We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meg Flint a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Meg, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
The last year or so of my life has been full of opportunities for me (and my family) to take risks. But the biggest for me personally is naturally related to my blog. In September of 2022 I moved to Charlotte, North Carolina along with my husband and two kids. We moved from the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Maryland had been my home for 35 years, and my husband had never lived anywhere else either.
When we moved we knew there would be a lot of change. I wasn’t expecting the change that took place within myself, though. Prior to moving I had a blog in Maryland called “Eastern Shore Eating.” It was all about the food culture of the Eastern Shore of Maryland/Delaware/Virginia. I had been at it for a little over a year. My following was pretty solid, and I was just starting to earn money from it. But when we moved to Charlotte the blog made no sense anymore. I took a huge risk and shut it all down. Everything. My social media pages, my blog itself…all gone. It was really hard.
I had lost my routine. I had no sense of belonging in this new city where I had no friends, no family, no followers. I found myself upping my anti-depressant dosage and hopping back into therapy. Those were the first big steps that I took towards a new beginning.
You might be like, “Okay, so why is this blog so important? Why were you so disappointed about losing your routine?” Great questions. I’ve been a stay-at-home Mom for six years. I thought “Eastern Shore Eating” was going to be my ticket to a work-from-home job so that I could still be there for my girls. Shutting it down was like shutting down a dream. Talk about a big risk! A little over a year of hard work gone in a matter of minutes.
My husband could tell I was struggling, too. Finally in December of 2022 my husband sat me down and was like, “Okay, let’s talk about getting a new domain name and blog for you.” My current website, meg-flint.com, came into existence as a result of that conversation. Saying “okay” to a new blog was also a big risk for myself. All of a sudden I found myself fighting to believe in myself again. I was taking a risk not only on a new blog, but also on my own worth and sense of confidence. If meg-flint.com didn’t work out….ouch. Talk about another big blow.
So here I am today. It’s been almost a year since I said “yes” to my blog. In that year I’ve risked my confidence, my time, my family’s time. Every time I change my blog a bit or decide that it needs to go in a bit of a new direction, I risk losing my readers. It’s been a big risk all around. But it has also been such a HUGE learning experience. I’m taking it more seriously. While it’s still not where I want it to be, it’s growing and I’m growing with it. I’ve learned things I never even thought I’d learn. My confidence has grown. I feel like a new version of Meg.
Am I glad we took those big risks? Absolutely! It was a hard change, but I probably wouldn’t even be doing this interview if it weren’t for those big changes. While my blog still isn’t a main source of income, I have big goals and plans to get it there. In the end it has changed me for the better. I really couldn’t ask for much more than that.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Absolutely! First and foremost, my name is Meg (short for Meghan). I am a wife and stay-at-home Mom that lives in the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m also the owner and writer behind my blog, meg-flint.com.
I started writing as a kid. I wrote small plays for our neighborhood kids, and we would put them on for our parents. As a teenager I wrote lots of poems, and even wrote a few songs. I knew early on that writing was one of my strong suits. In high school I found myself taking a college writing class. So it was no surprise that I went on to major in English in college with a concentration in Creative Writing.
Big surprise though…I stopped writing after college. I think I was just burned out from all of the non-stop reading and writing. I literally went from 2010 until 2021 without writing much of anything. I filled the years with another round of college, getting another degree in Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Management. I was a Food and Beverage Manager for some time. I also worked at other restaurants. During this time I also got married and became a Mom to two wonderful little girls. Because of them I’ve been a stay-at-home Mom for almost 7 years. In those 11 years from 2010 until 2021 I’ve done pretty everything BUT writing.
But in 2021 I found myself longing to write something again. I wasn’t driven to write poems or stories, though. I wanted to start a blog. So I did. And after a year of hard work, I ended it because of my big move to Charlotte. But of course, I started another blog once in Charlotte. And that’s how I got to meg-flint.com.
Meg-flint.com started as a Mom blog. I was writing content specifically about motherhood, mental health and family-style recipes. But I still wanted to incorporate a bit more. Since I started my blog in December 2022, I’ve become more of a Mom AND lifestyle blogger. I still talk about all of the things that I talked about before. But I also now include topics related to life in Charlotte. And of course I talk about one of my other passions: coffee.
One new addition to my blog that I really love and am proud of is a Saturday series called “Saturday Morning Sip N’ Share.” This series allows me to take one day a week to just check in and chat with my community. I don’t do informative, article-style content. It’s almost like we’re sitting down and chatting about the week, and how life is going. I always say in the piece, “Grab a cup of coffee and find your cozy spot.” It’s meant to be a more vulnerable, intimate moment. My readers really like this series. Honestly, I do too. Informative articles are great, but nothing is better than taking a minute to connect with those people that are supporting you.
As if Mom life and blogging life aren’t busy enough, I also created an Etsy store called FlintFamCreates. Here I sell digital PDF downloads that parents can buy and print at home. Almost all of them are family-oriented and related. My best seller is actually a Food Exploration Journal that I created after being inspired by my older daughter. She’s 8, and she’s in Occupational Therapy for Food Sensitivity and Sensory Processing Disorder. This journal helps kids like her explore food and address the things that they like/dislike about what they’re trying. I tell you all of this because it is such an awesome feeling knowing that I’m helping other families that are going through the same thing. I get excited every time I sell one…not because of the money, but because I know someone else is fighting for their kid just like I fight for mine.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
My readers! Without a doubt, my readers are the most rewarding aspect of this blogging journey. I have had several instances where someone reads my stuff or buys my stuff and then they’re like, “I love this. This has helped me so much.” Of course those are never their exact words. For some, they’ll tell me how an article helped them get through something. I had a Mom one time message me and ask for advice….such an honor, especially considering I’m still learning every day myself!
But on the opposite side of things, my readers have also been there for me in several ways. I honestly don’t know that I would have continued on my blogging journey if it weren’t for all of their love and encouragement. To know that your community is cheering for you is such a big, wonderful feeling.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I actually had to pivot recently. Being a Mom blogger can be hard because there are so many shiny things out there saying, “Use me and earn lots of money! Use me and stay at home with your kids!” Those shiny things can be very distracting, and they can very easily get you off track.
It’s no secret that affiliate marketing is a big part of blogging, and especially Mom blogging. I had, for whatever reason, started to put a lot of energy into sharing deals and sales through my blog. It was taking time away from my more valuable content. I found myself trying to juggle blog posts, deal posts, a deal group and my normal social media stuff. It was too much. I was getting stretched too thin. I even lost a follower or two along the way. Then one day I was listening to an episode of “The Blogging Millionaire” podcast. He said something about forgetting his original purpose of blogging, which was to serve his readers and not to influence them. That really resonated with me. I wanted to be a blogger, not an influencer. That was my wake up call. I had to pivot away from the sales stuff, and return my focus to my blog content.
Recently I made that pivot and returned to my core blogging values. I changed up some stuff on my site. I got rid of my deals stuff. After I did that, my followers and readers began to grow again. It was the right choice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://meg-flint.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meg.flint.official/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themegflint/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghan-flint-8861b5215/
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/megflintofficial/
- Etsy: FlintFamCreates.etsy.com
Image Credits
Headshot photo credit; Brittany Coyle