Hey y’all! Today is a super fun Fashion Friday for me because it is the day that I get to announce that I am now a Like to Know It Brand Influencer!!! Meaning that you can now shop my looks via social media. You see, as the owner of Southern Jewlz Boutique I have had to focus on curating a brand that can fit for many styles and body types rather than solely focusing on my own. And sometimes the best sellers at the store weren’t categorized as “Randa’s Top Picks”. Of course I always have my favorite products away from my own business and will still be using lots of SJ pieces in my fashion posts, but now I can show more about my personal style away from the Southern Jewlz me and allow you to shop these looks direct. You’re getting to know more of just Randa this way!

So why did I even want to become a brand influencer? As if my plate isn’t already full running my own business and recently becoming a wife, you may have this question. Well the answer is that influencer marketing has such a strong presence and I feel an even stronger future in the retail industry. While I have only worked with 2 bloggers ever over at Southern Jewlz, I was really having a hard time finding the perfect social influencer to tie to. So I thought – I will just become that! I mean the wedding was the perfect event to make me really push to get in the best shape of my life, and now being an influencer will keep me accountable to maintain! And I am thankful to say that after 6 months of working towards this at-the-time lofty goal, it is now a reality that I have been chosen by Like to Know It. This was another component to close the storefront and focus online only, I just didn’t want to mention it until it became real. The time I used to spend running the store is now all focused online, with my personal social media marketing included. So get ready to see all things that scream me! There will be some products that I could never get my hands on to sell at SJ or some that I know just wouldn’t have had success selling through that avenue. But one of the main reasons that I opened Southern Jewlz was because I love fashion. The business just grew too big a few years ago for me to get to put anymore time or effort on my own personal styling. With cutting back and making the company more lean and efficient, well now I can finally put more emphasis on my own style this way!

How can you actually shop my looks direct? First off, you’ll be able to shop my instagram direct. You may have seen that I’ve put a few posts up with the like to know it logo in the bottom right corner. You’ll need to download the like to know it app through the app store on your phone. The cool thing is you can now just screen shot my pictures on insta and open the like to know it app to get all of the product list. I am mentioning my instagram first, because I will post more on my instagram than on my blog. My blog is more thorough, but I am going to try to only use high quality professional pictures on here, and on instagram I can still post just outfit selfies or every day (more real time) product pics. Past instagram, you’ll now notice at the bottom of my blog that there will be a Shop the Look round up with small product pictures of everything pictured in that post. If you notice items that don’t show up to be linked, it’s because that brand or product doesn’t work with Like to Know It. So for instance, I will still be able to link in the text of my blog or in the bio of my instagram Southern Jewlz products as well as others. You can also shop directly from the LiketoKnow.It website itself! You can keep track of everything you have liked on Instagram under the ‘My Likes’ tab. You’ll also be able to shop all of your favorite blogger’s posts, but adding their Insta handle at the end of the URL. Ex: you can shop all of my posts here: www.liketoknow.it/randacarrabba. And the last thing, is I will be sharing a few pieces also on my snapchat account where you can just swipe up. I already use this feature for Southern Jewlz products, so be sure you’re following along on my snap!

How can you become a brand influencer? You’ll have to apply with Reward Style and know that it takes some time to get approved. They are receiving over a thousand applications daily, so when this idea started in my head last November, I didn’t actually start my application until January after I closed the store. Then I created and built this blog website all by myself (which I am still planning on freshening up the design, adding a new side menu bar and making for easier navigation once I choose the correct freelance designer for me. If you know of a good one, send them my way). I didn’t actually launch my blog until April 24 and I just now got approved by Reward Style a few weeks ago. If you have further questions about this, feel free to comment me below or send me an email to randacarrabba@gmail.com.

So I am PROUD to share my first ever Like to Know It blog post below! I’ve been shooting looks 2 days earlier this week with a local photographer to Bryan/College Station, TX and can’t wait to share all of the fun content with you guys! Going through all the comments from my blog post giveaway, I know so many of you have been with me from the very beginning (since before my SJ mall kiosk or the pink house days), so I want to say thank you for sticking with me through this evolution. On top of closing my store front and going online only, my personal style has changed just like my season of life. I accessorize a whole lot less. I am tying more to solids over prints. I am going for a more classy and mature look than I did years ago. I know change can be hard for some, but I have enjoyed getting to change and evolve into who I am today. So thank you for continuing to follow along through it all!

These beautiful photos are by James Barrett and Versy Picone did my makeup! For size reference I am wearing a size 2 in the pants and a 6 in the top (the 4 was sold out). I’ll link a cute little bell sleeve blazer to match below, too, but this 100 degree temp full of humidity currently in Texas – let’s just say I guess I wasn’t woman enough haha.

Again, for size reference the pants are a 2 and the top is a 6. The top was a little big and you can see when I am turned size ways, but I had to have it for this outfit. You could get away sizing up. The shoes pictured are actually my Dior wedding shoes, but I linked some below that are super similar!

You can shop everything pictured in this post here!

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Everything I am wearing here is from Nordstrom.

So I hope you enjoyed my first ever Like to Know It Fashion blog post! This is the first of many to come! I’m gonna have to have a celebratory cocktail, especially since it’s Friday! Cheers to the weekend and remember to NEVER stop chasing your dreams and that it is OK to re-direct or evolve. If you ever struggle in these areas, reach out to me! Don’t let me be too intimidating to reach out too. I may take a little bit to respond, but I am sure to go through every message, comment and email. Because part of my fulfillment in life is getting to help and encourage others to be their best self and make their own dreams come true. I think if there was more energy like that spread around that the world would be a better place 🙂

xo,