Every week we bring you a featured blogger who inspires us. This week we’re so excited to share with Courtney and Kelly of Mimosas and Manhattan! Mimosas and Manhattan is a fashion and lifestyle blog chronicling the lives of two cousins who have played dress-up since childhood. Kelly McFarland, known for her eclectic and unapologetic style, works full-time as an entertainment publicist and Courtney Seamon, known for her boho and relaxed vibe, works in fashion product development. Their style caters to the creative, outgoing and entrepreneurial spirit who is brand conscious and frequents the New York social and hospitality scene. The duo has been featured on People Style Watch, Women’s Wear Daily, InStyle and Aol Fashion. Learn more about Courtney and Kelly here.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
Courtney and I are cousins and have been very close ever since we were young even though I lived in Virginia and Courtney lived in Indiana. Every summer we would travel to Santa Monica (that’s were our moms are from) which is basically where our love for clothes and shopping all started. I work in lifestyle public relations in Brooklyn for an absolutely amazing agency, Small Girls PR. I love working in PR because you constantly have to stay up-to-date with trends, influencers and editors. Courtney recently graduated from IU and is in Product Development and absolutely loves it!
What 3 words would you use to describe yourself?
Loud, kookie, loyal
What Profession other than yours would you love to attempt?
Courtney and I have started talking about owning/running our own clothing company once the blog gets bigger. I think it would be so fun to have our own creative spin on design and be able to really put our personality into the clothing.
What is your favorite quote?
“I would rather own little and see the world than own the world and see little of it” – Alexander Sattler
What inspired your blog?
Courtney and I have always followed fashion and had unique styles ever since we were young. The first summer we moved to New York for internships, we decided to start up the blog more as a way to keep our friends and families up to date with what we were doing. We kept up the blog when we went back to school (I went to Virginia Tech and Courtney went to Indiana University) and posted outfits we put together whenever we had time. It wasn’t until this past year when we realized we had grown a dedicated audience – we decided to really focus on the blog and expand our content, audience and overall reach.
What is your favorite social media platform and why?
Beside the obvious Instagram, we love using Snapchat because it really shows the behind the scenes of our blog and lives. It also lets us see the lives of our followers and be able to connect more. It really lets us show our personalities and makes us more relatable.
Where do you find inspiration for blog posts?
New York is an inspiration in and of itself, add the beautiful people on the streets styled head-to-toe and you just have constant built in inspo. We get a lot of our inspiration from living in Brooklyn (no, we do not live in Manhattan) because people dress so unique and trends usually start here before they work their way over to Manhattan. Corporate “trend spotters” even come to Brooklyn to see what people are wearing so they know what is going to be trendy for the next season.
What do you think it is about your blog that keeps people coming back for more?
Genuine. We try and be as genuine and real with our followers as possible. We stress the importance of not taking ourselves or our fashion too seriously. Fashion is about fun, laughter, making people feel good about themselves. Ya we love fashion and style, but we also love sports, working out, eating, drinking, our friends, music, family (the list can go on and on). I think people really relate to that.
How does a brand get your attention for a feature?
Brands get our attention when they approach us with a personalized email even talking about posts we have done in the past and they actually know who we are. Engaging with us on social media and then following up via email is always great to0!
What do you love most about blogging?
The connections and friendships we have made through blogging are truly amazing. I have met some of my best friends in New York because of blogging – whether it be photographers, fellow bloggers, publicists, whatever!
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Courtney and I have our eye on the prize. The prize being making an impact on the fashion industry and bringing our fun, wild personalities to fashion. We want our blog to be a place people go when they want a little inspiration, not just for fashion but for life and hope that we are still doing this 10 years from now but maybe with a couple mini-minosa girls running around!
In your opinion, what separates a great blog from an unsuccessful blog?
Like I mentioned, I really think being genuine to who you are and you own voice separates successful and unsuccessful blog. We like to have fun and we truly try and express that through our blog and social channels. I think people like that they are following the lives of two successful women who are living out their dream and having a blast doing it. But at the same time, we don’t pretend that our lives are perfect because they are far from it. We talk about our problems, worries and the tough times living in the city and working in this competitive industry and I think this is something people really respect and sets our blog apart.
