Sharri Harmel: Welcome everyone to the Extraordinary Women Podcast, and this is episode number 113. Well, today I’m chatting with Rebecca Plotnick, the founder and creator of the Fantastic Everyday Paris Parisian blog. Rebecca and I truly share this love of Paris and all things French, I guess you’d call us Francophiles, and both of us now either travel or live between two countries, the US and of course France. Well, Rebecca created her blog a number of years ago after she returned from living in France for three years. It was a way for her to bring all that she loved about France back to her everyday Parisian blog, Rebecca shares travel tips, clothing, habits, culture, and even cooking suggestions. All these wonderful things that mixed together make up the French Ju Jovi. Rebecca also created and runs the print shop where she is a full-time photographer and sells her beautiful photography of Paris, of Italy and elsewhere. So let’s get started.

Sharri Harmel: So today we are talking to Rebecca Plotnick, who is the founder and creator of Everyday Parisian, and she’s going to tell us, Or let us in a little bit on this journey from a young woman going to Paris and deciding that she was in love and had to create a business around this. So tell us, take us back.

Rebecca Plotnick: So I got laid off in 2008, and that’s pretty much when everything started. I had photographs from a time when I studied abroad, and I went to Paris for the first time. So I had those images, they were on Etsy. They started to generate income. It was like 2009, 2010. And then I did a bunch of research, saved money. I was babysitting at the time cause I didn’t have a lot, couldn’t find a job. I just took that money and then airline miles from my previous job went to Paris on a whim for 10 days. My family thought I was, they’re like you have no money. What are you doing? Like I feel like I think about this a lot because Instagram wasn’t around and I didn’t have a blog. I didn’t have a social presence. It was like, if I fail, no one’s gonna know no one, No one knows who I am. Like I get all flat on my face. It was scary, but I was like, I don’t know, I’ll just figure it out. So I stayed in this little hotel in the seventh. It was like a hundred dollars a night. It was good because I was doing solo travel, you know, so I was teaching myself how to photograph digitally as well as learn the City of Paris. In those 10 days, it’s getting lost. Not having any like blogs or social media to really navigate what I was doing. I did some research online to find the hotel.

That was it. Besides that, I had, Yeah, that was it. I just found the notebooks actually at my dad’s house of like how much things cost and like how I was gonna make it work and piece this together because it was like, I really didn’t have much. It was really nice. I didn’t have any big expectations. I just kind of went in blindly. I photographed, I explored, It was spring, but it was freezing. There were cherry blossoms, different things popping up, but it was just fading. It was like end of March, early April, and I went home, put the stuff on Etsy and it just started taking off like it was, I would say it’s instant. And if you look at it from like the outside, it was instant. But I also was on Etsy for like two years without anything happening. So it was like a lot of grunt work to like figure out what was trending and how to list things and the prices and you know, where I was gonna print things and how to ship. E-commerce wasn’t really a thing back in 2008, like Etsy just started in 2008, 2009, so it was one of the first. So it was just navigating through a whole different, and none of my friends were entrepreneurs at that point. They were all doing office jobs and corporate nine to fives. Yeah, very corporate. On the weekends I was packing up a car, taking it all to the farmer’s markets in the suburbs, setting it up at 7:00 AM just meeting people in person. And it’s crazy because even now people will be like, Oh, I bought that from you at the market. And I was like, That was so long ago. Wow. And crazy. I’m still lucky to still be able to do this. 

Sharri Harmel: You said some things that were like super important here, and that is that you knew Etsy before you actually, the business, you know, the photographs from your most recent, at that time, Paris Trip took off. So you learned a platform, but also you didn’t rely just on that platform. You were at markets. 

Rebecca Plotnick: Oh yeah. No, I was doing markets, which is good. I mean, Etsy was my, so I was maybe sitting. Which I was a night nanny and a day nanny. If you can mind, I know it’s working 10 to seven two days a week, and then in between working during the days, babysitting at night, and then doing these markets. So putting everything together and then you’ve gotta put together this inventory that you hope is going to sell. I didn’t have a ton of money, so it was like printing things, producing things, and then we didn’t have tap to pay or swipe or. I had to take, either it was cash or it was you fill out a PayPal form with your credit card and then you hope, and trust me, that when I drive back home and then go online, that like I can read their handwriting. And they were trustworthy enough that the transaction is gonna go through and the. Products that I gave to them would actually be paid for, you know? I mean, it was just crazy. But so much learning with Etsy in, in terms of how things work, blogs weren’t really big, so I was in these chat rooms, so I was chatting with everyone when the baby was sleeping. I was, Oh, check out the new listing I had like, it was so archaic to be, you know, if you look back to what it is now. 

