College fashion lovers filled the Preus-Brandt Forum at California Lutheran University last week to hear influencers and BuzzFeed producers Lindsay Webster and Jazzmyne Robbins discuss current trends, content creation and self-confidence.

The event was put on by the Cal Lutheran club But Make it Fashion on March 7.

“I want to show people that we do want people like this on our campus,” said junior Kimberly Lee, president and founder of But Make it Fashion.

The conversation with Webster and Robbins was moderated by Lee. At the end, students asked the producers questions.

Robbins had a few tips during the Q&A for maintaining confidence as an influencer. She said she stopped comparing herself to others in terms of appearance, career and overall success.

Robbins said “taking a step back” to realize what truly made her happy helped her to stop looking toward others for validation.

“How [Webster] looks does not have anything to do with me, and I can empower her knowing that we have two different body types and body styles. She can go out wearing a bikini and if that’s empowering to her that’s great, but that doesn’t have to be empowering to me,” Robbins said.

Robbins also said it takes years to build up character and figure out who you are. She said there are “grind years” after college and her advice is to not be too hard on oneself.

“I always think about what my college self would want to be told. I hope that I relieve some of [student’s] anxiety for what’s to come because I think college amps you up to be really scared of the future, and I’m hoping we can inspire them to keep on keeping on,” Webster said.

Webster said she also has been thinking about her future lately, as she was able to achieve her “dream job” of working at BuzzFeed in her mid-20s.

“I think it’s natural for us to be like ‘what’s next?’…I don’t really have an answer to that, but it’s okay to not know,” Webster said.

Cal Lutheran first-year Kelsey Gomez attended the event and said it was reassuring to hear from people who have worked hard for what they love.

“I love Jazzmyne as an influencer because I’m also a woman of color. It’s hard out here in these streets sometimes. So I wanted to come to just hear what they both had to say,” Gomez said. “It’s really important for me to come to these events and hear from these influencers who put a lot of work into this.”

The event was sponsored by But Make it Fashion, although Lee said she had requested funding through other departments.

Lee said she has always been in love with clothes and trends, and after studying abroad in London, she felt inspired by the diversity of the city’s fashion.

After returning from study abroad in summer 2018, Lee and her roommate junior Samantha Thein created But Make it Fashion, which has 18 members.

Sophomore Mikala Choy said she was excited that such well-known influencers were able to come to Cal Lutheran.

“I think the energy they brought was really nice, and the energy that the audience gave back. It was really awesome that they were able to do this, so thank you to whoever went for this and made it happen,” Choy said.

Webster said surrounding yourself with people who encourage you and are “doing their own amazing things”  is an important way to stay motivated.

“It’s so inspiring and you can’t help but want to do more for yourself,” Webster said.

Rose Riehl
Reporter