The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 119. Creating a Purpose-filled Career Through Blogging with Tara Brewster

Episode Date: March 26, 2024

It’s always a pleasure to chat with one of our students! Tara Brewster is here sharing about her bold move from a nineteen year corporate career to a purpose-filled career in blogging and freelance business strategy. She shares her personal journey of seeking a life that not only resonates with her but also uplifts other women. She dives into the highs and lows of blogging, sharing more about the significance of adaptability, connections, and staying true to your purpose in any career. We also talk more about embracing uncertainty and chasing your dreams! This was a powerful episode about building that purpose-filled career through blogging!Thanks for listening! Let us know your thoughts on Instagram: @sparkmediaconceptsThank you to our sponsor Lulu for sponsoring this episode! Check out more about how to self-publish your next book HERE.Sign up for URL Genius here!Check out the show notes (link below) for more information including links and resources mentioned in today's episode!SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode119

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Today, we are so excited and honored that we get to bring on one of our students, Tara Brewster, who is the founder of the women's empowerment blog Breakthrough Loading. And it's just been such a joy to connect with Tara and to watch her learn and grow in the time that we have had her in our community. She started with a blog, but then has moved into becoming also a freelance business strategist for entrepreneurs. And that's really the heart and soul of why we brought her on the podcast today. It's kind of to talk about this journey

of navigating from corporate leadership roles and moving into owning her own blogging business, and now her own business helping and supporting other entrepreneurs. So welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast, Tara. Hi, thank you for having me. We are just so thrilled to have you. It has been so fun to connect with you within the bootcamp and then the membership. But this is honestly the first time that the three of us have ever just been able to connect just the three of us. And so we're just bringing everybody else along for the ride today and introducing you to them as well. Because I think that you have a really, really... I don't want to say common lens, but I think that you're in a position that a lot of women can understand. A very relatable lens. So I'd love for you just to share that

journey of what happened when you decided to start your blog, like what had led you to that decision? Got it. So I'm so excited to share this story because my goal is to really empower and inspire women to think outside the box when it comes to creating their best life and career for themselves. So I am a corporate dropout. I'm another contributor to this cultural phenomenon of the great resignation. I actually have a finance and project management background, which is the complete opposite of blogging. And I spent almost 19 years with the same company, started straight out of college and was there my entire career and really enjoyed it. I did very well. I was very successful. I loved the people I worked with. But towards the end, I just found myself not aligned with the culture of the company anymore and frankly, burnt out. And so I decided I was ready for a break. So

it's been about a year. I walked away from my corporate job. And I decided to take a break to spend time with my kids over the summer and just pick them up from school, which I'd never had the opportunity to do. And that didn't last for very long. I decided to start a blog as more of a passion project, a hobby. And I stumbled upon your podcast and really enjoyed everything that you guys were talking about, even though I didn't really understand anything. And I had signed up for your webinar that gave an overview of blogging and just quickly jumped in and threw myself into the boot camp. And you guys probably noticed was how I made it my full-time job because I had the time. And I really, really fell in love with the world of blogging and the world of online business and content marketing. And the more I got into it, it really felt like I had found a new calling.

And then as I went into it a little bit longer, I ended up connecting with a friend of a friend who has a podcast as well. And she does coaching. And she had asked if I would be willing to help her out with some of the, you know, website strategy with her business and helping her project manage for a different product launch. And so that's kind of how I got started in freelance and honestly have not looked back. It's been a wonderful journey and I'm so happy to be here. And isn't it funny you say like what you were doing in your previous career is the complete opposite of blogging.

Yet think about how those skills translate so well into what you're doing now because project management is such a huge part of blogging and staying organized and staying on task. I think there's so much that goes into blogging that people, you know, they don't realize it until they're in the thick of it, that there's so much more involved than just sitting down and writing a blog post. And you talked about it, you know, you kind of started it as a hobby. How did you make that shift? How quickly did it happen that you realized, hey,

there's something more here? You know, I think I have a story that can help other people. I think as far as the shift from hobby to trying to think about it more as a business really happened, the more I worked with you guys guys and the more I listened to the podcast and thought maybe I could do this as a legit business. But my mission to help women and empower women was really my primary focus going into blogging. It's something I've always wanted to do just through my own personal experiences and changes in life

