The Story Behind Glamour & Guide: How It Happened

It is crazy to say that one year ago today, Glamour and Guide went from being an idea in my head for a couple months, to then being produced into a blog that I have fully run on my own. Every week, I make sure to get at least 2 blog posts out on Mondays and Fridays, I get all the Instagram stories, reels, and in-feed posts ready in advance and have created all the layouts on my own. I’ve been able to reach out and get some amazing and talented Influencers for Interviews such as Emily Oberg, Founder of Sporty and Rich, Mary Fitzgerald, Realtor and from Netflix’s Selling Sunset, and many more!

It can definitely be overwhelming sometimes while I am also running many other mini projects on the side such as Valdez Agency, my social media management agency, No One Asked But… which is a podcast run by my sister and I, my personal Instagram @pamelamvaldez and TikTok @pamelamvaldez, where I do brand collabs, partnerships, and other exciting things as a micro-influencer. Entering my sophomore year now at The Fashion Institute of Technology in August in person will also be an exciting experience after enduring two years with online school. Life has been amazing and crazy in the best possible way and I am so grateful for everything I have been able to achieve during these times. I want to use my story of how I’ve been able to accomplish the success of my blog within the past year alone, and how you can do it to. Never give up on yourself and always believe that you can accomplish your wildest dreams no matter what.

Follow our instagram @glamourandguide for tips, fashion advice, wear and tear polls, reels, moodboards, and more! Comment your favorite thing from this post.

How The Name Came To Be + Getting The Blog Idea

During quarantine, I was experiencing a lot of weird feelings just like many other people and I was so unsure of how life would be and if we’d ever go back to normal. Many were posting videos on TikTok of how they were getting their life together, tons of YouTube videos on new routines people had established, and much more that made me feel like I couldn’t keep up and that I had to do something now in order to fit in with everyone else (even though we were still at home). It was also like toxic positivity and a lot of people had felt the same way that I was feeling.

I spoke to my sister who helped me immensely during this time and when I told her that I wanted to do something that felt right to me, and not to please anyone else, but also a passion project I can keep working on even after life was back to normal, I knew I wanted it to involve writing. I didn’t want to do something that other people were doing, but I also wanted it to be a hobby and something I can do to do no matter what I am feeling or the mood I am in. I figured out I wanted to have a blog and make it about topics to inform other people within everything going on in the fashion industry.

But this couldn’t be like any other fashion blog out there, or something related to Vogue, Elle, Harpers Bazaar and more. I wanted it to be a blog that also conducted interviews with other influencers within the industry who were big and small that my audience can get to know far beyond the screen in front of them. I wanted to publish moodboards and outfit or home inspiration. This was also going to be a spot for anything business or finance related as well such as how to get an internship, resumes, starting your own blog, getting to know stocks for beginners and everything else in between.

This blog was going to be a guide for people and their lives, but in a glamorous way of course. This was how Glamour & Guide was born.
Pamela valdez — founder of glamour and guide

My First Steps & Preparation

Everything is always much easier said than done and I knew I wanted this blog to be perfect from the start but that was not the case. I did research on the best packages that I can purchase for my website so I can receive a domain, get ad revenue, and other cool features that I didn’t know about. This was my second time building a website and I was a lot more confused than the first time. I watched hours worth of YouTube videos with people breaking down everything little thing that WordPress had to offer me, I spent weeks figuring out which plan was the best for me to buy, and I read so many articles on tutorials to do even the simplest things.

All of this I was doing was super stressful at the time of course, but I am beyond glad I did all of that in the beginning and continued to learn over time because now I can honestly use WordPress with my eyes closed. It’s definitely the best platform for blogging or building your website if you have no idea where to start.

For about two months I prepped myself with a binder that I had bought, labeled different sections within it, put in a bunch of lined paper, and started to write out my business plan for how I was going to layout this website and let me tell you this was the smartest thing I could have ever done. I don’t typically type things out as much even though technology has really advanced. I still love grabbing a fun colorful pen and a cute journal or notebook to write down anything. I used this pink binder to break down my entire blog, posts I wanted to write about, people to feature for interviews, the social media handles and my schedule for posting, how often I wanted to post on my blog, the menu item at the top for what topics I would cover, and so much more.

Believe me, just like I said before everything is a lot easier said than done. I put everything together within 2 months, had my website set up, content published, social media pages done, and then made it public on my personal Instagram was seriously the scariest yet best feeling ever. Seeing my hard work be put out there and finally have it receive recognition is an unbeatable feeling, but the worry of what people would say and their opinions did scare me a lot in the beginning. I quickly realized that I had to push these aside and not let others think that they can dictate my life or make me feel bad for something I am very passionate about.

Proud Accomplishments & Moments

Being that my blog has been out for a year now, there has been a lot of really cool opportunities that have happened to me because of my blog, my confidence, and my decision to start taking social media way more seriously even on my personal Instagram @pamelamvaldez. I was given the opportunity to interview Emily Oberg who is the founder of Sporty and Rich, a fashion brand that sells everything from comfortable and casual loungewear that is luxury, to cool accessories such as phone cases, tennis grips, and more. I was also reached out to by a PR person to interview Mary Fitzgerald, a realtor on Netflix’s show Selling Sunset and she works with the Oppenheim Group and I was able to chat directly with Mary via Zoom! Since I was a pre-teen I also have been reading Seventeen Magazine and had an editor from there, Carolyn Twersky be featured as well and we had the chance to talk via Zoom which was another great experience.

I have also had the chance to try out and receive so many different products from clothing, to skincare, haircare, jewelry and more. These were all from amazing and incredibly kind brands who gave me the chance to try their products and put their trust in me for it which has helped me so much and get far within the content creation and blogging industry. I have over a thousand readers every month visiting my blog, coming to my Instagram, following, and supporting. Within less than a year of starting my blog, I had hit 10k readers from all time and it was a surreal feeling to know that I was giving people content to see, read, and learn about.

I’ve learned and gotten way better at writing emails, fixing my writing, learning how to properly reach out and message people, brands, and influencers. I have also grown so much in confidence and this would really not have been possible if I didn’t just start and make my blog happen. My parents, family, and friends have given me endless support and love within the past year that I have started this as well and I really am so excited for many more things that will happen for myself, my brand, my blog, and of course my future.

Advice To Aspiring Bloggers & Content Creators

If you have a side hustle, hobby, or passion project that you know can be big or you haven’t started it yet, my advice to you is just to start because you never know where you will be a year from now, or even 6 months from now. Life is really crazy, also there’s no possibilities to what you can achieve and if I would’ve been told that I could’ve accomplished all of this a year ago, I would’ve never believed it…seriously!

Life is too short to be unhappy so if you have a passion for anything, find a community out there that you can fit in. Reach out to those who are within that industry, make friends, be consistent with your work, connects with brands and companies, and see how far you will get.