Today we’d like to introduce you to Destiny Snyder.
Hi Destiny, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m the owner and creator of Guided by Destiny, a travel blog with a mission to make traveling more affordable, fun, and convenient! I especially love showcasing all of Tampa Bay’s beauty and hidden gems. I was a small-town Ohio girl who had the next 5-10 years of her life mapped out. I was going to finish getting my bachelor’s degree, get married to my fiance, start working in my career as a dietitian, and then start my family. Twenty-four-year-old me was in a big surprise. My fiance called off the engagement, and I was at a loss. I remember being so scared, thinking, “What now?? What’s next??”.
I ended up finishing getting my bachelor’s degree later that year, and two weeks later my car was packed with everything it could fit and I was heading to Florida. Not knowing anyone or anything other than the fact I was ready for a change. That move changed my life and healed me in ways I didn’t know I needed to be healed. My worrisome “What now?? What’s next??” changed to become an excited “What now?! What’s next?!”.
I had known I wanted to start a blog since college, but initially, the plan was to focus on food. Once I moved to Florida, I began traveling more and stepping outside my comfort zone. I realized people were reaching out to me asking me for travel advice, whether it be what to do in an area. or how I traveled so much. I knew then that I wanted my blog’s focus to be on travel and the Tampa Bay area.
I’ve had the blog for two and a half years now, and I’ve even done a rebrand along the way. I thought it was going to just be a hobby where I could direct people asking me these questions, I never thought I’d be coming up on the first page of Google searches and partnering with brands and hotels. It has been such a beautiful journey, and I am forever grateful that my life took the unexpected path that it did!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been nowhere near a smooth road. It’s been bumpy, curvy, and everything in between. But that’s what makes the journey so amazing and the accomplishments even more satisfying.
I procrastinated a lot in starting my blog. I thought I had to read every single book on how to start a blog before I could actually do it. That was obviously me doing a little self-sabotage. Once I finally did start my blog, it was called “Appetite for Adventure.” While I was going to start it as a travel blog, I wanted to grow it into a multi-faceted blog where I could marry my love for food and travel. I began to realize just how generic Appetite for Adventure was. It wasn’t original, and more importantly, it wasn’t personal. I wanted people to know my name, and I wanted that to be a part of the brand. Thus, Guided by Destiny was born.
The only problem was this was a year and a half into me blogging and I had just got my traffic to about 20k pageviews/month! Rebranding meant starting over. Yes, I had redirects from my old blog posts to my new ones, but once Google realized what was going on it took many of my posts off of the first page of Google. My new website didn’t have as good of a domain authority yet, so my traffic plummeted. I’m still in the midst of getting it back up to what it was before the rebrand, but I’m almost there! And my domain authority is even higher than it was before now. Not only that, but Guided by Destiny just feels right. I know it was the right decision for the long run of my business.
The beginning of my Florida journey all started because of a bumpy road, so I know that sometimes the bumpiest of roads lead to the most beautiful destinations!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a travel blogger and content creator. I created Guided by Destiny to share my experiences, advice, and travel guides with whoever wants to come on the journey with me. Especially since COVID, I have been focusing more on the Tampa Bay area, and I specialize in Florida content.
I am most proud of making my dreams become a reality and the fact that I haven’t given up. If you know me, you may know that I get bored with hobbies and career interests somewhat easily. Blogging and content creating is something that I wake up and enjoy doing every single day. I love thinking about someone stumbling on my post and getting exactly the information they were looking for or leaving feeling inspired, and that keeps me motivated to write and share more. I think my story sets me apart from others. There are a lot of people out there traveling and blogging, but I think when women hear my story it helps them connect with me in a way they might not with others.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
For me personally, success is doing something that you love every single day and making a career out of that passion. That’s definitely what I’m striving to do. But just because that’s the end game, that doesn’t mean there aren’t small and big wins and successes along the way!
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://www.guidedbydestiny.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guidedbydestiny/
