Katie Jacobs | Styling My Everyday
Owner of Styling My Everyday
Katie Jacobs is a fourth-generation Nashville native author, stylist, photographer, and founder of Styling My Everyday, a food and lifestyle blog. Katie released her first book, So Much to Celebrate, in 2018 and her second book, The Chocolate Chip Cookie Book was released in October of 2023.
What businesses do you run?
Katie Jacobs is the creative mind behind “Styling My Everyday,” a multifaceted business that combines her skills as a cookbook author, stylist, and photographer. With a focus on food styling and photography, Katie also engages in book publishing, helping others showcase the beauty in their culinary creations. Her philosophy emphasizes celebrating the everyday moments, encouraging people to find joy in the simplicity of daily life.
How did you get started as an entrepreneur?
Katie’s entrepreneurial journey began right after college, driven by her passion for magazines. She launched a small publication in Franklin, Tennessee, before joining Nashville Lifestyles as a creative director. While she thrived in this role, the corporate atmosphere proved challenging. Working in a windowless cubicle for a company owned by Gannett stifled her creativity and inspiration. Recognizing the need for a more fulfilling path, Katie established “Styling My Everyday,” a name that reflects her mission to highlight the beauty in ordinary life.
How do you think about growth in your current business? How do you plan for the future?
Katie believes that growth is a continual process that mirrors one’s personal evolution. She acknowledges that many entrepreneurs quit too early when faced with setbacks, such as a poorly attended book signing or a disappointing sales performance. Instead of viewing these experiences as failures, Katie sees them as opportunities for learning and adaptation. She emphasizes that as one’s life changes, so too should their business.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
For those looking to start their own ventures, Katie stresses the importance of pushing beyond comfort zones. Many young entrepreneurs shy away from challenges, preferring to stay in safe spaces. However, with age comes the understanding that failure is not something to fear. Katie encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to embrace discomfort and keep moving forward.
Additionally, she believes it’s crucial to balance passion with realism. While following one’s passion is important, understanding one’s strengths and what can lead to success is equally vital. She advises entrepreneurs to reflect on both what they love and what they excel at, ensuring their pursuits are grounded in both passion and purpose.
“People should follow their passions, but it’s important to be realistic about them. Don’t rely solely on passion; also consider your purpose ”
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Katie Jacobs 0:00
Hi. I am Katie Jacobs. The name of my business is styling my everyday I'm a cookbook author and stylist and photographer. I started in the publication industry, in magazines and as a graphic designer. So that was a really incredible background to what I do now, which kind of moved into food, styling, photography, book publishing and that kind of thing. So I style a lot of photo shoots for magazines. I do a lot of photography work for book publications, and then I'm an author of my own two cookbooks. Right when I got out of college, I really wanted to go into the magazine world. I loved magazines. I collected magazines, so I started a small magazine in Franklin, Tennessee, and then moved to Nashville lifestyles and worked up to be the creative director there. And I loved it, but it was just exceptionally corporate. But my magazine was owned by Gannett, that owns the Tennessean, so I was punching the clock. I was working very long hours. We worked in cubicles, in an office building, an older office building, no windows, and just as a creative it was very difficult to stay inspired and not be burned out, because you're trying to produce these incredibly beautiful, inspired layouts, but just the corporate environment was difficult for me to keep up with, but I just felt like I needed to do something, and named my company styling my everyday just because I kind of wanted it To be about the larger styling stuff work that I do, but more about styling like your everyday. So like the everyday is beautiful, finding those beautiful moments in your everyday life. I think that I come from an entrepreneurial background. My parents have always owned their own businesses. My stepdad is a home builder. My dad's in real estate, but he's always been starting new companies and new businesses. So when I came out of college and started in a more corporate environment, I think everybody was, like, a little bit surprised, like, oh, you know, like, we just maybe it's because we're inflexible and don't like to work for people, but we just work for ourselves. So I didn't feel I guess it gave me the courage to start my own thing. I think that it's important to push yourself and to do things that make you feel uncomfortable. And as a younger person, you kind of shy away from those things, like don't put yourself in uncomfortable situations. You kind of want to stay in your lane, but as you get older, it's like, I'm fine, you know, like, not afraid to fail. And I think that that's important. I think that some people fail and some people succeed because they don't follow through. I think that sometimes people can quit prematurely. I think sometimes, if you have a failure, if you have a book signing that nobody shows up to, if you have a book that doesn't sell as well as your last one, you can decide that that well, that's my last I failed. So I just think that people give up on themselves too early and quit too early, and as their life evolves, their business has to evolve too. I heard something recently that said people should follow their passion, but you should be realistic about your passions. So I feel like a lot of people that go into starting a business solely rely on passion and not look at purpose and maybe what they're really good at. So I think it's important when you're starting something, to not only realize what you're passionate about, but what you can be successful at. Yeah, you can find me at styling my everyday.com I'm also Katie Jacobs Nashville on Instagram, which is too super fun. I kind of show my everyday world and her garden and baking in the kitchen, and it's fun.
