Throughout 2017, we are working with our interns to highlight 52 Creatives from the NEPA region. We believe creativity is a broad term that cannot be easily confined within the walls of one simple definition. We want to know what being creative means to you and how you bring that creativity to light.
Shannon Smyth is our fifteenth #NEPACreative of 2017. Shannon brings creativity to the area through her beauty blog and bath and body brand, A Girl’s Gotta Spa!
Before her blogging, Shannon joined a direct sales company selling bath and body products, but she didn’t want to do the conventional home party scenario, so she looked for alternative methods online to talk about the products. This lead to her joining online chat groups, which eventually introduced her to Problogger and creator, Darren Rowse. A year after leaving the direct sales company she continued the mission of the blog by incorporating more mass market and prestige brands. In 2005, Shannon launched her beauty blog and Darren was a wealth of information on how to actively do this. Shannon contributes a lot of her blogging success to Darren and said that, “I learned a lot from him and will forever be grateful for the knowledge he shared that re-set my career path.”
Another role model Shannon mentioned is Kathryn Finney, the original “The Budget Fashionista” blogger. Kathryn and Shannon connected in her first year of blogging and is a major source of her inspiration. Shannon stated that, “Kathryn is who I’ve modeled myself after in terms of challenging myself, creating new revenue streams that have come out of blogging and always advancing forward with new and creative ways of doing things.”
Shannon has been a speaker at the NEPA BlogCon, Cosmoprof North America, and the HBA Expo. She has also been a part of Mutual of Omaha’s AHA Moment series and previously WBRE’s PA Live as an on-air social media expert, as well as a NEPA Blogs Blogger of the Week and many more events.
Shannon told us that the intention of launching A Girl’s Gotta Spa! was to 1. Reach beyond the four walls of her house to women everywhere and create relationships when she had none, 2. To morph her love of beauty products with her passion for writing, and 3. To give honest reviews and tips to other women like herself.
The next steps of Shannon’s mission is to review more NEPA spas and salons for those who live here and tourists looking for things to do while visiting the area. She’s also looking to pursue retail partners for her bath and body line. Lastly, part of the next mission in her blogging is to spread awareness about becoming a Living Donor.
If you or someone you know is an NEPA Creative, please let us know by filling out the submission form or send us an email at holly@coalcreative.com.
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