Today we’d like to introduce you to Abby Paup.
Abby, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My love for fashion and beauty was not something that I loved from an early age, perhaps like it is for many beauty and style bloggers. Growing up, I was definitely more of a tomboy. I basically lived in gym shorts and basketball camp t-shirts because it’s all I wanted to wear. I was always playing sports; on teams or in my neighborhood with all the other neighborhood kids. Playing sports was definitely my whole life growing up and all I cared about/paid attention to. But then, I would say it was about my senior year of high school that I discovered the beauty world on YouTube, thanks to my sister! She showed me some of her favorite beauty YouTubers and after that, I was hooked. Long story short, I fell in love with makeup, fashion, skincare, the whole nine yards!
With my newfound love and passion for beauty and fashion, I wanted to be able to share with others my tips and tricks because I wanted to be able to help others the way my favorite YouTubers helped me. I debated on starting my own YouTube channel for years but just never got around to it and was honestly so scared to put myself out there like that. It was then after college that I was introduced to the blogging world and realized a blog would be more up my alley, considering that I love to write. So, a few months after graduating from college, I went ahead and created my lifestyle blog, abbypaup.com and the rest is history!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No, it has not always been a smooth road. When I first started my blog, I had no idea how to run a website. I am definitely not the most tech savvy person, so figuring out how to make my website work the way I wanted it to was very difficult and very frustrating (to say the least) at times. I would say another struggle and something I still struggle with is, feeling like everything I put on the blog has to be perfect and if it’s not, it can really stress me out. I always knew I was a perfectionist but my blog really, REALLY showed me that I truly am, lol, and dealing with that has been hard at times because it makes me put unnecessary pressure on myself.
So, that leads me to one of my biggest pieces of advice and that is to not stress about everything needing to be perfect. As long as you are happy with the content you are creating and putting out, that is all that matters. What really matters is that you are having fun with your blog and not losing sight of why you started it in the first place!
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Currently, I work as a personal stylist for three different styling companies. They are all apps, so anyone can download and use them! The three apps I work for as a Personal Stylist are Tailor, DAAMN! and Wishi.
I also help run a local boutique, with the owner of the store and I absolutely love all aspects of it! I also then do my blog and Instagram, where I create content and work with some amazing brands!
But… the best is yet to come, I am currently working on something that I have always dreamed of doing. I can’t wait to share with my followers and readers really soon so definitely connect with me on my social media to see what it will be! 🙂
I would say I am most proud about staying true to who I am. I like to keep it real and always authentic! I think it is so important to always just be yourself and never lose sight of why you started in the first place.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I would say a barrier still today is women just not being taken seriously enough. I think we are headed in a better direction when it comes to that barrier but is still a major shift that needs to be made. Women can do anything and I think that is often looked past. People think that women can’t handle “the pressure,” but we can handle anything. It’s what we do.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://abbypaup.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abbypaup/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abbypaupblog/
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