When my dear friend Jenny from Princess Turned Mom and I teamed up to plan our first event, our mission was to connect, collaborate, and cultivate friendships with other local mom bloggers who had a similar passion for everything Disney! Jenny is a gem of a human being and I couldn’t be more honored and blessed to have partnered with such a wonderful person to go on this journey together! In fact, she inspired me to write this blog post!!
You see, when you first start in this social online space, you can feel very isolated and even intimidated by other bloggers that have been at it longer and have a much bigger following. And even though you admire other #mombosses from afar, you don’t always have the opportunity to meet them in an intimate setting to properly build a friendship. When I first started on my blogging journey, I didn’t know anyone who did what I did, and not only did I have a ton of questions, I also needed another moms to offer support and relate to what I was doing.
I have always been a social being and event planning has always been in my blood. In fact, one of the very first jobs I was ever offered was to be an event planner. Even though I declined the offer, I have always had a passion for event planning and before blogging had only organized birthdays, showers, and other small business functions. And when I first started blogging in San Diego 3 years ago, there were not many opportunities to meet other bloggers as the majority of the influencer events were in LA and I wasn’t big enough to be invited to any of them. I have always been someone who has had no problem putting myself out there and reaching out to anyone whether it be another mom at the park or the founder of a multi-million dollar company. As social media began to grow, I would befriend other moms online and longed to meet them in person. And since I wasn’t going to any existing influencer events, I set out to create my own networking event and organized and hosted my first Blogger Brunch in October 2016, the anniversary of my first year of blogging.
That next spring, I organized and hosted a larger event called the So Cal Spring Social to include moms from Orange County and Los Angeles!
That following fall, I reached out to Jenny to see if she would partner with me to co-host a #Disney themed mom event. I have always been a Disney kid turned Disney mom. And remember that event planning job I was offered and declined? Instead I took a job as a Cast Member at The Disney Store! So once I started planning these networking events with other mom bloggers I had dreamed of a mom meet up at the park and I thought I would finally make my dream a reality. Jenny and I instantaneously become the best of friends and co-hosted Princesses in The Park together in October 2017. And we have made magic together ever since!
A few months later, we co-hosted Princesses Take on Tea at the Disneyland Hotel.
And this past week we co-hosted Princesses Make More Magic together! A full blog with tons of photos and all the details are coming soon!
Over the past year, we have definitely grown our tribe, and although we stay true to our roots and loyal in our friendships by always inviting the ladies from our first event together, we have expanded our tribe each time by reaching out and inviting new ladies to meet and join us. And if ladies reach out to us about wanting to join us in the future, we always try to include them. And yes, even Disney characters are welcome to join us!!
This isn’t a social click or an exclusive sorority, this is a group of women that share the same struggles, passions, triumphs, and character as us and there is always space for more! We are intentional to include those that are real and kind and are open to real friendships. Some of the ladies we have invited become the closest friends either with us or each other just by meeting at one of the events. And after the events you can often find us meeting up for play dates and supporting each other in our business ventures.
At each and every event, Jenny and I purposely seek to create an opportunity for all of us to sit around a table, share a meal, ask questions about the business side of blogging, seek advice, and get to know each other beyond what the squares showed us. Thus, we mindfully created a #momtribe for us and for others. And now, after hosting our 3rd event together, despite having the number of our tribe grow, we still are true to our original mission. We always find a way for everyone to connect and cultivate conversation.
Despite having 24 ladies sitting around the table, during our dinner this week, we gave everyone a few moments between courses to introduce themselves and share about our careers and families. Some of us realized we had similar careers before having children, others of us found out we were neighbors, and we all made it a point to follow and support each other despite if we were a bigger and more experienced blogger or a smaller and newer blogger.
And now, our Disneyland park meet up dreams are finally coming true! Jenny and I will be meeting up with some of the bloggers and influencers from our #momtribe and we are inviting all of you! Every mom is welcome, whether you are a blogger or not. We will be meeting at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle on Sunday, November 11th at 11am. We will be doing some giveaway from some of the companies that were title sponsors from this past event including a Disney vacation package from Get Away Today, a car seat from Kids Embrace, and a Disney baby carrier from LILLEbaby! We will also giveaway other items from Bumkins, Sunstaches, and Petite ‘n Pretty as well as items from our gift sponsors! We hope to see you there!!
My best advice is to put yourself out there and never be shy to reach out to another blogger. We all have questions and are constantly learning. I still lean on others for advice despite how many years I have been in the business. We all started somewhere and we are all growing moment by moment. I also encourage you to seek and create your own tribe. Network and meet as many others in this space as you can. You don’t need to create a formal event like the ones we have, just simply ask another local blogger to have coffee or lunch with you! You might just meet your next best friend!
You all are so inspiring. Disney meet up sounds like so much fun 💖
Oh my goodness, thank you! You are so kind for saying that and we really appreciate the compliment! If you are in town, we would love to meet you and see you there!