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. So you had a blog then, though it sounds.

Rebecca Plotnick: I had a blog when I first moved to Par, like around that Paris time. It was like Rebecca plo.blogspot.com. It was the worst , cause I didn’t know what I was doing, you know?

Sharri Harmel: That was the beauty of it. Nobody knew what they were doing.

Rebecca Plotnick: But the crazy thing is, is I got a lot of traffic from it. So I was blogging about, I was like, Today I went to the blue laundry and I picked up a baguette, and then I walked down this street and this is what it looks like, and here’s the bikes. The gardens in bloom and people would be like, Oh my God, give me more. And I was okay. And so I would write this, but it wasn’t like anything to blog us today. It wasn’t consistent, didn’t really know about formatting and tag words and keywords and all these different things. So, I learned a lot and that we just directed that traffic. Cause that site was still live to my blog now it had to be a redirect because when you looked me up, I was still, and I hadn’t touched it in years. The blog spot. Yes. I wish I could have taken all that traffic. Yeah. And moved it. But so blogging was a little thing when I was doing all these trips to Paris, like here and there saving money and in 2012, I came up with brilliant idea that I was like, Well, if I’m going to Paris and photographing the city, why don’t I just move there? I’m kind of over the touristy stuff, like, I don’t need to go to this museum or that museum. I just wanna live like a local and I just want to get images as I would living like a local versus I’m going for a weekend. It’s really different here. Totally different. So I packed at my apartment in Chicago, put everything in storage. Booked, uh, Airbnb, which Airbnb was very, very nail. So I booked an Airbnb for three months, moved to Paris in February 1st of thousand 13, and was there for three months. I didn’t know anyone and just, yeah, there were no Google maps. I didn’t have like a sim card or a cell service there, so it was just like getting lost, discovering things. The great thing about that time period was the city was still in winter. I was praying for snow like every single day. I was like watching the weather and it actually snowed I think in January and February, which is so rare in Paris. So my friends were like, I hate to break it to you, but the chance that it’s gonna snow again is like, it rarely snows in Paris. It’s, You’re not gonna get snow, don’t be disappointed. And I was like, It’s going to snow. And so I moved February 1st. I think we had one snow march. And then there was another snow and it was everything I could have dreamt of more like as a photographer, as someone that could capture it. And it was like way before Instagram was really popular, so you could just walk around and people weren’t in droves trying to get shot likes. And yes, the shot it was, I’m gonna do my normal thing, wake up before everyone else, go shoot the city. And I have some, I wish I had more, but like what I had, it was amazing. This guy who is the concierge was like, Do you want a photo of you? And I was like, I’m dressed horribly. Like it’s freezing. I’m sweat and snow ever. And I was like, Actually, okay. Yes, because I don’t wanna forget this moment. And I was so happy that he. Took a photo of me, but those first three months, so we went from like snow and then you have this transition to the city opening up and being in full bloom. I was a little bummed because Cherry blossom season was super late that year, which it’s not now. It’s like end of March, early April. At the very end the city just exploded. Yeah. Into blossomed everywhere. And I have photos of every progression of the city and it was just so. Amazing to experience that. And then I went home. My sister had a baby. That was her first one. And it was important for me to be there. And then I went back, you know, it just became this addiction and renting apartments for the next three years, going back from the States to Paris and just capturing and expanding my catalog of images and knowledge of the city.

Sharri Harmel: So at that point though, your business was selling the photographs, is that right? 

Rebecca Plotnick: Yes, pretty much a hundred percent. When I moved in 2013, my sole income was Etsy. Wow. That’s Which is so scary. Yeah, I mean, so scary. I did and of course like. You have these lulls in business, you know, ebbs and flows. And I remember getting to Paris, it was like February 1st, and it was quiet, like crickets. And I was like, Oh my gosh, no one’s buying anything. I move over here. Okay, how am I gonna make this work if I don’t make any money? It was just, you go down this rabbit hole because you’re surviving as an artist. How are you gonna make this happen? But luckily things picked up and everything was fine, and I got more images and was able to just kind of build my business with that off of Paris. 

