Streets, Beats and Eats is a Dallas lifestyle blog written by me, a body image and self love advocate and 20 something Dallasite, Casey Brown. Streets, Beats and Eats is an online community where women come together to navigate adulthood together. It’s a safe space online to ask questions, to share stories, to be inspired and to never feel alone in what you’re going through in life.
The Story Behind Streets, Beats and Eats
Streets, Beats and Eats was officially created in fall 2017. But I (Casey Brown) can’t tell the story of Streets, Beats and Eats without starting the story a few years before that when it was just a “little blog” that started out called “Life’s A Hashtag” then “Casey Lee Walker aka Casers92”.
Early Stages of Blogging
I could date the originally blogging days back to the early 2000s when I created on Xanga under the name “California Beach Bumm”, while living in Hutchinson, Kansas.
But the real start of this Dallas blog started in 2012 when I was interning in Dallas at the American Airlines Center. I was studying music marketing and my boss, David Ireland, told me that there were hundreds of people that wanted the same jobs as me. He challenged me to find a way to be different than everyone else. So I took my love and skillset (thanks Toni Lowen) for writing and started a blog called Life’s A Hashtag: And I’m Just Trying to Trend. And to be clear here, the hashtags in reference were on Twitter… I just got my first iPhone a few months prior to this and didn’t understand Instagram.
My blog centered around entertainment and technology. I wrote about award shows, music streaming services, live concert reviews, playlists… Anything I could think of to show my wealth of knowledge about the industry and my passion.
Birth of the Dallas Blog
In 2014 after graduating from TCU, I moved to Dallas. I knew nothing- and barely anyone to turn to for advice. And I was struggling to find suggestions on how to navigate Dallas as a 21 year old.
So, I started sharing on my personal Instagram what I was doing and how I was navigating my way around Dallas. Where to eat, live, shop, get my hair done, how to make friends and everything else in between, all without breaking the bank. Y’all, I was broke. TCU student loans were (are) the real deal.
Around the same time, I started using my blog (website, not social media) that was focused on technology as an outlet for personal stories. I had been battling an eating disorder for quite a few years and finally hit a wall and wanted to stop. And so I wrote about that. I received amazing feedback from friends, family and strangers for writing about my struggles to help others. At the time it wasn’t really written to help others but to help hold myself accountable on “quitting” my ED, but I am so thankful that it helped others.
I continued to share both on my blog + personal Instagram over the next few years… Much to my surprise, an audience was growing. I remember being at work one day and hitting 5k Instagram followers. I thought it was the coolest, most exciting… but also strangest… thing to happen to me. People wanted to hear my opinions on life!
I Quit My Job and Went On Tour
In January 2017 I quit my concert promoter job at AEG Presents to pursue an opportunity with a music and hospitality company in Dallas. I loved my job, but was running out of room for advancing in my career. In all honesty, I was planning to go into music management and move to a new city to pursue this, but I was a few months into a relationship and decided I didn’t really want to leave Dallas for many reasons. It had become home. So when this other Dallas based opportunity offered growth in my career, I decided to give it a go!
It wasn’t quite what I expected- heavy on hospitality and light on music. I was missing my old life in the entertainment world. About 5 months into the new job, an opportunity came my way that I couldn’t pass up. I quit my job and went on the road as a Tour Manager (my DREAM job) for the band opening up for Blue October. I spent 2 months driving across the US in a van and learned so much about life and myself in the process.
When I came home from tour, I had no idea what I was going to do with my career. Of course I had my blog, but that was just a hobby for me that occasionally paid. I had many years of experience in the digital marketing space. I had contacts galore. And thankfully, a support system that encouraged me to spend this time to figure out what I wanted and not rush into applying for just any job.
Birth of Streets, Beats and Eats
I did in fact apply for some jobs, but nothing felt natural. There was always something wrong. So I decided to really give blogging a go, and try working for myself full time as a freelancer. My freelancing included working on social strategy for a Dallas blogger, consulting for businesses and social media management. Oh, and I created the Dallas lifestyle blog: Streets, Beats and Eats.
Today, Streets, Beats and Eats is classified as a lifestyle blog, body confidence blog, Dallas blog, etc. But I like to call in a community. It’s a place where we can all come together to navigate what life throws at us- and that’s why I started sharing to begin with.
So whether I’m sharing about my favorite date night ideas in Dallas, sharing tips for wedding dress shopping, having a dialogue about eating disorder recovery, or asking for recommendations about something that’s new to me to deal with… it’s all important. WE are all important.
Thanks for being part of Streets, Beats and Eats, I’m so glad to get to know you.
Why Streets Beats and Eats
Funny story, because of social media handle is @StreetsBeatsEats, it’s fairly common for people to mistake where the ‘S’ belongs throughout… I’ve been called “Streets, Beat and Seats” a few times. One brand gave me a discount code of “Seats” and another “SBS”. It always gives a giggle. I’m hopeful that by now, I use “SBE” enough that people won’t mistake it too much.
Streets
Streets has multiple meanings to me and has evolved over the last few years. The word “street” was part of original brainstorm for a brand name because of my street style and the streets of Dallas. The more I thought about other streets, the more important this word became. Streets also references the streets I travel. But most importantly, the streets we take to become the person we are today + the streets we continue to take in life. We’ve got a lot to navigate in life, which is another great tie in to the word street.
Beats
I’m hopeful that after learning about the history of Streets, Beats and Eats that this is an easy one! Beats, or music, has always been a crucial part of my life. My career, the original reason I started to blog and the reason I decided to take a leap and work for myself. Of course beyond that, I believe that music is a wonderful way for people to come together. Music, or beats, is also a cathartic way for me and many others to deal with issues. Hearing a certain song on the radio can make your day great, another song can feel like all the words you’ve tried to use to explain your feelings. Music is powerful. The secondary meaning behind beats is a play off “beat reporting”.
Eats
Food is a big part of living in Dallas Fort Worth! It would be hard to have a Dallas blog and not talk about food. There are so many amazing restaurants and social gatherings that are centered around food. I also believe that this is another “universal language” that people can feel connected through. Eats also has to do with eating disorders, disordered eating habits and intuitive eating.
Leave a Reply