how i started and lost my blog | no. 01

After I spent 5 years, thousands of hours, invested in something only to have it gone just like that, it puts new perspective on the important things, priorities, and time well spent.

This post contains affiliate links meaning I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I use and love on a regular basis.

How I Started My Minimalism Blog

Five years ago, I started a blog Little Me + Family. The goal was to share my journey into minimalism, slow fashion, and sustainable living, with other mamas interested in trying those lifestyle changes in their own homes.

I had no knowledge of blogging, websites, social media (for anything other than posting pictures I’d regret later) and making money through a blog. I just knew that I wanted to share my ideas with the other moms in the thick of it – and how my life had been changed.

About a year in, I purchased a blogging course from Farmhouse on Boone, and hands down, it was the best decision I could have made. I learned so much – exactly what I needed at the time. I went from posting random personal posts to posting topics people would search for. I learned how to manage my website, drive traffic, and more.

The high point of my whole blogging journey combined with two moments. The first, having moms email me long messages about how thankful they were for my content and how it inspired them to make changes in their life. The second came when my blog hit 4.5k views in one month because of a post titled “How to Shop Sustainably on Amazon.”

Now, 4.5k isn’t a lot in the scheme of blogging, but for someone who had only seen 200-300 people a month bounce from her website, I was shocked that so many people would be interested in what I had to say.

Flash forward and I started this business, Huckleberry Bonnets Co in 2019. With the new responsibilities of running a handmade shop, I let my progress with my other website slip. I don’t regret that at all! I loved pouring myself into making bonnets and exploring new skills.

I kept up on and off with my blog and had plans for growing it again. Investing in that part of my business adventures was important to me.

The Switch and The Killswitch

After using WordPress for 5 years, I was ready for something more integrated and streamlined for my business needs, so I decided to switch to SquareSpace. This is not an ad for them by any means, simply sharing my experience.

Although side note, SquareSpace has been such a game changer and I wish I would’ve switched sooner (some negatives, but I’ll address those in another post..maybe).

Here’s where the story gets good. In processing the transfer from BlueHost to SquareSpace, I went to backup my content. In the chat communication of customer service walking me through how to do that, I..

Deleted. My. Entire. Website.

Hundreds of blog posts.

Thousands upon thousands of hours poured into website design, photos, about sections, affiliate links, and products, all

Gone.

In just a few clicks.

I should pause here and caution you: if you start a blog, always write your posts on word or a notes app that can be backed up and put all that information (page descriptions, photos, all of it) on a hard drive.

Back to my situation, I hadn’t backed this information up nearly as effectively as I should have. The result? There was no fixing my website unless I wanted to start from the ground up all over again.

It’s needless to say that this loss hurt. A LOT.

After spending time with my thoughts, realizing how many hours I had invested into something that was gone, just like that, I came to some conclusions.

Conclusion no. 1 – Laying Up Treasures on Earth is Pointless

Don’t misunderstand me here, there was value to the topics I shared and the people I influenced. I am grateful for that. However, putting every part of my being into that internet project would be unhealthy and ungodly. Jesus gives us specific instructions in Matthew 6:19-21

“Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

These verses took on new meaning in light of my website failure. My worth is not in my website or my achievements financially or influentially. My worth is in Jesus Christ and after I leave this earth, I won’t care about my website, I’ll care about seeing Jesus and being in His Glory. It makes sense to me that what I care about now should be what I care about later. If something doesn’t fit the eternity bill, it doesn’t get my unrelenting attention.

Conclusion no. 2 – Losing the Website Highlighted the Areas of “Work” I Regretted

There were so many days I spent “working” on the website, blogging, writing courses, creating products, linking affiliate products, creating online events for blog readers, striving to build a social media presence, etc. All of that time became abundantly obvious to me when the website was lost.

I began regretting my mismanaged time. When you’re at the end and realize it all went up in flames instead of being the success you wanted it to be, everything you rationalized spending time doing comes slamming back into you.

After losing everything I’d worked for, I was forced to come to terms with who I am without it. The truth is, I love myself just on my own. If I didn’t have this business, if I didn’t have a blog, social media, products to sell, a mission to communicate, or money to make, I would still have worth in me – because Jesus is in me.

I realized my worth in my family, my husband, my daughter, the way I interact with people in person, how I treat strangers, how I care for the earth and my home, how I spend my time learning and creating. I see God in things my family and I do and it’s so much more beautiful and vibrant now that I understand the fragility and instability of every “earthly” project I pursue.

Conclusion no. 3 – God Made us Creative and It’s Okay to Pursue Passions

While pursuing passions over God or your family is a no-no, I believe God created us to create! He’s given us interests, dreams, talents, and design because we are in His Image! He is creative, filled with design, and passionate. It makes sense we would carry those traits as well.

I lost my website, my passion birthed on the internet, but I didn’t lose my creativity, my propensity to learn and explore new ideas.

The New Beginning

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, you get a virtual hug! I promise, most of these posts won’t be this long.

My point in writing all of this is that after spending countless hours striving and losing all proof of it, I have become much more intentional with how I spend my time and energy when it comes to business.

I will not be re-publishing my old website (at this time) and that’s okay. If God tells me to bring it back, I have everything I need to start again.

Losing my website doesn’t undo the positive impact I had on people. If the only purpose of that blog was to inspire one woman, bring her out of her rut, and encourage her in a life well-lived, the effort was worth it.

As I move forward, I weigh every “work” task by a few metrics:

-          Is doing this task now, something that I will regret later?

-          Is this task moving my business forward or just my own ego?

-          Is this a task I can delegate to someone else?

-          Is this task scalable/can I maintain this level of commitment if it takes off? Which people do I need in place to handle the scale?

-          Is there a more efficient way to get this task done?

-          Which tasks can I batch for more results in less time?

These new principles and understandings are really the heart behind Huckleberry Bonnets Co as I move forward to grow this brand. Thank you for coming along the journey and supporting my passion. I can’t wait to see where we go next!

xo, makayla founder of Huckleberry Bonnets Co