Hi Everybody!
About two weeks ago I attended 'Beauty Brunch' with Joanne Larby aka 'The Makeup Fairy'. The day was organised and hosted by Sinead and Saibh from itwbn.ie. It was an #itwbnBloggerEvent, if you have been following me for a while you will know that I have attended a lot of these events and just how much I love attending them. The network has only been running for a little over a year but it really is going from strength to strength. It is the perfect place for bloggers and businesses to network and promote their brands, sharing their stories, getting advice and giving advice. There is something to learn from every person you meet and since joining this network work it as certainly taught me this.
Blogging for some can be very lonely especially for those in the west of Ireland as people outside of the blogging community don't understand what it's really about, how much work is involved, the pressure and what it takes to really put yourself out there. Don't take me wrong I know that we as bloggers put ourselves in this position when we start our blogs and I'm not being down on people outside of the community when saying that you may not understand all that goes on. I just think that when you have a blog you will have more of an understanding when you've been trying to work on a post or design of your blog and something goes wrong the stresses and frustration it causes. I know Sandra from A Modern Mommy's World and My Style Pursuit can certainly relate! (Haha!) I am sure that there are plenty of things that people from the none blogging community have going on in their lives that I would be clueless about that maybe they could teach me or that you have your own network of people that you can share your interests with.
That is just one of the reasons why I love the whole Into The West Blogger Network so much. I was so nervous the first time I was going to one of these events. I had only just started blogging and felt intimidated before I had arrived as I had read and followed a lot of bloggers who were attending the event also. I knew how amazing and professional they were and here was me a complete newbie. Little did I know how welcomed and at home I felt as soon as I walked through the Radisson Blu's door. Everyone in the network is so like minded. We might not all have the same goals and dreams or all be beauty or fashion bloggers. But we are all ambitious and have dreams as cheesy as it sounds, its true. It so refreshing to be surrounded by positive and motivated people who want to build you up not tear you down. Everyone is interested in hearing about your blog and your life and know one is in competition with each other. Everyone takes something different from each event and each speaker and I think Joanne Larby was the perfect person for this event.
Joanne is a Makeup Artist, Stylist, Model, Teacher, Author, Blogger... phew did I leave anything out? She really is one motivated and well rounded #GirlBoss. Seriously she would give Beyonce a run for her money with all she achieves in one day. I started following Joanne when I was in college so I think she was only blogging a year then. Even back then she was one determined lady squeezing so much into her life and not letting her self get pigeon holed into one career path. That is the first thing that drew my attention to her she is such a hard working lady with brains to burn.
I finally got to meet her a few minutes after I arrived to the Ardilaun Hotel . She walked straight up to a group of us and started chatting away, she asked us about our blogs and events and really made a effort to get to know us. She couldn't have gone out of her way more to make us feel welcome. After chatting to her for a while we got a chance to enjoy the 'mocktail reception' with the most delicious fruit punch and lemonade. As we were enjoying our mocktails we browsed a few of the stands.
Once we finished our brunch Joanne took to the stage to tell us her story. She told us all about her impressive career path, everything she's studied, about how hard she's worked to get to where she is today and what it takes to be a successful business lady. Joanne speaks in a firm but polite manner which I think is very important when you want to be taken seriously in business. I think it is Irish culture to be very easy going so we're a little afraid not to step on any ones toes, but if you want your brand to be taken seriously and you want to be a success you have to be confident and believe in yourself or nobody else will.
Benefit table
Blogger goodies
Beauty Brunch
Dream, Believe, Achieve
Joanne also spoke to us about body confidence and how she stays so motivated to keep herself fit and healthy. Joanne has a lot of projects on the cards at the moment as well a writing a book and a lot of events during the week. We all wondered how does she fit it all in? She sets goals for herself to achieve every single day and feels better being overwhelmed with the amount of work she has to do than having nothing at all. Joanne also talked to us about being self-employed, taxes and accounts and all that fun stuff that comes with admin.
She spoke to use about dealing with the 'haters' in the most mannerly way possible all while looking at the brighter side of life with a big smile on your face. Joanne filled us in on her thoughts about snapchat and thankfully there's a lot more bloggers that feel about it the same way. We had a live Q&A while seeing the real funny and friendly side that we see on social media but much more in person! She really is so kind and genuine and a real inspiration to young women every where. She has accomplished so much in her live and isn't ready to stop yet. She really is someone I would look up too.
Bloggers Goodies!
We were given fabulous 'blogger goodies' on the day which I am still going through and will review over the next couple of months. I love really trying products out before giving you all my thoughts about them. So keep your eyes peeled!
Until next time...
Your stylishly
Kerrie x
Bella and Vogue
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