We were lucky to catch up with Katie Thompson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I actually had a few smaller blogs throughout my middle school-early college years. However, after following several bloggers whose content I continue to adore and admire, I knew I wanted to start a blog and maintain it for the long run. At the time that The Pink Chickadee was founded, I was a Junior in college on just about every committee on campus. At the time, I wanted a creative outlet that was simply something of my own, as I had envisioned finding a long term partner during my time in college. As with life, our plans in our mind do change and I decided to create and code The Pink Chickadee in the middle of the pandemic and turned my platform into my own creative outlet.

Katie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The Pink Chickadee is a Washington, DC area-based preppy and Grand millennial fashion and travel blog founded in January 2020. My highly engaged audience is filled with fellow preppy fashion and Grand millennial style enthusiasts with an itch to explore the world both near and far. They adore all-things preppy and unique travel experiences that blend together culture, history, luxury, and Grand millennial charm, My four pillars of content include:

– Preppy Fashion, Grand Millennial Home, and Hosting with Intention
– Exploring the Washington, DC area
– Exploring 50 States Expedition
– Exploring 50 Countries Expedition

Through my four pillars of content, I seek to bring a preppy and Grand millennial lens to the fashion, home decor, and travel spaces and am seeking partners in each space.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Honestly, when I started The Pink Chickadee in 2020, I knew NOTHING about building an audience and treated my blog as a hobby. It wasn’t until Fall 2025 that I started to take blogging and building an audience seriously. I find that the social media landscape is always evolving and the ways that we build our audience should, too. In Fall 2025, my monthly reach increased on social media and on my website by over 200%. In 2025, I found that through following the current social media trends, such as through implementing keywords in post captions and using SEO tools on WordPress, and researching trending keywords, I am able to reach a broader audience beyond my following. Regardless of the era that we’re in of social media, one of the most effective ways I’ve found over my 6 years blogging and on social media is to engage with other creators’ content in your niche and make that a habit. Over time, they’ll do the same for you and you will grow your audience. Also, always engage with your audience – respond to their comments, DMs, do polls on new content ideas you have, etc. to the best that you can. In this creator world, I think that it is best to focus on having an engaging audience as opposed to a high follower count. Be the person that people come to for “X thing,” even if that niche is you. There’s only one you.

At the same time, I think that one of the most important things about building an audience is to have an audience beyond social media. Social media apps, algorithms, and trends come and go, but at the end of the day, the audience you build via a website and an email list are yours and yours only. For example, if Instagram or Facebook is down for even a few hours, your metrics will tank for that day or even that month. The same idea goes for if your social media account gets disabled or there is a TikTok ban like there was in January 2025. With a website or email list, your audience is yours and yours alone.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The algorithm is always changing just like our world is always evolving. We must adapt. Personally, I felt a bit resistant when Instagram started prioritizing video content, as I was a bit nervous by it. However, overtime, I began to adapt and embrace it. Nowadays, carousels are coming back. I have also found that taking on and implementing popular social media trends when they come is the best way to become reputable on any given platform.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pinkchickadee.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_thepinkchickadee/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepinkchickadee/
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thepinkchickadee/

Image Credits

Photos taken by Bryn Belttari and Haley Finan