Getting Personal with Southern Jewlz

Dress: Southern Jewlz | Cape: Goodnight Macroon | Shoes: Dillard’s | Necklace: Julia Marie

A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Randa Yezak, the owner of Southern Jewlz Boutique in College Station, Texas. After our chat, we decided to bring y’all a blog post about choosing career paths and following your dreams. Here is my experience and the struggles I went through when starting Champagne and Chanel:

Since I was 16 years old, my parents had my career path laid out for me. I remember sitting in the kitchen, discussing “safe” and “practical” career choices with my mom. While she always had my best interest at heart, my dreams and passions were never the main topic of discussion. It was all about finding a career path that would give me a guaranteed job at the end of college. Pharmaceutical Sales Rep is what we eventually came up with, and for about five years, I thought I was content with the plan.

However, I’ve always had a love for fashion, hair, and makeup. Putting outfits together, trying new hairstyles, and playing with makeup has always been my favorite way to express myself. But was fashion a “practical” career choice in my household? Nope.

During my freshman year of college, I started discovering fashion bloggers, and instantly found comfort in reading their blogs. Reading the words from creative girls who shared the same passion as me was inspiring. While I always loved following their blogs, I never in a million years thought I would be able to start my own. Putting myself out there and having absolute NO idea how people would respond is quite intimidating. You know what else is intimidating? Telling your mom that you want to be a blogger, instead of a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep- the job we’ve been set on for five years. Let’s just say, that didn’t go so well…

While I absolutely love my mom, and value her opinion immensely, I knew that this was the right choice for me. On January 20^th, 2016, I launched www.champagneandchanel.com, which was one of the best decisions I have ever made. This past year has been a TON of hard work, but SO rewarding. I am truly overwhelmed by the amount of support I have received, and thankful for the knowledge I have gained.

If there’s one piece of advice I have for girls who are making career choices, it sounds so cliché, but follow your dreams. People will doubt you, especially since you’re young. Just work your ass off, and prove them wrong.

Steve Jobs once said, “Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become”.