Something magical happened this Fall/Winter! Here's the play by play of how my name AND picture ended up in the Wall Street Journal! (Note: when reading this please know I want to put an expletive between Street and Journal because I still can't believe all of this transpired at all, let alone with such a high caliber paper!)
On September 10, an average morning, I was getting started for the day and decided today's Instagram post on my business page should be about having a slow morning. I thought this would be a tiny tidbit that would help my followers get to know me just a bit more, and I thought the shot looked tranquil and calm (plus the kitchen was clean!). I was starting to use hashtags to generate more attention and just added #slowmorning and #earlybird.
I had recently started getting to bed earlier (lights out by 10), and getting up earlier, around 5, to enjoy the peace and quiet, sip my coffee, and invest the time in corresponding, posting, planning etc, for life and for my doTERRA essential oil business. (In September, Hudson was catching the bus at 7:05, now it's 9:00, so my early morning can be a bit later!) I treasured this time because I can't do it during the day, I found that I was terribly unproductive when I got on the computer at night, and I do not like to be on the computer in front of the kids. Anyway, back to the WSJ....
About an hour after I posted, I got a message on Facebook from Ellen Byron, a WSJ reporter saying she saw my post and she would love to talk to me about my slow morning as she is working on a piece about this new trend. I was floored!! Sure it could be a hoax, but it felt real, and I couldn't believe that little old me, with less than 100 followers, attracted the attention of any reporter at all, let alone one from the WSJ!
I took a screen shot and texted it too some friends that I knew would be thrilled! I waited about an hour to call when I knew I'd have some time to talk. I called her after dropping my aunt off at the airport, and pulled over at a random shopping center to walk around while chatting. It felt so self-indulgent to talk about myself for 20 minutes, and kind of silly to talk about my morning routine for that long, but she really wanted the play by play of what I do and she asked very specific questions. She was very gracious and friendly, sounded my age, and asked if I knew anyone else that did this. I gave her names of three friends and texted them immediately. They agreed and I sent her their numbers. I emailed her later as I thought of more tidbits, I had never given so much thought to this routine that evolved organically for me.
About a month went by and I emailed Ellen and asked how it was going and she said, 'Moving right along, I'll let you know before anything gets published.' Another two months went by, and it was in the back of my mind, as something cool that might be coming down the pike, but I wasn't holding my breath. In early December, she reached out and asked for head shots. It took a bit of time to find: A) A picture of me without the kids, B) A picture of me without sunglasses, C) A picture of me that I found acceptable. Some more time passed and she said she wanted to schedule a photographer to come out and capture me in my morning routine. I wrote back and said, "You mean, someone coming to my house between 5 - 7 am?" Which is what I assumed she meant, but it sounds crazy right?! A week later she said, "Yes!" All along I was thinking, 'Whatever they wanted to do I would probably do, who cares if I'm in my pajamas, it's my once in a lifetime opportunity to be in this newspaper!
We scheduled for Thursday, December 20 at 6 am. It was almost freeing to think, "Well I can't worry about my hair, makeup, clothes, I'm supposed to be in my pajamas and obviously not done-up!" I cleaned up the kitchen, and went with simple black thermals for pajamas and my turquoise robe, I did put on stud earrings and my rings, but that was the extent of my effort, and no makeup. I picked one of my grandma's coffee mugs as a shout out to my family. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep at all, but I slept pretty well, woke up a little early and was ready for her. The photographer also has two young kids and we chatted the time away. She was so casual that I wasn't even sure if she was taking my picture or testing the lighting. I naturally didn't get much work done but maybe I looked like I was. After about 30 minutes she looked up when sunrise would be and was disappointed to see it was still about 45 minutes away. She was then going to wait for my kids to come down but amazingly they didn't come down. I did want a picture of them giving me a hug which is how the morning usually starts, but I didn't want to wake them up for what would then be a posed picture. I didn't feel comfortable with their pictures being in the paper anyway, so it was purely selfish that I wanted the pictures. As it turns out I didn't get to see the pictures that weren't in the paper anyway!
