Founder of The Stripe and Podcast Host, Meet Grace Atwood

Hi Grace, How did The Stripe get its start?

I started my blog, The Stripe, in January of 2010. I was working a really corporate job in the beauty industry and desperately wanted a creative outlet and a place to share the things I love.

Tell us about the mission behind The Stripe?

My mission is to leave my readers feeling inspired, entertained, less alone, or like they learned something new.

What tools or resources do you use that help with your blog?

• Lots and lots of Google Docs!

• I work with Influencer SEO to optimize my blog posts.

• My site is designed by Victoria McGinley and Lisa Butler; I keep them on retainer to make monthly updates to the site.

• Planoly for instagram scheduling

• Tailwind for Pinterest

What social media tools can you not live without?

Probably Planoly!

Share with us a favorite quote!

“Be so good they can’t ignore you.” – Steve Martin

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What are some of your favorite beauty products at the moment?

Well, the Augustinus Bader cream remains my holy grail. I’m loving Biossance’s retinol , RMS‘s lip balm, leave in conditioner from Fekkai, and Olaplex’s No. 3 hair mask!

Blogging is often a lonely job, how have you managed to find community with other bloggers?

I’m really lucky in that I started so long ago and made a group of girlfriends early on back when we were all doing this for fun!

Who are some of your favorite bloggers?

Oh there are so many but here are a few I check every week: Hello Adams Family, Brooklyn Blonde, With Love From Kat, Damsel in Dior and Cup of Jo.

What do you focus on most when it comes to creating content?

For me it’s all about providing value. I have a pretty good handle on my audience and what they want to see… so with every post, I think about what value I’m providing my reader with and if it will be helpful or at least interesting to her.

Share with us any goals you have for 2020.

My blog audience has grown a lot this year and I’d like to keep that going! It’s hard to set more specific goals right now during the pandemic; but I’m always very focused on getting more people to the blog!

Any tips you want to share with bloggers just starting out?

Be yourself. I feel like I really started to grow my audience when I just really embraced who I am and leaned into that as opposed to trying to be like other influencers.

As someone with a section of their site dedicated to books, you must share some of your favs!

Oh there are so many.. I’d point you to my books page and recommend using the filters there (it’s fun because all the books are ranked so you can toggle highest rated by category!). But off the top of my list would be Educated, Verity, The Idea of You, and Matchmaking for Beginners for very different reasons!

Where is your favorite place to travel?

Probably Charleston. My parents live there as do many of my friends… and it’s just such a great city. I love the historic downtown area, I love all the restaurants and the history and the architecture… it’s the best!

Have you had any exciting sponsored campaigns recently?

Yes! I am lucky to have a lot of great long term partners with brands like Sephora, Chambord, and Sarah Flint.

Thanks so much, Grace! We love your site and can’t wait to partner with you more.

Follow Grace Atwood on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.

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