We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Susie Lynn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Susie below.

Susie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

Naming a business is way harder than I thought it would be! I’m in the process of starting something up with a dear friend of mine, and she and I are struggling on a name that identifies what we do, is succinct, and is catchy, all at the same time. As far as my blog name, I owe all the credit for the name to my husband, Vince. I knew for my blog that I wanted it to be “a lifestyle blog without all the filters.” I was so over seeing every photo and post on Instagram so heavily filtered, that you never knew what you were gonna get in real life. And I don’t just mean stock photos of clothing or products. I also mean, seeing influencers in real life. Even some of my friends have such heavily filtered photos and I look at them going, “Yeah, but you don’t reeeeallly look like that in person!” Social media is so over-saturated with filtered B.S.
Anyhow, I knew I wanted my blog to be authentic, unfiltered, and much like me, full of obscenities. My husband thought up Grace, Beauty and Fbombs, and I loved it! It has a couple of meanings. I liked “grace” because I feel like it’s a quality we all need…to have a little grace – both with ourselves and with others. I am one of the least graceful people you’ll meet though, so I appreciated the irony. And “beauty” was more for the natural beauty our family takes in when we vacation and travel the world together. But I also love it because I am a beauty junkie and often have lots to share about the beauty industry. And of course, “F bombs” because I cuss like a drunken sailor. He nailed the title! The only problem is I think a lot of my followers think my first name is Grace and not Susie. I’m okay with that though – I am here to build a brand, not shove my name down anyone’s throat.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a lifestyle blogger so I focus on a myriad of topics. From how to vacation and travel with young kids, to how to decorate for the holidays, throw a successful party, shop for great deals, to how to prepare a vegetarian feast, I cover it all. I just launched a shop on my blog website that I am so excited about! I haven’t felt this inspired and motivated in years. I wanted to use my years of retail management to my advantage, so I buckled down and got all the licensing, etc. that I needed in order to launch my new shop! It’s a gift shop and is heavily focused on funny, unique gifts – mostly for women. Afterall, that’s most of my audience! I sell gifts that would be great to give your mom, sister, best friend, or to have when hosting a bachelorette/birthday/bridal party, and I even have cute things for all the teachers in our lives. I am pumped for this new chapter of my brand for sure!
At the end of the day, I try to keep things light on my blog. The world is very heavy right now so we could all use some levity. But I’ve also been through the ringer, so sometimes I can dive into that. For instance, having a brother with Autism, dealing with bullies, losing him to suicide, and moving through a huge loss, I try and focus on being more present and grateful for my kids, my husband, and my family. But I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I hadn’t had my brother, Mikey to teach me unconditional love, empathy, and resilience. I only bring this up to say, you never know the full story of what people show you on the internet. Most of them have had their fair share of bullshit. So have a little grace, have some fun, and try to focus on the positives.

Any advice for managing a team?

Currently, I am my only team to manage. But having come from leading a larger team and having multiple Assistant Managers under me, I can say my best advice is to lead by example. (No shit, right?) But truly, that is the thing that allowed me to gain the trust of my employees when I was at DSW – where I worked for pretty much my entire career until I started a blog! I would never ask a part-time employee to clean our toilets, I did that. I didn’t expect my Assistant Managers to work holidays or weekends unless I was right there with them. You can’t put higher expectations on your team than you do on yourself. Secondly, in order to maintain high morale, you need to know the love language of your staff members! I had some sales associates who just appreciated small things like if I brought in donuts or cookies. I had some assistants who needed to know I valued and trusted them by giving them tasks or projects that they could take the lead on versus me leading them. I had other assistants who preferred that I walk them through things step-by-step. Until you take the time to get to truly know the people on your team, you’ll never know what motivates them, what deflates them, or what keeps them showing up for you day after day. I am sure as my brand grows, if I decide I need multiple people on my team, I will continue to manage them in this very way.

How did you build your audience on social media?

It’s an answer no one likes to hear, but the only way to build your audience on social media is through consistency in posting, and time. Unless you’re willing to pay for followers, you have to be present on your socials day in and day out. It can get daunting trying to always have “something to say” and honestly, sometimes I don’t! But those are the days I pop on Instagram and crowd source opinions! Or I just post a photo of what my kids are up to, or what I made for dinner. Also, make sure you are responding to all of your followers! They want to know that you truly care that they are investing their time watching your bullshit. I’ve had full-on conversations with people I don’t know that are following me about the most mundane things, and it makes us both feel that human connection. But it takes a lot of time, and a ton of consistency in posting! Plus, I also recommend reaching out to other brands or followers to see if they can partner with you. My followers know I love home decor, so I partnered with a home decor subscription box service to show how I would use their decorations in my own home. Find other folks who love what you love, and see if they will partner with you on a small project. And don’t get discouraged when they tell you no. I’ve had a few doors slammed in my face on this blogging journey, but it won’t deter me. If this is what you want to do, just f*cking do it, and don’t quit!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gracebeautyandfbombs.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracebeautyandfbombs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gracebeautyandfbombs/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susie-lynn-058654a/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLOdbSPF1pGbOs3LEh4GEJA

Image Credits
They’re all mine :)