What’s Inspiring Us This Month — May
Special spotlight on:
A quick Q&A with our brand and website design client, Mary Hollis Huddleston—
Mary is a working mom bridging the gap for other modern Southern women between lavish, old-fashioned hospitality and all the time-saving entertainment resources of today!
What makes a great hostess gift?
“Forget the candles and small tchotchkes. If it’s one host, I love a nice potted orchid or a fresh floral arrangement that they can display in their home the day of the shower to add to the décor. For multiple hostesses, I suggest a nice bottle of wine or champagne with a pretty ribbon and tag attached. I personally do not like gifts that cannot be consumed, as I don’t love accumulating ‘stuff.’ Food and beverages make the best hostess gifts in my opinion.”
If a tablescape needs one thing, besides plates and utensils, what is it?
“Flowers, of course! I love splurging on a fabulous floral arrangement or multiple arrangements for a tablescape. It’s always the first thing my guests notice. Sometimes I enjoy creating them myself and other times I leave it to the professionals. Fresh flowers can easily set the mood of the table, and I almost always include them in my tablescapes.”
How long have you been growing your Instagram following? I’m just starting out and it feels like it takes forever!
“Instagram has changed so much since I first started my account almost eight years ago. It was much easier to grow an authentic audience as the algorithm showed my content more regularly to my following and to similar suggested accounts. My advice now is to focus on your own content and come up with a regular schedule of what and when you want to post, story, and share reels. Don’t forgo providing meaningful content to chase followers. It also helps to have your own niche or perspective, so you stand out, and being consistent with your brand is also helpful. Many content creators overlap these days, so focus on your own personal vibe and then stick with it.”
Why rebrand to your name instead of Mrs. Southern Social?
“I decided to rebrand my name so that it matched my byline. In addition to my books, I’m writing more and more for magazines and online publications. I use my own name as my byline, so I wanted my brand to be cohesive and not confusing. I’ve found my voice on social media, and with the launch of my website, it felt like the perfect time to change my name along with my new look.”
What’s the book writing/publishing process like?
“It is not for the faint of heart! I never thought I’d write a book, nevermind two. However, after many years spent as a luxury wedding planner, I had countless crazy wedding and event-related stories that I realized would be fun to turn into a fictional novel. I had the content/inspiration for a book before the idea of writing a book ever came to mind. I knew that my writing skills alone wouldn’t be sufficient for the quality of work that I would want to create, so I partnered with my dear friend, and very talented writer, Asher Fogle Paul. We were fortunate enough to have a friend in the publishing industry to advise us when writing our book proposal that led to a deal with Harper Collins. It took us about a year to write each manuscript, which then went through months of editing. It was worth the time and work, but when it’s not your full-time job to write (which it was not for myself or for Asher), it takes a lot of time and dedication. We both had to sacrifice time with our families and other jobs while we wrote the manuscripts, but it was worth it. Asher and I both refer to our novels as our ’other children.’ Ha!”
Something to try:
Straight from the horse’s mouth —
an update on what matters most to Instagram’s algorithm right now.
