This past Friday, I was granted with the opportunity to chat with junior Wesley Shaw on her expanding presence on social media. If you were not already aware: Shaw manages her Instagram account @wesleydayshaw for around 4,000 followers, as well as the newly launched blog Have a Wesley Day. Through the use of social media, Wesley allows herself to explore her passion for photography and fashion, as well as connect with followers by giving them advice on how to land their dream internship or even just take the risk of wearing a pineapple print to add spring into their wardrobe.
In my time with Wesley, I was able to learn more about her decision to begin a lifestyle blog. Her interest in starting a blog began with her Instagram account, which she began as a freshman at the University of Alabama. Shaw describes her early Instagram days as being “really annoying," because of her tendency to, “post pictures of literally everything, from horrible selfies to the inspiring quotes you find on Pinterest."
Despite this, through Instagram, Shaw was able to find inspiration for her photography through fashion and lifestyle accounts. Some of her favorite accounts include: Kiel James Patrick, Sarah Vickers and Dean Street Society, as these users presented their content in a manner Wesley wished to be able to reflect herself. From Instagram, Shaw eventually began to follow many lifestyle bloggers, whose success greatly influenced her into taking the next step into becoming a blogger herself.
While Shaw is not majoring in how to be a professional blogger, her actual studies in advertising and photography have aided her in this endeavor. Wesley's experience with advertising was especially important in her decision to begin a lifestyle blog. Her work with other bloggers in getting them to write sponsored articles, renewed a curiosity Shaw previously had towards blogging. Shaw recounted to me, how this past summer she would complete all of the steps towards writing a blog post; from writing the actual post to teaching her parents and boyfriend how to take photos. Except, whenever the time to publish the post came around she would always back out of truly entering the blogger world. This was largely due to fear of criticism and Shaw's doubts about who would actually read her posts.
Anxiety towards content is an expected emotion when you are putting up a piece of yourself online. We all feel this emotion when we constantly check our phone notifications after posting a picture on Instagram. However, this feeling is amplified when the content is a five-hundred word post describing the top spring trends accompanied by ten photos of yourself modeling the those trends.
After stalking Have a Wesley Day, I realized that Shaw need not worry about her online content, because (already) you can tell how much she enjoys being a blogger. This is evident in how well-composed her posts are, as well as how the general layout of the blog reflects the amount of thought Shaw has put into Have a Wesley Day.
Wesley's most exciting news in 2015 so far is that she's landed an internship with Seventeen Magazine. If you were ever a teenage girl, I fully expect that you also dreamed of landing an opportunity working at Seventeen. This magazine was my personal bible for surviving my teenage years (in addition to the American Girl Care and Keeping of You book). Seventeen taught me most everything I knew about fashion, prepared me for college when I was still a freshman in college and taught me which brands of makeup to buy. Knowing that in May, Wesley will be interning for such a well-known magazine, has helped her gain a lot of attention on campus. Mainly because people are curious as to how someone landed such an amazing opportunity. A more detailed answer to that question can be found on her blog, but essentially Wesley's motivation for landing an impressive internship is what led to her being offered the chance to work for Seventeen. Wesley, being determined, sent out her resume months in advance, approached current interns via Instagram and even sent her potential interviewer an email stating a date and a time for when she could interview with them. Of course it was terrifying putting herself out on a limb like that, but Shaw said that she would “do it all over again."
On that note, we ended our conversation, and I left feeling inspired to make sure that I was to Have a Wesley Day. (Sorry for the pun, I just couldn't resist)
