REWARDSTYLE CONFERENCE RECAP
hi everyone! i hope you are having a great week so far! today i'm going to be sharing my rewardStyle conference recap! so many of you have asked about what it is so i thought it would be fun to share more about it with you guys!
*all outfits will be shared tomorrow in an outfit roundup post from the trip! if you want to shop them early, head to my liketoknow.it page!
ok first things first, you guys may not even know what the heck rewardStyle is! let me begin by explaining a bit about it:
what is rewardStyle?
rewardStyle is what most of us influencers use to monetize our content. it is a affiliate program that works with many different brands that us influencers shop at. it allows us to make a small commission when you purchase something from our links. liketoknow.it is apart of the rewardStyle family. this is how you can easily shop our looks and use our links to give us credit! i'll be writing a whole post about how to use liketoknow.it in the near future so stay tuned!
alright now that you have a bit of a background on what rewardStyle is - let's talk about #rStheCon.
what is #rStheCon?
the rewardStyle conference is an annual conference that the top 200 influencers who use rewardStyle are invited. it was held in Dallas where the headquarters of rewardStyle is located. influencers from all over the world (8 different countries i believe) flew to Dallas for this 3 day conference.
let me break it down a bit more for you:
thursday (day 1): the weekend started with a happy hour from 2-4 when everyone was arriving and checking in. we, as influencers, had to check in and get a badge that we'd be using all weekend long to check into events and classroom sessions, etc.
after this, we were free until the Sole Society rooftop pool party! this party was two hours long and it was a great way to meet new influencers. we all mingled and there were delicious appetizers and drinks being served. the decorations were absolutely stunning and picture perfect. i'll insert a picture below so you can see a bit of it!
i wish i took more pictures this night because it truly was such a beautiful scene. the flowers behind me were beautiful and there was a whole wall of lemons that was gorg!!
after this party, a bunch of us went and grabbed dinner. we went to a mexican restaurant and i totally forget the name but it was actually delicious! i've always heard that the mexican food in texas was delicious because it's so close to mexico!
friday (day 2): friday was a day full of learning, brand meetings, and picture taking! we started off the morning with the main stage event. during this time, we heard the founders of rewardStyle speak. we also heard other employees speak and give insight on what the future looks like for the brand. we also heard Charlotte Jones speak. for those who may not know, she is the daugher of Jerry Jones, who owns the Cowboys. she spoke about how they built up their brand. every single person who spoke at the main stage fueled me with so much passion and inspiration that i cannot wait to bring to simply lauren rose in the future!
after the main stage event, we had a beautiful lunch hosted by Mary Kay. again, i did not take enough pictures so i don't have much to show for it. next year i'll be better at taking pictures!
we had some free time before our first classroom session so we spent this time taking pictures of our outfits and all that.
my first class of the day was hosted by Jen from the sister studio and Jen from interior design ella. they were amazing speakers and i took away so much from their class. they talked to us about how to engage our audience more and stuff like that! they gave us tons of tips and tricks that have been successful for them. they were such great speakers and so knowledgable.
after class i had a few brand meetings. i met with brands like express, colleen rothschild and supergoop! after my brand meetings i met with my rep from rewardStyle!
friday night we had a cocktail party hosted by eBay. again, beautifully decorated! there was a dj and it was so much fun dancing the night away with so many wonderful people! i'll show you my outfit that i wore below!
we thought about eating dinner at nobu - we actually sat down at the table lol - and then we were like nahhhh let's not and we ditched and went to shake shack instead. best idea ever!
saturday (day 3): i had another brand meeting on saturday morning with banana republic. after that, we took the time to check out the brand hall that they had set up. it was such a great experience. many of the brands that work with rewardStyle set up booths in a room that showcased some new products that will be coming out. this was a great way for us to meet with brands and get more information about them and their products. brands that were there were Victoria Emerson, Sole Society, Corkcicle, Bloomingdales, and many more!
after that we had another beautiful lunch, this time hosted by JC Penny. again, i did not do a great job taking pictures but i'll insert one below where you can see the flowers that were set up outside the room where the lunch was being held!
after lunch we took some more pictures and then i had two more classes to go to that day. these classes were about the LTK app - we learned a lot about it and it was super insightful, and the second class was about Facebook & Instagram promotions.
saturday night was the big finale party! we ate dinner at capital grille beforehand. the finale party was off site at another venue and the setup was amazing! i'll insert a few pictures below!
meet my roommate:
lauren (Lo Meyer Blog) was my roommate this year for the conference! we got to pick who we room with which i am grateful for! lauren and i are very similar in many ways - we had assumed that from being friends on instagram - but it came to be even more true when we actually met in person! she is so down to earth, so helpful, so kind hearted, and hilarious! if you don't already follow her, i highly recommend it. she's all about sharing affordable fashion & she's petite so that'll be helpful for any of you who may be petite!
my thoughts on #rStheCon:
so this was my third year being invited to the conference but my first year actually being able to attend. like i've said before, i would not be here, at this point in my blogging career, without you guys and your support. it's because you use my links and engage with me on my social media, and read my blog, and all of that, that's why i am able to see success in this industry. so THANK YOU. this was one of the most amazing experiences, all because of you!
now let me tell you a few things that went on in my mind during the conference. every single person there was stunning. beautifully dressed, beautiful hair, beautiful makeup. the whole 9 yards. in my mind, all i could think about is how the HECK am i going to make it any further in this world when there's so many of us out there and they're all doing so well and creating such wonderful content. it was very, very overwhelming to be surrounded by so many powerful women. i definitely felt the pressure to be "on" all the time that i was there. i worried about every outfit i wore, worried about my hair and my makeup. i am a VERY shy person, so introducing myself to people was a struggle for me. i'll admit, i kind of sat back while others were networking and introducing themselves to others. i just don't have that personality and i wish that was something i was better at. it's so damn hard not to compare ourselves to others, i am 100% guilty of this, but we have to remind ourselves to be true to who we are no matter what. i'm all about lifting each other up and bringing positivity to you guys. that will forever be my goal with blogging - but i'm not going to hide the bad days with you, because that's also my reality sometimes.
now all of that being said, i reminded myself that you're all looking to me and following me and reading my blog because of ME. not because of other people and what they're creating. you care about my content and what i have to share with you guys. i'm not going to change who i am just because i saw how other bloggers and influencers are. i pride myself in being genuine, open, and honest with you guys. my pictures will never be perfect, my feed will never be cohesive, i will never share a product with you that i don't love. i've gotten this far by being who i am, so i'm going to continue to do that and not worry about trying to look better or dress better. i am who i am, and hopefully you guys love me for that!
i also want to say that SO many of the ladies i met this weekend were SO sweet and genuine and kind. you always wonder what people would be like if you met them in person (i wonder the same thing too!) and i'm happy to report that pretty much everyone at this conference was all about supporting each other. we're all women trying to make it in this industry and it's such a wonderful feeling that so many of us are all about working together, building each other up, and supporting each other. i made friendships through blogging that i don't think i will ever lose because there are so many amazing women in this blogging industry who are genuine and real.
i've been following these ladies forever but it was SO nice to finally meet them in person! i'll share them in order! i highly recommend checking them out because like i said before, they're genuinely so NICE and so real. it was so refreshing to hang out with them all weekend!
Lauren - Lo Meyer Blog, Taylor - The Styled Press, Shelby - Shelby Ditch, Morgan - Morgan Bullard
now that i'm done with that spiel, i want to thank you again for all of your support. like i said, i would not be here without any of you! thank you for all of your continuous love and support throughout my blogging journey!
thanks for reading!
xo, lauren