The Financial Fashion Planner Turns One!

Fun fact, I posted for the first time ever on The Financial Fashion Planner one year ago today. I would link the post here but I am super embarrassed by my first few posts. But hey, that’s how it goes. I am a firm believer that if your first attempt at something is perfect then you probably started too late.

So here I am, today I am celebrating one year since founding the Financial Fashion Planner! To be totally honest, when I first created the website I thought it would fizzle out after 6 months. I am happy to report that it has not and that my passion for my little corner of the internet has only grown!

I want to start off my thanking all of you for your continued support and encouragement as I’ve navigated this past year of blogging. You have no idea how much your comments and viewership means to me! At the end of the day, this blog is not meant for me but for those of you looking for guidance in the personal finance space and professional work wear.

As you all know, I am a huge on self-reflection and celebrating the positive in our lives. That being said, I think it’s only right to take a moment and reflect on the accomplishments of this blog from the past year.

Accomplishments

The focus of this first year was to get my feet wet as a blogger and to find my voice. This past year, I put out over 55 posts that ranged in topic from office dress, travel and basic personal finance topics. For not having a strict content calendar to keep me on track, I am proud of myself for creating one post a week while also working full-time.

Another accomplishment was finally coming out and sharing this blog with family, friends and the scariest of them all, co-workers. The personal finance space is highly regulated with lots of guidelines that need to be followed to stay compliant. Social media has always been a rather gray area in the finance industry and something I needed to dive into with caution. I am so thankful for the support of my firm’s compliance office to help me navigate this journey and for the support of my co-workers who inspire me to keep writing.

Something unexpected that came from blogging was being welcomed into the Chicago bloggers community. I have met some incredible people who have become fast friends and part of my support system. Through these connections I have had the opportunity to collaborate with some incredibly professional and well-established bloggers.

Opportunities

While this first year exceeded any expectation I could have set for myself, there is always opportunity for growth. To keep myself accountable, I want to share with you all what is on my road map for 2020.

Personal Finance 2.0 – This first year was intended to share some basic financial planning concepts as means to establish a common vocabulary with my followers. This year, my focus is to begin diving into more complex financial planning concepts like backdoor Roth conversions, stock options, and creating a financial plan. Along with including more advanced planning items, I am going to build content around questions and conversations I get from followers and friends. That being said, this is my invitation to you all to reach out if you have questions. Your question might be my next blog post!

Personal Finance Tools – I am super excited about this! With the help of Canva and some other fantastic tools, I am on a mission to create personal finance tools that compliment my posts. As I called out earlier this month on Insta stories, I have created a new category on the website dedicated to all the planning tools I have created and will continue to create for you all. I am in the process of creating a personal finance workbook that I can’t wait to share with you all in the upcoming months. My plan is to continue to produce content that is relevant and can be printed out and used to help track financial progress.

Video Content – This one is scary for me but I am dedicated to creating more video content to support the Financial Fashion Planner. If I am being honest, I haven’t totally decided what this will look like but I am dedicated to jumping on Insta Stories more regularly to support new blog posts and delivering my posts in a different medium. I realize that there are different learning styles and preferences on how to consume information. My goal is to find new ways to deliver my content that supports different learning styles and preferences.

Branding & Website Update – I am not a graphic designer nor am I a website designer. I acknowledge these are not my areas of strength and am not interested in teaching myself these skills. This year my plan is to partner with a professional(s) who can help me create a brand logo for the Financial Fashion Planner and update my website to be more captivating and professional. More and more I have been sharing this site with existing and potential clients and want to ensure I am putting my best foot forward. You only get one first impression!

That being said, if you are an expert in either of these areas and think you could be of help, let’s talk!

Thank You!

Once again, thank you to everyone that has supported me at any point this past year. I am excited to embark on this next year and return that same level of support through helpful and revelant personal finance articles and office fashion inspiration.

Cheers to the next year!