My Recap of The SCCON18 & How You Can Join the Sisterhood

SCCON18 recap featured by popular Denver blogger, Delayna Denaye

Image is from @saracoffinphoto

How it all started… Lets flash to 2016 when I was diving back into blogging as a brand new blogger. I had a blog back in 2010, I blogged under the name Fortheloveofashion (If anyone can find it let me know) and was actually getting some pretty good feed back from companies as well as other bloggers that were just starting at the time! I First started blogging back in 2010, and after getting some great exposure to things my personal life turned for the worse. I went through a divorce.. something I never expected and never wanted to happen. I only envisioned my self getting married once and being with my one person. I plan to dive into this expierece with you all in a letter post. My ex husband was my photographer, my supporter and also the one that financially supported me while I was going to nursing school ( I worked my full time job as a nursing assistant all through nursing school up till the last 2 quarters, I was buried with clinicals and school work, so I was fortunate enough that I had someone to support me financially to pull through the last stretch). My ex was financially supporting me so, supported my shopping habits along with any bills that we had shared at the time. Any time I was stressed in school I would shop. We didn’t have the money and I still selfishly shopped. Shopping and blogging outfits was my therapy and was my way to de-stress and really do what I wanted to do. It was like those people that are obsessed with video games, and have to play all the time. That was me, but only it was with shopping and having to constantly have my ex take my pictures. I would spend hours blogging and learning all about coding and html. ( I should have been using that time to study as an RN) When I split from my ex husband, I was unable to blog. I was so lost after my divorce, I was so upset that I had lost the man I thought I was going to grow old with and have kids with, I was a complete wreck. My ex was all I knew, we met when we were 15 and had dated and then married very young and stayed married for a long time. I only knew my life with him and no different, so I had to pick up the pieces what ever those were and try to move forward. My life with blogging had to end. I was so depressed and sad, I never imagined that this was going to happen, and never wanted to quit blogging, it was my therapy. I should have studied design at FIDM or marketing I love all of the excitement around fashion and the process behind creating pieces.

So needless to say, I didn’t know my head from my butt after my divorce. I was in a rut, I was depressed, I was suicidal, I doubted my faith, I didn’t know how I was going to live alone, how I was going to go to the gym alone, who was I going to cook for, who was going to take my blog pictures and who was going to travel with me…… My life changed I had to work overnights to pick up the pieces and the place that I wanted to live wasn’t cheap to live in. I wanted to stay somewhere safe and gated because I was going to be single and alone. In my divorce I left everything behind, the furniture we shared.. all of it, I took what I wanted/ needed and moved out into my own place. It wasn’t till I was about to leave the state of Colorado to move to North Carolina to be closer to home, that I met a man.

After being in this relationship for some time, I mentioned that I used to blog and how much I loved it. Chris (my man now) saw how excited I was when talking abut blogging and how it was pretty much my online journal or diary. Chris told me I should start back up and start fresh, he said if it is something that I love and enjoy then I am in a point in my life where I can start again and refocus on blogging. So with that little back story which I will go into depths about in a blog post soon, since so many of you keep asking about my past and dating etc. I didn’t know where to start with blogging, I wanted to use my old blog account and just change the name, but I purchased the domain so I wouldn’t be able to start fresh unless I just started all over. So I did and when I asked Chris what I should blog under, he said your name… so I did! He said what better way to recreate yourself and your blog then to diary under your own name, making it easier for people to find you. So I created a instagram account for my new blog as well as other social channels and when I would post a picture to my new Instagram channel no one would see it and I couldn’t tag companies, so I just used my personal account and started posting just pictures of me and my outfits and was able to tag companies. I don’t know what the problem with Instagram was, but I didn’t want to wait to figure it out. I had emailed the help line and no one ever did help me, so I just converted my personal account to my business account. I figure if the people that support me in my personal life don’t want to support me in my blogging journey they can unfollow. This is me!

I was posting pictures and one day posted a picture and someone from Style Collective ( I am not sure who was running the SC instagram at that time) reached out and commented saying I should join the sisterhood. I checked it out and BAM… I was hooked and bought my way into the sisterhood.

