I never set out to do any of this.
Since it looks like this blog, CanMamaDoIt.com SouthDallasFoodie.com is actually turning out to be a thing, I thought it might be a good idea to update you guys on how things are going and give you some insight as to why and how this whole blog thing happened in the first place.
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Back in February something happened that really sucked. It may seem silly, but any reader who fancies themselves as an aspiring inventor will totally get it.
Over the years, I’ve “invented” a few things. I actually applied for my first patent when I was 20.
Nothing ever really went anywhere. In fact, most of them were produced by someone else while I was waiting for the invention fairy to appear and show me how to make a go of it.
But one of these inventions was special and I had very high hopes for it.
Ya know how sometimes, you throw a hoodie in the dryer and when you pull it out, the drawstring has slipped inside the little hole?
Or worse, the damn drawstring comes out completely?
Isn’t that so frustrating?
Years ago, I came up with this ingenious little doo-dad that you slip in that hole, hook it onto the drawstring, pull it out and RESCUE it!
THE DRAWSTRING RESCUE-er!
I came up with this idea in 99.
The product was crystal clear in my mind and on paper. I knew exactly how I was going to market it and exactly who I was going to approach to sell it.
The problem was I could never figure out how to really produce it.
Should I invest in a 3D printer?
With what money?
Teflon or plastic?
What do I whittle the thing out of wood?
Time passed.
I had to make a living so I was working, and getting married and raising my girls, then I had to deal with the Graves Disease and all the doctor nonsense that came with it.
What I did was I sat on the idea… for 17 years.
Fast forward to February 2016.
After working while very sick for a solid 3 years (one as a car salesman and two in ad sales) I was- against my wishes- home on medical leave.
At this point, it is now perfectly clear to me that I may never be able to go back to working 45 hours a week, out of the home, 2 hours away like I had been doing.
This was all I knew, professionally, for 20 years. I’ve been on a sales schedule since I was 18 and I’ve very rarely had a commute that was less than an hour or two.
Those commutes annihilate family time but what can you do? That’s just the way Dallas is set up, all of the good jobs are WAY NORTH.
The time was now to figure out a way to start building a business for myself and my family and I had this phrase in my mind that I couldn’t ignore.
“If I just put one foot in front of the other, God will bless my efforts.”
Right or wrong- that one thought played like a vine loop over and over in my head.
I was on fire when I finally sat down at my broken Macbook and began research for the patent so I could finally roll out The Drawstring Rescue and well…
Crushed does not even begin to cover it. I had been through this a few times before but this time was different.
What in the hell am I gonna do now?
That was my ace in the hole.
I know it’s just a cheap little gadget but during those 17 years, it was always in the back of my mind as THE thing that was going to help me set my family up for life. And I’m not just trying to take care of my own kids, I want to be able to take care of my recently widowed (again) mother.
I could’ve marketed and sold that little tool like no one’s business if only I had made a move but now?
Poof. Gone.
More than anything I was mad at myself for letting it go so long without trying.
Jan! All you had to do was TRY!
Call somebody!
Look into renting a 3D printer!
Why the hell didn’t you JUST TRY?
The funny thing was, even as I was now feeling like I was the Mayor of Idiottown, that phrase was still rolling around in my mind…
“…put one foot in front of the other and God will bless my efforts.”
I don’t ever want to experience that level of disappointment in myself ever again.
As I lie marinating in self-loathing I remembered, I do have ONE more thing in my bag o’ tricks. I never thought it would be the thing that I would build a business around, but…
What about that cookie?
I had been pondering it and formulating the recipe in my head for two decades. It has a very special flavor combination inspired by something my mom used to make for me when I was a kid.
But I had never actually made them.
Believe me, you’ll learn a LOT more about this cookie in the coming months but, what’s important to know now, is that because of the whole devastating-drawstring-rescue-shutdown, I KNEW-
If I want to ride this cookie to retirement, I need to get on it. Like, NOW.
I finally picked up a pen and started writing down the recipe.
An hour later I had THE cookie. While it needed a little tweaking, for the most part, it tasted exactly the way I wanted it to.
I couldn’t believe it.
After TWENTY YEARS, I finally had the recipe in my hand and the cookie in my mouth.
It was a Bey moment.
OK, so now I have the recipe, I figured my next likely step would be to start baking bigger batches and sell them in shops locally. Maybe I could sell them at the Dallas Farmers Market?
Hopefully, I could build an entire brand around this cookie, grow a business over time, become wealthy and fabulous and live happily ever after.
Maybe I could even sell the recipe to someone like Martha Stewart and just sit back and relax.
I went to google searched “How can I make money from a recipe?”
I came across this article in The Penny Hoarder that mentioned you could sell your recipes for a lot more money if you had some sort of foodie web presence and that a blog was a great way to gain credibility.
This would probably be the time to let you in on a little-known fact.
You know that thing where everyone you know, now takes pics of their food?
I totally started that.
The year was 2002. It was a filet mignon at Ruth’s Chris in Cancun Mexico, but I digress.
So I’m reading this article and I’m thinkin’ to myself, a blog isn’t that much different from what I already do on Facebook and Instagram.
There were a few problems tho.
Reasons I Really Should Not Be A Blogger
- I can’t spell.
- I literally failed almost every English class I ever took.
- I literally use the word literally, about once every 15 seconds.
- I’m not a chef.
- I am an authority on nothing.
- I can barely operate the computer enough to use the internets.
But still, that vine played on…
“If I put one foot in front of the other, God will bless my efforts.”
Indeed, He has.
As I write this, I have been at it for about two months and believe me, NO ONE is more surprised than I am that I have been able to do this and that it has been somewhat successful.
For one thing, it turns out that computering isn’t as hard as I thought. I’m planning an upcoming post about how I was miraculously able to get the website designed all by myself.
I know right? I’m shocked as well.
Beyond the miracle of just getting the site up and running, so many opportunities are out there for bloggers like me and so far I’ve had a steady stream of opportunities.
Some of you may recall, I entered the 2016 Guac n’ Roll Guacamole Recipe Contest put on my Chefs Roll back in February.
While I didn’t place in the contest…
I did hear from Chefs Roll on behalf of Avocados From Mexico, they wanted to put my recipe on their website, I about flipped.
As soon as it’s up, I’ll share the link.
The whole premise behind this blog is was “Can Mama make a living as a blogger?”
I put it in the form of a question because the truth is I don’t really know.
I’ve now re-branded as South Dallas Foodie.
To date, I have 11 20 posts published and have been picked up by the national food blog Girls On Food.
I’m currently entered in two different recipe contests one with a grand prize of 5k and one of $7500!
If winning seventy-five hundred bucks for one recipe ain’t making a living then I don’t know what is.
Even if I don’t win either contest, I’m still feeling very good about this new venture.
Working on the blog, I’m able to do everything I need to do for the business and still focus on recovering from this crappy disease.
This year is our tenth wedding anniversary and Jonathan and I are having so much fun, spending time at the girls school, baking and cooking together, doing research for posts together. Getting closer.
When I get writers block, he gets me unstuck.
When I’m too tired from cooking to stand another minute, he cleans the kitchen.
When I start bawling because it sometimes gets very stressful, he lifts me up.
So far every single thing about this little experiment has been awesome.
I knew when I set out on this adventure that it was going to be a crazy ride and man, I was not wrong.
I’m still learning how to pull all of this off. It’s not always easy but it is always exciting.
Every day I wake up and I put one foot in front of the other.
The most exciting thing about all of this?
This is just the beginning.
XoxoX
You can vote for my Sour Cream And Verde Chile Chicken Enchiladas here.
Keep up the good work! Don’t ever let fear or failure keep you from moving forword. Go for it.
Thanks donnie! I wont let it happen again!! Glad to hear from you!
Just keep swimming. You can do it!
I’m trying girl! After three events in two weeks i’m feeling really weak today. gotta learn to pace myself!