Over the last few years of working as a travel blogger, I am incredibly proud of the audience I’ve built, the content I’ve created, and the brands I’ve worked with.

But by far my proudest achievement thus far is being a small part of the reason why someone was able to change their life. It’s why I created my online courses – The Influencer Bootcamp and The Blogger Bootcamp – and my mastermind program: because I wanted to give others the tools, the strategies, and the support they need to build a business online and live a life they’re excited about.

All of that said, I am so excited to announce a project that has been a long time coming: my Student Spotlight Series. Twice a month, I’ll be featuring my incredible students on my blog, allowing them to share their brand, stories, and missions with you. They’ll also be sharing the strategies that have worked for them in building their businesses and sharing tips they have for others. In exchange for this, I ask that you go support and follow them on social media and on their blogs.

Introducing: Imani Wade

I’m kickstarting my first Student Spotlight off with Imani Wade, a blogger, Youtuber and author of ‘Breaking up with the Bad Girl,’ a self-published story for women seeking to heal themselves and empower them to live authentically and intentionally. Today, Cali-based Imani pulls back the curtain into her life as an ambitious female…

Tell me your story. Why did you start your blog and Instagram?

I am a Texas native who decided to leave my home state and familiarity for sunny California. Throughout my journey, I have learned how to welcome wonder, by doing things that are considered unorthodox. I am ALWAYS in transition, which is truly how I have learned to just do things and embrace change. And I love to inspire others to embrace the unknown, or as I call it, to live a life full of wonder.

I have been passionate about writing since I was 12 years old; keeping journals with storylines within them. I dreamt of writing books as a young girl and actually recently self-published my first book, “Breaking up with the Bad Girl”. But I didn’t discover my passion for blogging until 2018, after my trip to Santorini. I found myself so fascinated with this island, that I had to document my experience. I then started to connect the dots, learning how to integrate my other passions; wellness, travel, and faith.

Tell me about your business and your “why”!

From my book to my blog, to my IG to my YouTube, my mission is to truly show women that they can live a wonderful life. They can have a busy schedule yet prioritize their faith, wellness and travel. They can work full time yet still work on their inner being. And they can be safe yet embrace the unknown and wonder. We can have it all.

How did you discover Christina?

I discovered Christina back in September of 2019. I was planning my first solo trip to San Francisco and had HIGH hopes of shooting amazing content. So I bought my tripod, and I was ready to go. Except, I didn’t know how to shoot my own pics.

YouTube is literally my go-to (more than Google), so I ended up finding her YouTube channel and a video of her doing solo travel photography.I have never binged watched someone’s YouTube videos so fast! I was inspired by her story and immediately followed her on all social media platforms.

Which of Christina’s courses have you taken and what inspired you to enroll?

The Influencer Bootcamp and The Blogger Bootcamp! I believe in finding a word for each year to meditate on and apply to your life. My word for this year is “Activate”. And although COVID19 punched some plans in the face, I am still moving forward with my goals. I knew that BOTH courses were crucial to my blog and IG growth. I needed to change something and I am a firm believer in educating yourself and in investing into your dreams.

What “lightbulb moments” did you have while taking the courses?

SO many “aha moments” for me!! I have always desired to learn about poses and presets. Being someone who is still admittedly learning how to love their body, I found it challenging to pose in front of the camera in the past. In the Influencer Bootcamp, Christina teaches on how to pose, and this has helped me with my confidence. And of course, she provides thorough teaching on presets which is something my IG needed in order to meet the standard I was seeking to obtain.

Within the Blogger Bootcamp, I discovered additional freebie options and how to market your freebie to gain more traffic. I had a freebie but literally a handful of people were using it. Now I know how to gain more traffic to my freebie, and grow my email list as a result.Another very resourceful module in the Blogger Bootcamp teaches on Pinterest. I spent time pinning away just because I love Pinterest, not for my blog growth. She connects the dots on everything that you need to know for gaining traffic back to your blog through Pinterest in this course.

What are the most exciting things that have happened since completing the courses?

I am actually still going through the Influencer course at the moment, but I can definitely still share some exciting things. For starters, the group of women within the Bootcamp is AMAZING. I am fiercely ambitious, but I was lacking the connections with likeminded women. You have such a supportive group of ladies in both FB groups and the energy is magnetic.

I have also seen a growth in my IG account (and again, not even done with the course yet). My followers have grown up to 200 within 3 months of enrolling and my IG page looks more uniformed yet still unique to my liking. A lot more Influencers are also now following me which is a result of having a more appealing IG profile.

And my blog launch of course! Worth Her Wonder’s mission, niche, and branding has been fine-tuned due to the Blogger Bootcamp. I also have a great number of women that I am collaborating with that I met within this Bootcamp.

What do you love most about the work you do?

I love impacting women and hearing how I have done this for them! We all deal with doubts or question if what we’re doing is really making a difference to someone. Whether it is getting a message regarding my book, a blog post, an IG post, or a YouTube video, it really adds fuel to my fire and makes me keep going!

I also love staying in my creative lane. My 9-5 is SO ANALYTICAL- literally zero creativity happening over there. So when I log off and transition to my passions, I am able to really escape and play with creativity.

What’s next for you? What’s your next big goal or project?

Overall, I am planning to leave my 9-5 and to work for myself. The goal is to do that this year (crosses fingers). This has been a goal for a while and I am currently doing the work to manifest this as my reality.

For my book, “Breaking up with the Bad Girl”, I am going to launch the Audible and Kindle version next and then pitch it to Barnes & Noble. I also keep getting questions regarding self-publishing so I am working on an online course for aspiring writers.

Regarding Worth Her Wonder, I want to continue building a community of women who desire to live a life full of wonder. I want this tribe to be close-knit because I know how important it is to have like-minded women around you. I plan to release some merch for the community pretty soon too because who doesn’t love jewelry, cute T-shirts, and coffee mugs?! And of course, I believe that I have more books within me. I am hoping that this year I can pick up where I left off in the first book (fiction baby) that I was initially writing in 2017.

What is your number one piece of advice for aspiring influencers or bloggers?

Do it afraid, do it without the support, and take a step towards your passions regardless of having it all figured out. Oftentimes we feel as if we need to know the whole plan, we think we need someone to validate us, and we believe that we’re supposed to feel fearless when pursuing our passions. I truly believe that my life has panned out the way that it is thus far (I’m 25) because I have chosen to be my biggest fan, I have picked faith over fear and I map out what I can control and plan, but I don’t stay stuck in analysis paralysis land.

What are your favorite accounts to follow on Instagram? Favorite bloggers?

Obviously Christina is a fave, but in addition to her account, I love @GloGraphics, @JeanineAmapola, @BossBabe, @TheWhimsySoul, and @TheBlondeAbroad.

I always find myself gravitating towards The Whimsy Soul’s blog because she has SO many tips and guides based on the west coast. Given that I just moved to California, I am always saving her Cali blogs for me to read later. She is also incredibly detailed in her posts which I find helpful.

And of course, I love Christina’s blog because she has the travel destinations, guides, and tips for bloggers & aspiring entrepreneurs. She is also a good writer which makes it more engaging for me to read along! It literally comes off as if we are chatting with one another as I am reading.

Where can people can find you?

On Instagram at @imaniinspires

My Blog worthherwonder.com

And YouTube! Imani’s Channel

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