My Reunion Weekend at Wake

As you all know, I graduated Wake Forest in May of last year, but it was less than a happy closure to my undergraduate career.

I had a couple of days off from law school, so I wanted to go back to my favorite place, Wake Forest (almost exactly a year after the world came to a halt) and see and/or surprise some friends that were still on campus.

Here’s a quick list of things I got to do and see:

I studied in ZSR

I saw the Demon Deacon mascot

I walked around campus

I sat on the upper quad and studied

I went to a baseball game

I went to the Porch

I went to Cugino downtown

I went to Sofa Bar

I went for a walk in Reynolda

We had Dough Joe’s Donuts

I walked 7 miles around Salem Lake

We went to Quarry Park

I surprised some friends

I did homework

I had cookout

 

It was a very wholesome weekend, and I spent the entire weekend smiling and laughing. I was so happy I got to go and pretend to be a student one last time. I definitely feel a bit more closure than I did last year. Last time I was at Wake was to pick up my belongings that were moved out of my dorm room... I was so angry and hurt and upset. Now, my last time on campus as a “student” was fun and happy! It reminded me of all the good memories I had on campus and helped me push the painful memories into the back of my head.

It was the best trip ever and I can’t wait to see all my other friends at graduation this May or November!

My First Legal Internship

Surprise! I got a job!

I accepted my job on February 9^th, after the Public Interest Fair.

 

I applied to roughly 45 jobs, and I only interviewed for one, and that is the job I was offered and the one I accepted for this summer.

I got really lucky, and I feel very blessed that I was able to get an internship so quickly and with such ease. I know that most of my friends did not have such an easy time.

 

I wanted to wait until most of my friends got jobs and got things settled before I announced mine.

Let me tell you about the interview.

If you follow me on Instagram (@tallandpreppy, if you’re not, you are seriously missing out on my funny stories and jokes and wonderful IRL personality, but that’s on you) then you saw the day I went to the virtual Public Interest Fair and had my interview. You saw me sweat and be nervous and then you got to hear all about my interview!

If you missed it, here is a bit of a synopsis of what happened.

 

The first thing she asked me was about my blog! I talked about how it has become a business and how I work with brands. I talked about how much planning and coordination and organization it takes. She completely understood because surprise: she also has a blog.

She asked me about my experience at Wake being an English and French double major. I told her about my favorite class that I took at Wake called “Investigating Innocence.” It was a journalism class that worked with Wake Forest School of Law on a murder case through the Innocence and Justice Clinic. We had hands on experience and learned about the importance of telling a story from a legal perspective but also a journalistic perspective. I actually wrote my personal statement for my law school applications about this class. Surprise- my interviewer and now boss, was also an English major.

She asked me about Girl Scouts, because I have it listed at the bottom of my resume for interests. I told her about my experience of being on a Girl Scout cookie box for 8 years and how it was one of the best organizations I could have joined. I told her about my mom’s connection to Girl Scouts as well. And surprise- she is a lifetime Girl Scout and her daughter’s troop leader.

 

Oh, and it gets weirder- She asked me to pick something on my resume that I wanted to tell her about. So, I picked my French major and I told her about my study abroad experience in Dijon, France. If you guessed that my interviewer studied abroad in France, you would be correct… Yup, another similarity! How funny and crazy is that. We laughed about her study abroad experience in Paris surrounded by Americans and Parisians who spoke English, as opposed to mine, where I was in a small city where hardly anyone spoke English.

 

Less than a week later, she emailed me and offered me a position.

I accepted a day later.

 

Here is what I will be wearing to my job this summer, even if it is remote (heels included). You can use my promo code: SARAHFLINT-BAELIZABETHG for $50 off.

 

So here is proof that interviews should be conversations! My interviewer/boss clearly looked at my resume before our interview, saw I was qualified (as qualified as I can be for a 1L) and set up an interview with me to have a conversation and to get to know me better. The best interviews, I have been told, and have now experienced, are when you are having a conversation, and it is not a question-and-answer session.

 

I think if you have similarities with your interviewer and you can prove that you will be friends, there is an even higher chance that you will do well in the interview and maybe even get the job.

 

I know the job market/interview market is tough right now but hang in there and remember to tell your interviewer what makes you UNIQUE!