Sharri Harmel: But you also tell me, Rebecca, if this is true, it sounds to me like you go down the rabbit hole, but you also talked to yourself during that time period and just get out and take photographs. Don’t think about it. You can’t do anything about it. Is that right?

Rebecca Plotnick: Totally. Because I got laid off, I had this fear of money and like always wanting to have Plan B. My fiancé totally makes fun of me cause I always have a plan B for everything. The thing is, I saved up enough money from an art fair at the end of 2012 in Chicago. So I was able to pay in full for the apartment for the three months in Paris. So it wasn’t, I have to make rent tomorrow, like I can’t afford this. I was like, cool. Rent’s covered for the next three months, which was different mindset. Then I’m like, I just have to eat . Mm-hmm. and like get around and do things. It was actually really funny because I assumed that I wouldn’t know or I wouldn’t make friends. The host of the Airbnb, he showed me around and I was what time’s the last metro? Am I safe as a female, like being here alone. And he was telling me the last metro and what time I should be home. And I was like, Okay, I’m just gonna read books, go to cafes. I’ll be in bed by like nine, you know, , I did know a soul, you know? And then on Valentine’s Day I’m out walking on Rue Budapest just, it’s pouring down rain. I bought sweat, umbrella walking, getting a baguette. And this guy yells at me in English. He was like, Hey, hey, you and I. Me and he is like, Oh my gosh, you speak English? And I was like, Yeah, of course. And he is like, Do you mind just hopping in this shot or filming something? And I was like, ok. Turns out it was the Avengers TV show pilot. Oh my God. Which was crazy. I mean, so I’m like an extra, And the guy was so secretive at the time because it was so like it. I don’t think it ever took off the actual TV show. There were so much like stuff on the internet about it. He’s like, I can’t tell you what we’re filming. It’s top secret. Just trust me. And he was just like hinting that it was like big. And I was like, I have no idea. And then I hung out with them cuz they were filming for a while and they’re like, I’m gonna give you our phone numbers. We’ll text later, like maybe you wanna meet up. So I was like, Yeah, sure. Nothing all day and I was like, Okay, it’s fine. You know, I’ll just do my own thing. It’s Valentine’s Day, can I get a text like late? And they’re just like, Do you wanna come meet up with us? And I was like, Wait, I have plans in Paris. Like I, I know people. And so I went to their hotel and then all of a sudden they’re like, Come on, come on. And they’re just like, Push me in a van. We went to Crazy Horse at like 10:00 PM. How fun. And then we went to a club afterwards and they like pulled me aside and they’re like, You can never tell anyone. Well, now I can, but they’re like, Don’t tell anyone about this because we’re filming and we could get out. And they’re like, We’re watching your social media. So like for like months, I was like, Of an extra and a show, but I can’t tell you what it was like this wild, like it was like midnight in Paris, like this magical thing happened. And then after that I felt like I was just more open to like meeting friends and like speaking to people at cafes, not being like, Okay, I’m gonna go to bed this time. I was like, I’ll have dinner by myself somewhere, and if I meet someone, like I’ll have a conversation. And so I just opened myself up to like friendships and just the opportunities that Paris had. So it was just really great that happened at that point. 

Sharri Harmel: So what is it? About Paris, so many women going in love with Paris.

And if you haven’t gotten onto everyday parisian.com, you need to, cause your whole blog is really, as I was looking at it, here I am sitting in Boston and yet I felt like I was in Paris because of incredible photography and even writing experiences that you’ve had and recommendations. But what is it about Paris?

