Starting A New Chapter

Consider this my worst kept secret to date. After an entire decade of writing my thoughts on the internet for everyone to see, I’m closing the chapter on blogging (at least in a traditional sense). It feels surreal to be writing this and probably not for the reason that you would assume.

From the very beginning of Lifestyle By Anna Elizabeth, my goal was to use it as a portfolio to launch my career. Initially, that career was event planning which later turned into styling, then influencing, then writing professionally for other publications. It has taken ten years of consistency and hard work, but this little blog finally lead me to my dream career about 3 months ago.

Prior to that I discovered the company, Evie. After digging into their mission, realizing that this was the type of content I had been searching for in a women’s magazine for YEARS, I quickly became obsessed. It was New Years shortly after and I added a giant screenshot of their homepage to my vision board for 2022. I told myself that I would become a writer for them, but I never imagined that decision would change everything.

Soon after, I began writing freelance articles for their digital magazine and trying to figure out a plan to leave my corporate job in the mortgage industry. I had never felt so aligned with a company’s vision and excited to write. To my complete surprise, a job opened up at Evie as their Managing Editor was leaving. After going back and forth for a week on whether or not to apply, given that I didn’t feel remotely worthy of such an important role in the company I admired, Sam finally said, “what’s the worst that can happen? you don’t get it? go apply.” I spent the following two days dusting off my old, unused resume and hyping myself up as I finally hit “send” on my application email.

Since that time, I said goodbye to my teammates at the mortgage company I worked alongside for a decade, and began training and adjusting to my new role as Managing Editor at Evie Magazine. These past few months have felt surreal in so many ways. Waking up to do essentially what had been my hobby for the past 10 years - my passion project that I worked on any moment I got in between mortgage closings, or late at night after London and Sam had gone to bed, or on weekends instead of relaxing - this was now my full-time job (but like, way cooler and on a much bigger scale).

So, in some ways it feels strange closing the chapter on blogging and influencing, but I’m leaving it behind feeling confident in the purpose it has served over the years and where it has ultimately led me to. The goal was always to reach a larger audience and leave a lasting impact and positive influence on the lives on women worldwide, and there’s no company I’d rather support in that mission than Evie.

In case you’re not familiar with Evie Magazine, I’ll give you a brief rundown. Evie is a women’s magazine embracing femininity, celebrating good values, and helping women seek truth and beauty in their everyday lives. Evie has a digital magazine that is updated daily with various, diverse articles from our dedicated writers and a print magazine that is more reminiscent of your treasured, vintage Cosmo than the ad-filled, agenda-pushing magazines that exist today. We may even have a few other exciting hush-hush projects that we’re working on, but you’ll just have to follow along to find out about those.

Photos by Jade Nikkole Photography

While I’m planning to keep Lifestyle By Anna Elizabeth a permanent spot on the internet and will periodically publish new posts with important life updates when time allows, you can find my newest articles going forward right here. As for Instagram, I shot my final campaign over the weekend and, after years of grid-planning and styling outfits to shoot on Sunday mornings instead of snuggling in bed, I’m looking forward to taking a slower, less strategic approach to that as well.

I appreciate those of you who have stuck around over the years (some from the very beginning who may even remember the cringey old OOTDs in chokers and ripped jeans), and I genuinely thank you for your support and encouragement. This truly is a dream come true for me and I hope that you’ll be a part of my new chapter as Managing Editor at Evie. XOXO Anna Elizabeth