hear to feel inspired or motivated. Last year, I shared some of my favorite quotes from my favorite Black authors during Black History Month. I meant to do that this year but February flew by.
In honor of Women’s History Month and to make up for my slacking in February, this blog post will be dedicated to some of my favorite inspirational quotes from Black women I look up to and admire in the entertainment industry. These women all inspire me in different ways and their words are so helpful as I work towards being the successful woman I want to be.
“I don’t like to gamble, but if there’s one thing I’m willing to bet on, it’s myself.” ― Beyoncé Knowles
“I don’t have any time to stay up all night worrying about what someone who doesn’t love me has to say about me.” ― Viola Davis (during an interview with Oprah Winfrey)
“You can’t let fear paralyze you. The worse that can happen is you fail, but guess what: You get up and try again. Feel that pain, get over it, get up, dust yourself off and keep it moving.” ― Queen Latifah
“I discovered that joy is not the negation of pain, but rather acknowledging the presence of pain and feeling happiness in spite of it. ― Lupita Nyong’o
“For the first time in my life, I’m basing every decision around the idea of whether I want to do it or if I think it will be inspiring. And that’s paid off for me.” ― Solange
“Happiness comes from living as you need to, as you want to. As your inner voice tells you to. Happiness comes from being who you actually are instead of who you think you are supposed to be.” ― Shonda Rhimes, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person
As I’ve already said, I admire each of these women for their own unique contributions to the entertainment industry. They have all done some amazing things in their careers and are still working and adding to their resumes now. Their words will continue to inspire me as I add to mine. Hopefully you are also inspired by these words and remember them in your day-to-day life.
What is your favorite quote to remember every day? Whether it’s from another celebrity, an activist, someone in your life, or even yourself, I want to hear it. Tell me in the comments!
SHARE this blog post with your quote loving friends!
This semester is my last semester ever of law school. In normal circumstances, I would say I can’t believe the time has gone by this fast. However, these past few years have not been normal at all. I truly feel like I have lived many lives since I started law school and, in a way, it’s true. However this is true for everyone. There is pre-pandemic life and whatever is going on now. It’s definitely added an additional layer of stress to an already stressful experience. I would like to have
This semester started off a rocky note for me. I did not really get the traditional winter break I have gotten in previous years just because WRBLSA had our convention and I had to work with my GLJ board to finalize volume 11.1. The point is, I was not really mentally ready for the semester to start.
Once the semester started, it just felt like things were always escalating. Between my classes, journal, clinic, home life, blog, podcast, and everything else I just felt like I was trying to catch up with myself. Mercury Retrograde started two weeks into the semester and I could definitely tell from my interactions in different spaces. There were so many misunderstandings I spent a good part of that time period praying for patience and meditating because I just did not have it in me to try to overexplain. Luckily, all things were cleared up after some communication, but it was still another thing that was stressing me out at that time.
Another thing that has happened this semester was applying to take the Bar Exam! Oh my goodness. The Bar asks soooo many questions and even though I was not completely unaware of how much it asks, it still caught me off guard and I ended up submitted it on the last possible day without getting a late fee. I was completely prepared for someone to come to my house and ask for a blood sample after I clicked submit. I feel like the Bar Exam people will now know me better than anyone else.
Now that I’ve written out many of the things that have happened so far, I know what I need to do to survive the remainder of the semester until MAY 14th aka MY GRADUATION as well as my legal career in general. Here are some things I need to do to make sure I make the next few months as easy as possible.
I need to spend more time fully planning out my months.
Don’t get me wrong, I use my planner. However, I noticed that in January and February I was writing things in on a weekly basis instead of filling out everything at the beginning of the month. This became problematic because certain things would catch me off-guard and then I would end up having multiple bigger things to do every day for multiple days instead of spreading things out. After I finish writing this blog, I’m going to fill in my March calendar completely because I already know there’s a lot going on this month and I only have a few dates filled in.
I need to write EVERY thing down, no matter how small it is.
I realized that I have been overestimated my ability to remember things that I think of in the moment and this semester it has led to me dropping the ball a few times. Luckily for me, these are all things that could have been remedied, however it’s still not a good look. I now have a little notepad and post-its right next to me on my desk and a note on my phone dedicated to random things I think of if I’m not at my desk. I know this Is so basic and obvious but sometimes those are the things we take for granted the most.
I need to spend MORE time by myself.
