THE START OF SOMETHING NEW.
This year has seen me hit rock bottom. When I look back to January I can’t quite believe it’s only been 10 months of struggle to get to this point, when to me, it's felt a lifetime - I’ve been so unwell, physically and mentally. There have been times where I’ve felt so encompassed by darkness that I wasn’t sure I’d carry on - and I seriously considered saying goodbye to Wonderful You. I felt useless and exhausted, and that’s no fun for anyone.
After forcing myself (at the hands of my nearest and dearest) to take a big step back I realised just how much light this website brings to my life. I couldn’t let it go.
But..if I was going to work on a new, healthier me, I knew I needed Wonderful You to be new, too.
I’d toyed with the idea of moving from Blogger to Wordpress for ages, and knew that to do that, I’d need to shake up my design a little. Unsurprisingly those rivalling websites don’t go hand in hand ;)
I wanted WY to reflect just how much joy it brings to my every day, and the only person who could ever understand that would be Jamie. He’s been beside me through the darkest and the best times and it just so happens he’s a damn good designer, too.
So that worked well, didn’t it?!
I felt like I’d been sat in a limbo of not really knowing what my branding was all about and even though I loved my last design, it didn’t all fit together in the way I knew it could. This time, my vision was so clear and I know that was imperative to letting Jamie work his magic. He worked tirelessly to put together mock-ups, grew the thickest skin through my pedantic ways and in the end produced my absolute dream. It’s the most incredible thing, having someone you love understand your vision the way he does, I’m very lucky.
As you guys know, imagery has always been a key part to my work and I wanted the design to reflect that. I knew I wanted Alex to take the photos (duh) - she’s been an integral part of my journey and I had no doubt that when I said I wanted to try something totally different she’d get it. I wanted images that would be timeless but striking, a colour explosion that wouldn’t detract from my content past and present. I created mood boards, ordered wigs and together we created the images you see dotted around the site. They’re a part of the design and I feel like they represent everything Wonderful You is about.
And with Wordpress comes a little more class and functionality, which hopefully will make the site far more streamline and easy to navigate for you lovely lot. I really want it to be an enjoyable experience for everyone that comes here and for you to be able to find what you’re looking for; whether that’s mastering hair tutorials or how to tackle your anxiety.
You may notice there are some new sections on the site too, from SHOP, where you can find my latest looks and must have items to HOME, which is going to be a huge part of what I do going forward.
I’m so excited for you to be included in this journey with me; knowing you’ve been there from the beginning. That you’ve seen all the twists and turns along the way and are still here supporting me means more than a thousand words could ever say.
Countless hours have gone in to building this site, making it something I’m SO proud to share with you tonight; and I hope you’ll love it as much as I do.
And I think if this process and this year have taught me anything, it's that even at the darkest times, you can still achieve your biggest goals.
We’ve survived 100% of our worst days - and that’s pretty good going if you ask me.
Don’t let anything stop you getting where you’re going, you can do whatever you set your mind to. I can promise you that.