Realistically with Liz: Conversations with New Yorkers

This Week's Guest: Alex Porterfield Alex Porterfield is a New York City based lifestyle and travel blogger originally from Las Vegas. Alex uses her social platforms to talk about all things dating, confidence, and NYC adventures. She is the ultimate hype-woman, empowering others to live life on their own terms and reminding them to be their best selves. In this episode, Alex and I talk about how we both moved to New York City when we were 18 years old. We both attended college in New York City, which was very challenging and lonely at times since we were both away from our family. During our conversation, we throw it back to our high school days and our dating experiences in our 20s. Connect with Alex on Instagram @alexporterfield Thank you for the support this year, listening to the Realistically with Liz podcast! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com  to learn more about our guests and to read exclusive content.  Send us your questions, and tag us on Instagram @realisticallywithliz 

This Week's Guest: Mariela Polanco  Mariela is a lifestyle blogger and entrepreneur from New York. Mariela began blogging in 2009, when she was designing her handbag line at the time and wanted to show the world behind the scenes. As time passed, she noticed that designing handbags wasn’t her true passion and took her blogging role to the next level by 100% focusing on her personal brand. A year in, Mariela started coaching aspiring bloggers and biz owners due to the many messages and emails from many who aspired to be doing what she was doing. After great coaching success, she decided to become an author - launching "My Blogging Diary: All the secrets to becoming a blogger” via Amazon. In May 2020 Mariela launched, Marfemme, an online women’s clothing and accessories boutique where happiness and quality is the #1 priority. Instagram @xomarielap and @marfemme Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com for more information on our guests and sign up for our mailing list to receive podcast news and exclusive content. Tag us on Instagram: @realisticallywithliz

Meet our new guest of the week: Sam Lach. Her career began in fashion, shortly after her move from Montreal, Canada to New York City. Motivated by the energy and ecosystem of life in New York, Sam quickly landed a role managing sales for a contemporary women’s designer. She loved the fast-paced world of behind-the-scenes fashion but eventually discovered that some of the processes were sluggish and could be improved. She leveraged her time in fashion, learning everything that she could about the global retail landscape and the lifecycle of garments in the industry. And then she made a career pivot. Sam applied her love of tech and expertise of fashion and found a position at a retail tech company where she was able to partner with brands, helping them innovate and streamline their back-end processes. Sam’s love for entrepreneurship, female empowerment, and community building continues to energize her in her latest venture Capri for girls. Capri for Girls is a financial education app designed to develop confident money mindsets in young girls, founded to give girls the tools to build long-term, sustainable financial wellness. She is also a board member and a mentor for the Lower East Side Girls Club. In her spare time, Sam enjoys cultivating her green thumb, adding more stamps to her passport, and sipping Mud coffee. Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com for more information about our guests and sign up for our mailing list to receive podcast news and exclusive content. Tag us on Instagram: @realisticallywithliz

Alexandra Dieck aka Lex, is a Body Positive Latina Blogger Living In NYC. Her mission is to embody every aspect of style. Lexicon of Style is a visual dictionary where everyone can unite to find inspiration to express themselves through fashion, beauty, travel, and everyday life. Lex encourages everyone to dream big and to live an exciting, creative, and extraordinary life. As a Latina whose street style got her noticed at NYFW and transcended into a personal blog, Lex has built an amazing community by being her authentic self. In this episode, we discuss how Lex started her career in fashion after moving from Austin to NYC in her early 20s. Learn more and connect with Lex at: @Lexiconofstyle On Every Platform - Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest And Youtube.

Hilary grew up in South Florida and attended both Florida State University (Go Noles!) and The University of Florida (Go Gators!). She currently resides in New York City. As a reporter, she’s covered topics ranging from wellness treatments to celebrity red carpets to chef interviews, cocktail trends to new fitness classes, and beauty treatments to wedding styles. Her trend and profile pieces have appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, Marie Claire, Travel + Leisure, Today.com, Yahoo!, amNew York and many other publications. Hilary has been featured as an entertainment and lifestyle expert on CBS, Inside Edition, The Insider, Fox & Friends, and more. Hilary has been a Dry January participant and advocate since 2017. Hilary always wanted to write a book, and funny enough a New Year’s Eve bet with a friend, inspired her to do it. We are discussing her upcoming book release The Dry Challenge: How to Lose the Booze for Dry January, Sober October, and Any Other Alcohol-Free Month, and how it all unraveled. Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com for more information on our guest and future podcast news.

