Simply Stylist Convention New York

A few weekends ago, I went to the Simply Stylist Convention in New York. It was hosted by E! News host Catt Sadler, and had keynote panels, a shopping and networking time and breakout sessions. There was an Entreprenuer panel, a Blogger panel, and an Experts panel.

The Entrepreneur Panel

This panel featured Allison Beal, founder of StyleSaint, and Sarah Boyd, founder of Simply Stylist.

Allison Beal- StyleSaint

The goal of StyleSaint is to cut out the retailers, so the shoppers are buying clothes at wholesale prices. It was created after Ms. Beal realized in her own company, that the retail price markups were excluding a whole market of women who would love to wear the clothes she was selling, but could not afford the prices.

Tips:
-Don't waste your time while trying to make connections and network. Sending out a thousand emails will not do you much good in the long run, and will take an insane amount of time.
-When you develop a relationship with someone where you can provide some sort of value to them, then there is a two way relationship and it benefits you more.

Sarah Boyd- Simply Stylist

Simply Stylist was started to make networking and meeting people in the industry easier, and more fun with the conferences in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Tips for Networking:

-Find the top ten brands you want to work for, make a list, and work towards that. Make it your goal.

-Be nice, and follow up after meeting people.

-Once you are their friend, they want to help you out.

The Blogger Panel

This panel featured Jordan Reid of Ramshackle Glam, Alba Garcia of Sunkiss Alba, and Danielle Bernstein of We Wore What.

Jordan Reid- Ramshackle Glam

Jordan Reid was a neuroscience major at Harvard. Yeah, neuroscience. Yeah, Harvard. Talk about a smart lady. She gave up on a failed acting career in LA in 2006, then went to the print journalism industry, which imploded in 2007. In 2010, she started her blog Ramshackle Glam. Jordan covers all things from personal life to fashion to food. In Spring of 2014, her book about tips for new mothers (such as herself) is coming out.

Tips:
-While fashion is a creative industry, it is important to remember that it is a business as well.
-Consistently try to exceed expectations.
-Give credit where credit is due, and acknowledge that most things are the result of a collaboration or a joint effort.
-Connect with your readers and fans.
-Ignore the negative comments as best you can.
-In the beginning, work for free with the companies you like.
-Instead of prioritizing SEO (search engine optimization), put genuine readership first.
-Stay true to your content by not reading too many other blogs.

Alba Garcia- Sunkiss Alba

Sunkiss Alba is a Youtube channel run by Alba Garcia, focusing on style advice for moms on the go. Being bilingual, she also has a channel in spanish, running the same content to reach more potential viewers.

Tips:
-Create something that is original and trendy- something you think will do well
-Focus on the details
-Let your viewers know that you love what you do
-Be nice to the haters, they don't know how to respond to that
-Let people get to know you personally

Danielle Bernstein- We Wore What

We Wore What started as a street style blog to provide girls who didn't live in the city with the constant style inspiration that it provides. Eventually, it developed into a personal style blog. While still at FIT, Danielle was a regular in the front row at Fashion Week, with the blogging superstars like Bryan Grey-Yambao and Garance Dore.

Tips:
-Learn how to say no to brands and people if you don't want to work with them, or do not have a similar style as their brand.
-Be organic and stay true to yourself.
-Be a strong networker
-Cross-promote over all your social media networks
-Find your niche
-Reach out to brands you like when first starting, don't wait for them to find you.
-SEO and monetization are important when you want to make blogging your job.

The Experts Panels

This panel featured Catt Sadler of E! News, Sasha Charnin Morrison of US Weekly, Laurel Pinson of Stylecaster, and Polly Blitzer of Beauty Blitz.

Catt Sadler- E! News Correspondant

Tips:

-Sometimes it isn't about who is more skilled or experienced, but who is nicer to other people.

-Learn every part of the industry you are in

-Know the jobs of everyone around you

-Show up and don't act like a brat

Sasha Charnin Morrison- Fashion Director US Weekly

Tips:

-Don't be disrespectful when you are trying to get what you want

-Listen and learn

-Your past helps develop who you are

-Learn from your experiences

-Take the opportunities that you can grow from

Laurel Pinson- Stylecaster

Tips:

-Don't let stereotypes control you: if you work in fashion, outside people assume you are ditzy or dumb

-Anticipate that some people might not take you seriously

-Prove yourself

Polly Blitzer- Beauty Blitz

Tips:
-It's always good to be humble
-Be open to more information
-Don't be a know it all
-Don't call yourself an expert
-You are your own advocate
-Use social media, especially twitter, to talk to people you admire. It gives you a way to contact those you look up to or want to work with who used to be inaccessible.

My Outfit

Delia's sweater, Coach bag, H&M pants, infinity scarf from a small store in Hoboken, Madden Girl nude heels, rings from another small store in Hoboken, bracelet from my Grandma

The Shopping

The shopping time was so fun, and the booths had some amazing smaller brands. I would recommend checking out these brands if you haven't heard of them. Personally, I thought the jeans at Dittos were really well made and well priced for quality jeans, and that the bustiers at Rad + Refined were very interesting. I got a floral headband from TMG, so expect to see that showing up in style posts soon.