Southern Royalty: 2013 review

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

A Look Back at 2013 on Southern Royalty

Here's to 2013. I am so happy I spent another year with you all on the blogosphere. I love reading all your comments, visiting new blogs and getting ideas from all the amazing fashion, lifestyle and foodie bloggers out there. This year Southern Royalty has grown tremendously thanks to all of you. I am excited to continue blogging in 2014 and look forward to finding new bloggers and readers to chat with and learn from in the coming year.

1. My favorite post of 2013

2. The most viewed post of 2013

3. Reached 1,300+ Pinterest followers in 2013

4. Reached 250 Twitter followers in 2013

5. Received over 100 votes on Lucky Magazine articles

Happy New Year!

xoxo

Monday, December 30, 2013

A Look Back at 2013 in My Life

At the end of 2012 (check out my 2012 favorites!) I graduated from the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (a few grad pics). I loved attending the University of Florida and returning to my birthplace of Gainesville, Florida for 4.5 years. Gainesville is truly my second home. Upon returning to Lakeland after graduation I began searching for my first job.

My search led me to the Lakeland Economic Development Council (LEDC), where I began blogging part-time for their blog, YLakeland.com. YLakeland and the LEDC taught me a great deal about my hometown and the benefits it offers young people.

I joined the local young professionals group, EMERGE Lakeland, where I participated in their spring peer-to-peer mentor program. As a member of EMERGE Lakeland, I have met a great group of young professionals and learned more and more about the community where I grew up.

In addition to blogging for YLakeland, I began interning for the first Florida Ice Cream Festival. As their PR/Marketing Intern, I wrote press releases, managed social media and even gave my first radio interview. Doing PR for the event gave me great experiences and taught me a lot about how different agency life is compared to event marketing. I really enjoyed working with the first Florida Ice Cream Festival and even got to meet a few championship eaters who came to our World Ice Cream Eating Championship.

After spending a few months with the LEDC and the Florida Ice Cream Festival, I began interning with a local marketing firm. This firm gave me many opportunities as a new grad to learn and test out the waters of the marketing industry in Central Florida. I was able to really get my feet wet and add many skills to my resume. I continued to search for full-time jobs, go to interviews and explore all the opportunities available in advertising and PR.

After 9 months as a marketing intern, I began my first full-time post-grad job in November. I work for a full-service marketing firm that works with companies all over the country. So far I am loving full-time agency life. Although the first two months have been a bit hectic (giving me less time for blogging), I am so happy I ended up where I am and cannot wait to share more details in the future.