So LONG story long… I have been part of SC since Jan 28, 2017. So I joined quickly after starting my new blog since I only had been blogging 4 months by this time. I was ready to take the plunge and dive in and get the resources I needed to be successful as well as help me not spend hours upon hours researching how to do certain things pertaining to my blog. SC has all of these tools to help with the stress of researching. Over the year of being with SC I was able to meet women all over the country via the SC portal as well as in my very own state!! I met a girl locally when we were planning an SC event together, she and I were both the Regional leaders of he state, and we hit it off. We traveled to NYFW together and held meet ups with other bloggers here locally it was fun. Alyssa since has stopped blogging- (from what I can gather it was personal reasons, since I know some will ask.) After going to NYFW and attending the SC event I was able to see just ow far SC had gotten me. I was really learning the style of blogging I wanted to pursue as well as utilizing the tools that Annie has created for all of the SC women I was able to pitch to brands and knew I still needed more from my blog! So when Annie spoke about this conference, I knew I needed to go! I have slid into Annie’s DM’s on Instagram almost daily, and she is so gracious with helping me. I knew if she was able to be my mentor via Instagram and email, her conference is going to be EPIC, and it was more than Epic.

SCCON18 RECAP

Annie sure knows how to throw a party and a conference! I wasn’t ready to leave! I wanted more time. I seriously was so excited to meet everyone at the conference that learning about everyone and learning in the classroom was stimulation overload!! I wanted to have everyone come back home with me. I seriously was so sad to leave. I felt like I was on a trip with all of my girlfriends. (and it ended way too fast)

I seriously went back and forth on the conference, I knew it was what I needed to go to the next step and really get organized and find what I am lacking. I of course had my schedule out for the month of April- (most nurses have their schedules 10-12 weeks out.) I was lucky enough to get the conference days off last minute. So I Asked Annie if she knew anyone I could room with, Annie put me in contact with Renee we dm’ed and Voila I was in!! I booked my airfare which was more than the conference ticket and all of my fears of traveling to the conference alone and being alone all went away after I had booked and started dm’ing a stranger which is now going to be a life long friend!

I have fears of doing things alone sometimes, and sometimes if I am comfortable with what ever the thing is, I go alone no problem.

Later, I learned that there were 3 of us traveling on the same plane out of Denver to North Carolina and met for the first time at the event! (small world) I now have 2 new babes that can be part of the SC Colorado meet ups!

I was able to learn so much at the conference, if you were unable to attend be sure to grab the digital ticket! It is worth the money. I literally use this workbook aka Blog Bible daily to plan my posts and imbed the information in my brain.

There was so much to learn at the conference, I ended up having homework for while I am home to relearn and catch up on. I am a work in progress as well as my blog! Just since being home I have changed my blog posts from just simple outfit posts, to posts that have an outfit inspiration by yours truly with content that can be helpful to you, as well as updating my pictures with my own filter and naming them for SEO, naming my titles of my posts with better titles other than “yellow dress”… etc I plan one day to reuse some of my content and rename the posts to make them more visible. With all of the materials and information that was given to me at the conference I still feel like I am on overload. This will all get easier for me to implement in my posts as I get the hang of things.

I have loved being a part of Style Collective. I know there are people that are part of SC, but aren’t active. If anyone wants to join the sisterhood click on my link and it will take you right to the signup page! I have learned so much from Style Collective and I have made so many friends that I cant wait to travel with as well as collaborate with.

I aways credit Annie for what I have learned this time around in blogging. Honestly if it wasn’t for her I would still be researching how to pitch to companies…(I have taken time away from pitching to companies to create better content for my readers!) I am so glad I went to the conference I was able to learn how to be better and how to create better content for all of my readers!

I owe a big thanks to Annie and her team, Annie is the type of leader who puts others before herself, and goes above and beyond to make sure that everyone is thought of. And she did just that during the entire conference weekend. I am so glad that I went to the #SCCON18 honestly it was blog changing (life changing)

Scroll don’t to see all of the photos from my weekend at the conference as well as some pictures of the babes that I will forever be grateful to have met!! (do any of you forget to take pictures of things because you are caught up in the moment? I do, and I did. I didn’t take any pictures of my food, my outfit on any of the cool couches, I didn’t get a single photo with Annie alone or of the SC team alone. I like those sort of momentos and I totally was caught up in the event I didn’t take those pictures.)Next year!!

When you walk in to the Cannon Room everyone gets checked in here

The elevators had decals that said SLAY! This was the theme of our conference!

This is where our panels will sit as well as Annie!

This was the table that I was placed at on day 1!!

Everyone was gifted these amazing Cookies as well as the mugs!

These donuts were amazing to wake up to, I didn’t eat breakfast any of the mornings so the donuts & coffee came in clutch! The Flowers were stunning on all of the tables and counters!

Day One outfit!
You can shop it here:

Our one and only Annie Spano! The Creator of Style Collective and my Mentor!!

Day one Brand Panel
left to right: Adrina Rose, Courtney Inkpen, Holly Boyd, Keke O.

The girls all playing a came of “I have /Have not”

This is the couch I wish I did an outfit post on!!

I need the recipe for these balls!! They are so good!!