Rebecca Plotnick: Honestly, I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s magic, but I was having a conversation earlier. I feel like I owe so much to Paris. Because I’ve like, I’ve been single in Paris, I moved to Paris. I didn’t know anyone in the city. I built a business like that’s still thriving on the city. I was engaged in Paris, so like, it’s kind of like the giving tree where it just like continues to give back to me. So I want people to have this amazing experience. I think as a kid it’s so aspire. Like the Eiffel Tower and the Magic, and there’s romance. Every movie that you watch, even for kids like tui, but then you’ve got like midnight in Paris and Sabrina and all these different films that romanticize a city and then it does in some way. You’ve got like a lot of garbage to go through in terms of it’s not perfect. No city will ever be perfect, but I think it still holds up to the. And you can make it that way. Yeah. My friends joke that it’s like a love affair with the city because I go, I experience magical time and then I like go home and I miss it, and then I come back again. So it’s like you never have so much of like the bad stuff. It’s always just the really good, meaty stuff. 

Sharri Harmel: And you’re continually, like you said, it’s like a love affair. You go back because it’s, again, you want some of those feelings. Okay, so you’ve got the blog. It’s on blog spot, you know? You’re making your living pretty much off of Etsy with the photographs, but how did you evolve into where it is now? 

Rebecca Plotnick: Oh gosh, thank you. A lot of hard work. That was 2010, so it was like 12 years ago. So as I said in the beginning, like nothing is an overnight sensation, and if something is, I think it goes up and then it comes down. So like as quick as it rises, it falls. I have a lot of foundation below me in terms of support and something that I’ve built over the years. I’m so grateful for the community that I have. I started on Instagram like around 2013. I had a Rebecca Plotnick account, so I was chatting with a lot of my readers followers. I don’t, that’s a weird name to call out, but just that community. And I came back cuz I was living in Paris for off and on for those years. My dad was like, You’ve gotta grow up. You have to move back to the states, pick a city and put some roots down. So I ended up back in Chicago where I was before. It was like two months into living in Chicago, and I was so homesick for Paris. I was like, Why am I here? I can’t figure out, I’m missing Paris. I was grocery shopping like a Parisian. I was dressing like a Paris Persian, all these different things. So I was like, Why not write a blog about it? And I asked my readers, I was like, What are you doing in your life that brings Paris into it? And people were like, Oh, I have a shower curtain that has the Eiffel Tower on it, or pot holders. I still remember. I could probably go back and find that exact post and I was like, Wait, these are just tangible items that mean nothing. So I, what if I wrote a blog just teaching people about that culture and different things about the French life and these people could have the greater knowledge of it and just bring more depth to it. So, I came up with the idea of everyday prion typed into GoDaddy at like three o’clock in the morning. got the name. The funny thing is that I like misspelled it. It was like literally in the dark and I’m typing, and the next day I was on a, a date with a guy. It was the first date and he was like, So, you know, we’re chatting. And I was like, I’m gonna write a blog. And he’s like, What’s it gonna be called? And I was like, Everyday Paris. And I was like, it was $12 and I was so proud of myself and he was like, Are you sure you spelled it right? ? And I was. I gotta go and I like left and I ran home and I looked and I was like, Oh my God, I spelled it wrong. Luckily I was able to spell it correctly and still get it for $12 . But then building a blog, I didn’t realize like how much you actually have to do. And I feel like that first like year or two with the learning process, I didn’t plan content. I didn’t have a lot of content to back up, to continue to write because I was so used to this photography life. I’m gonna sell some stuff, print orders. Put new stuff up and then I was like, Wait, I have to write stuff. I have to like have certain days that have certain new content released. How am I gonna get you readers? You had to figure all that out and. I don’t really have a lot of blogger friends, and so no one’s like taking me under their wing and saying like, Oh, this is how it’s supposed to be done. It was trial by fire, kind of figuring it out. Yeah. So I finally got into like a group Yeah. And just started writing things just that people were reading and relating to, or being helpful, but originally in the blog was gonna be all about how to live a French inspired life in the. And the blog launched in July. I went to Paris in October of that year, and. I started writing about the trip and everything I saw and eight and people were like, Okay, that what you were writing before is great, but we want like your tips. We wanna see what you’re doing and where we should eat, where we shouldn’t eat. Trust the hotels, like travel tips. So I was like, Okay. So then I had to shift and I went mostly to the other direction where I was like riding in this travel blog about Paris from Chicago and just kind of going as often as I. and then the pandemic hit ok. And then it was like, wait, I’ve built an entire business, a travel business, like travel photography, going to Paris in 2019. I went to Paris four times. So it was like constantly going, bringing new content. Instagram had normal algorithms, you could say. Mm-hmm. , where you could like continue to grow your audience. So it’s like, Oh, I’m gonna improve. This is great. And then, Hit with this curve ball. It’s like you can’t travel to Paris for two years. No one wants travel tips because they’re not going, They’re not even planning on going, I pivoted to this French FFI series like I did French Buyer Kitchen because that’s where we were all spending our time. So different ingredients on where you could buy French things and then it was your bedroom and just parts of the home and then it was clothing and different things. So I did that and I was still selling stuff online, thankfully. Cause that was going okay. Um, started a calendar, which was really fun. Just came up with this idea. And so that’s been able to take off and wrapping paper and note cards to like, I was able to expand my product line and really focus on the business. I just engage with people. We were all stuck at home, so it was building this community and making sure everyone’s healthy, mentally, and encouraged and looking forward to the future and helping. I’m just really grateful for, Oh, that community that I’ve built. Yes. 

