XOXO Her Conference

This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to New York City for my very first sponsored conference! I was contacted by XOXO 5th Avenue (one of my favorite online stores) to go to the HER Conference. I was so excited but also so stressed because I’m no fashionista. Luckily they gave me the cutest jacket to wear and I didn’t have to think too much.

Let’s start off with a disclaimer that you need to read all emails thoroughly, which I definitely did, and your ticket very thoroughly, which I did not do.

I went to the wrong place. I went up to the furthest part of Brooklyn almost to Queens. I got off the train and the street was deserted and I had to walk a half a mile to this location on my GPS. But it’s ok, I left about an hour and a half early because I wanted to take the train and get there early to meet all my new friends.

Good thing I left early because this place was about an hour trek from my hotel. I say “this place” because it was the wrong place.

When my GPS said arrived I was in the middle of a giant abandoned warehouse. There were no cutely dressed hordes of girls, panels of people, check in desk or nothing.

I checked my email and I put in Brooklyn Studios in my GPS. Nope. It was supposed to BKLYN studios — there’s a difference. Then I opened my ticket and found an address. This address was just two stops away from my hotel over the bridge. Remember I’m way freaking north.

I could have so easily freaked out but I kept my cool. I called an Uber because the train was a half a mile away and unless I wanted to look like a walk of shame and take my heels off ain’t no way I was walking that again.

Another 25 minutes later my Uber driver dropped me off at BKLYN Studios. I immediately knew I was in the right spot because I saw a bunch of girls with a tripod taking pictures. My people.

I walked in and this building was massive, so massive there was a Target AND and Trader Joe’s. There was a weekend merchants market setting up in the middle walkway in between a number of cute boutiques. There were two open doors leading to a large, open room. There, like a beacon in the night, was the check in table.

I’m now 30 minutes late to something I was supposed to be 30 minutes early to but everyone was so nice! They handed me my badge and a bag filled with all kinds of fun things! I met my XOXO contacts and was on my way.

I don’t know if you know much about the Her Conference but it is an organization that was created for goin journalists. It is a community of women who help each other grown and thrive in this crazy world of journalism and social media. They cover everything from internships to take to how to start your own company and it’s all the most empowering experience ever.

If you are in college I definitely urge you to go out and join your local Her Campus and meet all the amazing women who can help you achieve any goals you may have!

Before we dive into all the amazing speakers let’s talk about this space and who was there.

First up was my babes at XOXO where you could make your own custom t-shirt! Mine says “future founder , future boss, current badass” which very much spoke to me. You could choose your saying, they screen printed it on, then you could load it up with patches!

You could go get your make up done by Mary Kay and then head over to GoDaddy to take some fun pictures and get a makeup bag.

On the other side there was a Her Campus store where I got a shirt that says “I don’t know what’s going on but it’s a lot” again, just speaks to my every day life. And a hat that said Girl Pwr.

You could get your hair done by Bumble and then get the perfect headshot for your Bumble account or your LinkedIn. You can see below I went with a different route.

Next up you could create your own planner filled with inspirational quotes to get you through the toughest of Monday’s and have your resume reviewed by Deuchbank.

Now, once you’ve calmed down from all of these amazing things next up you were just flooded with speakers.

One of these speakers was Amber Tamblyn. Now, if you’re anything like me you immediately just screamed SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS out loud. Remember that I am also 27-years-old and I’m at s conference that is predominately geared towards college students who were very young when that move came out. But anyway, I was super excited and definitely stared at when I yelled that but whatever.

Amber Tamblyn has done so much more than just Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. She has written the most incredible book on what it is like to be a woman in this country. She talked extensively about her work with multiple charities, her life as a mother, and most importantly how we need to change. Her talk was so moving and truly was so empowering.

Another one of my favorite talks was that of four female entrepreneurs. As a self-employed blogger with a recently blossoming marketing company, I needed to hear these women speak. They talked about the struggles, dealing with clients, sticking to your beliefs, and overall trusting your gut.

All of these women were more than eager to give you their information to communicate with them outside of this conference. They answered any an all questions they could and genuinely wanted you to succeed.

And if that wasn’t enough the amazing XOXO team threw a kick ass after party in a bar below the conference. They had my favorite lipgloss of theirs lining the counter for the girls to have and signature cocktails (and mocktails) fo is to enjoy.

This conference was a game changer in that I met tons of amazing women who were all there to further their careers. I created a lifelong relationship with XOXO and I cannot wait to continue it and I got to share it all with you guys!

If you haven’t already checked out XOXO they are linked all throughout this article and you can click here to see all their amazing things. I wore the black duster in medium and the whole outfit is linked on LIKEtoKNOW.it