I realized this semester that the busier I am with other things, the MORE time I need to make for myself and my wellness. This might sound impossible because obviously if you are super busy, you don’t have that much time. However, one day I sat down and realized I hadn’t actually relaxed for more than 5 mins in a given week or two, I knew it was time for me to take a personal day. I ended up not going to class this past Monday and I don’t regret it at all. Obviously, there is a certain amount of privilege you have to have to be able to do this as a law student. However, if you can just take one day where you don’t go to class and don’t respond to e-mails, slack, band, etc. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. I also have started meditating for 10 minutes a day every day to ground myself a bit more. I’ll write more about this at the end of the month.
These are just a few things I’m implementing for the rest of the semester. I encourage all law students who may be like me and forgot to do these things as often as they should to try it out. Plan things enough in advance, write things down, and make your me-time non-negotiable. I’m almost certain this will make your semester better. If not, at least it will make it somewhat more manageable.
What are some ways you make sure you have a handle on the semester or your life? Let me know in the comments! I’m always looking for suggestions.
I know what you’re thinking (maybe). “Why is she telling us her word of the year and her goals for 2021? It’s already nearly the middle of February.” You’re not wrong with those observations buuuut I think it’s so important for me to share my word of the year and goals with my blog. My Instagram peeps had a chance to know this information and you all didn’t and I don’t think that’s fair. Also, sharing these on my blog gives me another way to hold myself accountable and document my year. I plan on doing quarterly check-ins on my blog like I used to, and if you all never know the orginal goals, how can I check-in on them on the blog? I can’t! So that’s why this post just had to be posted, okay? Besides, that my word of the year has changed…I haven’t told Instagram yet so this is a themusingsofmara.com exclusive!
My word of the year this year was Discipline like it was the year before. However, a month into 2021 this word just doesn’t fit what I need for this year. Don’t get me wrong…I DO need discipline this year and ALL years, but that word just isn’t speaking to me anymore. I realized I didn’t even put it on my vision board (accidentally but that says something). I’ve decided to change my word of the year to EXECUTE. This year, I need to stop putting all my energy into planning things that I never execute. The only way I can thrive as a creator and person in general is to just do the damn thing. I can plan as many blog posts as I want but if I don’t type anything on wordpress, what good does that do. I can meal plan all I want but if I don’t meal prep, track my food, and focus on nutrition what good does that do? I need to EXECUTE. That’s why I changed my word of the year and I’m so happy I did!
My 2021 Goals need me to execute. I’m going to share a few of the goals I have and so you all my vision board for this year.
Eat more nutritious food.
Do more things that make my happy.
Workout 6x a week, Lift Weights 4x a week.
Find my post-grad job.
Pass the BAR EXAM.
Get my driver’s license and a car.
Monetize my blog.
Do more yoga.
Be consistent on my blog, Instagram, and my podcast.
Get 10K Instagram followers.
Go to the Beach.
These are my main goals for this year. If I can even do ½ of these, I feel that I will have a great 2021! I will update you all in at the end of March and let you know how much progress I’ve made on these goals by then. I will also do that at the end of the other quarters of the year. I’m excited to see what all I’m able to accomplish this year. P.S. I may or may not have done one of these things already. You’ll find out soon!
What are some of your 2021 goals? Let me know in the comments! I miss chatting with you all.
It has been…quite some time since I last wrote a blog post! I’m so sorry. Fall 2020 was my wildest semester yet. I gravely underestimated my ability to balance every obligation I had and because of this, all of my creative outlets suffered. It made me really sad and this semester I’m making a promise to myself that I will create more often. Not because I have to (I could easily never blog again and the world would keep spinning) but because I want to and need to for my own well-being. Blogging makes me so happy and I need to start doing more things that make me happy. I’m extremely happy to be writing this post right now.
I figured I should use this post to give some life updates because like I said…it’s been quite some time since my last post and A LOT HAS CHANGED. First thing that changed was I got a Peloton Bike! Y’all the Peloton Bike+ has been a game changer for my fitness, my mental health, and my life overall. I was struggling with staying consistent with my home workouts and there would be months where I was killing it and months where I could barely get myself to workout at all. Ever since I got my Peloton, all of that has changed. I workout at least 4x a week and I feel so good about that aspect of my life. I highly recommend anyone who can afford it (they have payment plans) and loves fitness to get one! Use my code: RTWNHY for $100 worth of free accessories.
