When For Tha Masses launched 5 years ago, it started off as a hobby of some sort to help me figure out my path in life. My initial idea was to create a fashion blog that helped women define their individual style and build confidence on a budget. I wanted to highlight big-name retailers that I went to regularly who offered discounted clothes for next to nothing. As a former stylist, fashion was my life and having a blog of my own where I helped other women look and feel their best sounded like a fun thing to do during my free time. Not long after launching, I started seeing articles and blog posts about the environmental effects of the fashion industry and the downside of fast fashion. From that moment on, I decided to rethink my original objective and create content that was useful, informative and highlighted my personal values and creative ideas.
Once I learned about fast fashion, everything else seemed to snowball from there. I started educating myself on consumerism and how it relates to minimalism. I began looking for ways to simplify my life and stopped carelessly shopping for things I didn’t need and introduced other circular ways of shopping such as thrifting. I started being mindful of my carbon footprint and implemented simple alternatives to minimize personal waste. I learned how to live without and say no to things that weren’t necessary and so far, being a conscientious individual has had a positive impact on my life.
Through blogging, I’ve made changes in my life that have served me for the better. I took an interest in self-help and personal development, got my creative business started and I’m on the verge of building a platform to help others live a more sustainable and conscious lifestyle. Besides being mindful of my own habits and lifestyle choices, I also started understanding the power of my dollar and how businesses I support should share my values on some level. I believe the companies we chose to support should have the wellbeing of others at the forefront of its business practices and those ideals must be openly reflected.
The awareness doesn’t stop when the writing does. Something that started as a creative outlet has blossomed into taking on a role as an advocate for environmental and social change. I do my best to support policies that will have the biggest impact in making the playing field far more equal and I’m learning how to take more of an active role on that front. Outside of blogging, I have a creative business that recently launched to help keep this space ad-free while I continue to put out information on sustainability and conscious living. The lessons I’ve learned through blogging is serving as a building block to incorporate sustainable practices into my business. I’m currently brainstorming ways to run an environmentally conscious business that evokes the same principles and values that I speak of on this blog. As a striving creative entrepreneur, the knowledge I’ve gained from writing has been valuable in figuring out how to serve my community at large. For a small business owner like myself, it’s important that my business reflects what I want to see in the world. My role is to serve others in a meaningful way, therefore understanding the circular model that govern my business goes hand in hand with the lessons I’ve learned so far in this journey.
Blogging has helped me ask better questions and demand more from the powers that govern us. It has opened my eyes to systematic issues and encouraged me to stay woke and aware. It has also given me an opportunity to voice my opinions, improve on my writing, and get actively involved in sharing my knowledge with the world. I’ve learned how to speak my truth while finding the courage to do so in the first place. I’m proud of the work that I’ve done over the years, the content that I’ve created thus far, and the growth that has taken place as a result.
This process has been a beacon to my personal development and there is more work to be done, growth to be seen and information to be absorbed. I have taken more interest in myself and understanding the woman I’m becoming through spending dedicated time writing as a way of self-discovery. Blogging has been instrumental in my life and my hope is that you’ve found value in it over the years.
Lots of love!