Blogger Love: Co-Hosting With Morgan
Morgan is the energetic and motivated, but also realistic girl, behind Morganize with Me. Her mission is to share tried and true techniques that she hopes will encourage her readers and clients as they focus on their health and homes. She specializes in Personal Organizing and Personal Training via her Consulting Services. In addition she will be offering her next Seasonal Organizing Challenge for the Fall starting August, 18th. Join the fun and sign up to stay in the know right HERE!
My “interview” with Morgan:
How long have you been a blogger?
I started blogging two years ago on a total whim. I started with a family blog, to share about our moving overseas, then I added a second blog all about “organizing” and today I have a combined blog of the two. (I eventually ended up combining the family blog into MWM, keeping up with two blogs was well…a lot of work!)
What do you typically blog about?
Mostly home organization, healthy living, and family fun. As a Fitness Instructor I love sharing all that I have learned with my readers and as a Personal Organizer I also love talking about all things that pertain to order. I’m not a neat freak, but I do like to live with less and to keep things simple. My ultimate goal is really to help to encourage my readers and to help them thrive within how they are wired. I call our wiring our shape styles. If I had a dollar for every time that someone tells me their “just not organized”, well I’d be a rich lady. 🙂 I believe we all are organized, we just organize in different ways.
Why did you start to blog?
My hubby had asked me to start a family blog, which I did. Then I got bitten by the blogging bug! It was so fun to create and play with the site design and to think about topics. I literally had no idea what I was stepping into. I had only read a few other blogs before that, and did not even know a thing about what I was getting myself into! Let’s just say I have taken a slower approach mainly because I had such an unclear vision at the beginning of my blog.
What do you like to do when you are not blogging?
Well, I’m a momma to my three kiddos, so they are one of my biggest priorities rather it be making lunches, wiping tears or doing constant loads of laundry. I like to be active so I try to work out most days rather it be running, swimming, tennis or yoga. I teach fitness classes as much as I can, which is more limiting right now that I’m living overseas. I love to volunteer with Young Life and our church and am usually in some sort of leadership form. And I really enjoy chatting and or being with my friends, a meaningful conversation does my heart good. And this probably goes without being said, but I do LOVE organizing. I’m often trying to rearrange a closet or label something, order just makes me happy.
What does a “day in the life of Morgan” look like?
Oh my…Let’s see. I’m going to tell you a school day because that is our life 10 months out of the year. I TRY to get up early most days at 5am and have some quiet time and do a little work. Then, at 7am its kitchen command time where I serve breakfast, pack lunches and get the kids off to school. My mid-mornings are reserved for anything from teaching a Yoga class out of my house, going to Bible Study, or the ongoing grocery shopping! I usually seem to have about one lunch a week for some sort of an occasion and being that we are living in Europe lunches = about three hours of your day! My afternoons are either cleaning, running errands, face timing with friends or family due to the time change and then any work that I need to get to (blogging or household). My kids come home at 4pm and then we settle back into family time. It’s homework/snack time and then I usually am doing carpool several days a week for sports etc. In the midst of the late afternoon I also start dinner (which I usually have started prepping in some form that morning during kitchen command time) and we settle into the evening which is all about dinner and family time. No day really looks exactly the same but I try to have some general structure and squeeze in all the different demands as best I can.
What is the most rewarding aspect of blogging?
All of the beautiful people I have connected with. I feel somewhat removed from my “home” and friends/family because of living overseas, so it has been fun to grown an even bigger connection with others from all over. I’m continually amazed at the talent out there, the support, and the like minded friends I have met. My degree is in Entrepreneurship, so I LOVE seeing all of these amazing business ladies and I feel blessed that I have the time to currently grow my own business via my blog.
What is the most challenging? Not knowing if ALL the time and energy is really worth it. Most of the work I’ve done in my life has had much more immediate feedback. When you blog you don’t really know the full impact or reach you are having. I do get great feedback and am so encouraged by every person that has shared with me how I have inspired them in some way or another. But for the amount of work that you put out the results can feel VERY slow on the return. On hard days it is easy to ask yourself if its really worth it?
What advice do you have for new bloggers? Really consider why you want to blog. Evaluate how much time you want to spend. Have a vision. Develop a network of other bloggers for support. Be realistic, its a process. Find your niche and speak from your heart. I read once (on a blog) that life is meant to be shared. I loved that, it is. But in reality blogging takes a lot of work and its worth asking on the front end why you really want to do it and if the time commitment aligns with your life goals and values. By all means try it but be realistic, A LOT goes on behind the scenes. The BIG blogs have worked VERY hard to get where they are, so avoid comparing and set your own goals and vision. And most of all have fun with it treat it as a hobby and if it takes off, fantastic!
