We love following and reading Hill Country blogs and bloggers, and among our current favorites is Boerne’s Shawna Holly. Shawna runs Sowing Seeds (Instagram, Facebook), which sits right at the intersection of family and community-themed blogs. Not only does Shawna share her family’s stories but also her adventures in a small Texas town.
It’s a great combination that has attracted an impressive social media following in a short time.
With Mother’s Day on the horizon, we sent Shawna some questions about her own creative work, her beloved community, and what she envisions for her future as a “content creator.”
THE TEXAS WILDFLOWER (TW): Tell us about how you came to blogging.
SHAWNA HOLLY (SH): Well, I used to run a Facebook page called “LIFE.Styled” and it was really just an outlet for my interests in interior décor and event design. I booked a few virtual design clients through that page as well and it was a ton of fun! The page, however, eventually morphed to include our family’s favorite recipes, photos from our excursions around the Hill Country, and reviews of local spots and businesses we loved. It started to feel like I was alienating the core base of fans on that page who were really there for the design posts, not local, and didn’t give a hoot about what my family was up to! So, I decided it was time to move to a true blog format. I attempted to create the blog in such a way that it would be okay to include topics that covered the full gamut of my many varied interests, while still seeming cohesive. Fine tuning that focus/scope of work is still a work in progress.
TW: Why do you think so many mothers of young children have taken to blogs and Instagram about their lives in recent years?
SH: I honestly think that the rise in the number of stay-at-home parents over the past few years probably plays a big part in it. I don’t think we realize until we’re in the thick of it, how lonely being at home with your kids all day can be. It’s well worth it, of course, but you lose touch with a lot of the people around you and I think blogging/Instagramming is a way to stay connected. You meet other people who are in your same situation, who can commiserate, and offer advice when you need it. I also think that it’s easy to lose part of yourself in the stay-at-home parent journey because your personal hobbies tend to get pushed to the side; in my case, LIFE.Styled was my first attempt to reconnect to my hobbies and my pre-mom self.
TW: What advice do you have to other Hill Country women who might like to follow your lead—but who don’t know where or how to begin?
SH: I’d say “just do it.” I put it off for so long because an actual website seemed so intimidating, I wasn’t sure what to call it, I didn’t know how to get people to actually read it, etc. What I learned is that none of that really matters. Just take the leap and you’ll naturally figure it out as you go. I still am! And a good mentor doesn’t hurt either!
TW: In your blog posts and Instagram photos, it seems as if the larger community of Boerne is part of your family.
SH: I really and truly love this town and the people in it! I’ve been fortunate to get to meet quite a few of the folks who run the local shops and businesses, Boerne’s Visitor’s Center, wineries, B&Bs, as well as community event organizers, other bloggers and writers, etc., and I haven’t met a “bad” one yet. I write about them because I honestly find what they do, and their contributions to our community, to be fascinating. The end goal is always to have that honest appreciation show through the final product.
TW: What unique role do you think local bloggers play in helping visitors and newcomers get to know a specific town?
SH: I think local bloggers and writers provide a valuable input that just isn’t found through your larger publications, mainly because they live here! They don’t just come in from out of town, take a few pictures and quotes, then move on to the next. There’s a certain authenticity that comes from keeping a true pulse on a community and I think that can be felt by the readers. If I love a place, I’m going to tell you about it; along with whether there’s restrooms, changing tables, play-spaces, shade, food, etc. because those are the things that moms like me really want to know about. You’re not going to get that in many big-name publications!
TW: As your children get older, presumably you will have more time to write and snap. How do you think that might change your creative work?
SH: Ha! Is there ever really more time? Or are you just busy in a different kind of way? That’s something I’ve written about and am excited to find out. But to answer your question, I hope to be able to take more overnight trips as the kids get older; it’s hard to do that when they’re as young as they are so a lot of my content focuses purely on Boerne. The goal is to eventually be able to cover more events and places around the Hill Country, outside of the city limits!
I also hope to be able to host and attend more community events. We have one coming up at Maker’s Place called “Blooms for Boerne” [April 19 at 6:00 p.m. | Tickets] that will include a fun floral arranging workshop with Alice’s Table, pottery painting, live music from the Bliss, The Boerne Singing Sisters, and wine tastings from Sister Creek Winery. It will be an amazing night and portions of each ticket will be donated to the Boerne Community Coalition. I’d love to be able to do similar events, maybe monthly, to fellowship a bit with our neighbors and support a good cause.
Thanks so much, Shawna, for sharing your story.
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