Styled by McKenz Turns Eight

You know the saying “If you can dream it you can do it”? I know it’s corny, but as I sit here reading through old anniversary posts, I’m reminded how true it really is. 

Eight years ago today, at fourteen years old, just a freshman in high school, I launched Styled by McKenz. Simply put, my world has never been the same. 

In 2016, I wanted to turn my passion into a hobby. 

On a random Tuesday night, I sat in my mom’s office, tears streaming down my face because I “didn’t know what I wanted to be when I was older”. Looking back I realize how silly this sounds… but at the time, it was a really pivotal mental breakdown. 

I loved clothes but I wasn’t suited for sewing. I loved photography but I wanted to be in front of the camera. I loved writing but unless I was JK Rowling I knew writing novels wasn’t going to pay my bills. My mom suggested I put the three things together and start a fashion blog. This, she explained, would give me a way to creatively express myself. And perhaps one of the three interests might resonate with me further later down the line. 

So, on New Year’s Day, I sat on my grandma’s living room floor and clicked publish on my very first blog post. I’d say the rest is history… but the story gets better! 

In 2017, I made Styled by McKenz ‘official’. 

By April of 2017, I had uploaded nearly 200 blog posts. I was posting roughly four times a week to my website and had grown quite a passion for it. I knew that blogging wasn’t “just a phase” so I decided to make the switch to a self-hosted website, purchasing www.styledbymckenz.com. 

It was $400 to purchase my own URL— also known as my entire life savings at the ripe age of fifteen. But this was my new calling and I was determined to follow it. My mom built my new website. My dad gave me my money back and paid for it himself, telling me this was his investment in me. He said one day, he knew I’d make him that money back. 

I wonder if he ever told my mom he did that. Or if he even remembers doing it. It’s a memory I revisit so often, a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget. There are many times throughout the self-employment journey where I have doubted myself but never once have I questioned my family’s support. It’s been unwavering since the very beginning. They have cheered me on through all the stages. 

In 2018 I was so in love with my hobby, that I decided I’d go to college for it! 

By my junior year of high school, I knew my dream job. It was fashion, photography, and writing all put together. I was destined to write for a fashion magazine. And so the college tours began…. we toured dozens of schools but it wasn’t until the last one, at Kent State University that I had that “ah ha” moment everyone always talks about. 

We had the most amazing tour guide who chatted with me for an entire hour after our intended visit. We talked about my blog and she reassured me I could keep up with it while in college — there were plenty of students who could take my pictures, “Insta-worthy” spots to photograph downtown, and publications that I could write stories for. No need to give my hobby up; she promised me that Styled by McKenz could be something great there. 

I never did get her name. But she changed the trajectory of my entire life that day. 

By November I had been accepted to Kent, receiving a large scholarship that was awarded based on my application essay. In it was my Styled by journey highlighted from the beginning. 

You’re always one decision away from an entirely different life.

In 2019 I wanted to go to New York Fashion Week. 

That tour guide was right! It turns out college was just what my brand needed… my followers were growing up with me, decorating their freshman dorms alongside me. And dozens of new faces were discovering my page as I navigated this new life, three-hundred miles from my hometown. My roommates were all Fashion Merchandising majors and eager to help me take pictures and appear on my YouTube channel that I had just started. 

That fall I was balancing 18 credit hours, a new sorority, and was still blogging four times a week. Simultaneously, I was freelancing for a dorm decor company, making short-form videos showcasing different comforters, rugs, and accessories. I made $75 a video. That same month I got my first paid collaboration with an acne gel company— $500 for an Instagram post. Lauren was taking me to the post office when I got the email and I cried happy tears the whole way home. 

I had also gotten accepted into YouTube’s creator fund which meant I could start making money on my videos! I only had 1,000 subscribers and was making $35 a month but it was a start and I needed money for my trip to New York City. 

I was going to New York City Fashion Week. I had no idea how I’d get there, but I was going. It had been my dream for as long as I could remember. 

I scoured the Internet for no less than 100 hours emailing every contact I could get my hands on. I cold-pitched random phone numbers, connected with strangers on LinkedIn, and sent some horribly desperate Instagram DMs. It was 11:00 pm with my retainer in, giving an elevator speech on how badly I wanted this to a random set designer when I got my first yes. 

That was it. It was settled! I was going to fricking NYFW. I booked a plane ticket with the $1,000 I’d never worked harder to make. 

Never underestimate the power of a phone call. Or a follow-up email. 

In 2020, I turned my hobby into a job.

I was making money but “not enough” to avoid getting a job that summer. I didn’t want to work retail for $10 an hour, I wanted to turn Styled by McKenz into something more. I knew I could. 

And so it began. I started reading every Pinterest article about monetizing your website imaginable, researching the heck out of Google Adsense, and watching all the “how to pitch yourself” videos that the Internet had to offer. 

