Meet Belinda Donner: Lifestyle Blogger. Over 50

We had the good fortune of connecting with Belinda Donner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Belinda, what do you attribute your success to?

Authenticity is a big factor behind my brand and its  success. I am a no bullshit person with no pretensions, I tell it like it is. I am true to my own personality, spirit and or character. When people read my posts on my blog, they get the real authentic me and seem to enjoy what I have to say.

I have four children, 27,24,21,18.  My oldest is my son Chase moved from LA to New York where he teaches art to children in the day and is a drag queen at night.    He used to do a lot of shows in Hollywood. @CHASERUNAWAY.  My 24yr old also was living in LA moved to Newport Beach during covid and is currently in school, acting, and is currently working on an adult cartoon that we will all be seeing soon.  My 21 year is in the business school at University of Colorado, Boulder. My daughter who is still home and online is a junior in highschool.  She just started a new clothing line called Current Generations.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I have a blog that I started about 2 years ago called Younglikeb. I came up with this name because no one ever believes how old I am. I believe that yes living a healthy lifestyle, exercise, food etc can give you a youthful glow, however, I think it is all in your mind and attitude. That is what sets me apart from most people my age. A lot of women, and men think that when they hit a certain age, or start having kids, that they need to act more mature, dress more mature, and bottom line, stop having fun.

When I started my blog, my biggest challenge was where to start. I had heard of squarespace and wordpress but I never dabbled in it at all. I found it both easy and complicated. It was a big puzzle for me, a huge learning curve. SEO for sure was like taking a whole new class. After I got my blog up and running, I started to understand how to do it and changed it many times. I am very anal about design and how things look, and I still want to change my blog pages. I am currently on the search for a marketing team to help me with this. I have been doing it alone for so long and I know there are so many more options.

What I want the world to know about me, my brand and my story is that I tell it like it is. Yes I use certain beauty products that i recommend, exercise, and I love edgy fashion. But I tell real stories, some funny, some sad. I share personal experiences and travel ideas. Talk about family and relationships. Most of all, I love to make people smile and to encourage them, not take life so serious because we are all here temporarily.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is such a hard question because we have been forced to stay home. Ok I will go back to my days of going out in Del Mar, CA. I’m not going to lie, I don’t feel that San Diego is the most exciting or interesting city. It is beautiful, healthy and a lovely environment. If I want culture, I go up to LA or travel out of the country. But here are my localfavorites.

Hike Torrey Pines or Potato Chip Rock
Bike ride from Del Mar to Encinitas-along 101
Shopping UTC/Fashion Valley/One Paseo
Vintage shopping-Flashbacks/Captains Helm
Del Mar Beach-hanging on the beach/surfing
Balboa Park-17 museums
San Diego Zoo
Mexican Food- Fidels little Mexico or Tony Jacals (next door)
DARSHAN COFFEE- BEST COFFEE AND ALMOND CROISSANTS
Bueno Forchetta-Coronado
Kens sushi workshop-best sushi
Convoy-best asian food
Waverly Cardiff-best place to eat lunch
Little Italy-fun to walk around and eat
Leaucadia farmers Market
La Jolla Farmers Market
Belly up-Live Music

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have two shout outs. One, is to Sarah Milken (the Flexibleneurotic) for giving me the boast of confidence to pursue my goals in the second half of life. I am 52, and my last child will be leaving the nest next year. I have been working on my Blog for 2 years now and deciding if I want to keep it as a hobby or take it to the next level and really make it a business. After listening to some of Sarahs podcasts, I am motivated and excited to go for it!

My second shout which should really be my first isn my mother Judy. She is my mentor in life. My mother is Holocaust Survivor. She is still alive and kicking. Mothers story is miraculous rags to riches story similar to many of the survivors of the war during that time period. I live my daily life with positivity, gratitude, and love. My bad days can never be as bad as what my mother has experienced. So I really don’t have bad days. I will never forget when I graduated from high school and my mother put an ad in my yearbook that said ‘You are now allowed to be your own person”. That has stayed with my entire life. My parents never pushed me to be something that I didn’t want or want to be.

Ok, maybe three shoutouts, my husband, he has encouraged me from the day I started my blog and even more now is pushing me because he is now seeing that it could be something more. I am grateful every day for him as well.

Website: younglikeb.com

Instagram: younglikeb

Linkedin: BELINDA DONNER

Twitter: YOUNGLIKEB

Facebook: BELINDAMACKDONNER

Yelp: BELINDA D.

Youtube: BELINDA DONNER

Other: Blog-YounglikeB

Image Credits
photographer-amyconnorphotograpy.com hair and makeup-@kissedbyaml