8 Years of Have a Wesley Day
2015 — Have a Wesley Day Launches
Preceding my eventual summer internship in NYC at Seventeen Magazine, I launched my personal brand and blog, Have a Wesley Day. With an army of friends and family who—God bless them—supported these new dreams of mine by way of patience and pictures on my DSLR camera, I began developing my brand as an outlet to connect with others over a love of fashion, photography, and all things feminine. I had a working knowledge of website and brand building at that point, from my 5-year career as a wedding and portrait photographer (seriously, when did this girl sleep?), so it was a no-brainer for me to jump in the game of fashion blogging in its early stages. For better or worse, once my mind is set, there is no stopping me (still true). So, I locked myself in my room and freshened up my coding skills in a matter of weeks to prep my website for launch.
At this time in my brand career, my blog was the hub for all things content-related, which involved a lot of heavy lifting from this 20-year-old “girlboss” who was simultaneously working her way through an advertising degree. It’s so sweet and encouraging to look back on my fearless approach to sharing career advice, fashion finds, random introspective tangents, and days-in-the-life I didn’t know if anyone would read. If I saw an opportunity for content to be written about, I wasted no time becoming an expert on the subject. Truly, this girl was scared of nothing.
8 years later, as I’m older and perhaps wiser (questionable at times), I’m encouraged to channel some of “2015 Wes” and her boldness to pursue her dreams without paying any mind to time constraints, judging side-glances, or intrusive thoughts. She just did the damn thing.
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
2015 was the year of no excuses for me. I somehow forged my way into that summer internship that would become the forefront of all my initial content, as I explored the city by myself for the first time. After saving up every penny I earned at my front desk job, I finally made it to New York City. I spent the summer Carrie Bradshaw-ing (well, a PG version of her, anyway) my way through Manhattan as I captured every solo date night, afternoon at The Met, Chanel pop-up event, and wine night spent on the rooftop of my apartment.
Every content creator has a handful of “Instagram vs. reality” stories to share, but I think I might have collected more than your average influencer gal that summer. I vividly remember being determined to make it to the Hamptons before the end of my NYC summer (ah, the trivialities of a college girl’s bucket list) for the sole purpose of taking pictures for my blog. Mind you, I had no invitation, no place to stay, and no real plan what on earth to do once I got there. (Also, keep in mind that I was living on a $0 salary from the unpaid internship I took that summer. Problematic, but I digress.) The Hamptons had to happen.
Enter myself and a fellow intern one Saturday morning to make the 3-hour trek to East Hampton (there and back in one day) via the infamous Jitney (A $60 investment ticket, mind you). We packed our Vera Bradley duffels full of gifted clothes of questionable taste, spent the day shooting outfits sweaty and on-foot among the elite, and fooled absolutely no one into thinking we belonged there. We were living.
2016 — Graduation. Greece. Got Dumped.
Welcome to the real world, Wes! You’re one degree hotter and back living with your parents. This was the year of the growing pains, but like they say: You can’t have a slay era without a flop era. More truthfully, I believe that when God closes one door (or a few…all at once…) He/She/They has plans to open even better doors for you just beyond. Career-wise, this was the year I started landing actual paid partnerships (hellooooo, Kate Spade!). Personally, it was a pivotal time to invest in relationships with my girlfriends, parents, and myself. What felt like starting from ground zero was laying the ground work for my actual 20s, sowing the last of those wild oats, and—spoiler alert—meeting my husband in my next season.
2017 — The Cloffice
Remember what I said about the slay era?
Cute new boyfriend? Check. Great new job? Check. New apartment complete with a second bedroom/dressing room? Check. (I mean, who needs a washer/dryer when you have the cloffice of your dreams? Cloffice = Closet Office, ICYMI). Another spoiler alert: this was the last time I’d have a second bedroom for a long time. This was also when I felt like my content hit its true stride—it’s a year I constantly look back on for inspiration today. It’s true—I’ve willingly adopted a few different stylistic personalities as I’ve discovered the truest version of myself. Fashion choices have been made. I’ll leave it up to you to dig those up on your own. But this era? *Chef’s kiss*
2018 — Quitting the “Dream Job”
It’s so funny, when looking back, how parts of some years are such a blur. Truly, I don’t remember much of what was going on this particular year, until about September. I ended up quitting what I thought was my “dream job” to move into a more prominent role at a smaller company. I documented the experience in an abnormally vulnerable blog post that was a major milestone in my connection with my audience—I’ll never forget the sweet messages I received that day and how it reminded me of my “why.” To be transparent though, I think there is some unexpected pressure that comes along with a knockout moment like that, to reproduce those kind of vulnerable moments and resist publishing content unless it delivers that same kind of heart.
After that moment, I shifted my focus more to purely Instagram-based content for a while, which was a much-needed breath of fresh air. It’s interesting looking back on these images at how much the overall tone of my content shifted from girly and sweet, to edgy and badass—especially during what I would consider one of the more vulnerable times in my life.
P.S. The aforementioned blog post is still in the archives of my old site—I’m weighing the options of bringing back select pieces of old content to live here vs. hosting strictly fresh content. Let me know what you think!
