Today we’d like to introduce you to Ronda Thorpe.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Ronda. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always had a love for fashion and all things creative from a very young age! Coming from a small town in the Mid-West I kind of stood out because of that. I was young when I became a mother so my creative dreams fell to the side as my husband and I needed to provide for our sweet, blended family of six. As the kids started getting older and I did too, I began craving something to call my own. As a mother, it’s easy to lose your passion when you’re taking care of a family but in my heart, I felt like the time was right and so I created Live By Ronni. There are so many aspects of my blog that I love! The photography, editing, staging, scouting locations, writing, and fashion are all things I genuinely adore and sometimes it seems surreal that I’ve created this life for myself that I once only dreamt of. Now that I’m forty, I use my blog to talk about topics that I’m currently going through such as ageism, parenting adult children, staying connected with my husband, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle not just for vanity purposes but for over all better health. It’s been quite a long journey but a satisfying one! I’m constantly learning new things and meeting new people. I only see the future of Live By Ronni getting brighter and if I can somehow inspire others to not only follow their dreams but to create them then everything I’m doing is worth it! 🙂
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have definitely been struggles but for the most part, I’ve brought them on myself! I was shy when I first started and worried I’d be judged and misunderstood with what I was doing. I’m pretty sure there’s still people back home who are completely confused and think I’m conceited for taking pictures of my outfits and posting them lol I learned to not care! and once I moved to San Diego, all those fears were pushed behind me. Aside from the hard work and day to day struggles that goes into maintaining a fashion blog, the only other struggle that really stands out to me is connecting with bloggers that have a similar lifestyle. Yes, we all love fashion and blogging but I have yet to connect with a fellow blogger who has older children. If you’re out there hit me up!! lol I don’t know about you but my feed is saturated with adorable babies and toddlers… not that I’m complaining! 🙂 But I admit this has opened my mind to explore the ideas of adding my kids and family life into my blog! I feel blogging about older children seems less glamorizing when you can’t dress them up and take cute pictures and I really want to change that perspective!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Live By Ronni – what should we know?
For the most part, I work with brands by doing collaborations and marketing their apparel. For me, nothing feels better than being sought after by a brand based on the work you show from your creative mind. I absolutely love working with and being a part of the growth of new and small businesses! It’s really something I’m most proud of! 🙂
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
From an early age, I babysat and then later worked in high school in order to buy myself “designer” clothes that my parents couldn’t afford. I was the girl with a massive closet all my girlfriends borrowed clothes from.
Contact Info:
- Website: livebyronni.com
- Email: livebyronni@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/live_by_ronni/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livebyronni/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThorpeRonda
Image Credit:
my daughter Lexie
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