The busyness of the holidays happened, and on Monday, January 7, Ellen and I talked on the phone one more time, she wanted to confirm the details were still accurate as the story would be online the next day and in print on Wednesday. On Tuesday, January 8, I got up early (surprise!) excited to see the article! It didn't post until 10 am and I was trying not to check my email incessantly! Ironically, Sadie got sick the night before and I graciously volunteered to stay home with her. It was such a thrill to read it and share it, then read everyone's sweet comments about it.
Finally, I got a glimpse of it, or did I? I kept getting prompted to subscribe or log in. Ellen had copied and pasted the article in my email, but I wasn't able to read it online, but other people could. I tried not to get frustrated with trying to figure this out. Even before I could break through, EVERYONE can see this...
My photo is the banner photo for the article! It is also the icon photo on the WSJ page, ekk! This is my least favorite of the photos of me, but it's ME in MY kitchen! Little me, which is kind of mind-blowing! When the photographer, Julia Rendleman, went out on the porch to take this shot, she said, "That was great, I bet that's the one they are going to use because you can really tell it's still dark outside."
Here are the other three pictures in the online edition,
On the few times I could break through to the WSJ link of the article, I eagerly read the comments, even though I KNEW very little good could come from it! Sure enough, most of the comments were very negative and critical, and it seemed like most were horrified that I reheat my coffee and oatmeal! It was pretty easy to shake this off, but it did make me wonder if I'm that kooky. My friends and family all say no so I'll stick with that and try not to try to access the comments again!
On Wednesday, I stopped in three stores looking for the paper, only to learn I should really start calling! Two of the three Barnes and Noble stores in the area had two copies each so I snatched those up, my parents got two and as it turned out Ellen sent me 5, so if anyone wants a copy, let me know, I have a few to spare! :)
I certainly didn't do this for the attention, but it has been fun sharing this excitement with everyone. My mom emailed it to all of her friends and family, friends are sharing it on Facebook, even the clerks at Barnes and Noble lit up when they asked why I wanted all of the copies of today's Wall Street Journal.
Without further ado, here's the article (don't read the comments :)):
https://www.wsj.com/
What I love most about this whole experience is how random it is. It wouldn't be nearly as special if I pitched the idea to them, if I already knew the writer, if I was a big persona doing major self promotions. Here's to a 2019 full of possibilities!! <3 nbsp="" p="">
I had recently started getting to bed earlier (lights out by 10), and getting up earlier, around 5, to enjoy the peace and quiet, sip my coffee, and invest the time in corresponding, posting, planning etc, for life and for my doTERRA essential oil business. (In September, Hudson was catching the bus at 7:05, now it's 9:00, so my early morning can be a bit later!) I treasured this time because I can't do it during the day, I found that I was terribly unproductive when I got on the computer at night, and I do not like to be on the computer in front of the kids. Anyway, back to the WSJ....
About an hour after I posted, I got a message on Facebook from Ellen Byron, a WSJ reporter saying she saw my post and she would love to talk to me about my slow morning as she is working on a piece about this new trend. I was floored!! Sure it could be a hoax, but it felt real, and I couldn't believe that little old me, with less than 100 followers, attracted the attention of any reporter at all, let alone one from the WSJ!
I took a screen shot and texted it too some friends that I knew would be thrilled! I waited about an hour to call when I knew I'd have some time to talk. I called her after dropping my aunt off at the airport, and pulled over at a random shopping center to walk around while chatting. It felt so self-indulgent to talk about myself for 20 minutes, and kind of silly to talk about my morning routine for that long, but she really wanted the play by play of what I do and she asked very specific questions. She was very gracious and friendly, sounded my age, and asked if I knew anyone else that did this. I gave her names of three friends and texted them immediately. They agreed and I sent her their numbers. I emailed her later as I thought of more tidbits, I had never given so much thought to this routine that evolved organically for me.