2019 — Gone Coastal
If I wasn’t in love with the 30A area before then, 2019 was the year that sealed the deal. I spent so much time with friends, family, and fellow creators on the coast this year. However, my personal content highlight wasn’t all the brunch food, sunset walks, or even the stunning scenery of Alys Beach I got to share with my community. I’d mark this year by the season that I finally got the conversation started around body positivity and the realities behind my “influencer” career. This post was one I frequently think back upon as encouragement of the great things that can come from vulnerability. More of that energy in 2023!
Peyton and I got engaged in December of 2019, and it was an absolute dream of a day. After getting down on one knee in front of our favorite French bakery (where we spent way too many hours over the 2 1/2 years we dated), he surprised me with both of our families waiting on us with champagne and brunch at the restaurant next door. Not long after that, we were joined by probably 50 of our friends at a local bar to celebrate. It’s impossible not to look back at that memory and feel so grateful that we were able to celebrate with so many people we loved without fear of spreading sickness. We had no idea what 2020 would bring, so I’ll always look back on that day with so many reasons to be grateful.
2020 — Don’t Worry. I’m Not Going To Talk About the Election.
Times like 2020 will really show you who your people are. In March of 2020, the entire world shut down, and my company made layoffs. By the grace of God, Peyton and I had made the decision to move in together that exact weekend that I was laid off. We were down to one income, planning our wedding, unsure if it was safe to even go to the grocery store, unsure if the rumors were true that everyone we loved was at risk of death from this new mystery illness. We were terrified.
Peyton had also recently been accepted to Vanderbilt Divinity School to continue his graduate program, and just as quickly as we announced our move to Nashville, the rug got taken out from underneath us, putting a pause on all of our plans.
Even as we mourned and let go of plans, we did what we could to make the most of our situation from our one-bedroom apartment. Many Orange Things were made (our speciality cocktail à la Bottega), competitive card games were played, and we made it through our wedding season without having to postpone like so many others we knew. Of course, I’d be remiss not to mention the real hero (and third roommate of our pandemic) Chloe Ting.
Social media was simultaneously my creative outlet and the scariest place to be in 2020. Content made a necessary shift to topics that were really heavy, and it was such a struggle as a creator to find the balance between trying to add a little light and positivity to my audience’s feed, while still acknowledging the very real suffering that was occurring every day in our country and the lives of those in my social media community.
There were some successes and some situations that could have been handled with more grace. Looking back, everyone deserved grace for 2020. If you’ve hung around with me through it all, I’m so grateful to have you here.
2021 — The Nomad
We had lived in 4 different places by May of 2021 (including my parents’ house—thanks Mom and Dad). We finally made the move to Nashville. I started and ended a business. I attempted to build my social life from scratch in a brand new city while traveling constantly back to Birmingham for work. I began a new job, traveled to new places, but still really struggled to find my place in Nashville. You may not have known it, but creating content has always been what has kept me grounded, and has been the thing that makes me feel like I have a “place” anywhere. So, thank you for that.
2022 — Always the Bridesmaid
We will always look back on this year as the year of the MF weddings. (Sorry, Mom.) Peyton and I collectively traveled to New Orleans, Boulder, LA, Mobile, Auburn, Louisville, New Orleans again, Charleston, Tuscaloosa, and Birmingham this past year—all for wedding-related events. Phew. The best time we never want to have again.
In the midst of this insane travel schedule, I decided to leave my job (more on that here) and had the opportunity to attend my first New York Fashion Week almost immediately after. Nothing like a good old-fashioned mental breakdown to inspire you to say “yes!” to a few bucket list items! Sometimes it seems like I’m facing so many life changes that I should write a newsletter or something?? Great idea.
This past year will also forever be marked by my true entrance into the world of TikTok. Okay, yes. I was about 3 years behind. And to be fair, we have been participating in our bedtime Laughing-at-Dumb-TikToks-Until-We-Pee ritual since 2020. However, it actually did take that long for me to see the real value in the app for my personal brand. Between the addition of short-form video into my content strategy and the resurgence of Pinterest (their Creator Fund owned me this past year—talk about a tough breakup), it’s been a busy year content-wise.
2023 — Here & Now
Since I’m starting off this year with a big, fat “It’s Complicated” status with my career, and January is typically my dedicated Sad Girl Month, I decided to try something different and really push myself out of my funk—2015 Wes style. What better way to commemorate the birth of my brand than leaning back into the thing that started it all? Since you’re here, you’re well aware of the re-launch of haveawesleyday.com (yay!), but I also have so many fun plans to reclaim the brand in ways that feel both fresh and true to me. Below are some highlights from my Brand Refresh Shoot, which I shot at the lovely A Dose of Libra Studios here in Nashville. This serves as a starting place for the elevated level of content I’m holding myself accountable to this year, as well as a really fun way to give tangible life to the creative vision I have for myself this year.
While you’re here, be sure to sign up for my new bi-weekly newsletter so we can keep in touch week-to-week. And as always, I’m all ears for comments on what you’re loving, or suggestions on what you’d like to see more of from me. You guys are what keep me going, so don’t be a stranger. Drop me a message any time at hello@haveawesleyday.com, or feel free to slide into my DM’s. Let’s do this thing!
