Say Hello To Creator In Chief: Aley Arion

Happy Feature Friday, my lovely ASSASSINS! I hope you all had a wonderful week and a fantastic upcoming weekend! Today I want to introduce you all to “Creator in Chief” Aley Arion! The 24 year old born writer caught my eye on Instagram while showcasing her latest blog post. I have to be honest, Aley’s writing style instantly hooked me as I browsed through her site looking for more! My personal favorite at this moment is her recaps on the show Insecure. If you want a great laugh and insight on the show, then you NEED to read those recaps! As usual I’m blabbing LOL so enough of me. . . lets hear from Aley! Enjoy!

Tell us about yourself and why you started Aleyarion.com!

First off, thanks so much for having me featured on your blog, Ashley! My name is Aley Arion, I’m 24 and currently live in a small town that you may or may not know called, Moncks Corner, SC. But I lived in Brooklyn, NY for a year. I like to say that I’m a writer who just so happens to have a blog because writing has always been my first love. Ever since I could remember, I’ve kept a journal of some sort to talk about boys, school, and my personal turmoil as an adolescent Black girl. It’s funny, because now, that’s basically what my blog has become: my personal digital diary.

I love your blog because it’s very transparent, relaxed and touches on everyday millennial topics. Was this your mission when you first started it? If not, how do you want your readers to feel when visiting your blog?

Thank you! You know, when I first started my blog, I was in college and hated everything about it. I had just switched majors from Biology to Marketing, but had a concentration in Fashion Merchandising, which was weird because my school didn’t offer classes in it. I had to go to the college next door to take the classes, but the gag was they closed the courses down after just one semester. Because of this, (and because people would always gas me about my style on campus) I knew I needed an outlet to express my love for fashion.

So I thought, “hey, why not start a blog!” A fashion blog; which at the time was strawberrysandcarbonara.wordpress.com (as a homage to the scent of my first date… long story). But the struggle to maintain a consistent photographer was/is REAL. After a while, it just became easier to write about the events of my life and that’s what I’ve come to stick with. When my readers come to aleyarion.com, I want them to know that they are two things: not alone and not crazy. I’ve learned that transparency is so freeing, for yourself and others, and who would I be to keep my stories to myself if they could help someone get free too.

Were you always a writer or did life evolve you into one?

I’ve always been a writer. I remember getting this random composition notebook when I was in 3rd grade and I would just write about whatever an eight year old would have to write about at that time(I don’t know, which glue tasted better? haha). Writing is how I process the world, my feelings, and my everyday experiences/interactions. If anything, life has forced me to become more of an effective communicator in order to express my needs to others.

How do you come up with blog topics every week? What’s your personal planning method?

Honestly, I’m such an emotional person, to the point where I have to write as soon as I feel something is pressing on my heart. Say I had an incident with a guy that taught me a lesson or I’ve been dealing with a personal struggle that God gave me a revelation about, welp, there goes my blog post for the week. I wish I had more structure sometimes, but this method is more organic to me and my readers have seemed to resonate with my stories more this way.

What strategies have worked best for you in increasing more traffic to your website?

Consistency. There was a point in time where I would just post just to post, all willy-nilly, and when you do that, people don’t really take you seriously. Your readers want to know that they can depend on you to have something for them when you say you’ll have it. Kind of like a drug dealer. If you don’t they’ll go somewhere else to find it. Also, something I learned from blogger, Mattie James, is the use of platforms like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite that allow you to schedule your tweets for the week or month (if you’re feeling froggy) to promote your posts. It’s like self-promotion in your sleep. When you’re dealing with followers who have different time zones and engagement hours, it’s important to hit them when you can and these tools definitely help to get that done.

Tell us your view on networking events… do you love them or don’t care that much about them?

Ugggh. Networking, I get cold sweats just thinking about this! Honestly, I’ve just come to hate the act of networking; people always want to know, “well, what can you do for me?” And although you should DEFINITELY have something to offer, it’s like, what if I just want to be your friend and support you? I would love for someone to offer me that! In the recent past, I’ve stuck my neck out both in person and online, gone to networking events (alone), and stepped outside my comfort zone to connect with people who I’ve felt like could become a part of my tribe, and half of most of all it resulted in nothing. I may sound hurt, but it’s just my exhaustion (lol). The people who are supposed to in my life will just have to come to me and as I continue to grow, I know I’ll attract them.

What has been the most challenging moment in your blogging journey thus far?

I would say I’m going through it right as I share this. In September, I’ll be celebrating my 5 year blog anniversary. I should be excited about this but I’ve honestly been dreading this milestone because I feel like I don’t have much to show for it haha. It’s this period where I’m like, what’s next, Aley? Where are you going from here? I’ve only recently come up with a few ideas to change this, but the plateau is real. Still, you just can’t stop. You have to keep moving because eventually a new light will spark.

You taught me a HUGE lesson after your meeting with Charlamagne Tha God! Any other valuable gems/lessons that you can share?

Yeah, that was definitely a highlight of 2017! Just staying consistent with something and it coming to fruition was an amazing achievement for me and I’ll forever cherish that memory. One thing that I would share from that is learning how to listen. As millennials, we are so distracted; too distracted even. We’re jumping to conclusion about things before actually reading or doing the research about it. We’re too sensitive and let our emotions get in the way of what’s really being said. Heck, we’ve condensed conversation down to 140 characters or less and run from the thought of talking on the phone! We have to get back to listening to each other, having real face-to-face conversations, seeing each other’s facial expressions, hearing our tone, everything. We miss so much trying to be heard, when you can learn the most while listening.

In the future, what else can we expect to see from you?

You know, sky’s the limit. At this point, it’s all about being obedient to what God wants me to do. I know that He’s placed on my heart to do more on-air work, getting in front of the camera. I love interviews, so I’ll be working to get the stories of young folk pushing South Carolina’s creative scene heard (stay tuned). I’ll definitely be writing a book in the next few years. But I believe that God can do exceedingly and abundantly beyond what I could ever imagine for my future, so I’ll just leave the rest to Him.

Anything else that you would like for us to know?

Take care of yourself; especially your mental health. Social media is a powerful tool, but when used incorrectly it can cause a lot of harm. We can compare ourselves to the snapshots of people’s lives and think that we’re not doing enough, pretty enough, successful enough, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Anyone can hold a smile long enough to take a picture. So all I’m saying is, remember what’s real in your life, like your health, family, and peace.

To stay connected with Aley, please make sure to join her newsletter at Aleyarion.com! Also, don’t forget to follow her on Instagram @Aleyarion and Twitter @Aleyarion I hope you all enjoyed this week’s Feature Friday post!

Until next time ASSASSINS. . . Stay Motivated!

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