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Meet Shannon Holt and Allison Maxwell of The Middle Edit

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Holt and Allison Maxwell.

Shannon and Allison, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I (Shannon) had a fashion blog, but after four years of building it, I just didn’t feel passionate about it anymore. I wanted to write about different topics, not just about fashion. Around the same time, Allison had left a career in the corporate world to pursue real estate as well as to start her own blog.

One day, as I was browsing the internet, I didn’t feel like there was a lot of content I related to, or that I wanted to read. After mulling the idea over for a couple of weeks, I approached Allison, one of my best friends since 6th grade, about the idea of starting a website for “women in their 30s.”

After I explained my reasoning to her, she did her own research and quickly called me back. She felt the same way, and in December of 2017, we started planning what would be The Middle Edit.

We spent six months brainstorming, what we really wanted the site to be, preparing for a summer launch and planning original content that we (and the women we know) could relate to. In June 2018 we launched The Middle Edit.

Our goal with The Middle Edit is for it be an online destination for women in their 30s. We want to inspire, connect and create a community of women through every day, relatable content.

Has it been a smooth road?
For the most part, it’s been surprisingly smooth. The biggest struggle is the fact that we live in separate parts of the country — I (Shannon) in Phoenix, Arizona, and Allison in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The different time zones make scheduling meetings a bit tough!

We also like to have a lot of content together, so that people can quickly recognize that there are two of us. Our visits with each other have changed from just hanging out and catching up to hours and hours of planning, photo shoots and all the other work that goes into running The Middle Edit.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with The Middle Edit – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
As we mentioned, we created The Middle Edit as an online destination for women in their 30s. We wanted to create a place that women could be inspired by, but also relate to. Your 30s are always described as some of the best years of your life. It’s a time when you feel most like yourself, and you really find your voice, but it’s also a transitional decade.

Moving on from your carefree 20s and moving towards a more stable life in your 40s. We feel that we’ve done a good job at creating that space. We share things we, as women in our 30s, are currently going through. Our struggles and our triumphs, but we’ve also been able to share other women’s stories as well. We are proud of the fact that we have been told we share/talk about things that women feel are important and that aren’t always discussed openly.

That is something we will continue to strive to do. Our goal is to make The Middle Edit more of a community. We take on contributors so that other women can share their stories, stories that we (Allison and Shannon), might not be experiencing, but that other woman in their 30s are.

How would you describe the type of kid you were growing up?
Shannon: I grew up in a big family, the second oldest of five and while it was always loud and active at our household, I was a pretty shy and quiet kid. I definitely was not a wild child. As far as getting into trouble goes, but I also wasn’t perfectly well-behaved. I like to think I was a good balance. As far as hobbies go, it was mostly just sports for me.

Specifically basketball, up until my junior year of high school, when I realized being 5’2″ wasn’t going to get me too far in the sport.

As I grew up, most of my time was spent with my girlfriends, and I started dating my now husband when I was a freshman in high school. Looking back, I’m really happy that I grew up in such a small town. However, moving to a big city was always a dream of mine. I packed my bags and moved to Phoenix right after high school, and it is now where I reside!

Allison: I grew up in a small town in Michigan where all of my family lived within minutes of each other. I would spend all summer at my Grandparents house with my siblings and cousins on the lake. I would spend the rest of the time with my other Grandparents going to church on Sunday’s and playing outside.

I was never great at sports but always played for the social aspect- I did a lot of talking which always resulted in running laps. Once I was a teenager, I would spend a lot of time with my girlfriends. We would literally do everything together. I started dating my now husband when I was 16 years old, and the rest is history.

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