is to help support other women make transitions and to be brave enough to challenge their own status quo. And so it just all kind of fell into place when I left my job and had this capacity to make the blog a reality. I just love that. Like. That's it. That's the comment. Honestly, I love that you have that passion within you and you're like, I don't want to just keep this for myself, but I want to help other women feel it too. And you're doing it in such a very organic way that I think women can relate to a lot. The things that you share, the things that you say, I find myself a lot of times nodding and saying, yes, I feel that. And a lot of times, women just want to feel

seen. They want to feel known. They want to feel understood. And I think that breakthrough loading really does offer that. I think it offers that camaraderie that so many women need. And we do have this status quo that we feel like we have to live up to, but what about what we want in our own life? Is our own life fulfilling what we want? And if the answer is no, then sometimes it is, like you said,

going through a transition and asking ourselves, okay, am I ready for this? And sometimes you do need a little bit of handholding through that process, I think, to encourage one another that you can do this. You can reinvent yourself at any given age. But that's scary. It is scary. That is not an easy thing to do. And I think that this is so interesting and so fitting with a lot of people who are probably listening to this current episode. A lot of people don't get out of college and then start blogging. Some do. I have a handful of friends that actually started blogging in

college and they're still blogging. So I'm not saying that that's not happening. But I think a lot of people, at least the people that we come in contact with through the podcast, through the course, these people have a job or they've been a stay-at-home mom. And it is that natural transition into something new and different that feels really out of the box. And so I would love just to hear a little bit about your thought process. You attended one of our webinars, for instance, and you said, I had no idea what you were

talking about. What was that? What was that voice that you heard at that time that was like, even though I don't understand and I can't see the light at the end of this tunnel yet, I still feel this pull. How did you go from that feeling of like, okay, this is just like this weird desire that all of a sudden came up in my life. And then turning it into something that one year later, you're like, I have a blogging business and I'm supporting other entrepreneurs. What had to change in your mindset in order for

you to get there? I think it was a process. Like I said, I always had this desire to do something to help women and to empower them, but I never quite knew how to do it. And so, again, it was as I was transitioning out of my corporate job, someone randomly mentioned, you should start a blog. And I think they meant it in a way of, you know, we want to keep up with your kids and like what you're doing, not what I took it as, you know, we want to keep up with your kids and like what you're doing, not what I took it as, but it's just something in me. And I said, this may be what I'm called to do. And I think the transition from having it be just some fun hobby really happened as I was, I listened to the webinar. I started listening to the podcast and getting into the bootcamp and seeing all of the different components that really go into blogging,

it's not just writing the blog post. It's the WordPress. It's the design. It is social media to whatever extent you want to do. It's the strategy and SEO. And all of these things came together. And I thought, wow, this is a lot. But I also loved it,

just couldn't get enough of it. And, you know, wanted to take this mission I had and really make it something meaningful and grow it in a way that could help other people and then also be a viable business long term. So I think it was really that mindset shift when I started working with you guys and learning more about what actually goes into it that it's not just writing a blog post. It's so much more than that. And do I want to do this? Yes, I do. Thank you to Lulu for sponsoring this episode of the Ultimate Blog Podcast. Blogging is about so much more than just creating content for your website. Blogging in 2024 also means sharing your own products and services, affiliate links, brand sponsorships, podcast interviews, and so much more. The thread

that is woven through all of it is sharing our stories and passion. And one way to do that is by creating and selling your own books. As a way to do that is by creating and selling your own books. As a blogger, you can easily create and sell your own books with Lulu. Lulu is an on-demand print company that prints your beautiful books and mails them directly to your consumer. You don't have to worry about the hassle of inventory or shipping, and you get to remain focused on what you do best, creating. Visit lulu.com to learn more about how you can self-publish your own cookbook, novel, journal, notebooks, etc. Creating another stream of revenue by selling your own books without the hassle is an awesome way to grow your brand in 2024.

Visit lulu.com, that is L-U-L-U.com to learn more about how you can get started self-publishing your own books today. What are you seeing as this common thread amongst women who are expressing that they want something different? They want to make a shift. They want to make a change. And they're not really sure that they can, that they should. What's the common theme that you're seeing amongst them where you would say, yes, I think you are a good candidate to be a blogger. And this is why.