Sharri Harmel: But you started it before Covid ever happened.

Oh, yes. One hearing that, and this is really a good tip for everyone, is really to go to your followers, if you wanna call it that, and ask what they want, what they’re interested in, watch what they click on, because that information or that data, in many ways tells you what you need to do more of. Otherwise maybe and photographing in like a black hole, like you’re 

Rebecca Plotnick: Oh, yes. Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I’m a stats girl, like through and through my first job outside of college. I was a department store manager. At a department store in Chicago. So I had to analyze my sales. It was like, what’s trending? What’s popular? Yeah, this style is popular, and I was such a numbers girl back then. So then I just apply all that to my business. So I’m like, okay, if this is popular, like if this style of photo is popular, like bathroom art for whatever reason, like no one can ever figure. It’s so odd. So I have this hot cold that I shot in an apartment in Paris in 2013, which is still one of my best sellers, which is Yeah, they’re the faucets. So I, I shot one and then another, and you piece ’em together. So it’s like people just need bathroom art. They don’t know what to put in, which I feel. People always ask you, they’re like, Are you offended that I have this image in my bathroom? And I’m like, No, because it probably gets more view time than I than anything else. If it’s in your hallway or your entry, like someone’s gonna walk into your house, Andre like, Oh, do you remember that photo? And they’re like, No, But if it’s in your bathroom, you’re like, Oh yeah, it’s so crazy. So it’s like constantly, I’m like, What else can I do? And like kitchen art is really, So it’s like finding what people need and what people want and that void. But something fun that I do is I write these, uh, Sunday links, called Links I love. 

Sharri Harmel: Oh yes, I saw that. 

Rebecca Plotnick: So when I was younger, my grandmother, we had a great relationship. We were best friends. So she would find these articles in the newspaper, cut ’em out, put a post-it note on it with notes and mail it to me. She’s like, This exhibit in New York is something I find of interest, should check it out. That sort of thing. So links I love is like a digital format of that. Yeah. So I comb through so many websites every single day to like put. Together on Sundays, but it’s all these, it’s an educational but inspiring as well, so it’s teaching people travel tips or like ways to fix their hair or comfortable shoes or just different things. So it’s like you can spend five minutes on it if you’re busy and you just wanna scroll through and like bookmark them. Or like I have people that really read them with a glass of wine, or I say like a coffee. So it’s just a way to engage this entire community that’s spread out all across the world to read something at the same time and be like uplifted and learn and educated, I guess, and inspired. Yeah. So it’s so fun. And it’s also continuing her legacy as well. Yeah. She’s fun, which is really special.

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. So. First of all, the blog industry to some extent, or the blog, I don’t know what the word is, but I said to someone, I’m thinking of starting a blog, and they said, Well, aren’t blogs dead? And you’re shaking your head. So if someone was interested in starting a blog, if you feel blogs are still make sense from a business standpoint. What advice would you have for someone that was thinking of setting something out. 

Rebecca Plotnick: Well, I guess that’s like a whole can of worms, but I honestly, I think I wrote a blog post before the pandemic and it was why every business needs a blog, and I feel like nowadays every business thinks they needed Instagram, which I feel like they do. When I, I’m checking out a hotel or a restaurant, I always scroll down to the bottom of their, And I’m like, Okay, visually you wanna see what the hotel rooms look like or what the food looks like? Is it appetizing? Does the menu sound good? But then does the food look good? So I totally understand why a restaurant or a hotel would wanna be on social media because it’s visual. But in terms of a business, having a blog, There’s so much that you can educate anyone thinking about interacting or spending money with that business by having a block. I keep a lot of my personal life private, but I still think that you can give part of who you are as an identity and personality and kind of educate people throughout that. Like, I love coffee. You kind of pick different things. Like if you’re a gardener or if you love sports, you can still spin that characteristic and make yourself relatable to whoever is approaching you as a business. But I think in terms of SEO search, the amount of traffic that you can drive to your website, which could then from your give you traffic to go to your restaurant, Your hotel coaching programs, your Yeah, coaching programs, your organizational, your cooking tips. There’s so much. Like real estate. I don’t understand why people in real estate, like they’re on Instagram and they’re trying to tell you all this stuff, but I’m like, Tell me about the town that you sell houses in. How are you knowledgeable? Are you going to the restaurants? Are you going to the parks that the kids are gonna play at? Like, what’s the community like? There’s so much that we still need to be educated on and have perspective on. I. I also think if Instagram dies tomorrow, I’m not someone that’s gonna get on TikTok. I can’t do, It’s gonna happen. Um, I dance every day. 

Sharri Harmel: your dog could go on TikTok though. 

Rebecca Plotnick: would be a star. God such a personality. Yeah. But I feel like you don’t own your followers on these platforms on TikTok, Instagram. Whatever else. You’re like thinking Facebook some. Yeah. Facebook, they changed the algorithms. You could have 50,000 followers, a hundred thousand followers, and your reach is dropped overnight and then you’re like, I could be doing X, but now my reach is so much smaller and I’ve spent, I have like a. Amount of time that I allot for Instagram every day for my mental health. I started it this year because it was too much. I mean, the amount of DMs that I get from people, it’s like they’re not emailing. They just like what? It’s like an immediate text like I’m in Paris today, like, where should I go eat? And I was like, Hi. I don’t know. Anything about you? What kinda food do you want? What? What your budget is like? I’m not an on demand response. Yeah. But then I’m a nice person, so I’m like, then I write him back. Right. And then it’s so time consuming where I’m like, where can I spend, what’s most effective in my time? And I honestly think putting energy into writing a. Putting that text, because if you’re writing a blog about Paris or Italy or real estate or coaching or anything, those terms are searchable. What you’re writing about as a topic is searchable through Google, through any sort of online search platform. Instagram, you cannot, I could find a post that you wrote two weeks ago and then it’s like, Oh, Sherry wrote so. But I can’t remember what it was or I liked this photo, but I don’t know who did it. Cause like I’m stuck. Yeah, absolutely right. A hundred percent you should be investing. If you’re on Instagram for an hour a day, two hours a day, it’s like, why can’t you write a post for an hour? Mm-hmm. . And then having all that energy, the photos. If you don’t have good photos, invest in having someone take photos of you. You can have eight different outfits in one day and just bang them out and then use ’em progressively for like an entire year. But you have to show your face. You have to show some sort of personality on who you are because you have to be recognizable for people to trust you. 

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. That’s the relatability that you talked about. You know, because that’s something that people do want is I think especially today, because there is so much, like, why should I choose this one versus that one, you know?

Rebecca Plotnick: Right. But then you also have like friends on the internet because you trust someone. and that trust is so important. And I talk about this a lot because I’m giving recommendations for like shoes and hotels and restaurants and whatever else. And if brands are sending me, Oh, I’ll pay you X amount of dollars to promote this, and then all a sudden. I get paid and then the shoot balls apart or they hated their food. Wow. That trust that you’ve built up for years and years goes away in a second. 

Sharri Harmel: So how do you choose, Cause you have a broad cross section of products that, of things that you like, home goods to clothing, to skin care. How do you choose those things? 

Rebecca Plotnick: Gosh, I’m a nut about skin. A lot of research, like I’ll buy as much as I can in terms of skincare, I actually told my fiancé to like put a stop on me. I was like, I cannot buy any more serums until I finish these that are in here. Or like these eye creams, face masks, like everything. But then you have to try it out and I can’t recommend something and that I don’t know. But I also. Have a budget. I don’t have an unlimited amount of cash that I can buy, like six pairs of shoes. So I think about. I wanna invest and I want to have just like the French do, like have one good quality pair of shoes that I wear every single day or like every other day versus having something that’s gonna fall apart at the end of the season. Yeah. So really trusting certain brands. Like I always talk about saison because I bought their stuff maybe five, six years ago, and that stuff’s still in my closet. Wow. Which I feel. I buy something at Nordstrom’s or like J Crew and it’s a seasonal item where when sweater season is over, you’re like, okay, it’s either donate or trash. Like you can’t, like you wash and wear it and it’s done right. So I’ve just been happy with the sale on products over the years and I just am able to like continue. So like most of my closet is saison because that stuff has never had to. Donated or disposed. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Which is great. So it’s like a lot of trial and error on figuring out what I love and then sticking with those brands and then talking about them. And I feel like for anything you repeat yourself, what is it, six to eight times, maybe more before it, like red signs with someone where they’re like, Oh, maybe I should try. Yes. The first time that you introduce something where they’re like, I’m unsure of that, or like, I don’t know that brand, or, I don’t wanna spend my money on that right now, but maybe six months down the line, when you do have that money, you’re like, Okay, I’m ready to invest in that one thing.

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. Which you’re also Rebecca, talking about the relationship that you have with your followers, and that’s a consistent. Theme throughout our conversation today that you value their opinion and you also feel as though you have to continually bring them value that you never take them for granted. 

Rebecca Plotnick: Oh yeah. No, I never take them for granted. That’s why I love Sundays because so many people look forward to it and that they can read with me or like get a glimpse into like my brain, what I’m thinking, what I’m reading, what I find interest. Or feel like they might find interesting. That’s where the pandemic got hard because I’m a hugger, and like every time I see someone on the street, they’re like, Oh my gosh. They’ll run into it. They’re like, I read your blog, and like immediately it was like, I wanna hug you as like a thank you. I have noted to shake your hand. And then it’s like the pandemic. You’re like, Should I hug you? You know, we were so separate for so long. We were, but you know, now I’m starting to do in person events or just get out more and I’m running into people again, which is so nice. There was one woman, I was in Boston, just in July, and she sent me a dm. We’ve been talking for a while, and she’s like, Oh, I just missed you. And she was like, I’m a. Across from where you stayed and I was like, I’m coming back next year. Like, I wanna buy you a co coffee. Like the fact that she’s a nurse, like I value that so much. And we’ve spoken just through DMS for so long, like I really, I’m like, yeah, let’s keep in touch and I’ll definitely do that. I love the community that I built. I don’t call them ballers cause I think that’s such a weird. It’s readers and a community, but they’ve been so supportive for so long. I like kept my relationship with my fiancé private and he still wants to remain private, but like we finally were able to share that I was engaged and the comments that were so, so sweet and then now they’re like so engaged on how’s the wedding planning going? Like what’s happening? All these different things. They just like wanna know and you know, I found love later in life and I think that that’s okay too, and just being relatable on that end as well, because it doesn’t happen on that timeline for everyone.

Sharri Harmel: But you’ve kinda been off that timeline. You varied off of whatever that preconceived idea of what is success all along the way, you were an entrepreneur with no one that was your friends, close group of friends were entrepreneurs. You were starting blogs and nobody was starting blogs. Hardly anybody, at least in your circles. Exactly. So where is everyday Persian going? Like how do you see this evolving or do you do that? Do you plan that far out? 

Rebecca Plotnick: I don’t, I, obviously I have goals. I don’t know if you want me to share that with you, you think people would be interested in

Sharri Harmel: Please do share whatever you’re comfortable.

Rebecca Plotnick: Um, yeah. So right now, as I said, like social media isn’t as big of a concern as mine, as like building, so I’m teaching myself a lot about SEO, search engine optimization, just to be reachable. I guess to have like a increased readership is like a big goal of mine. But I joke that I’m blogging for the Olympics because the Olympics are gonna be in Paris in 2024 so I’m trying to get as much traction as I can leading up to that. That as people are planning for the Olympics or like the increase in awareness of the city as like kids are watching it, families are watching it couples, they’re like, Oh, maybe we should plan a trip to Paris cause we haven’t been. That sort of thing. I still think the city is gonna like continue to grow in tourism in the next couple years and I want to be one of the top resources for that. Yeah, I’d love to have a. Yes. I don’t know if it’s sharing my story and how I’ve evolved and what I’ve learned in that process, or if it’s like more of a how to book on living the French life in the US and different things that I’ve learned or different tips for Parisian life when you visit, that sort of thing. But I think I have a book in me at some point. 

Sharri Harmel: I love all those ideas. 

Rebecca Plotnick: Thank you. I hope, but in some regards, maybe you have a bigger audience with writing a blog and having this readership of just educating people through that digital platform where it’s easier to write post per day, versus putting it all on paper and having it concise into one thing that can kind of expire cause things change. I just want the blog to grow. I just find it so fun. My fiancé and I joke a lot. That I wanna be the next Ina or the next Dory. Dory. Greenspan. I love her. It’s, yeah, why not? I want Dory to invite me to dinner. That’s like one of like, that’s in the universe. That’s a personal goal. But then I’m like, oh gosh. I probably would be like shell shocked cuz I’ve met her before and I like, love her so much that I’m like, maybe we shouldn’t have dinner because I’ll probably chat her ear off where like, Oh. That like maybe we’ll cook together. Yeah. You know, then it’s like interactive where I won’t be it’s story, but I love to cook and bake and I feel like the pandemic, I’ve learned so much and now my like meals keep evolving and I like to teach people and that’s sort, I don’t know, it’s been really fun. So I feel progressively, I’d love to do more videos and teaching people how to prepare healthy, fresh, inspired meals. Just, yeah, we’ve had some like really great fun meals that we don’t eat out that much anymore cause we eat out and I spend a bunch of money and I’m like, What did we get? Right. Well, it doesn’t make sense, you know?

Sharri Harmel: Yeah. And sometimes you don’t know what’s in it, so, Oh, yeah. on that theme. One of the questions, or the last questions I always ask my podcast guests is, if you were setting up or hosting a dinner party, where would it be and who would you want to invite? 

Rebecca Plotnick: Gosh, that’s so hard. I would definitely say like an apartment in Paris and maybe Ina cooks. Maybe Dory cooks. Yeah. But I think honestly, having my family there. Oh yeah. Yeah. Cause just like everyone, we’ve had some like trips and stuff mm-hmm. over the years. And one of my sister’s favorite memories is just like having either rotisserie chicken or like a cheese board. And just like ever nibble, but I feel like the best meals I’ve had have been around like a dinner table with friends or family in that setting. So I just feel like being able to bring my family to Paris. Everyone just centered around a table in like a really good meal would probably be the most important to me. 

Sharri Harmel: I love that, that that community you’re bringing in so much of what you’ve talked about and you talk about in your blog, you know, what is French? What, what is a French culture and around food, and so much of it is good food, lengthy meals. Where we’re not necessarily eating that much, but there’s all this conversation about all sorts of things and just being together. The importance. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. That’s beautiful. Well, Rebecca, thank you.

Rebecca Plotnick: Thank you

Sharri Harmel: Thank you for joining us today. 

Rebecca Plotnick: I hope I educated someone or inspired someone to do something. 

Sharri Harmel: I think everyone listening to this is if they’re not already subscribers to everyday Parisian, they’re gonna run over there right now and subscribe because this is just fun. Absolutely fun. And also it really changes our lives because part of what you describe, you take the best from the French culture and insert it into our American culture to some extent that makes us healthier. Why not take the best of the best of the best? And. Then we have better lives, so. Exactly. Yeah. So thank you so much. 

Sharri Harmel: I still hope you enjoyed my conversation with Rebecca as much as I did. We even got to meet Andre, her adorable and much loved Bernie Doodle. Love it. Rebecca’s Everyday Parisian blog is a perfect example of the continued success of blogs, especially those blogs that are assisted with beautiful photography. 

Rebecca’s information is below in the show notes and I am sure you are going to want to subscribe if you haven’t already, because you will love everyday Parisian as much as I do. Thank you again for joining us today, and I look forward to seeing you, hearing you getting your comments on our next Extraordinary Women Podcast, A bientôt.

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