The rest of the Fall semester consisted of me balancing my law school clinic work with being the Managing Editor of the Gaming Law Journal and my class work and just mentally preparing for hours of Zoom every week. It was quite draining. I honestly wasn’t sure how my finals season was going to go as I felt like I was scrambling through the entire semester, blinked, and then it was over. However, I’m happy to report that for the FIRST TIME EVER, I made the Dean’s List in law school! If you would have told liddle 1L me that one day I’d make the Dean’s List I’d tell you that you were trippin’. I still check read the e-mail to make sure it actually happened and that I didn’t dream it haha.
Sometimes law school can make us doubt our intelligence and greatness but last semester (as hard as it was) was really affirming for me. My friend and I were in the same clinic and we helped our client get their case dismissed with our work. I was so proud and for one of the few times in my law school career, I felt like I could actually BE a lawyer. It was great. I even decided to return to clinic this semester and see who else I could help with my legal knowledge.
There were many other events like me taking driving classes (I still don’t have my license y’all), WRBLSA’s 53rd Annual Convention and Gala (that I was blessed to MC), having a few amazing guests on my podcast, and much more. The last few months have been A LOT. However, I feel like I’m coming into myself and even though we are still in a panera bread (pandemic), I’m grateful for where I’m at in life right now. IT’S MY LAST SEMESTER OF LAW SCHOOL (I’ll have a whole other post about this later). I’m alive and healthy. My family is alive and healthy. My mom is almost completely vaccinated. Everything is as good as it could be.
All of that being said, I’m still planning, working on executing, and doing more things that I ENJOY, starting with this blog, working towards my podcast, and just creating content that feels more me. A rebrand might be on the horizon but I’m still thinking about it haha. IT’S BLACK HISTORY MONTH so I got some wonderful BLACK CONTENT up my sleeve for the blog and Instagram. Stay Tuned.
If you’re still reading I love you and appreciate you. Thank you for all your support.
Over the last few weeks, I have been experiencing what we call a creative funk here at themusingsofmara.com. I’ve talked about my process of dealing with creative funks in a post before, and one of the ways I deal with this is go to straight to the reason I create content: my audience! I asked my followers on Instagram what kind of posts did they want me to write. One of good friends and supporters wanted to know how to stay motivated while working on your self-love, even when it feels like you’re not seeing results quickly enough. I thought it was a great topic.
I’ll be honest, lately I’ve been struggling with my own self-love. My body-image has especially been a struggle since moving and the pandemic led to me gaining a good amount of weight and snacking wayyyy more than I was when I was going to a gym 4x a week. However, aside from that, I like to think I’ve come a long-way on my self-love journey in the last few years. In undergrad my self-talk was not kind at all. Now I catch myself when I am mean to myself. I’m going to try my best to explain how to stay motivated on your own journey to self-love.
Do something small related to self-love every day
I think when people think of cultivating their self-love, they think it needs to be a bunch of work every day. While that may make your journey progress faster (or not, it differs by person), you can also change your mindset by doing one small thing every day. For example, I have this fitness journal and one of the daily prompts in it is says “Today I love my body because _____” and then you fill in the blank. I notice when I’m adamant about filling this out every morning in like 5 mins, I have more positive outlook on my body for the rest of the day and overall.
Realize that you can’t rush it
There is no proper timeline for achieving self-love. There is no finish line. It is a lifelong journey that also works in cycles, at least that’s what I believe. By rushing yourself to progress, you will only frustrate yourself and create more negative feelings about yourself. Be patient with yourself and understand that you are trying to do a lifetime of negative self-talk and limiting beliefs. It will take time and that’s okay.
Track your wins & progress
The best way to stay motivated is to make note of your progress, no matter how small! Even if it seems like something that’s not noteworthy, write it down! For example, if you notice that you’ve gone a whole day without a negative thought about yourself: write it down! If you notice that you had a negative thought but then you countered it with a positive affirmation, write it down! If you remembered to say your positive affirmations every day for 3 days in a row: you guessed it, write it down! You will stay motivated if you realize you actually ARE progressing. Don’t undermine that progress and see where you need work.
Follow people/accounts that make you feel good about yourself
I’m obsessed with Instagram accounts that have positive quotes and illustrations related to self-love. If you follow me, you know that I’m always sharing these types of posts on my IG stories. As someone who spends A LOT of time on social media, it’s so important for me to create a space that makes me feel happy and work towards self-love and it’s just as important for YOU.
