Today we’d like to introduce you to Bridget Hunt.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Bridget. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As so many things do, it starts with… Oprah! I was watching the Oprah show (the best way to pass the 4:00 hour–I miss her!) and she had a blogger on. I was so intrigued by the story that I opened my computer and went to check out her blog. It was so colorful! Creative! Fun! I thought blogs were primarily ways to keep out-of-town grandparents up to speed with the sports the grandkids are into, that A+ spelling quiz, or the latest class picture. I’d never really seen one that documented life, both the big things and the small, in such a beautiful way. That’s when I decided to start one. I was an English major, so already had a major love of writing. Photography came soon thereafter. I’d just gotten married a couple years earlier, and to a widower who was once my professor, older than me and with four kids. There was a lot of misinformation about our relationship, so I also felt that it would be really cathartic for me to write a bit about our story to “set the records straight” so to speak. So, there was the story. The rest sort of fell into place in time.
Has it been a smooth road?
Yes and no. When you put yourself out there on the internet, of course there’s always going to be people who don’t understand or judge you. Both for the actual decisions you’ve made in life, and then for the decision to write about it. My blog has changed so much over time. It features my older kids less as they’ve grown and require privacy in ways they didn’t when they were young, That’s gotten me criticism and on the flip side, I’ve also been criticized for blogging about them at all. I talk more about travel than I used to, and somewhere along the way fashion, food, and wellness came into the mix. As I’ve changed (it’s been over 8 years since I started!), my blog has reflected that. Of course some people started reading for a specific type of content I offered that maybe I don’t anymore. It is what it is. Criticism used to get under my skin a lot, but I’ve since mostly come to a place where I recognize that you can’t make everyone happy. By far, the majority of my readers are such kind people who, when posting about my son’s recent 7th birthday, comment things like, “Oh my gosh! I’ve been reading since you were pregnant with him and writing those little letters!” I love that.
Aside from that, one of my other struggles is definitely the business side of things. I always say, “I’m an accidental businesswoman!” The back end of blogging is a lot of email, contracts to read through, quarterly taxes. I’m the worst at that stuff! I like the writing! The photography! I’m terrible at the rest. So many emails go unanswered because I’m unorganized or just lack the time (time! Another struggle.) To pursue them.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Tales of Me and the Husband story. Tell us more about the business.
I’m a blogger! A lifestyle blogger, to be specific. And, under that umbrella, a writer and a photographer. I’m proud of myself because it’s just me–with a lot of help from my husband of course–sitting at my desk putting (some of) our life out there and having people respond to it and keep reading. What started as a few people, grew into thousands, and that would’ve been unbelievable to me when I published my first post. I remember having a small Etsy shop offer me a handmade product of theirs to wear in a post and I was elated! Never in a million years would I have imagined then that I’d eventually work with Nordstrom or Seventh Generation. I set out to do it for fun, for therapy, so to have it become an income we rely on is something I’m really proud of.
One of the best parts about the whole thing is that I have all these stories documented. The idea of my kids watching our home videos, reading the details of the day they were born, or about what they were like at 3 makes me so happy. Our lives have been put to “paper” with pictures to accompany it in ways I never would have done if I didn’t have a blog.
Hard for me to say what sets me apart from others. There’s a LOT of blogs on the internet these days (so many more than when I began). I hope, though, that people can rely on me to be one that shows life in an honest way–its painful parts, its beautiful parts, the things I struggle with and rejoice in. I want people to come to my blog to resonate with something I’m saying and to make some sort of connection in this crazy human experience.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Oh wow, good question. I really don’t know. My youngest is 3 now. For a long time I’d have been categorized as a mommy blog, but I don’t see that fitting well without another pregnancy and baby in the mix (I’d have a million babies, but at 6 my husband feels done–I get it!). I think the blog would have to change directions, but would my current audience respond well to that? Would I get new readers? I’m really not sure. It feels more competitive than it used to with the internet so much more saturated with blogs than it once was. I’ve recently started selling Beautycounter–a pretty amazing clean and safe cosmetics and skincare company–in an effort to free myself up from relying solely on blog income. Who knows where that will take me? For now, I really love the company and their mission. (And the extra income!)
Contact Info:
- Website: talesofmeandthehusband.com
- Email: itsahuntlife@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Mark Spooner (first photo of my husband and I; large family photo)
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