Rhoda V. Hendrix

I was fascinated with the internet when it came out and was an early adopter of jumping online and figuring things out. I started my lifestyle blog, Southern Hospitality, in early 2007, back when blogs were a brand new thing and people had no idea what a blog was.

I shared my home decorating (as bad as it was back then) and life in general, eventually sharing lifestyle content, too. I learned and grew and about 4 years in, I began to make money by monetizing my blog with ads and working with brands.

When I say it changed my life forever, it’s not an exaggeration. It’s the truth!

I had reinvented myself at 50 and it was a wonderful time of learning and growing. Things have definitely changed over those almost 18 years, but it’s been the ride of a lifetime for me. I’ve been able to support myself and plan for retirement with the income I’ve made and I’m very grateful for it.

Raptive has helped me immensely in my blog journey and I’ll forever be grateful for the folks who started that company from their home. It’s been quite the journey for all of us!

Online creators have been at the heart of the online world and I’m so glad to have been part of it for so long. I hope to keep blogging into retirement, so we will see what the future holds. With all the changes constantly happening to our sites, there are many unknowns, but I will always be grateful that I jumped in early in this online world.