Introduce yourself!

Hi!  My name is Elizabeth.  I’m a photographer, blogger, adventurer, artist, and curly girl.  I’m from Alaska, currently live in Washington, and share my little home with my husband Dan and our bebe corgi, Dusty.

How long have you worn your hair curly?

Since forever.  I never had the patience or time to straighten it.  It’s always been curly or wavy or just a giant poof during the years I didn’t know how to manage my curls.  Now I’ll straighten my hair maybe once a year, but I always feel strange seeing myself with straight hair.  It doesn’t feel right.  The bigger the better, I say!

What’s your daily hair routine?

Most days it’s just wake up, make sure it’s not doing anything too wacky, maybe fix some wonkiness, and go.  My hair routine has always been super low maintenance, probably because I’m so not a morning person, I’ll sleep in as late as possible, which leaves no time to do my hair.  Luckily curly hair kind of does itself!

I’m so not a morning person…Luckily curly hair kind of does itself!

What are your favorite products?

It’s always a constant quest to find the perfect product to make my curls happy, but the past few months I’ve been trying Original Moxie’s curly hair line and have been liking it so far!

What’s your nighttime routine?

I don’t really have a nighttime routine, but when I do wash my hair, it’s usually in the afternoon or evening so I have time to dry it or let it air dry before going to bed.

One kid in junior high said I was 90% hair, 10% body, which I took as a compliment.

Do you ever get tired of curly hair?

No.  In fact sometimes I wish it was even more curly.  It’s been strange seeing how curls ebb and flow with hormones and aging.  It used to be much curlier a few years ago and it’s in a more relaxed period right now.  I’ll never get tired of curly hair.  In a lot of ways it’s a part of my identity.  I’ve always been the girl with big curly hair.  One kid in junior high said I was 90% hair, 10% body, which I took as a compliment.

When did you start blogging?

6 years ago.

How did you become a successful blogger?

I think there are so many crazy factors to becoming a “successful” (whatever that means”> blogger.  Mostly I think it has to do with creating original, inspiring content consistently and building relationships with readers and other bloggers.

Do you have any advice for new bloggers?

Post what you love.  Be consistent.  Be authentic.  There are tons of e-courses and tutorials out there pertaining to blogging now, so many more resources than when I started.  Use them!  People are sharing their knowledge, you just have to learn!  And don’t expect to become the next Fashion Toast overnight.  A lot of the successful bloggers you love have been doing it for years and years, slowly building a readership over time.  It can be discouraging to know that you work really hard on your blog and not many people are reading it, but keep plugging away (I have to remind myself this same thing sometimes, even after 6 years”>.

Any upcoming projects/events you’d like to tell us about?

I’ve been working on compiling stories from established bloggers for a new series, sharing struggles and the not-so-pretty parts of life.  A lot of time I think people see bloggers as having perfect lives, and that everything really looks exactly how it does on their beautifully curated instagram accounts.  That’s obviously not true, but it can be easy to fall prey to jealousy, comparison, and discontent.  I’ve always believed that the biggest power the internet has is in connecting people to help them through life’s struggles, so I’m excited to start the series this fall!

Where can we follow you online for future updates?

Cristina Cleveland

As the Managing Editor of NaturallyCurly, Cristina is passionate about using influence to empower the next generation of women. She also serves as a GENthusiast member of the Girls Empowerment Network and is the creator of the blog Fuji Files, where she explores the effects of positive thinking and conscious shopping.

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