Blogger Profile: Melissa Carr

Over the years I have profiled bloggers from the Northwest Territories to the Fraser Valley, anyone that interests me and that I hope will interest you as well. A few years ago I started asking a standard set of questions and I’ve sent these out to a few local bloggers for this week’s series. Click, share, explore, and enjoy.

Melissa Carr

Photo courtesy of Melissa Carr

Blog: TheThirtiesGrind
Twitter: @meliss604
Facebook: /TheThirtiesGrind
Pinterest: meliss604

How long has your blog been around?
I started my blog in March 2012.

What is your role?
All of the above. It takes up a lot of my time but I LOVE it!

What does your site do/what is it about
My site is all about life in your thirties, particularly in Vancouver. The tagline for The Thirties Grind is “Get up. Go to work. Raise kids. Pay bills. Sleep. Repeat.” Sometimes I feel like this stage in life is kind of like the movie “Groundhog Day”… and I know many people my age feel the same way. We’re all balancing careers, relationships, homes, debt etc. It’s a crazy, crazy time…

One of the most popular subjects I’ve written about is Vancouver real estate. My feature, the “Absurd Vancouver Property of the Week” went viral on the second or third week I posted it. People in Vancouver love to gripe about real estate… it’s an important issue, but we can still have a sense of humour about it!

What can people see, read, and do when visiting your site?
Read and discuss topical issues (particularly those that affect women and children), enter contests, and read about amazing REAL Vancouver women. In my feature “The REAL Real Housewives of Vancouver”, I pose questions, taken from the application form for the reality series, to everyday Vancouver women…we have incredibly diverse and talented women in this city, and I wanted to highlight that.

Why do you blog?
For a long time, I was a writer who didn’t write. I finally decided that I needed an outlet for the many thoughts and opinions I had banging about in my head. I wanted to write about things my friends and I talk about when we’re sitting in my kitchen having a glass of wine…things I’m certain other people talk about and have opinions on, also. The response I have had to my blog is incredible and I love the dialogue and debate that come out of conversations I spark.

What is the ultimate goal for your site, how would you like to see it grow?
Who wouldn’t love to be able to make a living by doing what you love? That is my ultimate goal. I’m still so new to this whole scene, however, and am learning as I go. I’ve been fortunate to make some wonderful connections and have received amazing advice and insight. Time will tell what the future of TheThirtiesGrind holds, but I am confident that this is an avenue I want to continue to pursue.

Follow Melissa on her blog TheThirtiesGrind, Twitter, Pinterest and on Facebook.

Read all entries in my Blogger Profile series and feel free to suggest a blogger for possible feature in the comments of this post.