Today we’d like to introduce you to Saba Ghaffari.
Saba, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
It all started when I was 23 years old. I was working at my third job out of college and it was irrevocably clear that this job, just like my previous two, was completely wrong for me. I felt stuck, overwhelmed, and completely lost. These feelings ignited a challenging, introspective journey to discover my passion and, subsequently, chase after it.
On this journey, I realized that what I was deeply missing in my job and in my life was a creative outlet for self-expression. I also uncovered that I was extremely drawn to writing. I created a blog to merge the two aspirations and it was that project that propelled me down the right path in my life.
Building a website, blogging, social media marketing was all brand new territory for me that I had to learn and teach myself. But, it was through that difficult, at times painful, process that I gained invaluable skills that helped me pivot my career to my current field in Marketing, build three different websites for my blog, and most importantly, pull me out of a job and a career path that wasn’t suited for me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road or a straight shot; I would describe it more like a zig-zag path. One of my biggest obstacles has always been myself. I am an absolute perfectionist and extremely self-critical, so I can get discouraged if I don’t see immediate results. But, we often don’t see the fruits of our labor until much later down the line and even then, it can be different than what we had pictured.
For example, when I built my first blog in 2016, I thought that, THAT was going to be my career. It was my motivation for doing it and what I thought its purpose was. So, when I didn’t see thousands of hits to my website every month, I felt like I was a failure. But, five years later, I can now see that going through that whole process was actually incredibly productive. It set off a lot of things in motion that improved my life, such as going after jobs that were more aligned with my interests and skill set, which consequently led to a move to Austin. The skills I acquired from creating my first blog not only helped me land the Marketing jobs I’ve had, but also shortened the learning curve at these jobs.
Whether it’s been due to writer’s block or going through self-deprecating waves, throughout the years, I’ve taken many breaks from blogging. But I always seem to come back to it. Because whether or not I have five views or 5000, the process of writing, creating, and self-expression does something for my soul that nothing else has. It’s an incredible treasure to have something in your life besides your job that brings you joy and fulfillment, and I think that, especially in today’s society, where we place so much value on jobs and careers, it can actually be rare.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a Style & Soul blogger based in Austin, Texas. The Style blog is the outlet for my collection of outfits and looks, and the Soul blog is the passage to my heart and soul. I’ve always had a love for fashion and a love for helping people. It’s natural and fun for me to put outfits and looks together, but I know that isn’t the case for everybody. Sometimes we need to see someone else bring an outfit to life in order to visualize ourselves in the same clothing. I love sharing my finds and providing outfit inspiration for others to just make fashion easier.
I also really enjoy writing about deeper topics—life experiences that I’m dealing with that we actually all go through, whether it be emotional, mental health, or spiritual related. Writing on these topics is a way for me to process the experience, dissect what I’m meant to learn from it, and simply allow myself to feel heard. It’s incredibly therapeutic and my hope is that it is equally so for the reader. I know one of the worst things about going through any difficult patch is feeling alone in it. That’s why it’s so important to me to share the not-so-pretty parts of life so that people understand that it’s universal.
As far as what sets me apart, I think that I do my best to be authentic, to show the good and the bad. Social media can be a façade. Many people only show the highlights of their life, and that’s completely understandable to want to have that layer of privacy. But, when we only see the amazing things that are happening in everyone else’s lives, when we even see celebrities posting photo-shopped images of themselves, it creates an illusion of perfection which we perceive as reality. That illusion is what causes people to feel like everyone else has it better and, from that, make the conclusion “I am not good enough.” I’ve felt that way many times in my life and it’s an isolating place to be. From the beginning, my blog has been a way for me to present a more balanced view of my life so that hopefully, someone out there can feel supported.
How do you think about luck?
I don’t really believe in luck… I think that we all make our own luck. It’s all a matter of output, mindset, and timing. We need all three to be in harmony in order for something to come together and become a success. If we’re struggling with something, usually, one of those three elements are missing. If we’re knocking down a door that doesn’t seem to open, we might be in the right neighborhood, but we could be knocking at the wrong door.
I can provide an example. Before I moved to Austin, while I was running my first blog, I was applying to Marketing jobs left and right for over a year. During that time, none of those opportunities panned out—I was rarely even called for an interview. It wasn’t that I wasn’t meant to work in Marketing or that I wasn’t putting in enough effort, it was about timing.
I was so unhappy at my job that I ended up quitting to wait tables and try freelance writing for a while. However, it became financially difficult to continue living in Dallas and I was forced to temporarily move into my parent’s house in Austin. When I realized that I was going to be moving, I applied for an editorial internship at a local magazine in Austin and was immediately hired. Through that internship, I was connected to someone who hired me for my first Marketing job. So, whenever I get discouraged, I reflect back on that experience. Rather than luck, I would say patience and tenacity have played bigger roles in my life.
Contact Info:
- Email: sabaghaffari2@gmail.com
- Website: https://sabaghaffari.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saba_ghaffari/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabaghaffariblog
