GUESS outfit, Sam Edelman shoes, Goldtinker necklace

The AMAZING Hannah Pollinger Photography

When I started blogging at 12, I was nothing but a kid with no friends. I wore random clothing I bought, took pictures of it, put it online, and did it every single day to get me through the bullying I was enduring (and more).

When I was 14, I found the press contact of BCBG clothing online, and emailed her, asking if she would let me come backstage to her show at New York Fashion Week.

From 14-16, I emailed new brands every single season, hoping they’d give me an excuse to escape my small town and follow my dreams. I failed out of school, besides a consistent “A” in English, so people didn’t believe in me. My parents didn’t want me going back 4 hours to New York City whenever I wanted to go to a fashion show or meeting, and they were set on me following the average path by going to college.

My parents weren’t helicopter parents, at all, but they definitely wanted me to follow a career path that would have me making X amount of money per month. Most parents want security for their kids, right? I could never hold that against them.

*Note: read an interesting article here about how detrimental helicopter parenting can be on your kid.

Though we all knew I was different. Yea, I didn’t fit in, but I’ve come to realize I was different. To kids in school, I was weird. To people in the industry, I showed a glimmer of a persistent and daring trait that most kids don’t have.

One of my career goals was to appear on the TODAY show, because unlike most trashy stuff on TV,  TODAY inspired me, made me laugh, made my cry, and simply didn’t make me feel like I was wasting my time. After many many emails, and many more ideas, my dream become a reality at 10:38 AM this morning.

I can’t thank the team at TODAY, as well as my sister and best friend Hannah for assisting/supporting me through this moment. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be able to show you guys that hard work pays off. That you don’t have to come from money to be successful. That you don’t have to have connections to follow your dreams.

SEE MY SEGMENT HERE!! More pics coming soon.

And read more on my new project, MINT, here. 

Xo,

Alexa
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