Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Seamans.
Amanda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In 2015, my husband and I received the BEST news: I was pregnant! With our first child, Lincoln. At the time, I was working on my 9th year as a 1st-grade teacher, and honestly… we hadn’t given much thought to what would happen after I gave birth. Would I go back to work after my maternity leave? Full-time? Part-time? Would I become a stay-at-home-mom? Would I be a work-from-home mom?
I very quickly decided that I wanted to stay home with my children, by any means necessary. I totally understand that lots of moms WANT to work… and I respect that! Heck, some days I wish I could go to a normal job too. But in a way I feel like staying home with my kids has always been my calling. And so, in 2016, I left the job I’d worked my whole life towards and became a full-time mom.
In the beginning, it was scary. I was no longer bringing home a teacher’s salary, and my husband’s commission-based job was sometimes unpredictable. We truly did rely on faith that this was God’s will for our lives, and although there were times we considered the possibility that I might have to go back to work, in the last four years, He has ALWAYS provided.
With my teacher’s salary gone, I tried to find ways I could reduce our costs as a family. I cut our grocery budget to $300/month (without couponing)… covering all meals and snacks, AND healthy meals full of produce. When it came to home decor or clothing, I rarely paid full price for anything. I found affordable ways to buy/make gifts and found free activities and events for my family. Plus, I’ve always loved a good DIY project! After a while at this whole one income thing, we weren’t just surviving… we were thriving!
I began to have friends ask me for advice about living on one income, how to save on different products or affordable DIY projects. One sweet friend told me frequently, “You should start a blog!” In 2017, I finally decided to take her advice, and Her Happy Home was born!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When I started Her Happy Home, it was kind of just a hobby. I enjoy writing, and I liked being able to share affordable living tips and projects with my friends and family (because that’s pretty much the only people my blog posts would even reach). So, yeah… it was fun, and it was easy.
But it wasn’t until about a year ago that I decided I wanted to take blogging from a hobby to a career. It sounded so weird to even call blogging a “career”, but I totally get it now.
Once I decided to take Her Happy Home more seriously, that’s when I realized that blogging is a lot of work! I admire so many other bloggers, and I feel like I barely know a fraction of the work they put into their brand to make it great for their audience.
I think one of my biggest struggles as a new blogger was spending time creating content, and then nooooobody reading it. Whether it’s because you didn’t promote it enough, didn’t get it on the proper social media channels, used the wrong SEO terms for Google, or even worse… your blog post just plain sucked. But seriously… don’t give up! Blogging is so much more than just writing and clicking “publish”. Once you learn the blogging world and the “behind the scenes” of it all… it does get better.
Another unforeseen hurdle was the social media game. If you’ve got a blog, you NEED to be on social media. I use Pinterest and Instagram as my top 2, and it’s how I promote almost all the content I create. But it can get crazy trying to juggle all the different social media platforms AND your blog. The biggest help for me has been using a social media scheduling tool. On Sunday, I input all my social media posts into the scheduler for the upcoming week and the scheduler will automatically post them on whatever day/time I set. Now, the time I used to spend daily writing up social media post captions can be spent interacting with my audience and creating new content for the blog.
My advice for anyone starting a new venture… persevere, and don’t give up! Also, find other people in your same career path and reach out to them for advice. I’ve learned so much from fellow bloggers just by reaching out and asking, “Hey, how do you _______?”
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Her Happy Home – what should we know?
So, Her Happy Home is a blend of affordable living and motherhood. I share how to reduce grocery costs in your family, DIY projects, refinishing furniture, affordable gift guides, my favorite affordable products, and SO much more! Right now, I’m working on a series where I transform different rooms in our house with budget-friendly products, updated furniture, and more. I share a lot of progress pics and videos on Instagram stories, before publishing a full post on the blog with all the details. It’s been a lot of fun!
Which women have inspired you in your life?
My mom has always inspired me, but as I become older, I realize more and more just how great of a mom she is. Remembering my childhood, my mom always put me first. Even though she worked a full-time job, she always had time for me. She’s the mom who would take off of work to have lunch with me at school or take time off to take me to Astroworld (throwback!) during my summer vacation and stand in line for hours with me (even when she wasn’t riding the rides). Work was important to her, but it was never her priority.
That’s the kind of mom I want to be. I’m excited about where Her Happy Home is going, but I never want it to overshadow my children and become more important than spending time with them.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.her-happy-home.com
- Email: herhappyhomeblog@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/herhappyhome
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/herhappyhome
- Twitter: www.facebook.com/herhappyhome1
- Other: www.pinterest.com/herhappyhomeblog
Image Credit:
Amanda Seamans
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