Today we’d like to introduce you to Candy Waltrip.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Candy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in Japan and moved to the US shortly after I graduated high school. I left home with one suitcase and $800 and was eager to explore the world. While attending college, I began work as a full-time video editor for a local video production company and really enjoyed the creative process of my job.
Due to work and school, I didn’t get a chance to travel much and it was something I have always wanted to do, so after I graduated college, I landed a job that gave me the opportunity to travel and live in places like Singapore and Hong Kong.
I love traveling and living in new places but I began to miss the creative side of my past job, so I decided to combine the two things that I enjoy and started a travel blog, “Travel Pockets” with my sister.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting Travel Pockets with my sister has been a great experience for both of us. We were already traveling and sharing our travel tips and photos with friends and family, so the blog really helped put our shared content into one place. We do get asked quite often how to “make it” as a travel blogger and it’s a tough question to answer because what really justifies as “making it” depends on what you want out of your blog.
We started Travel Pockets because we love traveling and creating content, so it didn’t matter to us if we made money doing it or not. I hear a lot of people get burnt out from blogging and my advice is that if you aren’t having fun blogging, then ask yourself why you are doing it. Why start a journey that is stressing you out? You should be having fun and enjoying what you do.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Travel Pockets – what should we know?
I was a video editor for about five years and then I completely changed careers and started traveling the world as a model. It’s been an incredible journey living around the world for the past eight years. I don’t model as much these days and fully focus my time on Travel Pockets.
Looking back, I think it was crazy of me to move to the states at the age of eighteen with only $800 to start a new life but it was one of the best decisions I have made. It helped me become independent and not to rely on others to make things happen. This approach has helped me tremendously with our blog. We do everything ourselves from photography to video editing and don’t rely on third parties to edit content for us.
I feel incredibly lucky and am thrilled that Travel Pockets has expanded outside of our immediate circle. I love helping people who email us questions about travel and I also enjoy replying to comments and engaging with our followers on social media.
What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
When I start a new path, I always give it more than 100%. Before I began video editing, I was an office manager for the same company and whenever I had extra time I would help the editors or learn the different software programs that I had access to. It wasn’t something that my job entailed, but going the extra mile helped me do my job better as I became more aware of the entire process of video production. It’s not in my personality to just do what is required and to stop there. I think having the attitude of going above and beyond will always lead to bigger and better opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thetravelpockets.com/
- Email: travelpockets@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travelpockets/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TRAVELPOCKETS/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TravelPockets
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/c/thetravelpockets
Image Credit:
Crystal Behrends
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