1 Mom, 10 million visitors
It all started with a contest for $100 worth of clothes...but wait, let me back up a bit.
Meet Becky Thompson. A mom of two at the time, now three. She lives in the middle of NW Oklahoma (NW stand for Northwest, but should really stand for "nowhere").
Her life at the time was pretty typical of a full-time mom. She found her days filled with spit-up and maternity clothes. No time or money for much else. That's why she jumped at the opportunity to win some free clothes. She held the kids back and snapped a selfie that she hoped would be her ticket to some new threads.
Despite her best efforts to gather as many likes as possible for that social contest, she didn't win. However, the company putting on the contest followed up with a question.
"Are you a Fashion Blogger?"
"No," she said. "Why?"
"We would give you free clothes to advertise on your blog if you were," they responded.
"Yes, I'm a fashion blogger now!"
Becky never had a desire to be in fashion, she wanted to be a pastor's wife. Yes, you read that right. The one problem with that was her husband wasn't a pastor.
Honestly, what Becky really wanted was to spend her life sharing the faith that was so near to her heart with as many people as possible. That didn't seem like a reality either, after all she didn't have that much time...and she lived in NW Oklahoma.
One normal summer day, a few months into becoming a fashion blogger, her son's simple question during lunch prompted her to take another adventure that would change everything. It had nothing to do with fashion, but she posted the story on her blog and it caught fire!
Her relatively unknown fashion blog grew to over 10 million visitors that year and hasn't stopped. The greatest part of this whole story - her blog isn't a fashion blog anymore. It's a place where Becky encourages moms with her faith and stories. It's what she always wanted to do and guess where she's doing it from? NW Oklahoma.
Becky's book, Hope Unfolding, launches in a matter of days. If you're a "momma" who needs encouraging or know of one, I encourage you to order it. Here's Becky talking more about it...
During the course of writing this story I asked Becky:
What one piece of advice would you give to someone on the journey, but not quite as far down the road as you?
Her Answer:
"I suppose I would offer them the same advice I wish someone had given me. Fully commit to the things of your heart. Take a risk and share what's in it. You never know what might happen."
She added, "Finally, never underestimate the plans and purposes of God in your life. He never forgets about us, no matter how overlooked we might feel."