We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Abbey Kay a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Abbey, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

I got my first client by walking into a local product shop, becoming a customer, sharing about that product through social media, having them reshare my photos countless times, and then me approaching them to ask if I could take their website photos for them.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m just a girl from Reno. Nevada who started a dream at 19 that she never knew was possible. Over 10 years ago I started sharing my outfits on social media simply because I just loved creating looks with my clothes and telling people where you could buy great items. This was during the time when bloggers were being born and everyone was still using Instagram filters & square photos. I would share my looks daily & use call to actions captions that I didn’t even know were a thing because college or a marketing degree were not anything I participated in. Being consistent in my posts led to recognition & followers on social media and my blog. Fast forward a few years and businesses started entering the social media world and you could team up for giveaways to gain mutual exposure. I kept creating and sharing & through it teaching myself photography & lighting first with my iphone & then with a camera. The world of blogging turned into the world of influencing where I started doing social media takeovers for local malls, coffee shops, & businesses. I received sponsors & products from brands like Macy’s, Aerie, Good American & had my photos reposted by countless businesses like Oreo, Kashi, & Whole Foods. Locally, I started doing product photography for donut, plant, and apothecary shops & would get invited to grand openings for spas & restaurants. I even became the local malls influencer creating monthly “shop with me” videos & wrote local guides for traveling in my hometown with our local Reno travel site.

The craze of social media has provided me with countless opportunities, experiences, jobs, creative outlets, tons of brand photos & videos of my work being reposted by big name businesses, & local recognition. My main voice was sharing outfits but then it turned into sharing real life moments & offering encouragement through life. Now, I am about to launch a sweatshirt brand called BE SEEN. so that I can combine my love for clothes & encouraging others into one mission field.

I was a teenager when I accidentally started my entrepreneurial adventure & now I am 30 years old. I have watched social be born, grow, change, & adapt to each generation. I’ve been through the body positivity movement online as well the idea that anyone can be a creator. My belief is that there is room for everyone. Your dream and your voice matter. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas, your life, your mind, the world is still a place of desiring connection & humanity is willing to watch & listen. Be confident in who you are, what you were made to do/share, & start spreading it out in the world.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When you are self-employed you wake up every day being the only one in control of what your day is going to look like. You hold all the power in what you can create & how you’re going to get it done. Every day you are testing new ideas, chasing your dream, & creating the next one. I’ve gone from blogging to influencing, to article writing & photography, into managing social media accounts and landing on starting a clothing brand. And it’s not the last place I’ll land.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Be you. There’s no magic element that you are missing. If you share the truth of who you are, others will feel seen by your vulnerability & honesty. That’s it.

Contact Info:

• Website: abbeykay.co
• Instagram: @abbeykay.co

Image Credits
I took all of these photos myself.