But First…

Before I get into this post I first wanted to recognize the fact that it’s a celebratory post, but I understand that not everyone is in a celebratory state of mind right now. The last thing I ever want to do is give someone else a pit because of something I’m sharing, so even though this is a seemingly happy blog post, know that it took many years and a lot of meltdowns and hard days to get here.

The following is a highlight reel, and no one’s story is all sunshine and good times. We all experience little victories and bursts of celebratory moments at different points in our lives, and I’ve always thought that it’s how we manage and see God in both of the good and the bad that really counts.

Leaving Lilly Pulitzer…

I’ve thought about writing this post a lot, and really wanted to make sure I get the words right, because it’s one of the most important and exciting posts I’ve written yet. 😊

This week was my last week being on Lilly Pulitzer’s marketing team as their Influencer Marketing Senior Associate. It was also my first week working for myself for Amy Believes in Pink (like, who am I?!!). It’s the most bittersweet scenario and is worth explaining in full.

As I’ve always shared, working on Lilly Pulitzer’s marketing team was my ultimate dream job in high school and college. I was fortunate enough to be Lilly’s PR and Social intern the summer leading into my senior year, and then return full time when I graduated to be their first Influencer Marketing Associate and work on building their influencer/blogger strategy. It was challenging and rewarding and all kinds of FUN from my first day in the office.

I look back on it now and remember putting together gift bags at the Hamilton Princess in Bermuda two weeks into the job, emailing influencers for my first After Party Sale, figuring out how to develop a strategy & what goes into a campaign contract, writing the Run of Show for my first influencer trip, and finishing the sentences of my coworkers as we sat across from each other in the office all day long.

Also, I was fortunate enough to became friends with so many creative, entrepreneurial, and inspiring influencers, who made my already awesome job even better. I also worked with the smartest, most innovative team and received so many unbelievable opportunities through my role, and it lived up to all of the hype I had hoped it would.

Hello Amy Believes in Pink

Meanwhile, I was also working on this little corner of my world, the blog. And I was loving that just as much. So much so that I would work on both every day. I would leave for work at 7:15 am and get home around 6:30 pm, and then work on le blog from 6:30-midnight and then almost every minute of the weekends. And I loved it so much!

But as you can imagine, it got to be a lot. 😊I missed working out, I missed any free time, I missed watching TV without being on my laptop, I missed reading (I haven’t read a book in over 4 years eeep), I missed out on trips with my family, and I really missed Johnny as he lived in NYC and I lived in Philadelphia.

And my lifestyle ended up not being very healthy or stable. I didn’t share much of this, because I really aim for this blog to be the most positive & upbeat escape for you, but I had many breakdowns, and if I’m being honest with myself, didn’t feel like I was being the best version of myself the majority of the time.

So something started to shift… and all of a sudden I was fantasizing about a new type of dream job. One where I worked for myself 100% of the time and committed all of my energy into serving my readers and followers on Amy Believes in Pink and helping all of you. So, like any of my ideas start out, I started to scheme 😊.

I’m not going to make it sound easy, effortless, or quick, because the reality is I’ve been praying for and dreaming this up for a long time (I full heartedly believe that patience is in trusting God’s timing!), and wanted to make sure I did it in the right way and on my own. It took more discipline, saving, research, and just figuring-things-out than I could have imagined.

So, I went part time in my role at Lilly in November, and then resigned at the start of February. Since then, I’ve been finishing out my role and transitioning my amazing coworker (and dear friend). This week was my last week working for Lilly.

So what’s next?!

Well, I’ve got a new job to do! I will be spending all of my time working on Amy Believes in Pink and also doing some influencer marketing consulting for small businesses to big brands, which I recently just kind of fell in to and it turns out I’m really passionate about too 😊(of course, feel free to email me if you want more information on that!).

And I am unbelievably thankful that I have this opportunity and honestly still cannot really believe it’s come to fruition. I am working with Alexandra of Grace Christian Coaching to figure out a new daily schedule that works for me, since I will no longer be working in a traditional office and will be doing everything on my own. I will remain in Florida (due to the present circumstances with COVID-19), until I have to move out of my apartment in Philadelphia, as my apartment lease is up at the end of May.

Then, I will be spending June and July on Long Beach Island, as I wait for a certain someone’s lease to end so we can finally live in the same city 😊(way more to come on that, promise!).

But Lilly will still remain a huge part of my life. I haven’t really shared myself wearing any Lilly on the blog in the last three years, because I wanted to keep a separation between my job and Amy Believes in Pink (and as you can imagine, it would’ve been a conflict of interest since I did Lilly’s influencer marketing 😊). So now you’re likely to see more Lilly from me than ever. It will forever be my favorite brand.

Thank You

I am nothing without my support team and all of you. 😊Thank you to my crew of peeps who never once questioned my idea to start a blog seven years ago, or to then make that blog my full time career (you know who you are!). And the biggest thanks to all of you who read these posts, like my Instagrams, send me DMs, shop through my links, chat with me over the phone, and support this very-pink site.

It’s the little things that really add up and make me so appreciative of everything. It didn’t come easy, but right now I feel more inspired and excited than ever, and I owe that all to you. xx

(^because I haven’t been able to do this in years! 😊)