Covid and a SheIn bikini haul came to my rescue that March. Overnight, I gained nearly 10,000 YouTube subscribers and started making my first real dollars. 

My world flipped upside down that day. I went from making $100 a month to $100 a day. I never did get that retail job. And the world never did quite go back to normal —the “influencer” was born and marketing shifted into what it is today. 

It sounds silly but it was a really pivotal year for me. Simply put, it changed everything.

You don’t get what you don’t work for.  

In 2021, I wanted to start seeing the world. 

I came from a family that vacationed at the same beach house, on the same street, the same week in July, year after year. I love that house in the Outer Banks as much as my own but I wanted to get out and see something. I needed to get on a plane by myself. I needed to see somewhere new. I needed to be pushed out of my comfort zone. And I needed to do it alone. 

So, I started calling every hotel within a 350-mile radius, asking for their marketing email. I sent thousands of emails that spring until a little boutique hotel in Nashville said “Yes! Come on down for a free stay in exchange for posting on your social media.” So I packed my bags and that’s what I did. 

It’s a lot easier to get a second yes once you’ve gotten your first. That summer I went to Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee! For free! I was living out my Indy Blue dreams… well trying to, at least. 

The “gone global” part would have to wait another year, but hey, I had to start somewhere right?!

I managed to squeak in a visit to California during my fall break. It was on that trip, in the midst of my junior year of college, that I realized I couldn’t get a “real job” after college. I didn’t want to. I was making real money and seeing real things, and I was so happy. This was my dream! And I was reminded how lucky I was to be living it right then. 

My advisor told me I would never be “too good” to fetch coffee for my superiors, but that my passion was too big not to go somewhere greater. 

In 2022, I wanted to go global. I wanted to do it all.

And so I did.

In the spring I was a student, and a friend, and (I have to admit) a little bit of a party girl. That summer I was an intern in California. And come fall I was a study abroad student living in Florence, Italy. I wanted to see the world…. so like so many times before, I put may head down and got to work. 

At this point, I had quite a bit of experience under my belt so getting yes’s from hotels and travel agencies came with a little more ease. Within a few weeks, I’d sent hundreds of emails and had trips lined up for every weekend of the semester. I brought my college roommates along for the fun and we saw the world together. 12 countries in 13 weeks. 

Every Thursday–Sunday we explored a new country. I’d spend long bus rides home editing travel vlogs and writing itineraries. My weekdays were split between my final college classes (ciao bella!) and hauling mail back to my tiny little apartment. My parents were forwarding me packages for brand deals so that I could keep accepting sponsorships. My manager was waking up early to walk me through contracts. My friends were helping me film every weekend so that we could keep seeing the world. 

It takes a village, and that semester I learned I had the very best one. 

That December I graduated from Kent State University with a Fashion Merchandising & Media degree with a full-time job at Styled by McKenz lined up. 

In 2023, I went full-time. 

I’d been so busy with brand deals and blog posts that by the end of college I was spending forty hours a week on Styled by things. I was making a full-time income but I always had school to fall back on… that huge part of my identity was ripped from me upon graduation and come 2023 there was no more Hannah/Miley double-life. This was it. 

I had put all my eggs into this basket. 

Truthfully, I never thought I’d keep up with the travels after studying abroad, and yet somehow the term wanderlust has made its way into my identity, wrapping its way around my heart. If you’d asked me a year ago where I’d be right now, I would have thought for sure I’d be living in a beachfront apartment in California. 

I’m so glad that in January a few irresistible travel opportunities presented themselves, and that in February I had a weekend in Saint Pete so fun that I got cold feet about singing a lease in California. 

The beautiful thing about freedom is you can do whatever you want with it. The scary thing about freedom is you can do whatever you want with it. I haven’t been so sure of what I want so I’ve spent most of the year letting God lead the way. 

9 countries, 19 states, 46 flights, and a gazillion miles on my car later, I’d like to think I was right in doing so. It really has been one heck of a year. 

I worked with huge hotel chains. I saw the world with my very best friends. I worked with my dream brands — was even flown first class to headquarters by Abercrombie (middle school me would flip). I met followers in the streets of Italy. I resigned with my management. I finally launched the email newsletter. I rebranded (she’s almost finished!). I worked alongside that same advisor, launching my first scholarship at Kent State, set to be presented in April of 2024. 

My first official year as Styled by McKenz… it’s been the most challenging yet rewarding year of my career. More than anything, it’s been a dream. 14-year-old me would be ecstatic if she could see me now. I’m everything she wanted to be and so, so much more. 

There are no words for how special it is to know you’re living in a moment you worked so hard for. So thank you—for letting me live out my childhood dream.  There really isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not reminded how lucky I am to be doing so.

Thank you for giving this platform the power I always knew it could have. For following my heart everywhere it wanders. For your endless love and support. It has meant more to me over the years than I could ever begin to express.

Cheers to the best eight years. Cheers to you Styled by— I’m everything I am because of you. 

All my love from all over, McKenz

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