Instagram Followers – Celebrate the Wins… #happinessat100K

Just more than a week ago, this gal became utterly speechless [shocking, right??] when I got a major surprise thrown my way. I pride myself on being pretty observant, but my friends and family totally pulled one over on me when they threw a party to celebrate one of the biggest milestones of my career… FINALLY reaching 100,000 Instagram followers!

Instagram Followers Party

Literally I had ZERO idea that so many of my loved ones had been brainstorming for months to make this event happen and it was one of the most sincere gestures anyone has ever done for me. To be honest, I don’t feel worthy of such a thoughtful celebration and sometimes it’s difficult for me to actually sit still long enough to get sappy and emotional about the support system I have and how thankful I am for each and every person in my life… and yes, my mouth dropped on the floor when I walked in and they yelled “surprise! [looking back, I thought I had ruined someone else’s surprise party–haha]

Apparently the behind-the-scenes details went into action a LONG time ago, when my friend Lindsey and Jeff put the wheels in motion–they told me afterwards they tried to figure out IG algorithms [good luck with that!], worked backwards from when they thought I would hit 100K, etc and then got to the details on planning with the staff from The Bobby Hotel. Meg jumped into the shuffle and then these three, along with so many of my friends and family, got it done and it was beyond perfect… they didn’t miss a detail and again, I was just so thankful for their thoughtfulness and wanting to celebrate this fun milestone for me in my career.

I could sit here for hours pondering what I want to say and about this crazy world of social media and what it’s been like for me, but to be able to sit back for a few and relish through these sweet images from my two photographers, Alli Golden and Chelsea Roc, gives me so much joy because they are incredible girl bosses in their own right and I am honored I get to call them not only my creative directors, but friends first and foremost… they are with me through the good and the bad–and I was honored they chose to spend their night helping pull this off and capturing all the moments I will cherish forever.

I also want to say a HUGE thanks to my friends at ABLE, Corksicle, Kendra Scott, Love and Lion, Nashville Sweets, Skin Pharm, Sugar Butter 615 [as well as my aunt/graphic designer extraordinaire Pattie]–they were kind enough to join in the festivities and help spoil all of us and I am forever grateful to be fortunate enough to collaborate with brands that fully support and celebrate when good things happen for their partners!

Another significant and oh-so-sweet memento was that they created a photo memory book of my social media career… as most of you know, I post daily quotes on Instagram, have posted them here throughout the years, and have a personal journal I write my favorites down in.

My bestie Meg collected a ton of these graphics and inserted them into the book, along with other significant life posts [the girls births, our wedding day, my first giveaway, etc] and filled the pages with all sorts of important dates for me to have forever. Apparently once she started digging, she found out I have 359 pages of published blog posts… now that is love to have to go through all of that… CRAZY, right?!?!?! It might have taken me a few tries to get through all of the messages they all signed during the party… cue all the emotions and waterworks over here!!!

I always laugh because Jeff is SO not into social media and I kept telling him how excited I was to finally hit that number, thinking he had zero idea of what it meant. It’s just a number and I know that, but it’s been a goal in the back of my mind for more than a year now and once I saw that 100K on my account on April 30th while we were living it up in Italy nonetheless, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. The harder you work for something, the greater you’ll feel when you achieve it… it’s SO true and I have been busting it trying to make it happen! Setting goals in this competitive world of social media is challenging and can be difficult, but I continue to remind myself to focus on me and not anyone else… my speed doesn’t matter, forward is forward! And when you’re able to celebrate it with those you love most, it means that much more.

Anyways, for any of you out there reaching for the moon and trying to achieve your goals, my advice is this: keep on going and never take no for an answer. I’ve been told NO more times than I can count in this everchanging world of bloggers/influencers/whatever you want to call it, but I have stayed true to myself and I am proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish since I started this journey more than 11 years ago.

People will try to break you, tear you down, tell you that you aren’t good enough, etc, but just keep your eyes on the prize and what you want in life and it’ll happen when it is supposed to. Don’t focus your attention on what everyone else is doing, because in the end you want to stand out and be different from the rest… remember, in a world of cereal be that rainbow marshmallow!!!! And it’s OK to take a deep breath every once in awhile, celebrate the wins when they come your way, and then set your eyes on the next prize. Cheers and big thanks for all the love friends OXOX

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