Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Russell.
Hi Kelsey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After I had my first daughter, I decided to start sharing about my motherhood journey on Instagram. I saw that influencers were getting sent products and getting paid to talk about them and I set it as a personal goal to do that as well.
I focused on creating quality content and while having a lot of followers is great, I also realized that numbers aren’t everything. I have a smaller following but I’ve been able to land some wonderful collaborations and I can confidently say I’m proud of what I’ve been able to achieve.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The comparison game is real! It’s so easy to watch other people get collaborations you wish you could get and be hard on yourself. The numbers game is also no joke. I have seen other people have their accounts grow faster than mine and it can be discouraging.
That said, my best work is done when I’m not as focused on those details. When I’m sharing things that I’m excited about and not worried about likes, comments, or followers I find myself really enjoying what I do. I’d rather be authentic than create content purely to drive up my numbers.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a stay-at-home mom! It was an adjustment when I quit my job after having my first daughter because I went from having tangible goals at work to simply keeping a tiny human alive and happy. I got used to it after several months and haven’t looked back.
As I’ve had more kids (my daughters are 4, 2, and 1 month) it has gotten easier. I’ve become a much more structured person and I do better work when I’m under pressure. Our goal is to homeschool our kids so for the past two years, I’ve been doing preschool with my oldest. It is a privilege to be the person that teaches her! She is in the process of learning to read and I can’t get over the fact that it’s my responsibility to help her learn that!
I love what I do. The days can be so long but it’s the most rewarding work. My husband is amazing at supporting and encouraging me and that definitely helps me.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and are any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I think Covid-19 really challenged my tendency to be anxious. There are things in life that I can control and things that are outside of my control. I had to be intentional about not allowing those fears to consume me because that would rob me of the joy that was also in front of me. At first, when everything was shut down, we learned to make the most of things as a family.
Some of my favorite memories were family hikes! There were plenty of times when we had to adjust our expectations about things as a result of Covid-19 and we just tried to look for the benefits instead of focusing on what we were missing out on. That really helped us as a family.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raisinguprussells/
