Interview – Whitney Baker – Life By Whitney

As part of my assignment for my Diploma in creativity, I set out to interview a number of people flourishing on Instagram. The assignment focused on the impact Instagram had had on society. If you want to see more interviews check here!

Whitney is just too adorable for words and her work on Instagram has been amazing and creative! Whitney obviously cares about her followers with long captions and replies to comments. Where can you find this cute wee button hanging out? Facebook, Instagram, Pinterst and youtube!

WHEN DID YOUR JOURNEY START?

I started in July 2016 after seeing a blog post on bullet journaling. (I still wish I remembered what blog it was, but I know it came up on that StumbleUpon app).

How did you get into this niche?

After reading the blog post about bullet journaling, I was immediately intrigued, and bought supplies the very next day to practice. Then when I got my “real journal” from Amazon a few days later, I shared my very first weekly spread in the Bullet Journal Junkies Facebook group. It got over 1000 likes, so I posted the same picture on my brand new Instagram account. It got reposted by a bigger account, and that started the quick instant growth of my IG. I gained about 10,000 followers in my first 5 weeks, and got to 50,000 by February 2018. I was asked for measurements for my files in the group, and decided to start making unique layouts every single week and sharing measurements with my followers. Also, I’d film EVERY single spread and speed it up to about 40 seconds, and post these hyperlapse videos on Instagram. A few of the videos went more “viral” than others, my top getting to about 80,000 views… but for some reason I still can’t get past that! That was back in September 2016! I got nearly 2000 followers from that video alone, but I that was back before the big algorithm change… I still can’t figure out WHY that one did so well. The lighting was off and I’ve improved so much since then (I think… but apparently Instagram doesn’t! HA!) Here’s the link to that video:

@lifebywhitney

DO YOU HAVE A DAY JOB?

Absolutely – I work at my family’s independent pharmacy in a real small town which was owned by my grandfather & mom, but they both passed away in 2011. Ever since I graduated with my masters in 2010, I’ve worked here and help manage it with my grandmother and aunt and the rest of our loyal staff. 🙂

WHAT WAS YOUR DEFINING MOMENT? AND WHATS NEXT FOR YOU?

I still don’t think I’ve had that moment yet, BUT I was so stoked when I made a spread based around a recent favorite productivity book I read called The ONE Thing. The author actually saw my spread on Instagram, contacted me, and we chatted on the phone about my journaling hobby & they then asked me to be on their podcast. I’m such an introvert, but decided to do it anyways, and I’m glad I did. Here’s the blog post about the podcast:

https://lifebywhitney.com/discovering-a-passion-the-one-thing-podcast/

Another defining moment was when my favorite pen company Tombow asked me to take over their Instagram one day. Afterwards, they asked me to be a brand ambassador for them, and I was thrilled! I still am and love them even more

DO YOU HAVE A GOOD SUPPORT NETWORK

I do. My boyfriend helps me out a TON with my website and strategy. My 16 year old brother has recently asked if he can help me out (which I’m going to take him up on)… but honestly, I don’t really talk about it to anyone else. I don’t even know if my co-workers know! HA! I am in some Facebook groups with supportive like-minded bloggers that help each other out, so my online community is where I get the most support. I KNOW that the older generation (my grandmother, etc) asks what I did on my time off, the answer is nearly ALWAYS ‘worked on the blog.’ I know they don’t understand. It takes up most of my ‘free’ off-time, but I know it’s for a bigger purpose and I know the work I put in now will pay off in the future.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCT OR TIP?

Don’t be scared to start. AND Make it what you want it to be. Make it work for you. So many people struggle with the journal envy or perfectionism, and its not about that. This is your journal and yours alone. You can put whatever the heck you want into it. If you want to make it creative – do it. Get inspired from those pretty pictures online, but don’t be scared to try your own thing. Probably 2/3 of my very first journal is scrap pages, lettering practice, and blank pages with a single pen line or two. It’s just SO worth it now when I look back and see my progress. I can see my actual memories from back then and also see the progress I’ve made creatively.

WHAT IS ONE THING PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU?

I have 2 — The pharmacy I work at was one of Apple CEO Tim Cook’s first jobs – I work & grew up in his hometown and my mom was on the yearbook staff with him back in high school. That’s our small town’s claim to fame. Also, my family was animal crazy when I was growing up… throughout my life, my Mom & Dad had unique animals such as: buffalo, fainting goats, potbelly pigs, a sugar glider, a chinchilla, ducks, geese, talking parrots, horses, a mule, a mini-horse, dogs and cats! Now, I have 4 dogs, and that’s it — they’re often seen in my IG stories or in the background of my YouTube videos.

You can see her great you tube videos here: