Why I Re-Launched Kayla in the City

I’ve been thinking about redesigning the blog for over a year now and FINALLY decided to just freaking do it. While I loved many aspects of my previous design, I wanted something a bit more customized and a bit more me. I’m so excited to now be able to show you the finished product!

Working with Tara of Hatch and Harbour to bring this re-launch to reality has been so much fun. After filling out a detailed questionnaire about me and this blog, Tara created the below mood board for inspiration. The big things she focused on were authenticity, unfiltered, inspiring, approachable, clean but fun and a touch of NYC. The idea behind my logo is going back to those old NYC fonts for a modern meets vintage vibe.

I’m especially excited about the new Class Review page. The new page totally kicks the old page’s ass by a long shot. Instead of categorizing by the type of class, you can now check out class reviews based on what you’re looking for: do you want to get sweaty, strong, sculpted, zen or just plain weird. I’m absolutely obsessed with the cute icons Tara created to represent each class category.

There’s also a handy dandy map incase you want to look up classes via location.

 

Why am I relaunching now?

Kayla in the City has been around for awhile, since November 2011 to be exact. What started off as a fun way to share my love of fitness as a college student has evolved into a lot more and unlike all the other blogs I started and quickly abandoned, I think this one is here to stay 🙂

While my goal to inspire others to lead a healthier and therefore happier life hasn’t changed, my perspective on what healthy is has dramatically shifted over the years. I also realize that healthy has become an overused marketing term and apologize that I can’t think of a better, more fitting word to use.

I’ve come to the realization that being healthy is about more than just being physically fit. It’s about eating food that makes you feel good. It’s about being happy in your relationships. It’s about feeling fulfilled in your job. To me this is a holistic approach to healthiness. Holistic has kind of a hippie-dippy connotation to it and I’m not suggesting that I’m going to start frolicking in meadows while talking about healing herbs. What it means to me is the awareness that everything is interconnected.

I used to think that because I worked out a lot and ate my kale I was on the automatic path to being healthy and therefore happy. I’ve since realize that this def isn’t the case. You’ve possibly noticed a shift in the kind of content I write to include things like productivity tips, life advice and my own career struggles.

I’m still a fitness blogger at my core, but I will also continue to incorporate other aspects of what it means to me to be healthy and ultimately happy. Because why bother if it’s not going to make you happy?

 

Also…

I’ve alluded to this, and blatantly said it a bunch, but things are shifting on the job front for me and I want this website to support that.

Some things are up in the air but there’s one thing I can share with you — I have a little side project called Holistic Happening and we’re throwing our first event tomorrow July 14th. I’m teaming up with Holistic Health Coach Leslie McDonald to throw a rooftop yoga + dinner party. Don’t worry, I’m not doing any of the cooking, that’s Leslie’s territory.

The event is sold out (!!) and we’re already planning next month’s “happening”.

So, what’s next?

There’s still a few blog updates that need to go down (hello, new photos!) In the mean time, browse around and let me know what you think!

 

Millennial. Authentic. Telling it like it is. Holistically Healthy. Fitness Blogger. Kayla in the City.