Time to talk about the F word.
Yesterday’s f word was frivolous: Healthy Frappucinos.
But today, it’s time to get more serious; today’s f word is “future.” Specifically, my future and the future of my chocolate-covered blog.
The future of Chocolate Covered Katie…
This summer, I had to make a big decision regarding the blog I’ve written for over three years. I enjoy every second of the blogging process—from writing posts to creating recipes to setting up photoshoots to interacting with readers. But keeping up a blog takes a lot of time, and as the blog has grown, so too has the time requirement. Answering the hundreds of daily questions I receive from readers could be a full-time job in itself!
I knew there’d be no way to maintain a full-time job and still focus as much passion and energy as I’d like on CCK. If I didn’t want to give up the blog completely, I would at least be forced to give it less than my full attention.
This was not ok with me. When I do something, I do it 100% or not at all. But I couldn’t imagine giving up all my passions to make room for a job where I’d be miserable. Therefore, I decided to make this blog…
My full-time job.
It seems to easy, now, to write the above statement. Just. Like. That. But the truth is my decision wasn’t just like that. It took many hours of going back and forth, writing pros-and-cons lists, and eating a copious number of chocolate bars to counter all the nervousness. There were many “cons” on the list of reasons not to keep blogging, but I realized that most of them had something to do with security. And when it comes down to it, I’d rather take a risk if there’s a possibility to be ridiculously happy.
With Robert Frost’s “Road not Taken” poem in mind, I’ve decided to not go out and look for a “real” job. Instead, I will be a full-time blogger, at Chocolate-Covered Katie.
Nothing is going to change, except that I’ll now have even more time to dream up—and experiment with—healthy dessert creations like hot chocolate fudge cinnamon rolls or chocolate pumpkin cream pie. If I have a chance to do what I love for a living, I need to take that chance. I have to take a risk and at least try!
The fact that I even have the opportunity to make this choice is all thanks to you. If you’ve ever recommended my site to a friend, shared a link, liked the Chocolate Covered Katie Facebook Page, made one of my recipes, or even simply read one of my posts, I am so incredibly grateful.
Yes, I’m scared about the future now that I’ve made my decision. But I’m also excited because of the people with whom I’ll get to interact every day: you all! (Well, you all and chocolate. I must admit to being pretty thrilled my job lets me work so closely with chocolate.) I think part of my apprehension for the future is unavoidable no matter what route I take. That’s just the nature of getting out on one’s own and defining one’s life. It’s a scary time.
I am so indebted to your support and kindness that makes it even possible for me to explore this path. I hope, if any of you are ever faced with a scary decision requiring you to take a leap of faith, that you go for it! Don’t force your passions to take a back seat to the “shoulds” and “have to”s in life, because you only stand to look back someday with regret, thinking:
“What if I’d followed my dreams???”
Way to go Katie, follow your heart. We will all be reading 🙂
I know I’m pretty late responding to this but I just got home from holidays and read it. When I first started reading I thought you were going to say you were quitting your blog. I totally understood why, but I was thinking about how much I was going to miss it. I was so glad to see you are following your heart and sticking with your blog. If anybody can make a living being a full time blogger, I believe you can! Best of luck to you – you are obviously not alone, looks like you have a ton of people following and supporting you!!
Thank you so so much, Lori! 🙂
CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!
You are awesome! I just found your blog and it is my new FAVORITE already! I’m addicted. So glad you’re sticking around.
I recently found your blog and LOVE it. I’m amazed you can do this much while a student, I thought you were a full-timer already. I’m relieved you aren’t going away and look forward to trying all your recipes. I’ve already recommended this blog a couple times, so I’m sure your readership will only grow!
Aww Alison, that means SO much to me!!!
I’m excited!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t wait for your future posts! Congratulations on your BIG DECISION!!:)
Recently found your blog while looking for healthy desserts. So glad you decide to continue with your dreams.
Best of luck to you.
Fran
Oh Katie! I cannot believe I missed this post! Ahh, I have so much to say, but I don’t know how to say it! Excuse me while I just let it flow: Congratulations…it takes so much courage to chose the “path less traveled” and I COMMEND you for it!…SOOO proud of you for following your heart/gut/dreams!
You are such an inspiration…both in and out of the kitchen! Can’t wait to see your future chocolate covered shenanigans now that you can devote yourself to it 100%…I already know it’s going to be great! 🙂
Whoa, what a scary and exciting decision! I’m excited for you, though, and know you will do well. You have this amazing vibe that comes through your posts; even though I’ve never met you face to face, I still feel amazingly positive and relaxed when I come here and read one of your posts.
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about doing a cookbook, but if you put together a bunch of recipes and offered it through some kind of print-on-demand site, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. I think it’s safe to say a lot of people would. You have great recipes that I’ve been dying to try — and now that I found a job, I can actually buy the ingredients — so an entire cookbook would be amazing. There are tons of print-on-demand sites, like CreateSpace and Lulu… Just some food for thought. 😉
Also, if you need any technical help, feel free to shoot me an email, or tweet me @elizabethbarone. I’m a WordPress junkie and use it for all of my sites, and I certainly wouldn’t charge you for quick help. (For design work, I would, but only because I have to eat, too. :D) So just keep me in mind if you run into any issues with your site!
Awwwww! Thank you so so much, Liz! And lol I am actually having a bunch of tech issues at the moment. My blog keeps crashing! I would love for your imput: Do you know how many page views/day a shared server is supposed to handle? Apparently I have the super cache installed, yet people keep saying my blog is giving them database errors. I’m thinking I might have to switch to VBS? But I am so tech-illiterate that I don’t even really know what that means, let alone how to do it! I might have to hire you sometime!
Oh, and thanks for your sweet words about the cookbook. There definitely already is a CCK cookbook in the works :).
Bravo Katie! I absolutely adore you, and I love the fact that you’re following your dreams and not letting the fear of money (or the lack thereof) get in the way. I can guarantee you that money won’t be an issue for you. You’re already a success and you’re only going to continue to become more of one now that you can devote your time to this 100%. In fact, this post helped me too…I’m working through some similar issues and it was nice to hear someone else express the same love for blogging and desire to make it work rather than do something else with less passion.
Aww thanks, Iris! And good luck to you, too. Higgins hugs ;).