Walking to Ice Cream after have lunch at our reservation!! I am so bad I forgot what the place was called! I had salad- aka a bowl of lettuce with some parmesan, it was delicious, but the picture is not worth posting. We went to an Oyster restaurant- clearly I didn’t pay attention to what I was signing up for.

The wall decal inside the photo booth room!!

I would have stayed in his room all day!
Now to share my PhotoBooth moments!

Heather, Ranee, me and Paige

Carmen, Paige and me!!

Day one was a success!! Annie really knows how to pull every detail together! The floral arrangements, the scent of the event, the yummy goodies, the music, the work books, the visuals to follow along. For lunches we had Panera, which is a hometown favorite, but I tried things off the menu I wouldn’t have tried and were delicious!! The plates that the Panera was served on we perfect for the event as well (blush pink and white with gold silverware) She really nailed it!! We could have easily all ate out of prepackaged boxed lunches from Panera, but instead Annie provided beautiful table settings for all of us. Speaking of table setting’s, our tables had beautiful pink or white table clothes with our floral arrangements and each person had a name tag with a handful of swag! I think everyone at the party felt like a VIP! I love how intimate it truly was. I plan to attend next year as well!!

Our Itinerary was as follows:
Wake up and get ready leaving no time to grab breakfast at the hotel
Catch an Uber to the venue
Check in at the Cannon Room
Grab donuts and coffee/socialize
Grab seats and Annie kicks off the weekend!
Annie gives us time to go mingle and meet each other and social network
We have our Influencer Panel
We get another social break and play in the photo booth room
Lunch time- Served from Panera, while we learn from Annie
Content Planning with Jessie Undorfer
Closing remarks for those that aren’t doing the VIP Party
Dinner on the town- we all signed up for the reservations that were made for us!
Walk back from dinner
Change in the back and get ready to VIP with all my other VIP’s
Partay with the babes!!

VIP Cocktail Party

This pic was from Thuy

My queen! This is the girl that I literally looked at and was like “did we just become best friends?’ She and I hit it off! I seriously think she is the younger version of me.. but better!! Love you Carly!!

Thanks to ZimZoomPhotoBooth! I need this in my house!!
My sangria (strong) drink!!

Day 2

Our Second Panel! From left to right: AdrinaRose, Angel Bailey of Beam Collective, and two reps from Kendra Scott.

lining up for lunch!! The lunches were from Panera during the classroom part, and here we went on the Raleigh Trolley to have sips and snacks at Manpower on the roof top!!! I love love them!

All three of us Colorado Girls!! (small world)

Day Two-Our final day
Wake up and get ready leaving no time to grab breakfast at the hotel
Catch an Uber to the venue
Check in at the Cannon Room

Grab donuts and coffee/socialize
Opening remarks from Annie
Brand Panel
Media Exposure with Amanda Berlin
Lunch with Panera, and learning about podcasting with Annie and Courtney Bentley
We all then went on a surprise send off on the Raleigh Trolley to the Art district to see some cute boutiques as well as enjoy a sip on the rooftop (I didn’t get to indulge in this beverage, so I am not sure how it tasted)
After this, I was back to the Cannon Room to gather my luggage and grab an Uber and catch my flight back home!!

I then sat in the airport for about 3 hours since there were tornados that had touched down, none of the flights were leaving.

I was so sad to leave and when I got home I was even more sad! I truly am so happy when I am with other boss babes!

I had an amazing time meeting everyone and being around other boss babes who totally get me and my blogging ways!!
I left feeling very empowered and inspired! I have lots of work to do and lots of growth!

Thank You Annie!! muah muah muah!!

SCCON18 SWAG BAGS

Our swag bags were auh-maze-Ing!!!
Thank you so much for all of our goodies from all of our amazing sponsors!!
Rocksbox- Gold Earrings
Thimble Press- Notecards– (we wrote notes that Annie will send to us to make sure we stay motivated)
Emma Flhair- hair tie
Mon Amie- watch
Sunglass LA- Sunglassses
Skin Iceland- Facelift in a bag
Natalie fragrance- Candle (our signature fragrance for the conference)
MarleyLily-Tassle earrings
Brittany Garner Designs- Koozie
Kneipp Products- Body wash
Copper Penny– Spongette, deodorant removing sponges, bracelet,
Virtue Labs- Travel Sized Shampoo and conditioner
Water bottle- Adrina Rose

Popsocket, tote, mug and waters- I believe are all from Annie!! (correct me if I am wrong, I would love to tag the appropriate people)

To sign up here for the $10/monthly membership
To sign up here for the $99/yearly membership
To sign up here for the lifetime membership

Thank you all for reading! I hope seeing how much fun I had has inspired you to join the sisterhood!