Attending Her Conference in NYC

This is a sponsored post in partnership with Mary Kay and the InfluenceHer Collective. All words and opinions are my own. 

As a full-time blogger and content creator, you all know how much my work means to me, and to be able to earn a living doing work that I am absolutely in love with is such a dream come true. As a kid I remember setting up lemonade stands on my street during my summer vacations and reading The Smart Girl’s Guide To Money from the American Girl book collection. I always knew I had that entrepreneurial gene. One of the things I love most about living here in New York is the accessibility to incredible events, panels, and other gatherings in my industry. I was so excited attend Her Conference this year with Mary Kay because it was the absolute perfect way to combine two of my passions: beauty and entrepreneurship.  

For more than 55 years, Mary Kay has inspired women to achieve their entrepreneurial goals through their Independent Beauty Consultants. Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultants represent one the earliest examples of brand ambassadors and “influencers.” Rather than shopping through a traditional retail experience, you’d be able to shop through a consultant who could offer personalized suggestions, education and feedback to make the shopping experience feel less like someone was throwing a sales pitch in your face, and more like you were at the beauty counter with a trusted friend. This female-founded brand was designed to empower women not just with their beauty routines, but also with tools to be successful on their own, and that is one of the reasons I admire the company so much. 

I was first introduced to Mary Kay when I was 11 or 12 years old at a modeling workshop at a local college in the area (I had no big plans to be a model, but my mom had to do something with me during the summer, right??). Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultants came in and let us play with everything from lipstick to blush,  I remember it as one of my earliest hands-on experimentations with real makeup. 

At Her Conference I got to play with the new Mary Kay Chromafusion™ Collection and get a touch-up from a Mary Kay makeup artist. The collection features 33 shades of eye shadows, 10 shades of blush, two shades of highlighter, and two shades of contour—all of which you can use to customize your own Mary Kay Perfect Palette. To me, there’s nothing worse than finding a palette with a few shades you are obsessed with but knowing that you’ll never touch most of them. I love that the Perfect Palette allows you to choose the products that will really work best for you and that it has a large mirror to make your on-the-go touch-ups super easy. I used my Perfect Palette to do my face makeup before I headed out to the conference and got a blush and foundation touch-up once I arrived at the event.

After my touch-up from the mary kay team!

I loved how the blush brought out my eyeliner.

I loved being able to meet the Mary Kay team and learn even more about a brand that wants women to be the best versions of themselves. It was also amazing to sit in on some awesome panels like “Navigating the Media Industry” and to hear keynotes from absolute powerhouses like Michelle Carter and Amber Tamblyn. A whole day spent in New York City being around women who inspire me to look and feel my best? It doesn’t get much better than that.

Have you ever attended a conference? What did you like best about it? 

yours,

Austen  

Photographed by Francesca Gariano