Here at NYGal, we love self-made women. So, that’s the reason we happen to love Candy Washington; an actress and blogger with absolute to-die-for style. She covers it all on her blog from trendy brunch spots to podcasts and even personal stories. This girl does it all and NYGal was lucky enough to be able to ask Candy the questions we’ve been dying to know!
What was the inspiration for your blog?
I started blogging years back when I was home on holiday from school. I would look at other bloggers, mostly fashion bloggers, and thought, “I want to do this!”
Then I learned that you could actually earn an income blogging so, I started doing research to build my brand and start monetizing my content.
However, my initial inspiration behind starting my blog was for it to be a creative outlet for me. I would post photos and images of dresses, accessories, and cool places in New York and Los Angeles that I dreamed of wearing and visiting. It was a way for me to physically express my imagination and dreams.
It wasn’t easy making blogging and social media my full-time job, but it was worth it because I knew that my voice was meaningful and that if I could inspire one person to go for their dreams and not give up when they faced hard times, then it would have a purpose. I knew that my blog could really help to make a difference.
What inspired you to pursue an untraditional career?
I love storytelling. Whether it’s through my blog, acting in a movie or TV series, helping my clients build brands, or by on-camera hosting, it’s all a form of storytelling that adds value to the lives of others.
I knew that this is what I was meant to do and that I didn’t want to spend my life working in a cubicle for somebody else’s vision when I had my own that I wanted to bring to life. We only get one life, you have to decide how you want to spend it.
What were your biggest struggles with starting your own business?
The biggest struggle for me with starting my own business was finding the time to put all of the building blocks into place (creating content, doing PR, pitching for clients, building the brand, etc.) while still making enough income to survive because you’re not really making money in the beginning stages.
Some people do “pre-sale” launches, which means that they will sell their products or services before they are actually complete, but I couldn’t do that. If someone is scheduling coaching time with me and want to get the branding blueprint, I wanted to make sure that I had everything in place so that they could get started right away.
My resources were other creative professionals that I would chat with and I would learn what tools, tips, and strategies that they used to build and grow their businesses. It’s not recreating the wheel, so you can learn from others and then execute it in your own unique way.
We understand you’re an actor, how do you prepare for your on-camera acting roles?
I actually just booked a really fun on-camera hosting and modeling gig for two new shows, Beauty Wow! Celebrity Makeup Hacks and We Try For You. I also hosted two shows for Disney Style and I love acting in films, TV shows, and web series.
The first thing that I do to prepare is to make sure that I understand the character, the story, and what the message of the piece is. From there, I create the character. Even when I’m playing myself for my hosting gigs, I write down what my objectives are, the attributes of the character, and how I want my character to affect the audience.
Creating a character and sharing the character’s journey is one of my favorite ways to tell stories and create a genuine connection with people. Transforming into someone else is ironically one of the best ways to tap into who you really are and experience how humanity connects all of us.
Also, We heard you’re launching The Billionaire Blogger Society- What is that exactly?
The Billionaire Blogger Society isn’t just for bloggers, but it’s for anyone seeking to grow their audience, become an expert in their industry, and attract new clients.
As a full-time content creator and social media influencer, I wanted to create a fun and safe place for other creative professionals to build profitable personal brands, and thus, The Billionaire Blogger Society was born.
I’m passionate about helping other creative professionals, from designers, bloggers, models, actors, on-camera hosts, writers, and more, to start making money doing what they love and on their own terms. So I offer personal coaching as well as providing my clients with a tangible branding blueprint that they can use to build their brand and activate it in a profitable way both online and in real life.
My consulting service officially launched this month! You can get the full scoop at TheBillionaireBloggerSociety.
What advice would you give to NYGals trying to build their own business?
Just do it and start today. Think about what your passions are and what you love doing and then from there, build a brand and start taking your passion seriously to transform it into your career.
Don’t worry about social media likes and followers, focus on what you love and the value that you want to add to the world. Know that things won’t always go as planned, but if you’re flexible and you stay positive, things will work out and you can learn more from your failures than you can from your successes.
Speaking of social media, how can we stay in touch with you?
You can always join me on social media on, @candywashington, on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Plus, don’t forget to stop by my site, Actress with Style, and drop me a line at info@candywashington.com.
