Meet this week’s Campus Celebrity, Makayla McAfee! Makayla is a senior Fashion Merchandising student who runs the extremely successful fashion blog, Fashionably Kay. Makayla founded the blog just over two short years ago and has already accumulated a following of over 27,000 readers! Her Campus met up with the fashion blogger herself to get the scoop on Fashionably Kay.
Name: Makayla McAfee
Age: 23
Major/Minor: Fashion Merchandising major, with a minor in Marketing
Hometown: Medina, Ohio
Her Campus: What was your motivation for creating Fashionably Kay?Makayla McAfee: Well I’ve always loved fashion. The blogger, Sincerely Jules, was such an inspiration for me. The more I looked into it, the more it made me want to create my own and be a personal style blogger for younger girls.
HC: What do you think has made your blog so successful over the years?MM: My mom being a photographer really helps so much. It helps in creating unique content for sure, but having a skilled photographer just in general is such a bonus!
HC: There are a ton of fashion students here who also run their own blogs. Do you think that is what differentiates your blog from other fashion blogs at Kent State?MM: I think what differentiates my blog from other blogs is always having consistent content. People will usually look at their favorite blogs on the daily; if they know that you will post 3 to 4 times a week, they will keep coming back to check for new content. It just makes sense.
HC: What did you expect when you first started Fashionably Kay?MM: I honestly did not have a clue what would happen, I just knew I wanted to try my hand at it. I remember my first time getting an email about having a sponsor; it was from an LA-based company, Civil Clothing, and I was so excited because they were going to give me free clothes. Honestly, I didn’t even know that was a thing—to have sponsors for my blog! I just thought I’d be posting from out of my personal closet. At first, I was working with just them. But when you have an official sponsor, more people start to gain interest in you and email you with opportunities. Aeropostale was my second sponsor, and I was one of the first VIP members to be a blogger for them. It was just so cool!
HC: Looking back on your experience, is there any advice you would like to share with someone considering creating their own blog? Any warnings you would like to give?MM: I wouldn’t give them any warnings necessarily. I would probably just tell them to stay true to their own personal style because people like seeing unique things and ideas. They should try to step away from all the most popular trends going on because you can honestly go anywhere to see pictures and posts about those. Anyone can post something trendy. The key is learning to stick with your own style and to find a happy medium between it and fashion-forward trends.
HC: What can we expect from Fashionably Kay in the future? Are there any deals or collaborations in the works right now?MM: There are actually quite a few collaborations that are in the discussion stage right now. I’ll be working with a couple of companies for New York Fashion Week—I won’t be there sadly, but we’re definitely working on something cool. I will be at the spring New York Fashion Week in February however, and I’m already collaborating with someone for that one, too!
HC: Are we allowed to know who these will be with?MM: [laughs] No, I’m not allowed to say just yet. But I will tell you they are based in New York and it is something big! I’m so excited. Like I said, there are a couple more collaborations though that you’ll just have to watch for. In fact, I’ll be posting something next week—a collab with Kohl’s! So make sure you guys stay tuned and check it out!