They’re in the front row of fashion week runways. They’re on billboards across the city. They’re the ones you notice in the 5 o’clock sea of ill-fitted grey suits.

Meet Toronto’s super set of bloggers who work at financial institutions by day, attend the city’s most high-profile events by night and somehow find time to maintain their popular blogs and jobs all at once. Call it what you will – a double life, a glamorous case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Clark Kent syndrome. Okay, so they’re not saving any lives, but they do have careers while balancing the entrepreneurial demands of managing a blog and all the brand partnerships that come with it.

Though some bloggers have found a way to monetize their websites through sponsored posts and collaborations that can pay anywhere from $500 to several thousand dollars a pop, many don’t plan on leaving their full-time positions anytime soon.

“I think it’s the pragmatic side of my personality that keeps me attached to both,” says Nelia Belkova, a Toronto-based financial analyst who also runs a well-known fashion blog (styleblog.ca). “I like the stability. I like knowing when my next paycheque will come and whether I’ll be able to pay my bills on time.”

A long-time lover of fashion, Belkova launched her site as a street style blog, often spending her lunch hour photographing stylish people in Toronto’s financial district. She admits that while Bay Street has evolved to become more fashionable in the last few years, so has her blog.

Belkova is one of the few who have found success through brand collaborations, including joining Yorkdale Mall’s Style Council, MasterCard Canada’s Stylicity bloggers and working with companies like Gap, H&M, Ford Canada, Holt Renfrew and Amex Canada.

“In the last couple of years it’s become more challenging because there are more responsibilities with my blog and my position,” says Belkova. “With a lot of the Bay Street jobs, I don’t know if you could keep up with both. My first job on Bay Street had me working around the clock until 11 p.m. everyday.”

With a nine-to-five schedule, Belkova can now dart to events around the city – after changing out of her “Bay Street” clothes – or even take some vacation days to attend New York Fashion Week. But make no mistake, with constant photo shoots, networking opportunities and writing demands, being a fashion blogger is no holiday.

“Sometimes I do wonder what would have happened had I had the courage to quit my job and do this full-time. It’s always in the back in my mind,” she says.

Despite the busy schedule that comes with wearing multiple hats, some argue that blogging on a part-time basis alleviates the pressure of making money through sponsored content. Take Anita Clarke, who works as an IT professional at a financial institution in Toronto while continuing to build on the success of her fashion blog (iwantigot.com).

“I don’t have to do the hustle to make money as a blogger,” says Clarke. “If I had gone that route, I don’t think Vogue Italia would have noticed me or I don’t think Roots would have asked me to do their ad campaign. None of that would have come about if I turned my voice into a marketing machine and not been authentic.”

Clarke, who goes by the handle of “Geekigirl”, also brings her programming knowledge to the table, enabling her to host her own site and fix any technical issues as they arise.

Both Belkova and Clarke agree that talking about their blog with their co-workers or letting it impose on their deliverables could jeopardize their professionalism in the corporate world.

Aside from sending out a few tweets or sometimes going to an event during lunch hour, Clarke says she keeps her work life and blogging duties completely separate.

But in some professions, having a blog and building a social media following could give your resume the edge it needs. For Daniel Desforges, a bilingual communications administrator at First National Financial LP, blogging gives him another avenue to hone his communications and marketing skills.

Since launching his food and lifestyle blog (dothedaniel.com) in January, Desforges says he has quadrupled his audience and tripled his staff.

“When it comes to internal communications, I use my ability to write a pitch to a brand or expand my reach to a new PR firm, and I use that at work as well. The two play off each other beautifully,” says Desforges. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that blogging takes a lot of energy. It’s not all glamorous events and promotional material that we get to review before the mass public.”

That being said, Desforges says that many of his “Daniel’s Dish” restaurant reviews are also often date nights spent with his fiancé, blogger Julio Reyes of FASHIONIGHTS. Desforges started contributing to FASHIONIGHTS before launching his own site and credits Reyes for his foray into the blogging world. The two blogs now operate as sister sites for cross-promotional purposes.

With love and business intertwined – in real life and on social media platforms – you have to wonder if a work-life balance is a possibility for bloggers operating in today’s hyper-connected world.

“People always make fun of the couple in the restaurant who spend the entire time on their phones, tweeting and instagramming. We are that couple, ” says Desforges, adding that he wouldn’t change his lifestyle, or the long days, for anything.

Of course, anyone who has sat in a restaurant in Toronto knows that the inability to disconnect isn’t just a blogger-related problem, it’s also something the entire population deals with. But if blogging is a constant labour of love, what rewards (other than swag and free dinners) does it provide?

“As much as I would love to live off my site, it’s just not a reality,” says Desforges. “There’s a lot of good that comes out of a full-time job. At 5 o’clock, I switch hats and become a different person. I become Do The Daniel and I get to go live this amazing life. I get to have the duality.”

With duality comes a steady pay cheque, full benefits and the feeling of security that a career in the finance industry can offer.

“Unfortunately, the blogging world is very inconsistent in Canada when it comes to monetizing and it’s just not there to support us like it is in the states and overseas,” says Desforges.

South of the border, blogging has become an incredibly lucrative business, with many of the top dogs publishing their own books, hosting TV shows and being paid exorbitant amounts of money to appear at events or in campaigns.

The United States also boasts effective affiliate link programs that allow bloggers to make a commission off the products they feature. With affiliate link companies like RewardStyle and Skimlinks partnering with powerhouse US retailers, those with an existing readership have the chance to rake it in.

As one RewardStyle account consultant revealed in an interview in 2013, top style bloggers can make upwards of $50k per month through the program. With the operative word being “top”, making money still comes down to having strong content and the page views to match.

It was just last year that blogger Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist publicly stated that he makes seven figures a year. Considering the added revenue from advertising and brand ambassadorships, it’s not difficult to believe elite fashion bloggers in the US are doing well.

It remains to be seen as to whether Canadian blogs will ever attract the same kind of money and attention. But for many of Toronto’s well-known bloggers, having a creative outlet is enough of a reason to keep pounding the pavement, and the keyboard. Until that day arrives, we’ve got the 5 o’clock warriors to turn to for a taste of life as an after hours influencer.