Over the years I’ve come to understand what Elle Woods meant when she referred to Cosmopolitan as the bible in Legally Blonde. I think it has the perfect combination of love, work, and social life for the average young female. They have a strong voice when speaking for women everywhere to be independent, confident, and own the lives they lead, as well as providing the fashion and beauty tips they need to achieve it. Not only do I love everything as a reader of the magazine, but it has also become my dream to work there. So naturally when I found out that they were going to be hosting a Fun Fearless Life Conference in New York, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to attend! It seemed difficult to explain to others what this weekend was all about. Essentially, Cosmo brought together some of the most influential speakers to tell us their stories and inspire us to lead fun and fearless lives. From CEOs to best selling authors, to entrepreneurs and celebrities, the two days were full of motivation and inspiration to be used in our careers, our love lives, our friendships, and even our health.
When editor-in-chief of Cosmo, Joanna Coles, walked passed me I reacted as if I had just seen a celebrity. But then again, to any girl like me, she is one. She’s the reason the magazine is what it is today. As she made her grand entrance Saturday morning (with shirtless men obviously) and gave the perfect opening speech, she made two definitive statements. “Life can be complicated and messy, but also marvelous. Life is precious, but also wild.” After that, I think we knew what kind of empowering day we were in for. Following her was the founder of Spanx, Sara Blakely and Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. Both used anecdotes from their journeys to emphasize one key lesson that would help us with our careers, encouraging us to find our passion and use our ambition and drive to achieve what others might deem “impossible.” Our very own President of Her Campus, Windsor Hanger, was a panelist along with NastyGal’s Sophia Amoruso and Milk Bar’s Christina Tosi, giving advice on how to create our own opportunities. Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell also spoke about how to make your mark in the world. And for the comedic part of the day Chrissy Teigen hosted a manthropology panel with Cosmo columnist Logan Hill, Get the Guy author Matthew Hussey, and Girl Code’s Jordan Carlos. I was entertained to say the least.
The second day actually started with the help of the Fordham University cheerleaders. Can’t say I complained that my school was cheering for one of my favorite things ever. With that spirit, CosmoBody fitness experts Tara Stiles and Adam Rosante took over to do some yoga and 30-second sprints. No lie, heels were taken off. We were surprised, but certainly energized. I guarantee you people went home and set their own fitness goals. Probably one of my favorite talks of the weekend was when Joanna Coles sat down with Kelly Osbourne. I knew it was important to listen to her because she was so authentic and honest about her experiences. I felt that if she could make those changes in her life then so could I. She sends a strong message: “No matter how hard you try, you’ll never wake up and be somebody else, so you better find a way to love yourself because there are things you have that other people wish they had.” Then Jillian Michaels was thrown into the conversation and we received some advice on how to live healthy lives. Joanna Coles, and the rest of the audience, was disappointed to hear that we should have no more than three glasses of wine per week. Sorry, collegiettes. We also received some financial advice from Alexa Von Tobel, which will actually be really important when we all graduate and want to be fun and fearless twenty-year-olds. Joanna Coles also had an exclusive interview with Gabrielle Union about how she stood up for herself during some of the darkest times in her life. She made it pretty clear: “What you do with your body is your choice. Period.”
Now, that was just the actual conference part. Throughout the day, attendees had the opportunity to have their makeup touched up by Maybeline’s makeup artists and shop at Express’s pop up boutique. We also received complementary lipstick and mascara and were frequently entered in Express sweepstakes. We made it our goal to reach 10,000 tweets for #FunFearlessLife. I believe we manged to achieve it. I also made sure to purchase some Cosmo swag; a Fearless Tank Top, of course. If you had the money to spend on a VIP ticket, you could have attended the cocktail party on Saturday night and met some of the rock star celebrities that were there that day.
The atmosphere of those two days is still indescribable. Being in the presence of some of Cosmo’s editors and knowing they were there to inspire me to live a better life is enough to keep me working hard to pursue my dreams. But truthfully, Cosmo brought us some of the best speakers you could imagine. The audience was certainly a range of women with different styles, backgrounds, work experience, and purposes for attending. Therefore, I think the event was a summary of what Cosmo stands for. Everyone at Cosmo does what they do because they have a love and passion for it and the event showed that they want the same for their readers. I hope I can make you all proud and live my own fun and fearless life. Check out some of my pics from the conference below:
“If it doesn’t suit you, don’t rock it. Wear what you want to wear.” – Shay Mitchell
Our lives would be a little duller without Her Campus, Nastygal, and Momofoku Milk Bar.
Spanx inspired us with some temporary tatts. #bebold
The best manthropology panel there could be.