Episode 33: Sarah grew up in Tampa, Florida, and she wanted to go to college out of state. Still wanting to be close to family and friends, she landed on the University of Alabama, where she studied Fashion Retailing and Business. Sarah first fell in love with New York City during the months she spent in the city interning for fashion designer, Rebecca Minkoff. After seeing how people were so motivated in NYC, she knew this was the place for her in the long run. Things didn’t always work out the way Sarah wanted, she needed to be resourceful and kick self-doubt out the door. Learn more about working in sales, the business side of fashion, and more in this episode with Sarah. Thank you for tuning in, Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com to sign up for our mailing list, to receive podcast updates, personal advice from Liz and more NYC content delivered straight to your inbox!

Austen Tosone is a beauty and style content creator based in NYC. She started out her career in editorial as an editor at both Nylon and Interview before a stint as a full-time freelance writer and blogger. Her work has appeared in HuffPost, Refinery29, Fashionista, and more and she has worked with fashion and beauty brands to create sponsored content for her blog, Keep Calm and Chiffon, and her social media channels. She currently serves as the beauty content director at Jumprope, an app for creating and sharing videos. Learn more and connect with Austen at: Blog: Keep Calm and Chiffon Website: austentosone.com IG: @austentosone Thank you for tuning in, Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com to sign up for our mailing list, for a monthly newsletter with personal advice from Liz and featured podcast guests! You will also get NYC content & recommendations delivered straight to your inbox.

Erin is a fashion and lifestyle blogger based out of New York City. She spends her days teaching 6th graders in Brooklyn and nights are spent blogging for fun! Erin loves spending time exploring New York City and beyond with her boyfriend, Peter. Their newest adventure has been moving to Manhattan! Her goal is to empower women to wear the clothes they want to wear, without having to worry about a hefty price tag or the number on the size. For all things NYC, fashion, and more check out her blog Girl Meets New York City. IG: @girlmeetsnewyorkcity Blog: girlmeetsnewyorkcity.com Thank you for tuning in, Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com to read more about our latest guests and for podcast updates.

Liz is interviewing Jenny Yang (Jen for short), a lifestyle blogger, in today's episode. Jen is a self-proclaimed foodie, shopaholic, and beauty addict living in New York City who loves to strike up random conversations about all topics with anyone who’s willing to lend an ear. Coming from an extremely small town, NYC was a dream come true. Also, Jen is an alumna of New York University, who double majored in Economics and Politics with a minor in Chinese (can you say wow!). She loves writing and has an obsession of documenting everyday life, which together gave birth to her blog, Lil’ Thoughts with Jen. Jenny shares how blogging has given her the opportunity to be more in touch with her creative side, given her the chance to meet some amazing people, and really pushed her limits on what she can take on in life.  You can find Jenny on all the social platforms listed below. Blog: lilthoughtswithjen.com Instagram: @lilthoughtswithjen Thank you for tuning in, Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com to sign up for our mailing list, for a monthly newsletter with personal advice from Liz and featured podcast guests! You will also get NYC content & recommendations delivered straight to your inbox.

Liz's guest on the podcast is Kacie Nelson, a graphic designer and blogger based in New York City. Kacie is a Philly girl currently living in NYC, after getting her Bachelor's degree from the University of Miami in 2015. Along with her 9-5 as a graphic designer for a women's retail brand, she runs her lifestyle blog, The Pretty Little Hustler. PLH is a one-stop-shop for all things affordable fashion & beauty, life in NYC, and lots of seasonal lifestyle inspiration. Kacie loves all things chocolate, a crisp glass of champagne, and has a pretty insatiable wanderlust. Her mantra (and the catalyst behind her blog name) is that "good things come to those who hustle", and she hopes to inspire other women to go after their dreams and to never take no as a final answer. In this episode, Kacie and Liz, talk about the hardships of moving to a new city like finding an apartment, we also talk about hustle culture and share our personal tips around staying grounded. Don't miss out on a new list of NYC favorites! Kacie's Blog, The Pretty Little Hustler > www.theprettylittlehustler.com Thank you for tuning in, Realistically with Liz episodes are released every Saturday! Head over to our website realisticallywithliz.com to sign up for our mailing list, for a monthly newsletter with personal advice from Liz and featured podcast guests! You will also get NYC content & recommendations delivered straight to your inbox.