Realize you’re only human & won’t be perfect
Give yourself grace during your self-love journey. Some days will be better than others and as I mentioned earlier, there is no proper timeline for self-love. Striving for perfection stops progress. Achieving self-love ongoing process and you are human so you might not always be perfect at it. Do it anyways and be disciplined in doing so. If you are disciplined and do something related to self-love every day, you will be amazed at how far you will come in a year.
Fostering self-love is hard but completely worth it. You may feel like you aren’t moving towards self-love fast enough, but that’s not true! You’re moving at the pace necessary for your own journey. You’re doing amazing sweetie! Don’t worry.
Please refer back to this blog post whenever you need to and share it with your friends!
Hello readers! It’s been a little over a month since I shared my last post (sorry!) I know y/all probably get sick of me and my excuses, but this semester has been a wild one. Virtual law school did not come to play with us this Fall 2020, okay?! So much has happened since then but two super exciting things that have happened include me ending my recording hiatus for my podcast, Handle Your Scandal. You can find my most recent episodes here and here. Additionally, I landed my first paid Instagram post with a company! I knew I wanted to land one by the end of 2020 so landing one two months before the year ended has made me so happy. I’m hopeful to have more paid opportunities in the future.
My paid post led to one my friends and fellow creative to ask to write a post on how I decide what brands to work with. I think this is such an important question. When it comes to being an online content creator who is either paid or gifted products to post, you have a responsibility to be super selective about what companies you decide to promote. In order to help you do that, I will give you a few questions I ask to navigate that decision-making process.
1. Does this company align with who I am as a person?
If a company does not align with me as an individual, then I won’t work with them. Period. There isn’t really much more to add to that. Hopefully you know who you are and what you stand for. Don’t work with companies that conflict with that, no matter how much they are offering.
2. Does this company fit with my online brand?
Being clear on your brand is so important before you start working with companies, especially if there are certain aspects of yourself that don’t necessarily fit with your brand. For example, my brand is all about motivating millennials and gen z to live a well-balanced life. What I consider a well-balanced life includes making time for school/work, our own wellness, fitness goals, and personal development while I also run a blog. I also have other things that help me achieve this like drinking coffee/matcha, working out, and more. There are certain parts of my life that don’t really align with my brand. If I was to suddenly talking about being the perfect girlfriend or something like that, my followers would be confused. I keep this in mind and won’t really do anything related to relationships in my content because that’s not what my brand currently is. I could easily change that in the future, but for now, it’s not that. This means I maybe wouldn’t collab with a dating app UNLESS I felt that it would be useful to my audience, which leads to the next question I ask myself.
3. Does this company/product align with my audience and help them?
While it’s good to be clear on your brand, sometimes things outside of your brand could potentially help your audience as well. My audience (on instagram and my podcast) is made up of mostly women who are between the ages of 20-35. While a company might not align with my personal brand, it still might be something that could potentially help my audience. If something does not align with my brand at all, it would have to help me audience in a tremendous way in order for me to even consider working with them.
4. Would I use this product if I wasn’t getting paid to do so?
When it comes to gifted products, I’m a little less strict because I feel more comfortable telling my followers “This company sent me this and I tried it out, here’s what I think” as opposed to “You should definitely try this product!” If I know that I could not see myself using something if I wasn’t getting paid or something in return for it, then it I will not work with that company. Being authentic with my audience is extremely important to me and one of my top priorities as a content creator. I will not promote something to them that I know I don’t like/wouldn’t use.
These are some of the questions I ask myself before I decide to work with a company. If you struggle answering any of these questions because of lack of clarity in your own brand, then you definitely need to get clear on that before you want to get paid to post anything. Lacking clarity in these areas means that your brand needs some more work before you get to that stage of being an online content creator. You gotta crawl before you walk and walk before you run. If you are able to figure these things out, you will have no trouble knowing what companies you want to work with (and what companies you want to avoid.)
I hope this post helps you figure out exactly how to determine what companies to work with. When I was offered my first paid post, I was so excited! However, it’s important to remember your values and integrity as you navigate the influencer marketing world.
Do you have any more questions about deciding which brands to work with? Would you like to see more posts like this? Let me know in the comments.
Del Taco x Beyond Meat: click here to learn more about Beyond Meat Products at Del Taco, download the Del Taco app (apple or google play), then use code musingsofmara for a free order of fries with any Beyond Meat product purchase. (valid until 11/8/2020)
The Musings of Mara 