Time flies when you’re having fun!
In August of 2007, I left my Live Journal (the formative place where I’d discovered blogging in 2001) behind to start this blog.
Blogging to me had always been about sharing personal experiences and stories. It was a way to find my so-called tribe of like-minded people. It was never about making buckletloads of money or heavily pushing advertising — because when I started, those things didn’t even exist in the way they do today.
In a way, I think that was a major benefit. I had already been sharing stories online for six years before taking the leap to a more professional platform and that allowed me to keep on doing what I had been all along without any expectations of fame or fortune.
Blogging has shifted drastically over the last few years with social media platforms eating up more of our time, not to mention that of our readers. But I’ve always stuck around because blogging to me has something that is really powerful that most other platforms are missing — it allows you to share as much as you want and your posts can literally be anything you want them to be. I’ve always valued the boundless creativity blogging holds.
While blogging has changed, I still view it like this:
Social media is like a quick coffee date. You meet, introduce yourself and people get little snapshots of who you are. Blogging is like inviting someone into your living room. It’s where you go much deeper. It’s where those life-long friendships and client connections form. I can say that with certainty, too — most of my best friends to this day connected with me through this space. Clients I’ve had for 5+ years found me through this space. My whole world literally changed, thanks to this space.
And thanks to this space, I’ve had the chance to meet and connect with so many of you as I traveled with The Blogcademy. Your comments, tweets and emails mean the world to me. Thanks for sticking around through the good, the bad and the ugly (blogging wasn’t so picturesque in 2007, was it?!) A lot can happen in 8 years, that’s for sure.
One final thing — while this year has been about growing Branch, not to mention working on new personal projects, this space is in the midst of a very sleek and modern makeover and will re-launch by the end of 2015. Good things take time and I’m so excited to evolve this space, not to mention re-open an online shop of goodies.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Cheers to 8 years. I’m so glad to have you by my side. -Shauna
Lilly says: 
Misaki Shimizu 
lau 