Alex Beadon threw out a tough challenge for Day 6 of her #FeelGoodBlogging challenge. We were asked to be vulnerable and share something about ourselves that might push us out of our comfort zones, but would ultimately allow our readers to learn even more about us. So let's dive in!

I was always a hard-working, dedicated student. Pretty much all straight A's from the get-go and by high school, was on a path towards all Honors and AP courses. That is, until my sophomore year. I was placed in the Honors English class and after turning in one of our first writing assignments our teacher announced to us that only a handful of us were "A" students, a few more were "B's" and the majority of us would be "C" & "D" students, according to her [highly subjective] opinion. At least that's my recollection of her speech. And you can imagine, for a girl who always strived for A's, this terrified me. But here's the thing about me, most definitely as a teenager, and even sometimes to this day: that rather than rising to her challenge, and BELIEVING IN MYSELF that I could get an A in her class, I shrunk in fear that I would get my first C or D. This had me in a state of panic, so much so that I arranged a meeting with her, my guidance counselor and my parents. The outcome of which was the decision to drop out of her class and return back to the non-Honors English class. That switch began a snowball effect that eroded my self-confidence, the belief in my intelligence and my academic abilities and by the time I graduated from high school, I was in NO Honors classes. I didn't even want to go to college, but wanted to pursue dance full-time.

Thankfully, my parents wouldn't hear of it and I did head off to James Madison University in August of 1990. It was there that I first encountered the notion that maybe my sophomore year Honors English teacher only had one opinion about my writing skills, not a hard fact. After turning in an essay about "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," my college English professor called me to his office. I was terrified. I thought I was in for a lecture on my poor writing skills. Instead, he said to me, matter-of-factly, "Megan, this is the most well-written Freshman essay I've ever read." Can you guess my reply? "That can't be true. My high school English teacher told me I couldn't write well." I was shocked to say the least. And thankfully, he was very encouraging. But it has literally taken me decades to erase the doubt that ONE teacher planted in my mind and in which I so readily believed. I would give anything to go back to my carefree days as a young girl, when the world was my oyster and I hadn't given anyone else the power to erode my confidence.

Two things have occurred since then that have helped me start believing in my writing abilities again... first, in starting my own business and associated blog, I am regularly amazed at my own posts, how easily the words flow out of me and in a clear and coherent manner, no less. Second, I found out this year that my high school English teacher had passed away and I thought, a la Elsa, "OK. It's time to LET IT GO." I've allowed her opinion to eat away at my confidence for far too long. It's time to release her hold on me and move forward with the knowledge that I can, in fact, not only write, but write well.

We all have negative self-talk that erodes our confidence, instills guilt and makes us generally feel lousy. So today, try a dose of self-love. Try BELIEVING IN YOURSELF. Because the only opinion of you that truly matters in the end, is your own.

For Day 4 of Alex Beadon's #FeelGoodBlogging challenge, she's taking a page out of one of my favorite magazines, US Weekly. Each month there's one celebrity sharing 25 things you didn't know about them. Thankfully, Alex only asked us to share 10. Hope you enjoy getting to know your friendly photo organizer a little better! Feel free to comment below and tell me if we have anything in common! :)

Clearly, 2014 has NOT been the "Year of the Blog" for me, but I'm hopeful that this week's FREE blogging challenge from Alex Beadon helps me get back on track with my business blog, so here goes!

Challenge #1: A Simple Introduction

Who am I? 
I'm a certified personal photo organizer who is passionate about helping my clients organize, protect and ENJOY their precious photo memories. A few fun facts about me: I have a Master's degree in anthropology/archaeology and have worked on several historical sites in Virginia, including spending a year at James Madison's Montpelier. I find a strong connection between my archaeological background and my photo organizing career. There are many treasures to be found at the bottom of my clients' photo boxes, including Civil War-era tin-types!

Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging as a form of networking, to put myself out there so that future clients could get to know me, to share my photo organizing expertise and to interact with my blog readers.

Who is your blog for?
My blog is for anyone with a passion for photography, but who struggles to find time to enjoy the photos they take. I share photo organizing tips, fun photo gift ideas and other photo-related topics that can help you on your photo organizing journey. I have a particular fondness for working with baby boomers & retirees and hope that my blog is helpful as they begin to ponder their life's legacy.

What's something I've been working on lately that I'm REALLY proud of?
Recently, I completed two different slideshow projects: one for a returning client and one for a brand-new client. One was a surprise for a 60th birthday party, the other premiered at my client's son's wedding reception. Both clients told me the slideshows were the hit of the parties. I take great pride in creating a product that is so well-received and brings so much joy to so many people.

What’s the ONE MESSAGE that you hope people take away from your blog?
I hope people find that I'm down-to-earth, accessible and full of helpful knowledge with regards to their photo collections.

Those of you who know me personally know there are many reasons I dislike living in the DC Metro area; however, today, I’m focusing on one very important reason I am THANKFUL to be living here; namely, a newly developed networking group called Femworking founded by the beautiful Kelley Sanabria. In just THREE months, she and her BBF, Nicole Dash of Connecting Authentically, organized what was one of THE BEST conferences I’ve ever attended. They brought together 130 female small business owners and bloggers into one room for a jam-packed day full of amazing insights and advice. #femcon13 was a smashing success!

Femworking was founded on the principal of giving and from the awareness that we are better advocates for each other’s businesses than our own. It is a warm and fuzzy group with no judgement, no condescension and no competition. We’re all in this together, so let’s help each other out. One of my favorite quotes of the day came from Katie Morton of The Monarch Company, who said, “If you wore one of those sucker-upper thingies, go in the bathroom on the next break and take it off. We don’t care!” Truer words have never been spoken.

Truthfully, I’ve always had more male than female friends, for many reasons I won’t bore you with now, but Saturday was one of the first days I felt 100% comfortable amongst a room full of women. The amount of awesomeness in that room was unbelievable. As Nicole said, “It was magical.” I got to meet Jill Smokler, AKA Scary Mommy, who was perfectly lovely and not scary at all. I heard an amazing presentation by the entrepreneurial master, Holly Hamann of TapInfluence. Each and every presenter, panelist and attendee was so down-to-earth, easy to approach and easy to talk to. I’ve never experienced anything like it.

For all you bloggers and small business owners in the DC area, consider joining this stellar group of women as you grow your blog and/or small biz. other areas of the country, fingers crossed for Kelley having larger plans to expand nationwide!