21 Entrepreneurs: No. 10 Christine Meintjes

I met Christine years ago at a launch. Her work, be it her photography or award winning blog, is visually beautiful, crisp and clean! She’s also jolly fab and lives life with a happy go lucky (yet determined) attitude! 

TITLE: Christine Meintjes

1. ) How did your business/blog/website come about? How was this idea born and what lead you to do what you’re doing now? 

I started my photography business in 2007 and soon realized that there was a huge need for brides to see visuals as inspiration for their big day. At that stage most of my clients were sitting with me for hours, going through my wedding albums to plan their weddings. In 2007 there was no Pinterest or Instagram and Facebook just started. Having a lot of wedding industry contacts and a ton of content, the idea of starting a wedding blog (and later turning it into a lifestyle blog) was born. In 2010 I started The Pretty Blog. 

2.) Tell us about your morning routine. Any specific rituals / productivity aspects etc 

My husband and I have coffee in bed and chat about the day ahead. Then we get ready for the day. And head to the office. We have an open plan office in Stellenbosch were both my businesses (http://www.christineMeintjes.com photography & theprettyblog.com) and my husbands web development company (http://www.plusplusminus.co.za) operate from with our teams.

3.) What inspires you? 

Design in all shapes and sizes. I have a huge appreciation for food, beautiful spaces, cities, fashion and technology.

4.) Biggest lesson you’ve learnt?

Comparison is the thief of joy! 

5.) Biggest failure so far?

We started an online school a few years ago and I believe we were way ahead of our times. We rushed into something and unfortunately had to close down the business. But with that said I believe failures are very important. Without them, we wouldn’t grow! 

6.) Biggest Success so far?

Wow that’s difficult. But we were selected as one of the top blogs in the world by Bloglovin a NYC based blog authority, which we were very proud of. 

 7.) Your work space? Clean & Minimal or Eclectic and colourful – what would we find on your desk?

Clean. Minimal. White and a 27inch iMac 🙂 a cup of coffee or a bottle of water 🙂

8.) Top 3 entrepreneurial tips?

Chase the dream. Hustle all the way. 

Never stop learning or improving. 

Keep things simple.

9.) Who are you currently listening to? 

Seth godin is my number one go to! 

10.) Your best marketing tool? 

Yourself. No one knows your business as well as yourself. If I had to select a spesific tool, I’m currently a huge fan of email (newsletters) and Instagram. 

 11.) Dream Big Right? What’s next for you?

Who knows, but one day I’d like to live in NYC for a few months 😉 

For more info:

Website / The Pretty Blog / Instagram