We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelsey Harper and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsey, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I first started looking into influencing, was back at the start of 2020, right as the pandemic set in and my college freshman class of 2023 got sent home with not much to do. If we can all think back, this was the rise of TikTok and all that people could share while at home and developing their own niches. This excited me, and showed me exactly what I really was passionate about. So to start off I’d like to share my pillars of success that I mapped up from the beginning to create a page that was meaningful and successful.

Firstly, my Passion for Fashion and Creativity: First and foremost, it’s essential to have a genuine love for fashion. I’d focus on exploring trends, styles, and expressing creativity through various looks. This would help me remain authentic and engaged with the content, which is crucial when building an audience.

Identifying a Niche: The fashion space is vast, so narrowing it down to a specific niche would help distinguish my brand. At first I went with streetwear fashion/lounge wear. Whether it’s sustainable fashion, street style, high fashion, or affordable chic, defining the niche helps attract a more targeted audience that resonates with the content.

Building a Brand Voice: I really wanted to cultivate a voice that’s distinct, relatable, and engaging. Whether it’s through storytelling or sharing personal experiences, I tried to focus on creating content that builds trust with my audience. Consistency in voice, tone, and content would be a big factor in attracting followers who connect on a deeper level.

Leveraging Platforms: Social media platforms are the backbone of modern-day influencing. I’d choose a mix of Instagram, and TikTok to create diverse content photos, videos, behind-the-scenes, and tutorials.

Collaborations and Networking: Fashion thrives on collaboration, and working with other influencers, brands, or creatives could expand my reach. My first 2 years, consisted of outreaching daily (hundreds of thousands of emails, with most coming back as as no, so working through rejection was a huge muscle I had to work on building in this business.

Lastly, Providing Value: Beyond just promoting products or showcasing outfits, I’d aim to offer value—whether it’s through styling tips, educating my audience on sustainable practices, or providing recommendations that align with my values. People follow influencers for inspiration, advice, and a sense of community.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I’d like to start off by saying that many view the influencer industry and or business as a “lesser job”, with common comments like, “that is not a job, brand send nice products and pay for extravagant trips and the influencer just reaps the benefits of it all.”

What couldn’t be further from the truth as many influencers, if not all influencers know, is we all worked our asses off to be standing where we are. Most people just see where you landed and not where you came from. They judge you off your means, status and platform without knowing how it started, the work that went into building such an established community and the impact an influencer can have for brands(especially in the fashion and beauty space.) Influencers are the modern day markets, we are becoming the faces of brands that we use and love to demonstrate how meaningful they have been to our daily life practices, to encourage others, to uplift others, to inspire others, to create a sense of belonging and similarity together.

With all of that being said, something I’d like to emphasize about my page and about my audience, is that I’ve moved several times over the past 5 years with being in college, then into graduate school and then moving into a totally unfamiliar space such as Dallas where I moved to in the last 2 years with no friends or family but my dog & my partner.

My audience has lived through those changes with me, seen the improvements, the downfalls, the short comings of mine and the successes. It’s been an extraordinary way to stay connected, highlight my progress, grow within new territories and inspire all that I can along the way. With relatable and unique content strategies that have opened up opportunities that I never thought were possible. I always felt a tad out of place within high school, college, graduate school , but I think the bigger picture was still be uncovered with this business I’ve been developing that I am so proud of and thankful to my audience & following for!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Here is the Dallas-To-Do List (@Kels.4 Addition):

In no specific order:

Arboretum
Las Palmas
Stock Yards
Paws Colinas
Rangers Game ⚾️
Stars Game 🏒⛸️ or Mavs Game
Concert @ American Airlines Center
Katy Trail walk & shop / brings dogs
Galaria Mall in Dec Ice Skate (Free Skate) Music Bingo (Tuesday @ 7pm)
Iyla (Italian )
Mar Y Sol (Mexican Fancy)
Dallas Ball (dinner up in the clouds)
Colombian Country Club
The Library Bar
Virgin Hotel Bar (rooftop bar)
Rosewood Mansion Bar
Dolce Riviera
Truckyard for Sunday Football
Bar Colette
Namo (WestVillage)
Doce
Uchi
Komodo
Catbird for happy hour
Downtown Dallas Farmer Market on a Saturday Morning
Sugar & Sage Coffee Date
Talking Out of Turn (Bishop Arts)
Downtown Lower Greenville for shopping, dinner
Highland Park Drive Thru —Rodeo Drive lookalike shop (Micocina eat!)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Two books that resonated with me most, aside from my families & friends unwavering support was a book called Lean in by Sherly Sandberg and the other being, The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbin’s. I am huge advocate for woman’s leadership, especially in the work space. I was raised by a full-time working mom in a male-dominated industry, so she always instilled woman empowerment in me from an early age.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kels.4/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelseyharpermedia24

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kels.k4

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.