For the continuation of my weekend, I’ll start with Saturday, which was ahhh-mazig. Be warned-it’s a little lengthy, but worth reading every word I swear!
It was an early wake up call, with Fun Fearless Life starting at 8:30, Mom and I had to catch an Uber by 8, after getting a Chai Tea Latte of course. When we arrived at the venue, first of all I was dying inside because Lincoln Center is where fashion week is held, so you could say it was surreal. When we walked in, we were greeted by possibly the coolest technology ever. At an Ipad, you were to enter your Facebook, Twitter, Email, or other social media information as to connect to a system. This system then took all your sharing info and somehow transferred this onto a small bracelet that you could tap on a circle device to share a picture you took at one of the stations. Make sense? After figuring this cool thing out, I decided to go upstairs to the area where all kinds of fun things were happening, and get my pic done so I could share it on this new technology!
Maybelline was one of the sponsors for Fun Fearless Life, so they had a makeup station set up where you could get your makeup done, touched up, or just gain some knowledge about their new products! After looking around at this station, I decided to go to the Express station, which was another sponsor. At this station, we got a coupon to obtain a small tech clutch-let me translate-this tech clutch has a phone charger attached on the inside so you can party as long as you can handle, and still have a phone that works, too cool right? Express also had their new holiday collection out for us to take in, which was so pretty I must add. After this station, I headed over to the Cosmo booth, which was selling books from all the speakers and Cosmo merchandise. Clearly I had to buy a Fearless tank, for obvious reasons.
Pause for a minute – the event hadn’t even really started at this point.
We stared to hear the ‘ding’ of the call for us to get to our seats, so on the way we passed the Spanx booth, where I got a coupon for a free pair of Spanx tights, and got a flash tat. BOOM, what a way to start the morning.
When we finally got to our seats, T-swizzle’s ‘Welcome to New York’ started blasting and scantily clad male models started making their way down the isles.
Dying inside, I know.
Joanna Coles, Cosmo’s Editor-in-Chief came onto stage and asked us if we were ready for a “F*ing Fun Fearless Weekend”, to which we replied YEESSSS. She talked a little about how great the weekend was to be (little did I know this was an understatement), and then began introducing the first speaker, Sarah Blakely-the founder of Spanx. Sarah came on stage, of course with her Spanx underneath her dress. She talked about how she started, which you can read about here. She was literally so inspiring, to hear how no one thought her idea was profitable, yet she still pursued it, and now is the owner of a multi-million dollar company, which still aims to empower woman and make them feel like they can do anything! I have to admit, I definitely went to Dillard’s last night and bought my very first pair of Spanx, in the leather legging variety. After Sarah were three women who worked their way to the top, Sallie Krawcheck, Julie Greenwald, and Megyn Kelly. All are influencers in their field and had similarities with fighting for a job and competing with men. This panel was so interesting to me because they all agreed on one thing-if you’re pursuing a career in a man’s world, don’t think of it as a negative thing. Use what you’ve got going for you-you’re a woman so you look different than the men, and also just work 10 times harder!
The next speaker was one of my favorites (I bought her book afterwards!), Dr. Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist, speaker, and author of The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Mater and How to Make the Most of Them Now. Her goal was to make us realize that your twenties are the prime time to make the most of our lives and be the change we want to see. She also talked about how to make connections, how to utilize those connections, and how you must own ambition. Her words were so powerful to me, since I’ve wanted to move to New York and pursue a career in fashion ever since I can remember, and listening to her really made me feel so empowered-like the world really was my oyster!
We had a lunch break after these wonderful women and got a glimpse at what backstage was looking like, and got a few makeup tips from the Maybelline makeup artist. After returning from the break, first up was Amy Cuddy-another one of my absolute favorites. Her TED talk has been viewed by more than 20 million people (I highly suggest you watch it, SO worth it), she’s a Harvard Grad, and has been recognized by The New York Times, Time magazine, and Wired. Her message was all about body language, which we think about a little, but not as much as we should. Think about it-when you are about to be in a stressful situation, unless you don’t get nervous in these kind of situations, chances are you curl up into a little ball. I’m guilty as charged! She talked to us about power posing and how it can really affect your body’s hormones and the way you feel, and how much confidence it can give you. Her wise words of advise that I strongly am taking to heart are not Fake it until you make it, but rather Fake it until you BECOME it. Such powerful words were never spoke before!
Next up was Dick Costolo, CEO of Twitter, and YouTube Personality Grace Helbig, who is hilarious I might add. They talked about the power of social media, how it’s changed their life’s, and put it in perspective of how branding can really be so impactful.
Next up to the plate was a group of women who created their own careers and did what no one else thought they could! Sophia Amoruso, Founder and CEO of Nasty Gal; Windsor Hanger, Cofounder and President of Her Campus Media; and Christina Tosi, Chef, Owner and Founder of Milk Bar were up next. It was inspiring to hear this group of women tell their stories of how they made their own opportunities, struggled along the way yet still became the cream of the crop. Something I got out of their panel was if you want to start a brand or store, create desire-and the success will come. After this we got another break, where I went up to meet Sophia and get my #GIRLBOSS book signed (I’m halfway through and highly suggest this read!!). After waiting in line for what seemed like FOREVEERRR, because it was – I actually missed part of the next panel – oops – but I met Sophia! When I did, I first noticed her hair change – so cute, and told/showed her my extensions, which at the time seemed so normal but in retrospect, what was that about!?!? Oh well, she still signed my book with “Flancake is a #Girlboss”, and then we took a selfie so all was well in the world again.
In between all this madness, I somehow saw Aya (Cosmo Fashion Director) again and said hi! This time I asked some career goal questions, along with if I could interview her (EEEP), so be on the lookout for that!! When I got back from the book signing, I was entertained by Chrissy Teigen, who I must say I was ultra envious of her mile long legs, who chatted with Logan Hill, a writer who has written for Cosmo and currently writes an Ask Logan column in Cosmo, Matthew Hussey, Mega babe extraordinaire. Wait did I just say that? I meant New York Times best-selling author-must’ve been a type ;), and Jordan Carlos, who’s graced Girl Code many a time with his hilariousness. I caught the tail end of this convo, but what I got was SO funny, to hear what guys thought of women’s tactics.
The next group of women were presented by Maybelline, a group who has definitely climbed to the top in each industry-fashion, makeup, and entertainment. Alicia Quarels, E! News correspondent, Anne Marie Nelson-Bogle, Vice President of Maybelline New York, and Shay Mitchell, who is Emily Fields on ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars. This group was so impressive, I could barley stand it. I loved hearing how each woman had different people tell them it wasn’t possible to achieve what they wanted, particularly Shay Mitchell. Her dream was to become an actress, so she would pretend she was one while waiting tables. It was also interesting to hear how Alicia and Anne Marie had to struggle with obstacles as women of color, and how they persevered and became some of the most influential woman in the industry.
The last lady of the hour was Tara Mohr, who took us on a journey of thinking about where we wanted to be in 20 years, which was rather exciting. She talked to us about finding our voice, finding our mission in life, and also finding our message for life. We ended the event that day with a fashion show put on by Express, showing their new holiday/party collection, which I am currently shopping/writing at the same time for.
Later that night, we went to a VIP cocktail party that was quit eventful, but I’ll save that for next time!
XX, Flancake
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