Does Feral Toddler Mom qualify as a Niche?

When my friend Lisa came to me and told me about the Haven Conference, I thought to myself: What would the dialogue be? Would I fit in? Would people look at me weird because Im not a DIYer? What is my Niche? Does Unhinged Lifestyle and Feral Toddler Mom count as a Niche?

Just for reference, in 2018 when I started my first blog “Spirits are High”, I mainly focused on Fashion I was wearing, Beauty tips and tricks, and the Occasional Restaurant review or Cocktail recipe. In no way or form did I even care about styling my house or decor or even making my House a Home. I was 23 planning a wedding that was going to be 3 hours away and opening a salon. When I came home at night my first priority was answering emails, ordering salon supplies and sleeping, not decorating my house. But here we are 4 years later, restarting and rewriting.

Now Back to the Conference.

Granted, I did get a couple of looks when I was explaining that I “was” a fashion influencer and was trying to reconfigure myself and my niche into the Styling and Decor Side of Social Media, but you’ll get those people. No, I am not going to paint my house 18 different colors or do I have the time/capacity do a DIY furniture flip every week, but I do want to show my real and unhinged life raising a Feral Toddler while styling and decorating my home. I mainly wanted to go to Haven and see what the “Home” side of things had to offer. I wanted to meet people, moms and brands like myself and see what they were looking for in future collaborations together. Yes, I was terrified and up until a week before, I truly thought I was going to back out, But I didn’t. I went into it as a learning opportunity, and I was going to try to get the most out of the classes and the whole experience.

Day 1 (Thursday 07/27) of Haven was basically just a travel day. Lisa and Larry were kind enough to let me ride with them so that when Robert and Fin came down on Saturday we didn’t have two cars in ATL. Haven set up a meet and greet with all those who were participating and assigned us to groups and tables. Before we even got to that point I was checking into my hotel room. If you’ve seen my TikTok and Reels in the past few days, you know I had a little bit of a sticky situation.

When I went to take my stuff to my first room it was on the 12th floor. And first of all, I am by no means a picky hotel snob, I am just there to sleep, get ready and watch tv so I don’t really care how big or nice my room is. But, with that being said, I do care about cleanliness and I care about my Son being Healthy and safe.

When I got off the elevator on the 12th floor, I noticed that my room was literally right across the small hallway from the elevator. And although Finny wasn’t coming until Saturday, I knew that if I didn’t get my room changed, he would be woken up all night by the elevator dings and people shutting their doors. So I went back down to the lobby and politely asked for my room to be moved to a location a little farther away from the hustle and bustle. That’s when they put me in room 1716. I thought, perfect, away from the elevator noises but still in the same tower as my friends and the conference. I walked into the room and immediately put my BareFoot Dreams blanket on the bed and started unpacking my bag.

If you have been to Atlanta during the summer, you know how hot it is. So as I am setting up my phone to take a video of what I got in the Haven Swag Bag, I notice that my boobs are a little sweaty. I quickly run back to the bathroom to grab some tissues (if you know you know) and as I’m walking back to the window/desk area, there it is. A USED CONDOM on the floor. Shock, pure shock. I literally didn’t know what to say, didn't know what to do. I immediately started recording my reaction because, that’s what I do. And then I called Lisa, and said I wanted to go home, lol. Larry, Lisa’s Husband, said he would take care of it for me at Hotel Reception so just stood there. I probably stood there for a good 10 minutes before deciding it was probably a better idea to go down to the front desk as well. They then put me in a corner suite and comped one night stay.

The Front Desk Attendant and the Manager of the Hotel both profusely apologized multiple times. And I get it, shit happens. Later that night after Dinner with Lisa and Larry and thinking about it throughout the entire meet and greet, I felt like one complimentary night and a bottle of Kim Crawford Wine was a little on the “Cheap” side. I mean this was a higher end Hotel, $280 a night is on the higher end of the spectrum, at least in my opinion.

I just kept thinking about, what if I wouldn’t have seen it and Fin was with me. What if he would have picked it up and then touched his face, what if the person that was “using” the condom had an STD or AIDS.

Larry agreed to go and talk to the Front Desk one more time to see what else they could do, they agreed to give me a second night for free and honestly I was good with that. I know people make mistakes but when it comes to health and safety and especially a Used Condom, that’s where I draw the line.

Day 2 (Friday 07/28) of Haven was my favorite day. The classes that I took were on Blogging, YouTube, Monetizing on LTK and a few others. Here are some take backs that I got from the Classes:

• “TikTok isn’t for shopping, its for life, people don’t expect links”

• YouTube is the long game when it comes to monetizing your content

• You should think of your Affiliate Links as your Salary and your Brand Collaborations as bonuses.

• Collages on LTK only account for 20% of monetizing, Styled Content is the way to go.

If you want me to upload all of my notes or want them sent to you, Let Me Know in the comments!

Notes from the YouTube Monetizing Class

Day 3 (Saturday 07/29) was informational but I wish they would have had speakers from the second day as well so if we missed a class we could catch it on the third day. But they also did very cool Round Tables for Brand Meet Ups. This was were we all sat at the tables in the Grand Ballroom and each brand that participated would have 3-4 minutes to introduce themselves and tell us what they were looking for. They would say whether they had paid or gifted collaborations, what their brands stood for as well as tell us how to get in contact. It was defiantly the best way to make sure that every brand, whether you wanted to work with them or not, got your card just incase they wanted to reach out with an offer.

I ended up leaving early after my final TikTok class by Stefanie Bloom, Because Robert and Fin were arriving any minute. But in short, I felt like I got a lot out of the conference as a whole. I met some really nice people and learned a ton on social media practices and how to stay up to date on the algorithms. Yes, there were a few hiccups between the hotel and the conference but all in all, I would defiantly recommend it and do it again!

-Newly Niched Alex

* I will be sending two of y’all swag bags with all of the goodies that I got from Haven (and More), make sure to keep an eye out on my Instagram in the next week*