This is what's so great about blogging in comparison to what you're doing now. I think there's so great about blogging in comparison to what you're doing now? I think there's so many women, and I know I have lots of friends who are dealing with the same transition I kind of just went through, but are struggling with the fulfillment in their career. They had this professional roadmap set out for them, and here they are about 20 years into their career, and they just don't feel good about it. They may be making great money, but they're just not enjoying it like they think they should. And also, let's be honest, it's not always flexible working for someone else. And so I think those women are the ones that

I see transitioning to more of this, you know, blogging, you know, other freelance type work, wanting to have that flexibility, I think, wanting to connect with others, and really focusing on having a mission and a why to what they're doing in their career, as opposed to just going to work and getting a paycheck. I think that's one of the common themes that we've seen in our blogging membership, the group. I talked to so many of them offline and all of them, they just want to have a way to help others and communicate what they know in a way that feels meaningful for them. So pretty incredible.

I wrote it down what you said. And you said three things that I think are spot on. I think you nailed it. You said the three things that most of us want are flexibility, connection, and purpose. And I just want whoever's listening just to kind of think about that for a minute. Do you feel that in what you're doing? And if you don't, are you at a point that you're willing to change it? Or are you at a point that you're like, I'm not quite ready? Because I do believe that there is a common misconception, like you have mentioned, that blogging is like sitting down and just writing articles.

And they don't understand a lot of the back end that does go into it. But I love, Tara, that you have said, I love it. Like, I just like, you have taken this seriously from the beginning. And that is something that we have really, really tried to drive home, especially more in the last year,

is building your blogging business and making sure that women know this is a viable career option. Know you do not become a millionaire overnight. Do not ever have that expectation for yourself. This is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. But if you want the flexibility, if you want the connection with other people who are like-minded and want to do the same things that you do, or maybe it's your community. Maybe it's other bloggers that are doing the same thing that you're doing. That connection can come in a couple different ways. And then finding a purpose. I think that as we reach this kind of middle age,

we're all around the same age. I think that this is a very, very common age to start asking yourself, what am I doing? Am I happy? Am I fulfilled? And what happens if I'm not? Then what? And I really do think that that's where your blog comes into play. And that's the encouragement that you're offering to other women. Exactly. And I was literally working on an article yesterday about middle essence, which is basically adolescent during your middle age. And I think the phrase was adolescent or second adolescence with wisdom. And I think that I'm seeing a lot of women have this a little bit earlier. They get into their late 30s, early 40s and really start questioning what they've done with their life so far.

Not in a bad way, but just we're so conditioned as women to worry about everyone else, to take care of our families, to take care of our spouse, our parents, and to do everything that we were supposed to do in our career. But we don't always ask ourselves what we really want. I know I didn't until I got to my mid-30s. And all of a sudden, I looked around and I said, I'm not happy. I'm not happy with what I'm doing with my life. Now, how do I change that? And so to anyone out there that has any part of your life that you are struggling through or just don't quite feel fulfilled, ask yourself what you truly want and what would make you happy. And then take the baby steps to make it a reality. It's not always easy. I mean, sometimes we're talking big life changes like leaving your job or leaving a marriage or,

you know, setting boundaries with your friends. But it's so important to take that ownership. And I think that once you get to our age, we really have this shift in mindset of, we got to look out for ourselves and set that example, honestly, for our daughters as well. I mean, that's one of the big things that drives me also.

It's just teaching my own daughters and other young women that it's okay to stand up for yourself and do what you want to do to create the life that you deserve. Yeah, that takes me back to something that my mom has always told me. And that says, as you get older, you stop caring as much what other people think about you. And that's probably the stage that we're coming to. So as women, like you said, we kind of fulfill this role, this expected role. So we're doing what everybody expects of us.

We think we're doing the right things. We're taking care of our family. We're working really hard at our job. But then you start to look around and you're like, wait a minute. What about me? Because my kids are going to be gone eventually. And you're like, wait a minute. What about me? Because my kids are going to be gone eventually.

What makes me happy and fulfilled when I'm not doing all of those things? And you start to question that. And then you also maybe gain just a little bit of confidence because you're going to be less worried about the judgment of others when you start taking those baby steps towards what you really want to do. But then I think the struggle sometimes is, okay, I know what you really want to do. But then I think the struggle sometimes is, okay, I know I don't want to do this, but what do I want to do?

Do you have people that come to you with that dilemma? Like, okay, I know I need to change something, but I'm not sure what it is. How do I start figuring that out? Yeah, I do. I have a couple of close friends that reached out and said, how did you know that it was time to leave your job? Or how did you know that you wanted to start a blog? And I said, I didn't know. I felt it. And, you know, at some point, you have to trust your gut and follow that instinct and see where it leads you. you. It's a big leap of faith. But I think like we talked about, if you're willing to dig in and figure out how to make it work, you can make anything work with a little bit of sweat and perseverance. Yeah. And it can be shifting as you go. You start on your blog,

and then you realize, hey, because of this, I also have a skill where I know a lot about business. I'm really good with project management. I can help others with my skills to also be able to start businesses. So it's not just like you're 100% going in a direction. It's just you're taking that big first step and taking that leap of faith and making a change, knowing that there's going to be more changes along the way and that you can develop and grow and shift as you want and need to. Do you want to know how you can grow your mobile and affiliate conversions by up to 200%? You can do it with URL Genius. With URL Genius, you can compose links for social apps, brand apps, or even your own app. URL Genius makes sure the consumer goes straight to the

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It's liberating honestly to kind of let go of some of those notions you have about yourself and what your life is supposed to be and to try something different i can tell you a year ago today i did not know i would be sitting here talking to you guys and that's pretty amazing i think it's pretty cool i think it's pretty cool. I think it's pretty cool that when we take fear and say, okay, you're no longer in the driver's seat, but you're going to be in the backseat. You might even be in the passenger seat for a little bit. But then I'm going to kick you to the backseat or the trunk and just watch what comes about when you take yourself seriously. And we get the front end of that, seeing a lot of people start their blogs. And it's really awesome to see because I think as women, we don't give ourselves enough credit. There are so many women who are sitting in their homes and they might be

cleaning up baby diapers and the constant mess on the floor, or they might be dropping their kids off at daycare every day. And they're just in this mundane task of laundry and keeping the house clean and keeping their spouse happy and taking care of the kids that you kind of forget who you are. And so when you say, I'm done forgetting who I am, and I'm done letting fear be the driver or just complacency be the driver, and I'm ready to tap into this, it's pretty cool to watch what happens when you decide to take your own needs and wants and give them the time and attention that they deserve. And it's really cool for Jennifer to get to see so many women have that metamorphosis that they go through and see that. We've thought that about you, honestly,

from very early on. There's just something very different about the way that you've approached it. And it's been really cool to watch. And so my biggest question here is I know when a lot of people start blogging, they think it's just going to be the blog. So they're just going to be blogging. But you've brought in this freelance component to it that I would like to give a little bit of airtime to. When did you know for sure like, okay, newsflash bloggers usually don't make money right away. So it's not something that like at some point, like you got to make some money. And so you kind of got to get scrappy, just to be honest. And so when were you like, okay, I need to make this small shift and I'm not giving up on my blog,

I'm using it alongside. What did that look like? What did that understanding look like inside your head, I guess is what I'm getting at. I think I knew going into blogging that it wasn't gonna make money. I didn't realize how long it truly takes to get the traffic, which I am starting to see now,

but it takes a while to monetize it. And that's okay. When I originally left my job, there were several contacts that I had within my professional network that had reached out and asked if I would be interested in consulting. And so consulting was always kind of in this, you know, the back of my mind as at some point, you know, I set my time limit or my budget. This is what I want to do for a while. I want to take time off. I want to blog. And at some point, I'll get some consulting work.

But I think the shift from consulting in my former industry, which was healthcare, to consulting with small business owners and entrepreneurs really came from my firsthand experience with blogging. So from learning everything myself, you guys have probably noticed, I research, I watch YouTube videos, I will read articles. I want to know how to do it. And so I've really thrown myself into the blogging and tried to master everything I possibly can.

