With my first trip out of the country to Guatemala in May 2017, there was a freedom and tranquility that I never experienced before while living in the United States. I never realized how taxing it was, especially with the high racial climate of “post-racial America”. Although racism is a systematic worldwide problem, I was able to somewhat release the burden to have a higher quality of life while experiencing raw nature and feeding my body with the freshest of fruits and vegetables. After my month-long journey in Guatemala, I knew travel was something that I wanted to turn into a career. The end of May 2018 I embarked on a journey to travel through Mexico and explore parts of Central America. I was living my dream by securing hotel and travel related collaborations and being sponsored by different fashion and beauty brands. I had travel-related partnerships and collaborations secured in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica. This all came to an abrupt end when my computer broke while staying in Mexico City. Since I only had a few hundred dollars left, at the time, the only choice I felt that I had was to fly home, get a computer, then find work to save up for my next trip. At the time, continuing my travels with only being able to highlight my journey on Instagram without the leverage I had gained for having a web-based blog and without access to my Adobe photo and video editing software didn’t seem like a viable option.
After my unexpectantly abrupt trip from Mexico, I was a complete mental wreck. Even though it might seem minor to some, my passion seemed like it had been snatched away from me. I had finally set out to do something that I was extremely passionate about, sharing my love of adventure and travel with all of my supporters. Before leaving to Mexico, I had promised myself that I didn’t want to ever work for anyone else again. I wanted to make my entrepreneurial career come to fruition with hard work, passion, and funded with the money that I saved up. Coming back from Mexico, I was depressed and was not happy about the idea of blogging. Everything that I did for my brand, with the exception of the Blossom & Sol Natural Hair Festival, felt extremely forced. I hated posting on either of my Instagram pages and all I could think about doing was creating amazing travel-related content.
I came to the realization that the word blogger and influencer are sometimes used interchangeably, but during this time I wasn’t sure what I was influencing others to do. Truth is, about 5 or so years ago, I started The Co Report blog without the intention of showcasing the face, Coco Bates, behind the brand. A lady, whom I met at a fashion party, said that it would be a great idea to showcase myself on my blog and on a personal Instagram account. My Instagram page started off as something I did for fun by showcasing different outfits, products I thoroughly enjoyed using, and occasionally, a little bit of personal life. It was never my intention to monetize my personal Instagram account, have a massive following, or to take on the role as an Instagram influencer. Fast forward to my mental break episode, a good friend of mine asked me what I was influencing my supporters to do since I now carried the title of an influencer. At the time, the question stunned me and I knew I couldn’t keep posting, on either platform, until I became fully aware of my intentions with myself and the supporters that I have gained from over the years.
In addition to the fashion, beauty, & various other lifestyle topics that I will be covering, moving forward it will be my joy to share my love of travel in hopes of inspiring and encouraging others to explore foreign destinations. A variety of travel-related topics such as luxury and adventure travel, highlighting destinations located on the continent of Africa as well as other places of the African Diaspora, and travel geared towards cultural enrichment will be featured on the blog and on my personal Instagram page. I will be partnering with a variety of hotels, tourism boards, tour companies, and other travel-related companies to bring you the best of what travel has to offer.
In addition to traveling, I will also introduce various vegan & plant-based topics, restaurants, recipes, and products. Becoming a mostly plant-based vegan has been astonishing in how it has improved my overall physical and mental health. It has even changed my viewpoint on how I view society, the medical industry, and all living creatures.
Starting today, there will be continuous content on The Co Report Blog as well as content on my Instagram page. If you have any recommendations on where you think I should go, topics I should cover, or any questions, leave them below so that I can answer!
