“If you aren’t totally exhausted every day for that first year, you aren’t doing it right” with Kara Harms
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Kara Harms is the co-founder of Whimsy Soul, a San Francisco-based lifestyle blog with the mission of helping womxn find their everyday magic.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin and later attended college in Minnesota. After yet another polar vortex winter, I decided that after graduation I wanted to move somewhere without snow for once in my life. I studied advertising in college and back then I thought I wanted to be an art director at an ad agency, so I picked San Francisco because - no snow, and tons of ad agencies.
Instead, I ended up doing what everyone does when they move to San Francisco - work at startups while creating their own side hustle business. For me, that was my blog, Whimsy Soul. I helped scale new companies in my day job and then went home at night to scale my own. In 2017 I went full-time with my blog and in 2018 I was able to hire my husband to work full-time with me. We now run Whimsy Soul together.
While our business is 100% content only business at the moment, we’re currently working on a few fun ways to bring Whimsy Soul into the tangible world, so stay tuned for more.
What inspired you to start your business?
It was January 2015, our new and extremely expensive studio apartment in San Francisco was very empty. It looked like a frat boy’s apartment with just a $10 thrift couch in the corner and our mattress and TV on the floor. I didn’t know anyone in the city other than my husband, I didn’t have a job yet and I was lonely. But I did have Instagram and I found so much joy in learning from local bloggers & connecting with other women on the app that I decided I wanted to start my own blog, my own community of like-minded women. So that night I bought the domain name whimsysoul.com, started a new Instagram account and the rest was history.
Where is your business based?
San Francisco, CA.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
Starting a blog-based business is actually a lot more technical than people maybe realize. Thankfully I’m a Myspace-generation kid so I had experience with coding and building websites from my teenage years, so it was easy for me to figure out how to set up my DNS and build a blog from scratch. Since I studied advertising and had work experience with designing & social media, I was also able to set up all my accounts with branding and bios within a day.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
Social media, of course, but also organic SEO. Most of our new readers find Whimsy Soul from organic search results on Google. From there they return to the site, or follow on Instagram or subscribe to our newsletter. Never underestimate the power of SEO if you sell anything online or have a content business.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Being a blogger/influencer isn’t a traditional career. There’s no “Influencing” major you can spend 4 years studying, so to survive this wild west industry you have to constantly be learning from your mistakes and rolling with the punches. I’ve been lucky enough to form a small but tight group of fellow bloggers. We share industry news, collaborate together, and lean on each other for advice and ideas. While Whimsy Soul is just me and my husband, we’re not totally alone. No matter your business industry I think it’s so very important to form connections with other business owners. Community over competition is KEY.
How do you stay focused?
I’m a Type 3 Slytherin personality so it’s naturally easy for me to stay focused. I wake up at 7 am each day and am just ready to start writing while sipping that forest cup of coffee. I get asked this question a lot and sadly I don’t have any tactical advice for people who struggle with staying focused when working for themselves. It really just comes naturally to me.
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
Unlike many of our competitors, we always prioritize being aspirational while also still attainable. For example, you’ll never find a fashion post-Whimsy Soul recommending a $500 coat to pair with a luxury $600 handbag. That’s aspirational, sure, but not attainable for the average person. We’ve spent almost 6 years building up trust with our readers and they know if they see something they like on the blog or Instagram, they have it themselves. Being approachable and related has been a huge cornerstone for us.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
To expand on the above, there hasn’t been a single strategy that has thrown Whimsy Soul above all the other lifestyle blog posts there, but rather a consistent pattern of quality content that’s attainable.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
I almost always want to tell aspiring entrepreneurs something like “if you aren’t totally exhausted every day for that first year you aren’t doing it right.” In our modern world where so many things are instant and on-demand, it’s too easy for business newbies to expect massive success to come quickly, too. In reality building, a successful business takes so much time and man-hours. I worked on Whimsy Soul day and night for almost a year before I ever saw a penny in return.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
Ask me a year ago and I probably would say that my favorite app is Instagram but these days I find so much joy in TikTok. People think it’s just full of teenagers dancing but that’s not true - I learn so many recipe ideas, Bay Area hidden gems to visit, DIY hacks and so much more from that app. It keeps me inspired by life.
In regards to blogs, I actually don’t read other blogs. I find that I work best when I have my blinders on and not getting wrapped up in what my competition is doing, what their latest campaign is, and so on. And for books, the latest murder mystery or Reese pick is usually what I’m reading.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
I love being the fly on the wall in Facebook groups. I’m a part of a few different small business and blogger Facebook groups and find that there is always something new to be learned in those chats. Or, if I have a question, I can get a thoughtful answer from a peer within hours. They’re free and there’s totally a group out there no matter what type of business you have so I always recommend people to join a few groups.
Who is your business role model? Why?
My mother started her own freelance graphic design business when I was very young. She worked from home and she’s hands down the reason why I have never steered away from building my own businesses (Whimsy Soul is not my first venture, by the way.) Having such a strong, smart businesswoman at home to look up to and learn from was everything.
How do you balance work and life?
HA - I’ll let you know when I figure it out. Wine helps.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
Pre-pandemic my favorite way to unwind was always happy hour with my girlfriends. Either gathered around the coffee table in someone’s apartment or sprawled out with beers in the sunshine at Dolores Park. These days, it’s usually a walk in Golden Gate Park followed by cooking dinner and listening to a podcast with my husband.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
Well - to be honest, I can’t think that far ahead right now. I think 2020 has proved to everyone that no matter how many plans you have, you still can never plan for everything.
How can our readers connect with you?
I’m easy to find. I’m on Instagram @thewhimsysoul, TikTok @whimsysoul, and publish a handful of new blog posts on whimsysoul.com each week and try to answer every comment.