And I love it. And so through that, I think it naturally happened. And then again, my first client was a connection, a personal connection who reached out to me and asked for help. And I said, okay, this is all falling in line with what needs to happen. I think this is a different path than I was going to go on, but this is what I need to do. different path than I was going to go on, but this is what I need to do. And I love it. I never in a million years ago would have thought that this is what I would be doing at this point in my life, but I absolutely love it. And it feels fun to me. And I can be paid doing something I love. So it's been incredible. I think it's just it was the mindset shift and everything had to happen in the time that it happened for me to get there.

Kara, will you kind of like just shed a little bit more light when you say I love it? What do you, just out of curiosity, like what do you love about it? It sounds so general, but yeah, no, that's a great question. I love all of it. Honestly, I've fallen in love with content marketing and using your blog, using your social media to communicate and develop a presence for, obviously, it's one thing for a blog trying to get traffic, but also for your business. And so that's something that, you know, I've really taken all of these skills that I've learned and how to get traffic for the blog and tried to help other business owners with the same philosophy. traffic through SEO, looking at doing various forms of communication, such as Pinterest or different types of social media posts so that she can continue to grow and get this organic traffic

through content marketing. And I think just understanding how all of this stuff works together now, I mean, being a consumer prior to doing this myself, I had no idea. But now the more I get into it, it's like this puzzle I want to figure out of what can I do here to get the traffic, the visibility, the credibility that we need to get the business results. And it's just fascinating to me. That was a long-winded answer for why I love it. But just it all, I say that all the time, it feels like a puzzle to me. And I just want to figure it out and play around with it. And I think what you said without even meaning to is you proved the point that blogging is nowhere near being dead. It has just changed and morphed. And it is even a better way than ever to grow a business. Because like you said, it doesn't matter if you're a coach, or maybe you're selling a product. So many people can

use blogging as a means to bring traffic and organic traffic through the methods that you just talked about to shine a light on whatever they're doing that they're passionate about. And I think that is just like the amazing thing. And I think the other thing that you showed us is like, hey, you don't have to like have some high level degree or have years and years and years of experience. You just have to know a little bit more than the person that's, you know, coming up behind you. And you can grab their hand and bring them along the way. And that is just like, that's the thing I love about blogging.

It's just, it's the community, it's the growth potential, it's all of that. Yeah, I think you actually touched on something that I'm pretty passionate about as well is that fancy degrees and designations don't necessarily mean you're going to be good at what you're doing. I think it really comes from digging in, getting the experience and loving what you're doing. You're going to figure it out. So I know that was something I felt

even when hiring in my corporate role is I don't necessarily care if you have an MBA. I care about how hard you work and what your motivators are. And if you have your heart aligned to what you want to do and you want to accomplish, you're probably going to do a lot better than someone who doesn't. It all goes back to the purpose that you talked about. And that being one of those key factors

and what you're looking for. And I think so many women are looking for. And I think this particular episode, I think it was probably a pep talk on purpose for a lot of women listening that it's okay to chase your purpose. It's okay to reinvent yourself. It's okay to start asking questions about if you're actually happy in what you're doing. And most of all, it's important to take a risk. A year ago, you had no idea that you'd be sitting here being interviewed on a podcast about blogging and doing freelance work. But you never would be here if you wouldn't have taken the risk by just signing up for the webinar. And that speaks volumes that sometimes it's just taking one

step and putting it in front of the other. Very small steps. And that's just what you've done, Tara. And we've watched it beautifully happen. And it's been really awesome. And thanks for letting us be a part of your journey and allowing us to have a front seat. Thanks for not sticking us in the trunk. No, definitely not. And just allowing us to be part of it because it's really cool to watch when a woman comes into her purpose. And we've watched that. So I just love it. I love that you've done it. I love that you're brave. And I hope that anybody listening to this today has just that confidence now that you might need to take the next step. Whether that be just researching if your domain is available, whether it's looking up a couple posts on blogging. Maybe you don't know what your next step is. And if that's you,

feel free to reach out to Tara or Jennifer and I. And one or all three of us would love to just dive deeper into that with anybody who might be considering that transition or that shift into blogging. So Tara, with that said, can you please let them know how they can connect with you? Yes. So you can find my blog at www.breakthroughloading.com. And I'm most active on Instagram at breakthrough.loading. And then you can find my freelance work on trbcollaborative.com. Awesome. Thank you so much, Tara. Thank you both. This was wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much, Tara.

Thank you both. This was wonderful. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at Spark Media Concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes.

For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.