You can shop my look here (may contain affiliate links):

Winter to Spring Pastels

Last week was in the high 60s and this weekend, and today is in the low 30s… Oh March, what are we going to do with you?!

 

I have officially put away my turtlenecks and have brought out all my spring clothes, but with 30-degree weather one day and 60-degree weather the next, us New Yorkers are struggling with what to wear so we are warm but don’t look like we are ready for Antarctica, but we are still ready for spring.

 

Here is my super complicated advice:

white jeans, wool sweater, ballet flats and bright colors!

 

That was so tough right?

 

White jeans are a staple in my closet all year long, but especially during the spring. I wear them literally every day.

White jeans are the easiest way to make an outfit spring ready, but then I like to add in some spring colors into my accessories.

Check out my super comfortable Margaux flats (use promo code: tallandpreppy10 for 10% off) in the most beautiful light blue. I am wearing The Demi in Cerulean in my true size: size US 9.5/EU 40. Paired with a vibrant silk scarf and pearl hoops, I am ready for spring even in the 30-degree weather (plus a coat if its anything colder than 50 degrees).

Shop my look (may contained affiliate links):

How to Pitch to Brands for Blog Collaborations

I feel blessed that a majority of the brands I work with reach out to me via email or DM on Instagram. But this past year, my confidence in my blog and my brand has grown and I have reached out to brands and pitched myself to them to work together.

I have a running list on my desk of brands I want to work with. I find the brands on Instagram- either I see other bloggers work with them or I see someone wearing something and I look into their brand and I think “hey, this would be a really cool brand to work with.”

 

I try to pitch and send emails a couple of times a month, but it’s hard. Fortunately, I have a lot of brands that reach out to me that I want to work with, and then I don’t really feel the need to reach out to brands, when my content calendar is planned weeks in advance. It’s also so hard to work with a lot of brands at once. A lot of organization goes into working with one brand- with negotiations, contracts, content planning, caption writing, going back and forth with guidelines and approvals. I’m also a full-time law student, so I don’t have a ton of time to reach out to brands.

I also don’t want my page to just strictly be brand collaborations! That’s not who I am, or why I started my page six years ago.

Best advice:

Please listen when I say this: IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MANY FOLLOWERS YOU HAVE! I promise! I have friends with 1k, 2k, 3k followers who have worked with huge brands. I don’t even have 7k followers and I have made serious money from this past year by working with companies. So, don’t let the number of followers deter you from emailing your dream brand.

 

How I reach out to brands:

I either reach out to brands via Instagram on their stories (pro tip: follow the brand) or I send them an email if I can find their pr contact- which isn’t always easy to find via the internet. But it is easier to find if you have a fellow blogger friend that you know had worked with them and they can give you the contact. Blogging is a team effort! You need supporters and friends! (Shoutout to Carey, Libby, Shelby and Louise!)

 

DM Template:

Here is a DM I send to a company I want to work with. (Obviously making it personal and individual to the brand).

Hi, I saw your product on my friend ____ (blogger friend’s name) @(instagram handle). The ____ (product) is beautiful! I love how ___(blogger friend’s name) styled it. She raves about you and your product. I think your product and brand would really resonate with my audience because x, y, and z. I would love to collaborate together. Please let me know what you think.

 

Email Template:

Here is the email template I send. (I actually have this template saved and copy and paste it into my email and personalize it to fit the brand I am emailing!)

Dear ___,

 

I hope you are well. My name is Elizabeth Guariglia and I run the blog Tall and Preppy.

I am emailing to inquire about a potential collaboration between myself and your company.

I love how your company encompasses ___ and ____.

I believe a collaboration would be mutually beneficial in terms of exposure, engagement and growth.

I would love to form a relationship and work together in the future. Please let me know your thoughts on this proposal.

 

Best,

Elizabeth Guariglia

 

Also, at the bottom of my email I attach my media kit (media kit=a snapshot of what my blog is, who I am and what my statistics are across all my social media channels).

Here is what my media kit looks like.

 I followed a template I found online! It’s super easy to make. I made mine on Google slides and then save as a PDF and I try to update it every couple of months. There are also options on Canva or Google!

 

I hope this helps! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions!