Sarah first came to my attention through the centre of all things super cute that is in her jewellery store Temporary:Secretary, which she founded back in Spring 2008. I soon discovered she also has a gorgeous Temporary:Secretary blog alongside it which is just as delightful to look at and gives a fascinating glimpse into her personal style as well as the world of her jewellery. She's a Northern bunny with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Marketing and is the sweetest girl, so let's get to know her...
What or who do you look to for style inspiration?
Zooey Deschanel. Although I have known who she was (Elf, Almost Famous, Failure To Launch, The Happening, etc) I haven't always been a fan but I have loved her style since 500 Days Of Summer. I'm also a huge fan of Joseph Gordon Levitt - I really want them to be a real life couple!!! But I am more inspired by people around me. Real people, non celebrities. When I was at college, we used to sit in town and people watch. I like observing real people. That is probably why I would rather read blogs than buy magazines.
What inspired you to start blogging and has your motivation to carry on changed at all?
No one in particular inspired me to blog as I really didn't understand blogging when I first signed up to blogger. I learnt about blogging from when I interned at a fashion company. It was only this year when I started reading fashion and style blogs, and built up a list of favourites. I didn't have a clue before this year. When I started the business three years ago, I started a blog to go hand in hand with each other. I wanted to give an insight into a start-up business, and just build upon it. I neglected the blog last year, I got so busy with work and I lost my way a little bit! I wasn't confident to post photos of myself so I kept the blog on a very "behind the scenes" basis. I wasn't very inspired by this; certainly not enough to blog regularly, and so I knew I needed a new direction to keep the blog active. After some emails from customers asking me to show style inspiration of how to wear certain pieces of Temporary:Secretary jewellery, I took on board their suggestions and I finally plucked up the courage to get some outfit posts! I was very nervous of what the feedback or reaction might be! I am good with self motivation, though. Being self-employed you have to be able to motivate yourself - I recently challenged myself to post on the blog every day for one week. I just hope I keep it up from now on!
What were the hardest challenges to solve or work around in your early blogging days? The hardest was definitely finding what I wanted to blog about. As I mentioned in the previous answer, I definitely lost my way. For it to work, I think it's important to find something you genuinely enjoy blogging about, whether it be fashion, style, beauty, books, gadgets, cars, news, celebs! Anything! You have to have a genuine interest in the subject(s) you're writing about. Another challenge I encountered was deciding on what I want my blog to look like. It's not important and it isn't the end of the worldl if you don't know how to move things around on your blog. But we all want our blogs to look good and easy to navigate around. It's easier now that I have a format I work to. But in the early days of blogging, the layout was terrible, my photos were all over the place and inconsistent. I didn't really understand blogging back then and I didn't know how to blogger properly. Now, it will annoy me if my photos are not as clear as they can be, or if my paragraphs don't align neatly. But layout and header isn't vital, and these are not really hard challenges, it's just me being annoyingly obsessed with wanting every single thing to look cohesive and perfect!
Very well done on the Look Magazine competition, your entry was absolutely amazing! How has the experience been? Thank you, Florrie. For anyone who hasn't read the posts yet, here's the link to it http://temporary-secretary.blogspot.com/search/label/LookShowWSC. I wasn't going to enter because I didn't think a small blog like mine would be noticed and considered. I remember saying that "I would leave it up to the proper bloggers". After having a little think about it, I thought "What have I got to lose?" and I just went for it. It really isn't about how many followers you have or how many hits you get per month, all entries are treated equally and everyone has an equal chance of winning. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be there and to blog for LOOK Magazine, I never get to go to events like this. I saw it as "work" so I did my very best to do a good job for Look Magazine. I never saw it as if the day was about me, it was about wanting to share the experience with everyone like I had promised in my submission post for the competition (http://temporary-secretary.blogspot.com/2011/08/lookshowwsc.html). I wanted to comprehensively report about the event and get the best photos as I can, give an insight in to my experience and write about it in a way so that it would maybe inspire or encourage other people to enter the next blog competition. If I can do it, anyone can do it.
What is the very best thing from your blogging experience?
This is a cliche but (apart from Look Show), it is the friends that I've made from blogging; Talking to likeminded people and having that common interest in blogging. More recently also, a highlight is having one or two opportunities to blog for big brands. As a fashion marketing graduate (who previously had ambition to work in fashion PR), I find it exciting to have a very small part in working with fashion brands. Having a business myself, I know what brands want from a blogger. And as a blogger, I know how to blog about brands. I am still learning but it's all about clear, honest communication and relationship between the the blogger, the reader and the brand.
Do you feel your style has evolved at all since you began blogging? I don't think it has evolved since I started blogging but I've only been doing style posts since April - May of this year. I started the blog in 2008 but I didn't start showing my own personal style until Spring 2011. I love that through style blogs, you can see how a person fashion sense has changed. I'm sure that since 2008, my style has changed!
I have always admired your entrepreneurial spirit with your jewellery shop, do you have any tips for turning a retail dream into a reality?
My ambition was to work with high street fashion brands, and my university studies has equipped me to work within many areas of fashion (pattern cutting, sewing technician, fashion photography, design, graphics, illustration, marketing/promotion, branding, trend research) and so I was quite excited to anticipate what pathway I'd take after I graduated but I accidentally became self employed, having started the business during my time at uni (part time for the pocket money!) running my own fashion accessories company. There was potential in it and I found it hard to give it up, I'm glad I didn't let go. My ultimate advice to anyone who's considering a career in fashion is to be prepared for hard work, it's fast but it's good to be kept on your toes. The job perks are incredibly, though. Working as your own boss is the same - I rarely take weekends off and I don't sleep until 2am! Luckily, I enjoy being productive. I am a work-aholic! I do have the flexibility of starting work at 10am, but days are long and you'll need to switch you "on" button for multi-tasking! Make a mistake and there's no one to blame. The rewards are great though, and the satisfaction of knowing you achieved something all by yourself is incredible.
What's the best piece of blogging advice you've been given and would you like to add some wisdom of your own?
I don't think I've been given direct advice but only because I never actively seek it. I am still new to all of this! I read the advice given on twitter, blogs and youtube, and I think the one that people always say is to remember to blog for yourself, first and foremost! Start a blog and build on it at a gradual pace. Don't expect freebies or have an influx of followers overnight. They are extra bonuses and those are the aspects that bloggers have worked hard for. I have also seen some SEO's advice but that something I need to get my head around. My own personal advice to give to bloggers is that blogging is part of social media, and you have to remember to be sociable! Don't neglect your readers. Talk to people on twitter, reply to blog comments and take feedback on board. I am proud to say that I have replied to every single blog comment I've received. I make sure that I read every girls (or boys) comments and then visit their blog to check out their latest posts and to leave a comment on their blog. No matter if I get 10 or 100 comments on one blog posts, I will make time to go on all of their blogs in return. (Not all at once though!) This is, of course, easy for me to do this because my job consists of spending a lot of time on the computer and the internet. I work for myself and time is flexible ... I think they've got a word for this.....I think they call this "procrastination"!
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