Are you from Columbus?

Born and raised. I was born at Mount Carmel hospital, flew South for college and have been in Columbus ever since. I really truly love this city for countless reasons, but mostly because it's home. Columbus is also SO supportive of Bloggers, which makes my job so much more fun!

I graduated from Upper Arlington in 2002 and am back living in the Golden Ghetto.

Since you're from Columbus, you must have gone to Ohio State?

I did not go to Ohio State. Both of my parents graduated from Ohio State and coming out of Upper Arlington, it was a lot of people's "safe school," they applied. I also could see the OSU Towers from my High School math class, so it was quite literally right in our backyards growing up. As we've gotten older, Ohio State has become more prestigious and I've realized what a great University it is, duh. I actually traveled South for college and graduated with a Journalism degree from Elon University in North Carolina. It's a small, private school, comparable to Miami in Ohio. I was able to study abroad in Italy and I think leaving the comforts of home, taught me a lot of good lessons, the hard way. I actually liked it so much, I stayed for six years before I graduated, haha.

How'd you become a full-time Blogger?

This is actually the question I get asked the most often. While I am a full-time Blogger, that is not what I do as a day job. Blogging has always been more of a hobby and is something I see myself doing always. It's just recently really began generating any kind of income, but it is not frequent or enough money to solely rely on. I actually had a Blog called, Burn Sesh in 2007-2008. Everybody thought it was weird and couldn't figure out what or why I was "blogging." Note to self: never listen to the haters. I then started a blog called Basic Columbus which morphed into A City Explored.

Do you make money from Blogging?

Sometimes. While it's pretty uncommon because I don't have 345,654,879K followers. {That 'K' is important in blogging, it gives you the swipe-up feature, which is pretty convenient.} It's becoming more frequent for people to realize they should pay you for your time and work, a shocking concept I know. Mostly blogging is a hobby for me that also acts as marketing for myself and my business.

You will find that there are times where I do utilize affiliate links. This means that if you purchase something off of my recommendation, I get a small commission. This doesn’t affect what I recommend you, just provides some compensation for the time spent compiling my favorite things for ya. I try to only recommend things I've tried myself and truly love, never for a paycheck.

You have a business? So, you work from home?

I DO have a business! There is an official LLC involved, so I guess that makes me an official business. It is, Explored Media LLC and I like to think of it as the business portion of my Blog, the part that makes money. I am a Freelance Social Media Coordinator and Digital Strategist. And I am damn good at what I do! When I began my blog, A City Explored, I immediately identified a massive need businesses and brands had managing and maximizing their digital and social impact. Because of this need, I started, own and operate Explored Media LLC., a full service digital marketing company that offers social media management, content creation and campaign strategy. I ensure your business or brand is maximizing their digital presence and impact on all social platforms. More than ever before, social media remains the best way to build momentum and develop audiences.

Check out my current Clients List:

Danbury Senior Living: https://www.danburyseniorliving.com

Software Verde: http://softwareverde.com/

Schoning Dental: https://schoningdental.com/

Columbus Urgent Cares: https://www.uaurgentcare.com/default.html

You see, years ago when Facebook was just starting to get popular, my Mom loved to declare, "all you do is spend your time on Facebook!?!?" I believe in playing to one's  strengths and since being on time is not one of mine, working for myself, where nobody keeps track of how many minutes I'm late seemed like playing to my strengths.

Is that your Daughter?

Yes, Evelyn is my pride and joy. My greatest accomplishment. The exclamation point to the most exciting sentence I could ever write. My sunshine mixed with a little hurricane. She is my first and only child. I am a single Mom and have been well before she was born. Several people have questioned past relationship history which are details I have never shared in this space. Those stories go best with a strong dirty martini, or ten. Being a single Mom has not been easy. In fact it's been fucking hard and brutal at points. But I would not a change a thing and am so grateful to be a Mother to the coolest human being ever. It has taught me more about myself and helped focus and change me, two feats not easy to accomplish!

Are you married?

I am not married. You will hear me refer to Zach or Manfriend often around here. He's the live-in maid. J/K. Zach is my boyfriend of 5+ and we've all resided in unison for 3+ years. When he moved in, it was made clear, he could never move out, so I think Zach might be here to stay. If he ever leaves, Evelyn and I are keeping his beyond wonderful, kind and fantastic Mother, Jan. Zach is truly amazing. He is the ying to my yang. In other words he is the cool, calm, collected one in our relationship. He tolerates me, even at my worst and for that I am grateful. He has stepped up in so many ways and is adored by Evelyn and we are so grateful to have him in our lives!