Lunch Date + MaddyCorbin.com Update
The other day I ran a GoogleForm, simply asking my followers to answer a few questions (their opinions on what I have been sharing, what I could be sharing, some projects I had come up with and more!) in exchange for 50% OFF my presets, ps. I love you even for reading this, so use MCBLOGREADER for 50% off my presets until tomorrow 3/19/2018!
This blog post is purely just to talk about the questions I asked, some feedback I received, and how I will be implementing things/changing things up looking towards the future of MaddyCorbin.com and my self brand! (And a cute date Bryce & I went on to get out of your typical work modes and chat more about the responses!)
One of the biggest things I heard from every single one of the responses either through a multiple choice or the "tell me anything" section is to BE MORE PERSONAL! I thought for the most part I was doing this, until people gave exact suggestions (your Instagram stories need more voice, show us how you and Bryce work everyday, your family (how your Mom helps out), take us through the work process in your day)
The second thing I talked about was the Endless Creators brand. I am not going to go into much detail in regards to this as it is a in-progress project but the way I was going to go about expanding it excited some people, and was not so interesting to others. What was though was a self-brand "boutique"-esc (ie. my favorite products, my go-tos, etc) but all sold directly from me, under MaddyCorbin.com! I have no idea how I would go about this, but I am going to be putting that into some of my allocated work time to figure out more details on it, then we can all chat about our thoughts on it.
A general consensus came to regarding a YES to my #MaddyCorbinOOTD's, as well as liking YouTube videos but preferring more posting on Instagram.
Education was a HUUUUGEEE one with you guys. As many of you know I did run & operate a Mentorship Program (it is actually still up here on MaddyCorbin.com, I just am currently not taking clients!) Due to a swift uproar with this job regarding more high-end campaigns and traveling I found it harder and harder to schedule these sessions. I loved working one-on-one with each of my mentees, and being able to see them grow & evolve into the most amazing self-brands. The only issue was continuing to be able to offer them the same amount of time and the attention and instruction they deserved, thus I closed scheduling. With this, what Bryce & I talked about today over lunch at Petit Chou were a few course plans for things like pre-recorded online workshops, live workshops, photography e-books, self-branding guideline PDF's and more! When I spoke briefly about this on the form you all instantly were drawn to select it. This is something we are putting at the top of my list looking forward with the brand. Education has been a huge part of this self branding journey and I don't want it to stop here. If it were not for the resources (books, blogs, webpages) that I used going into this venture I wouldn't be where I am.
I am going to attach the answers to the section of free-writing that I labeled "In all honestly — what would you like to see me do next? What are you favorite things? What don't you like, this is where you can say ANYTHING, looking for all the help I can get!" I decided to make a list with the most promanent things that stuck out to me, and I wanted to be open and share them with you. If interested, check them out! (PS. you are all kick-ass for filling this section out!)
To circle back to sharing more and to end this post, I think the reason I was not so drawn to sharing every aspect around what I do is the fact that it's really just not pretty. It's a hard industry, there are days I wake up completely drained, overcame with anxiety/depression/an overwhelmed mind and I have to take days off. Bryce & I are both 20, we both live at home, we live in Indiana and sometimes it's really damn hard to make it look pretty, not impossible, but the struggle to use what you have can totally weigh in. My office is a half mess right now, with mounds and mounds of clothes and product, a garage shelf to hold it all and a mess of a person sitting at the desk working her ass-off to build her dream. But then I realized something, through the form. This is exactly what you WANT to see. You want to see the process, you want to know that I am not anywhere near perfect and nor is the space in which represents the "cohesive feed" the biggest thing I took away from this is that, no matter how I look (psoriasis, hives, eczema) or how messy my rooms are or how anxiety-struck I am that day, it is who I am and instead of hiding from it, and pretending it is not there on social media, I should embrace it - share it - relate to it. Because I am not alone and you are not alone and we are all doing the best we can, building the lives we want.
Thank you, everyone. For responding, for following along as I transition with this job and this life, for building me up and creating a community that I get to share in and be a part of. Thank you.