Balancing Act: Business & Blogging Panelists: Natalie Suarez, Natalie off Duty • Annie Tomlin, BellaSugar • Aimee Song, Song of Style • Kristina, Pretty Shiny Sparkly • Ari Goldberg, StyleCaster • Coco Rocha, Oh So Coco

It was such an honor (and a blast) to be asked to return to the Independent Fashion Bloggers conference as a panelist on the amazing "Balancing Act: Business & Blogging" topic. (Last season I moderated the panel, Working With Brands Gracefully.)

I felt like such a little nobody among so many greats at times, but whenever I tried to make myself coherent on stage, I hope I was able to convey a different perspective as a blogger--that you can blog for the fun of it, for the pure passion of it, you can do anything you want and still keep your day job.

I know everybody wants to blog professionally full time (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating, but there were over 300 bloggers in attendance and all serious about fashion blogging)...but I wanted to share and show that you can be a professional blogger without quitting your job. And as we all learned from Ari's sage if blunt advice: most professional bloggers cannot and do not support themselves solely via their blog. They have side projects, off-shoots, design deals, book deals, etc.

All in all, it was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed chatting with my favorite supermodel/blogger/activist, Coco Rocha, and her sweet (and handsome) husband James, before the panel. Ari Goldberg was so full of energy, even before we took to the stage, and the passion he has for what he does exudes out of his pores, I swear. The audience (and his co-panelists) lapped up every word and wanted more. Call me crazy, but people were tweeting that he is the "Ari" that inspired the eponymous character on the TV show Entourage!

Pre-IFBcon Party

Mad Props, Jennine!

Thank you to Jennine and all the amazing IFB staff for putting on an amazing event. I'm super bummed I couldn't stay longer--I was flitting between Lucky FABB, IFBcon, the hotel, and...the airport. We had to catch an evening flight out of JFK and traffic to the airport was a nightmare with all the rain. But I'll be back, NYC, I'll be back...in November, for the MNG by Mango event at jcpenney!

Let me take a minute, y'all.

I would like to send out a thank-you from the bottom of my heart to all the readers and bloggers that came up to me and introduced themselves. I had such a lovely time chatting with you all and have enjoyed checking out each and every one of your lovely blogs (hey, that's what business cards are for!). Thank you for making me feel less nervous and more like a million bucks. You really made my day, and I could choke up for all the gratitude I feel in my heart right now. Okay, enough!!!

If you're in the Florida area, I'll be making an appearance on a panel at the Tampa Blogger Brilliance conference this Saturday--hope to see you there!

Photos: via IFB and my own