Today we’d like to introduce you to Haley Arger.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Haley. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
There are three parts to my story, mimicking the different sections I cover in my blog and Instagram. The first is fashion, I’ve always loved it and even majored in it! I studied it all through high school and college and knew I wanted it to be part of my career, but it wasn’t until my second to last year of school that I realized which side of it I really was interested in: the marketing side, which you see a lot of in my outfit posts. The next two interests, food and travel, came later in my life. I studied abroad in Florence, Italy during my junior year of college, which is the main inspiration for my blog and Instagram. It was my first time outside the US borders (never been to Canada or Mexico – yet). I had traveled without my family a little before this like a Nashville girl’s weekend and an NYC college field trip, but it was nothing like this. I was in a program with no one from my college, I had to learn a new language and…I learned to like food. Now, this might sound funny to anyone who’s met me recently seeing as I post about food just as much as fashion but up until that trip, I was the pickiest eater you’ve ever met. The list of foods I liked was shorter than the list I didn’t like, let’s just put it that way! I signed up for an Italian cooking class and a food and wine pairing class since I knew food was part of Italy’s culture and a couple of the foods I did like were pasta and pizza so I figured this couldn’t be so bad, right? It was better than I could possibly imagine. I was so stressed that I’d make something in class and would be that one girl who didn’t finish her meal, but everything I tried I loved! I was shocked!! I had no idea food and wine could open up a person’s world like it did mine. I wanted everyone else to share this mind-blowing experience with me, so like any other person abroad, I started my blog and started posting regularly on Instagram. It’s also how the travel bug got to me, as I now wanted to go to all kinds of places to explore the different cultures they possessed (mostly food at the time but other parts of it too). I took a little break once I was back in the states so I could wrap up school, but as soon as I came back to Chicago I brought it back to life and made exploring the city my new MO…Until I’d travel to another city again. So there you have it: fashion, food and travel!
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As with any passion project, there’s always going to be bumps in the road, but you have to be able to roll them off your back and keep going. My blog/Instagram isn’t perfect, so trying not to compare myself to others in the industry – even my friends – is hard, but you have to remember that no one else can be you. YOU take the time to create your project, the thoughts inside your posts are YOURS and those that are supporting the project are supporting it because YOU are the one behind it. Don’t get discouraged, people will come it just takes time. Another little nugget of advice to remember, especially for those starting out, is to not be embarrassed about your project. Friends and family may not understand it, but again, they secretly support it because it’s yours. I definitely felt this many times through the making of my blog/Instagram (even now sometimes), but once you let your craft fuel you instead of hinder you, you’ll be so much happier and it will pay off too!
What should we know about @thehargz/A Walk in the Pink Park? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Besides working on my blog/Instagram, I now use them to my advantage in my line of work: social media marketing! I am a project manager for a local Chicago company, Oak Street Social. We’re only about 4 years old but I love how we can help out businesses all over the country who are just starting out in varying industries: toys, plastic surgery offices, and food to name a few. I really love that I can see both sides of the social media business this way, as an influencer and as a brand. Something that I’m proud of, as well as my co-workers I’m sure, is that we were just named one of the top social media marketing agencies in the whole city by Built in Chicago. Seeing how young we are, this was a huge breakthrough for us!
It would be great to hear about any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve used and would recommend to others.
For photo editing – one of my favorite parts of being a blogger/Instagrammer besides actually taking the pictures – I like using the A Color Story app. It was built for bloggers by bloggers, and with features like creating your own filters, it’s really helpful when you need to post something quickly. I also have to shout out the blogger groups that I joined this past year who I definitely couldn’t do this without: Chicagogrammers, Windy City Blogger Collective and Blogging for Keeps. I met SO many of my friends through them, and I love that their events give us all an excuse to meet up with each other. The whole “collaboration over competition” movement is one of the reasons I think I’ve been able to stay in this – friends hold you accountable and also build you up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://awalkinthepinkpark.com/
- Email: For blog inquiries: contact@awalkinthepinkpark.com, for Oak Street Social inquiries: haley@oakstreetsocial.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehargz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awalkinthepinkpark/
- Other: http://www.oakstsocial.com/
Image Credit:
Photo of me in the street by: Emma Jackson, Photo of me and my flower crown friends by Allison of Crowning Event
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
