The Rayna Review: I'm Moving to Rhode Island!
The Rayna Review: I'm Moving to Rhode Island!
October 2023
Hello witches and warlocks! I hope your October festivities are well on their way and you’re getting in the spooky spirit. I just got back from a fall foliage tour through New England. I took a pit stop in Salem, Massachusetts, and no surprise here, but it was my favorite stop! Now I can’t stop telling everyone that they need to go to Salem during Halloween at least once in their lifetime.
In this month's newsletter, we’ll take a lil peek at the past month, my go-to activities for every day of the week in Denver (trust me, in the winter you’ll thank me), and I’m getting a little vulnerable in the influencer tea section. Let's get to it!
September/October in Review
September was home to a lot of firsts. I went to my first rage room at All Out Smash. As someone who doesn’t have a lot of pent up rage, it was hard for me to get into it, but their blacklight rage painting room was a vibe. I also worked my first gallery show where I spent a Sunday afternoon capturing content for Shadow Angel Clothing at the Skylight. I can’t lie, I felt like a sophisticated adult spending a Sunday evening looking at art. To round out the month of firsts, I went to my first Avalanche game (I know how that sounds!!). Hockey is one of my preferred sports to watch live, and we went to tons of games when we lived in Columbus but that’s because tickets were $10! Since we moved back to Denver, the price of the tickets just hasn’t been right. So I was very excited to go to a preseason Avalanche game and sit in some of the closest seats I’ve ever had. Ready for the Avs to bring it home again this year!
The first week of October, I went on my New England Fall road trip and although I’m not actually moving to Rhode Island, damn do I want to! We started our trip in Vermont where it was unnecessarily hot. I’m talking 80 degrees hot! But, we did get to experience the magical colors of Vermont. I’m sorry Colorado, but our colors have nothing on the colors of New England. After Vermont, we caught up with some family and friends in Boston and made sure to stop at all the cozy, iconic small towns along the way. On the last leg of our trip we stayed in Providence, Rhode Island and took a day trip to Newport - it was luxurious! We stayed at the most quaint, spacious Bed and Breakfast and it had peak fall cozy vibes. The Cliff Walk in Newport was the best ocean walk I’ve been on- think huge mansions on one side and the ocean on the other. Mentally I’m still there. Thinking of offering up my New England itinerary and even doing some Colorado mountain trip itineraries in the new year… stay tuned!
As it goes with content creation, or marketing in general, I’m about burnt out on all things Halloween even though it's still a few days away. I’ve loved making Halloween content and checking out all the new pop-up bars, but I’m ready for all the Christmas content! But, just in case you’re still in the Halloween spirit, check out my TikTok of Halloween parties happening this weekend!
September in Photos:
🐝 The Buzz: What the people are loving 🐝
What to Do in Denver Every Night of the Week
The long winter nights are coming and I’m here to help. Below, you’ll find a list of activities to get you out of the house and keep you social for every day of the week. (Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays are covered weekly on my Tiktok). It’s time to fight back against that seasonal depression! 👊🏼
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Influencer Tea: A Peek Behind the Curtain
Numbers are addicting. Influencing is addicting. Watching your view count, follower count, and engagement numbers increase is an endorphin high. Truthfully, every morning I check my follower count and the views on my most recent Reel or TikTok, and often what those numbers tell me determines how good I feel about myself that day. In this industry, it’s really easy to start to see your worth tied up in your numbers. And that’s a dangerous path.
This past month I hit 20K on Instagram - and that’s a really big deal. Something worth celebrating 🎉. But instead of celebrating, my first thought was “I want more”. While a growth mindset is important for success, often in this world of influencing we don’t stop and celebrate the wins. Instead we move on and set another goal. There’s no endgame in this job - no follower count is too high, no amount of views is too much, and there’s no such thing as too much engagement.
I remember when I hit 10k on TikTok and it was the most exciting day! I was watching the follower count all day and when it finally hit, I texted all my friends. I went out and bought myself a cake and wrote 10k on it. At some point between 10k and 20k my brain decided that my follower count decides how valuable I am - and while some brands may look at me that way, I have to continuously fight against this mentality. I can sit here and tell you that I know my worth lies in who I am as a person and my relationships and my friendships, while also telling you that not letting my worth be decided by the numbers is really hard and some days it’s the biggest mental battle I have.