Meet Molly Stillman

 

Today we’d like to introduce you to Molly Stillman.

Hi Molly, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My whole life I’d wanted to be on Saturday Night Live. I’d dreamed of working in comedy and when I wasn’t performing comedy, I was writing comedy. I started a LiveJournal (yes, this ages me) in college to house my writing and when I graduated college in 2007, I moved over to WordPress.

For a while, I thought I was going to be the next “The Onion” – and really make it in the world of satire and parody writing. That obviously didn’t happen. But, I kept writing. By 2009, I realized I had grown a bit of an audience online and my writing started to evolve to document what was going on in my life rather than just writing satire.

The blog continued to evolve as my life did and by 2012, I rebranded to “Still Being Molly” I was able to start slowly monetizing. Then, in late 2014, I was able to leave my day job and blog full time. In the summer of 2016, I launched my podcast, Business with Purpose, and have been blogging and podcasting full time since then. I also travel and speak at conferences, teach workshops, and I’m currently working on my first book.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not at all! Al Gore’s internet is an ever-changing landscape and it’s constantly evolving. What works today in terms of business didn’t work years ago and vice versa. There have been times over the years that I’ve felt the temptation to cut corners or fall prey to the next “grow quick” scheme, but I’ve never done that.

I’ve allowed myself to grow slowly and organically over the past 15 years and I’m proud of that. There’s always been growing pains and my income has ebbed and flowed, but I’m proud of what I’ve built because it’s been me and truly me the entire time.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking?
When I decided to leave my day job (salary + benefits) to blog (and eventually podcast) full time, that was a HUGE risk. I was a new mom (my daughter had just turned one), and my husband was also venturing out on his own. It was so scary, but I knew that if I didn’t take the risk, I’d never know if I could do it.

I’m so glad I took the risk because when I’ve been able to build has been so worth it. I’ve had incredible opportunities partnering with dream brands, designing a line of clothing with Elegantees, designing sustainable handbags for Malia Designs, and interviewing some of the world’s most incredible people.

Contact Info:

• Email: molly@stillbeingmolly.com
• Website: http://www.stillbeingmolly.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/stillbeingmolly
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/stillbeingmolly
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/stillbeingmolly
• Youtube: http://youtube.com/stillbeingmolly
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/molly-stillman-134974806

Image Credits
Becca Rizzo Photography, Traci Huffman Photography, MIck Schulte Photography, and Becky Keller Photography