Career: Corporate Fashion to Full-Time Blogging

I’m doing an Instagram Live today and thought I would jot down some notes and answers to your questions on my previous job. Many of you may not know that I used to have a full-time corporate job and only started blogging and owning my own business out of necessity for a job and friends! So here are some answers to your questions and more background about me.

{1} What was your first job? How did you get into fashion?

My first job was as a CPA at a big accounting firm as an auditor. I graduated from college and went straight into this job and was there for a little over 2 years. I used to cry before work and felt so drained during busy season. My passion as a kid was fashion, I used to draw dresses and dreamt of going to runway shows and poured over magazines. I never even knew that “fashion jobs” existed and now being a content creator full-time I literally am living the dream. I’ve gone to runway shows, been in magazines, TV, and I LOVE so many things about my job.

While as a CPA, I had a breakdown and had a supportive partner at that point (I was living with). I quit my job, took 3 months off, and decided to go to FIDM in San Francisco (Fashion Institue of Design and Merchandising). They had a year program like a graduate program. I graduated with a 4.0 and got a job as a merchandising assistant a month before I graduated. It all started there. I worked my ass off and in a few years, I was a director. 5 years after that I moved to NY with my now ex to pursue more dreams of working in fashion in the Big Apple.

{2} How did you get a job in fashion merchandising?

Since I had a job in accounting and a degree in business, this did help me. Every job I applied to asked me to come interview. Merchandising is actually 50% numbers and analytics and 50% design/eye/trends. You MUST have both to succeed. Pursuing jobs takes aggressiveness, drive, and doing your job of researching each company. This isn’t just for fashion but do the following:

1. Strong resume and cover letter – change it to the job and don’t be generic – STAND OUT WITH RESULTS oriented resume. What did you achieve and keep it short and sweet with the best bullet points.
2. Ask to meet or jump on a call to schedule a follow-up.
3. Before the interview – research every company and if you know who you are meeting – each person. Have important data memorized and key questions ready. Don’t say, “UMMM, what do you love about your job?”  Something like, I read you were inspired by ___ to pursue fashion, has this job fulfilled that dream?
4. Be on time, dress accordingly, and smile. Be open, direct, confident.
5. Be ok with rejection, keep going, and remember not every job is meant for you. Interview them as much as they are interviewing you. You don’t want to be unhappy at a job, so figure out the culture, the environment, and the exact details of the job offered.

This is a quick overview of getting a job and don’t forget, stalk brands websites, Instagram, and job sites for these jobs! Be aggressive.

3. Why did you start blogging instead of staying in corporate fashion?

I moved to Chicago for my ex, I couldn’t keep my job and I thought to take the leap here was the best choice to start a family. After a year of living here, I started blogging to meet friends (with the advice of my sister), and shortly after blogging, we started a business T&J Designs (which I have now closed). I’ve been on Instagram since it has started and blogging was really a creative outlet and a driver to our clothing/accessories business. I never thought I could do social media full time. Less than two years ago, I took the plunge to close my business and blog full time.

I see being a content creator just like building a business. I’m consistent, I do a ton of research and I not only love sharing but I love creating different ideas for partnerships. I work every day, I figure out new ideas of what to share, how to style my outfits, look at my numbers to see what people are interested in, brainstorm for partnerships, and also do all the business stuff like invoicing, payment reminders, email updates, and contracts, etc. To do this full time, make sure you have the drive and the support to do so as you DO NOT make money right away!!

4. How did you grow your social media?

The most asked question that is so hard to answer, but a quick answer:

Post consistently, analyze your numbers to see what people like to see, think about what you click on and why, use that mentality for yourself, be diligent on all channels, and don’t get lazy on blogging. Create networks, like and comment on Instagram EVERY DAY, support others, have a point of view, do the right giveaways (don’t just buy into horrible ones or just to have 20K followers), have great content, be appreciative of every partnership you do, don’t act like an ass when people ask for help or when your numbers go up. None of us are special, lol, we are all people. There is so much that goes into it, but connection is key. Partnership with other bloggers and sharing helps too!

I know several bloggers that have purchased their following and yes I do giveaways (not often now), but you have to have great content to keep people around. Don’t post shitty content and have 100K followers, it’s too obvious it isn’t real.

5. How do you negotiate salaries or deals? (I’ve gotten this question often)

Here is a blog post I did that is more detailed on negotiating. KNOW YOUR WORTH.

With my pitches and deals – I have a standard rate and I negotiate based on the requirements, the time for the project, content creation (I always go back with a general idea of what I want to shoot), this really helps negotiate a higher rate. And a lot of times I break it down per Instagram/stories, etc so that it is reasonable to the brand to want to pay a higher rate. Wording/figuring out your worth is everything in negotiating. And also having results of what you’ve done in the past helps.

6. What fashion jobs are there?

So many! Planners, allocators, designers, production, merchandising, marketing, visual marketing, and within each department are a ton of other jobs. As a Merchandiser, I worked with every department and was responsible for putting together each season, presenting the strategy in buying for 100s to 1000s of stores, and why, and hitting revenue numbers with key drivers.

And a surprising fact, you don’t have to be trendy or fashionable to do a fashion job. For example, most of my production managers were smart and very good at negotiating, organizing, and driven all by costs. Their job was to manage the fabrics, trims, I loved for a garment and hit a cost basis with factories to make my margin achievable. My production staff was always dressed in comfy gear and worked so hard on negotiating.

7. What advice would you give someone who wants to be a full-time content creator?

A few things I would ask you:

Are you ok with opening up about you personally or comfortable enough to share with strangers?

Do you want to make money or just do this for fun?

If you want to make money, do you have money saved for the first year? Do you have the drive to work every day and make great content despite the likes or readership for months?

What makes you different from others online and are you passionate enough about it to stick to it?

I tell people to just do it, if you want to try something, you’ll never know until you just power through and do it. Dreams can be achieved if you just take that first step and keep dreaming. I’ve done more than I’ve ever dreamed of and every step of the way, I keep looking forward. I write down goals and try to figure out how to achieve them. Do the same!!

8. Favorite thing and least favorite about what you do.

Favorite: People, experiences, and flexibility

Least: Stress (of money and managing myself), judgemental people, lack of privacy

9. Do you ever regret leaving your corporate job for a job like blogging where it isn’t financially secure?

I loved my previous job. Do I miss it? Yes, I miss so many aspects like my salary, the people, the shopping trips to Paris and London, and so much more. But I don’t live with regrets and the things I’ve done the last few years are beyond amazing as well. I don’t regret marriage, I don’t regret mistakes or failures, I LEARN FROM THEM and move forward with what I learned and do better.

10. What’s next for you? Do you want to do something else?

I am open to all possibilities and with that attitude, life surprises the hell out of me. So what’s next is unknown but I am always excited about what’s next. I do want something more steady and hopefully after Covid, I’ll get an action plan together and you’ll just have to see!