ABOUT SANDY JOE
Back in 2009 I started my first blog, The Pretty Secrets, while studying abroad on a university exchange in England. It all began because I wanted to share my experiences of living abroad and interning at British Vogue. The focus quickly veered in many different directions because of my unwavering interest in vintage and travel.
Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I was beginning my career in social media and content creation. Inadvertently I was a part of the first wave of fashion bloggers. Since then, the site’s name has changed but the content remains a steady evolution of my interests.
FASHION SCHOOL GRAD
In 2010 I graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) with a degree in Fashion Communications which primed me for becoming a digital creator (but not for the fallout of the financial crisis.)
I desperately wanted to work at a magazine creating editorials and writing but due to the death of print media and the recession, I channeled that desire into my blog while I worked in the service industry. The closest I came to living out that dream was unpaid internships at British Vogue, Lula Magazine, MTV Canada and a plethora of other places.
IS BLOGGING A REAL JOB?
Not according to my parents. Blogging back then was a widely read medium but not taken seriously by legacy media or older generations. My parents often asked me what they were supposed to say I did for a living. My default answer: “just say I’m a writer.”
Very few people were out in the streets taking photographs of elaborate outfits, it was considered weird. Reflecting on this in 2022, it almost seems unfathomable how “weird” it was considering the landscape of today’s social media. Who isn’t taking photos of their outfits???
I kept my blog a secret from many people in my life for a long time. It was tiring explaining what a blog was to people, much like it was tiring explaining what an influencer was before it became part of the collective consciousness. Most people just didn’t get it.
THE PRETTY SECRETS BLOG
While my blogging wasn’t providing an income, I continued to work in retail while also writing and styling for Post Media newspapers, local weeklies, and even music videos. Then it all switched.
What felt like overnight (but in reality was about five years into blogging) I convinced a brand to pay me for a sponsored post. Suddenly I was an Instagram featured creator, a regular Style Panel Contributor to FASHION magazine, and even in a Holt Renfrew ad campaign.
SANDYJOE.COM
The popularity of blogs has waxed and waned over the years as each social media platform takes their turn dominating the digital space but as long as I find things I’m interested in writing about, I’ll keep creating via this medium. The name may have changed, but the substance hasn’t [see The End of The Pretty Secrets]
I never began my blog with the intention of it being a source of income and I believe because of that, it’s remained a space that I continually update as my digital scrapbook year after year. Whenever I find a blog that allows me to immerse myself into an inspiring world, it’s a thrill and I hope to create that feeling for someone too.
