#realtalk

Hi friends!

It’s been a while ago since I’ve posted one of these “talks”. To be honest it’s been put on the back burner and I’m not really happy about it, particularly because this is what truly gives me life in the blogging world. I love connecting with others, trying my best to keep it real with you all, and to share my story. So my plan is to share a little bit deeper things with you all in posts to come.

Moving forward, I hope to have a Q&A box located somewhere on the blog for you guys to anonymously ask me any question (I’ll make sure to let you know when it’s up), whether it be related to life, family, beauty, fashion, faith, health, yada yada yada. For now, feel free to e-mail me at ellabrooksblog@gmail.com with the subject titled “#realtalk” and I’ll be sure to include your question in the next go around.

Here are a few questions I’ve received recently…

How do you keep your faith strong and not wander away?

Well, I told you guys nothing was off limits 😉 In all honestly, I don’t mind answering these kinds of questions. I actually LOVE to answer faith based questions whenever they come up. With that said, I’ve been a christian my whole life. I was raised in a pastor’s home and have known the Lord my whole life. It’s all I know, really. I’m not perfect, but I know that I know that I have a God who loves me unconditionally whether I love him back or not (What?!) His grace is never ending and sometimes its hard to wrap my mind around this truth. Like any relationship, the closer you are to them, the less you want to hurt them, right? It’s the exact same way with the Lord. Choose to spend time with him, talk to him just like you would your other relationships, trust him, walk out life with him on the daily. It’s then and there that I believe you will find yourself making better choices. Love and grace will always win and no one does those two better than Jesus Himself!

How do you manage your time between being a full time lifestyle/fashion blogger plus a full time mom?! I have a one and a half year old and sometimes especially with outfit photo shoots it can be so stressful.

I’ve mentioned this before but I don’t want people to ever think that I’ve got ALL my ish together, none of us do. That’s why I often times share the crazy with you. There’s always an area (or two) of our lives we are struggling with and that’s just the reality of life. Sometimes I share these struggles with you guys, sometimes I don’t. However, we make time for what is most important to us. For me, as my blog has grown, my husband and I have had to adjust our weekly schedules to make sure I have time allotted to “working” on my blog. As we’ve watched it grow tremendously over the past year or so, we have made a mutual agreement that we will make the sacrifices necessary in other areas in order to invest into this dream of mine. For me that means putting my middle son into school (pre-school) close to full-time. I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but as life has taken us to where we are now, my mindset has shifted. Sure there are times I wish he wasn’t in school so much (and Jude watched twice a week), however, ultimately we know it’s the right decision. So with that said, I do have some dedicated “me” time a few times a week. This is when I typically get photo shoots done, plan out my IG posts, write blog posts, emails etc… all that fun jazz. Also, read this blog post I wrote a few years back when I was asked to share my personal story on the “How does she do it?” series, featured on the LittleMissDessa Blog. I talk a little bit more about how I “manage” my time over there…

How did you start blogging? How did you get followers?

I started blogging three years ago this July. One of my friends is a very successful entrepreneur and has started many small businesses. My husband and I went out to dinner with he and his wife for sushi one night and the topic of dreams came up. He said, “If you could do anything in the world, what would you do?” And out of my mouth came fashion blogger. I hadn’t given much thought to it until I said it (sounds crazy but it’s true). I thought about it a ton after that night and didn’t do anything for a while because just like everybody else thinks, it’s never going to happen for you, right?! So I let that doubt sink in and stay there for a while until my husband finally encouraged me to give it a go. I’m so glad he did!

How did I get followers? Ahh this is kind of a loaded topic. Originally I started out as @mamamelly5, my personal IG, and changed it to @ellabrooksblog about six months down the line (super smart choice FYI- try and keep everything similar for branding purposes). In the beginning, hashtags, giveaways  and follow fridays were my jam. The blogging industry back then was not as large or competitive as it is now, so I think I had an advantage there. Pinterest also has tons of great ideas in helping you jump start your blog! Or check out this blog post I wrote on how I grew my Instagram following successfully (It’s actually my highest viewed post to date).

What kind of extensions do you wear?

I don’t always use the same brand, but my go-to is this brand (Make sure you get the color 613). The girl I go to sews it in for me (rows). I know most girls prefer clip-ins and I have nothing against them, except for the fact that I prefer to have them in tact so I can treat them like my own hair. It does get damaged faster so I have to buy new hair about every six months. I really want to try Amber Fillerup’s new hair extension line, Barefoot blonde next.

How far apart in age are your kiddos? How did you decide on names? Any favorite Bible Studies? 

They’re each about 2 1/2 years apart. I had loved the name Ella for quite some time even though it spiked in popularity right around the time we had her. I swear every baby girl born in that time frame was either Ella, Ava, or Zoe. Brooklyn was actually something that kind of grew on both my husband and I. We first heard Brooklyn for a boy when we found out about Brooklyn Beckham (my husband has always been a big fan of David Beckham). We threw it out there and weren’t sure at first but it totally grew on us. As time went on and Brooklyn became ever so popular for a girls name :/ we started to re-think it but ultimately decided he’d make it cool for a boy, so Brooklyn it was. Side note- we had full intentions of calling him Brooks (blog name) but it just never stuck. Every once in a while I’ll call him Brooks but Brooklyn or Bubba are his names. Jude- so funny story behind Jude lol. When we found out we were pregnant with him (at the time we didn’t know he was a him), I told Trav we needed to use a biblical name this time around since we hadn’t with our first two. My main motive? I thought our first two were a little wild, and thought maybe God would have some mercy on us if we named our third after someone in the Bible. Haha! I actually can’t believe I just shared that with you guys. Trav agreed and when the name Jude was thrown out, we loved it and it stuck! Favorite bible studies… I’m a huge fan of anything by Priscilla Shirer or Havilah Cunnington (<— she’s probably my absolute fav- hilarious and so relatable)

Hope you all have a fabulous day! XO

p.s. my sunnies are only $7 and dress is currently $24!!! I just stumbled upon this site and am obsessed!

SHOP MY OUTFIT:

XOXO