About a month went by and I emailed Ellen and asked how it was going and she said, 'Moving right along, I'll let you know before anything gets published.' Another two months went by, and it was in the back of my mind, as something cool that might be coming down the pike, but I wasn't holding my breath. In early December, she reached out and asked for head shots. It took a bit of time to find: A) A picture of me without the kids, B) A picture of me without sunglasses, C) A picture of me that I found acceptable. Some more time passed and she said she wanted to schedule a photographer to come out and capture me in my morning routine. I wrote back and said, "You mean, someone coming to my house between 5 - 7 am?" Which is what I assumed she meant, but it sounds crazy right?! A week later she said, "Yes!" All along I was thinking, 'Whatever they wanted to do I would probably do, who cares if I'm in my pajamas, it's my once in a lifetime opportunity to be in this newspaper!
We scheduled for Thursday, December 20 at 6 am. It was almost freeing to think, "Well I can't worry about my hair, makeup, clothes, I'm supposed to be in my pajamas and obviously not done-up!" I cleaned up the kitchen, and went with simple black thermals for pajamas and my turquoise robe, I did put on stud earrings and my rings, but that was the extent of my effort, and no makeup. I picked one of my grandma's coffee mugs as a shout out to my family. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep at all, but I slept pretty well, woke up a little early and was ready for her. The photographer also has two young kids and we chatted the time away. She was so casual that I wasn't even sure if she was taking my picture or testing the lighting. I naturally didn't get much work done but maybe I looked like I was. After about 30 minutes she looked up when sunrise would be and was disappointed to see it was still about 45 minutes away. She was then going to wait for my kids to come down but amazingly they didn't come down. I did want a picture of them giving me a hug which is how the morning usually starts, but I didn't want to wake them up for what would then be a posed picture. I didn't feel comfortable with their pictures being in the paper anyway, so it was purely selfish that I wanted the pictures. As it turns out I didn't get to see the pictures that weren't in the paper anyway!
The busyness of the holidays happened, and on Monday, January 7, Ellen and I talked on the phone one more time, she wanted to confirm the details were still accurate as the story would be online the next day and in print on Wednesday. On Tuesday, January 8, I got up early (surprise!) excited to see the article! It didn't post until 10 am and I was trying not to check my email incessantly! Ironically, Sadie got sick the night before and I graciously volunteered to stay home with her. It was such a thrill to read it and share it, then read everyone's sweet comments about it.
Finally, I got a glimpse of it, or did I? I kept getting prompted to subscribe or log in. Ellen had copied and pasted the article in my email, but I wasn't able to read it online, but other people could. I tried not to get frustrated with trying to figure this out. Even before I could break through, EVERYONE can see this...
Here are the other three pictures in the online edition,
On the few times I could break through to the WSJ link of the article, I eagerly read the comments, even though I KNEW very little good could come from it! Sure enough, most of the comments were very negative and critical, and it seemed like most were horrified that I reheat my coffee and oatmeal! It was pretty easy to shake this off, but it did make me wonder if I'm that kooky. My friends and family all say no so I'll stick with that and try not to try to access the comments again!
On Wednesday, I stopped in three stores looking for the paper, only to learn I should really start calling! Two of the three Barnes and Noble stores in the area had two copies each so I snatched those up, my parents got two and as it turned out Ellen sent me 5, so if anyone wants a copy, let me know, I have a few to spare! :)
I certainly didn't do this for the attention, but it has been fun sharing this excitement with everyone. My mom emailed it to all of her friends and family, friends are sharing it on Facebook, even the clerks at Barnes and Noble lit up when they asked why I wanted all of the copies of today's Wall Street Journal.
Without further ado, here's the article (don't read the comments :)):
https://www.wsj.com/
What I love most about this whole experience is how random it is. It wouldn't be nearly as special if I pitched the idea to them, if I already knew the writer, if I was a big persona doing major self promotions. Here's to a 2019 full of possibilities!! <3 nbsp="" p="">
Comments
Post a Comment