Blogger Behind the Blog {Pink Pear Bear}

Here’s this week’s instalment of Blogger Behind the Blog where I interview a blogger all about their reasons for blogging and what it means to them. This week I’m joined by Louise from Pink Pear Bear.

Here’s Louise with more about her blogging life:

Where did your blog name come from?

I get asked this all the time and I’m genuinely not too sure, I love rhyming words and was just playing around with different combinations and Pink Pear Bear just sounded right at the time!

When did you start your blog and why?

I started almost 3 years ago and as an outlet for my creative side which wasn’t getting much use as a Mum of two tinies. I had the idea of writing children’s books and making story videos and that’s how it started really! I also wanted to share the funny and real side of parenting and talk about the struggles of postnatal depression and anxiety. I’d always written, stories, diaries and letters and this was just an extension of that.

What did you do before you blogged?

I was training to be a counsellor and sat some exams with a giant bump! After I had my daughter, I realised I didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to deal with Motherhood and counselling others. I try and talk about mental health including PND, birth trauma and anxiety on the blog and have had so many people contact me off the back of these posts saying that they have helped them and so I suppose my blog is me still trying to help others in a way.

What was your first post?

A post about brushing my daughters hair!

What inspires you to blog?

It really is all about sharing the realities of parenthood and mental health battles for me. Then as my blog grew, I realised that I could actually get some incredible experiences for the family and make a business that I could be proud of at the same time. I also want to show my children that you can do anything if you put your mind to it.

What post has had the best response, which post are you most proud of and which post did you enjoy writing the most?

The post that has had the most response is one about taking Beta Blockers for migraines, it gets read so often! This is the one that I am most proud of, because it was so, so, so hard to write, it’s my post about PND. The one I enjoyed writing the most, hmmm, I really enjoyed writing this one, as we won a trip to London on twitter and genuinely had the best time ever.

Have any of your posts not had the response that you expected?

Honestly, no, and that is because I genuinely don’t imagine people reading them when I write them and so it’s always a pleasant surprise when they do well. I also really struggle to understand analytics half the time and am rubbish at keeping track of posts!!

Where do you see your blog in a year’s time?

I really don’t know. We have recently started a new chapter of my life with home educating my daughter due to her anxiety and it’s meaning that I have much less time for the blog. I am not sure whether she will return to school but whatever happens, I am going to find time to keep up with Pink Pear Bear as I’m son so proud of everything I’ve achieved.

What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I absolutely love getting to meet so many people through it, I really enjoy all the blogging events in the calendar and have made some amazing friends. I also love the fantastic opportunities it has given us, we have done so many things, been to wonderful places and I do something that makes my kids and husband proud of me.

…and your least favourite?

I find the social media side of it hard sometimes, it takes up so much time, probably more than the blog itself and I think my husband resents it greatly at times.

What’s the best blog post you have ever read?

The best and also the most heartbreaking from Louise at Little Hearts Big Love.

What blog do you love to read and why?

Oh please don’t make me choose! So so many, I don’t want to leave anyone out, we are in an industry of seriously talented people!

Do you do anything differently now to when you started blogging?

I think I am a lot more cautious about the information I share online. I think my biggest change is to my instagram account though, I have worked really hard to curate my feed and I am a lot more fussy about what I post. I have built something I’m really really proud of.

Is blogging what you expected it to be?

It’s more, so so much more. I genuinely started because I love writing, I had no idea where it would take me. I definitely wasn’t expecting the social media side.

What’s been your favourite blog collaboration to date?

I have a few, we are lucky enough to go to lots of festivals and I genuinely love them! Geronimo and Cornbury are favourites and I’m so excited for Camp Bestival this year. I also get to do amazing things like having photoshoots with amazing photographers and getting my hair done in posh salons!

Are there any brands you would love to work with, why?

I’ve worked with some really lovely brands already and really enjoyed all the collaborations I’ve done, I would love to work with John Lewis though. No idea why but I have such fond memories of going to their haberdashery with my Granny and think they are a really good company.

Have you had any blogging fails so far?

I did a brief stint of reviewing plays for the theatre. I don’t know if I’m unlucky or just not cut out for it but I really didn’t enjoy either play and found it so difficult to write about it trying very hard not to hurt the actors’ feelings. I stopped pretty quickly! 😀

What is your biggest blogging hope, dream or ambition?

Oooh I don’t know! More travel ops maybe? I genuinely feel so lucky already with all the wonderful experiences the blog has given us so far that if it just continues exactly as it is, I’d be happy.

What do you do when you’re not blogging?

Housework! 😀 Also, the home schooling my daughter so lots of trips, days out, project work and fun.

and lastly, tell us all a random fact about yourself

I have been dyeing my hair bright colours since I was 13 and 99% of the time, I do it myself at home.

Now that you know all about Louise from Pink Pear Bear, make sure you go and read her blog. Make sure you follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram too. Thanks so much Louise for being involved!