The Real MVP: Building a Business with my Husband
Today’s post is dedicated to the love of my life. But not just because he’s an incredible husband, and I’m so proud of the relationship we’ve built.. But because he is the absolute behind-the-scenes MVP of this blog business. He’s SO far from the typical “instagram husband”, and I thought I would take some time to share all that he does to keep this up and running and give him the credit he deserves!
Side note: We did our first men’s try on haul recently so you can shop all of Cody’s outfits in this post as well and watch that full video here!
SHOP CODY’S OUTFIT BELOW:
First off, did you know that Cody is the one who actually started this blog? I had been following bloggers for quite a while and had talked about how much fun it would be to do that but had no serious plans to actually start one. I talked about it enough that he decided to take the action I was probably always going to be too scared to take. I came home one day, and he had built me a website (perk: he is a graphic/web designer) and applied for some affiliate programs already so we could get started that day!
He has always taken all of my photos and has spent HOURS researching photography tips, camera types, how to edit, etc. since the very beginning and has never one time rolled his eyes when it came time to do a shoot. He has truly been as excited as I have been about this whole thing since day 1!
SHOP CODY’S OUTFIT BELOW:
Cody and I both actually have a bit of a problem with the “instagram husband” phrase. I feel like it implies some annoyed husband rolling his eyes and sighing a lot as he quickly snaps a photo of his wife before they eat dinner and maybe voices frustration at her for not just enjoying their time together. Which is just so NOT the case with us. I don’t force Cody to take my photos- he genuinely enjoys it and is frequently thinking up new spots, new angles, new equipment, etc. for our photos.
It also COMPLETELY misses the fact that Cody is very much a 50/50 partner in this business. It negates aaaallll of the work that he puts in on a daily basis and has since the beginning. Here’s just a quick snapshot of what his role is in the day to day of running this business:
Shooting and editing ALL of our photos
Shooting and editing ALL of our videos
Keeping the books on our business finances and tax records
Filtering through emails and helping negotiate brand deals
Writing contracts for brand deals
Monthly content planning meetings with me
SEO keyword research for our content
Creating EVERY graphic (sale graphics, holiday gift guides, etc) we’ve ever posted
Creating and maintaining our website
Creative direction of sooo many of our videos and posts
Building pinterest images from our blog posts
Researching appropriate courses and deciding which ones to take
Set up/maintenance of all camera gear for every single video/post
Joining in on every strategy or business call
Encouraging me, reminding me of my core vision, and being more confident in me than I am in myself pretty much every day since day 1
SHOP CODY’S OUTFIT BELOW:
Honestly, there’s a high probability I left a lot of stuff off still. But hopefully that gives you a bit of a picture of all that he puts into this! Might I also mention that there have been COUNTLESS times that I doubted this whole thing and really considered throwing in the towel. I felt like we were spending so much time, so much money, sooo much energy on something that wasn’t really doing much for us in return for such a long time. It consumed every ounce of free time we had before work, after work, and on the weekends when I was working full-time, and while we enjoyed it, it was easy to sometimes feel like that just wasn’t the right way to be spending our days.
But this man never, and I mean NEVER, lost sight of our vision or doubted this journey. He became tired and frustrated sometimes too, don’t get me wrong, but he ultimately always made the choice to see the hope and push us forward. This is just who he is at his core. He is the eternal optimist and always believes the best can happen, and it has served me so well to get to learn from him as we build this together.
SHOP OUR OUTFITS BELOW:
If you’re wondering if I’m now visibly crying in a crowded bookstore while writing all of this out, the answer is maybe. (Definitely). I’m so grateful for the man that Cody is and how he’s selflessly given to my vision. I receive some of the sweetest messages from you all saying thanks for all the work I put into this blog- which make my day EVERY TIME by the way- and just felt like it was important to share that it’s very much a team effort! :) If you ever see him out and about, let him know you appreciate all that he does too!
**NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I will receive a small commission at no cost to you. As always, all opinions are my own.
