January Rizzo is her own boss. The style and lifestyle blogger works from home planning outfits, responding to emails from brands and updating her social media pages daily. Throughout the week, the 43-year-old bounces between event appearances and photo shoots where she models products from local and national brands—all in between driving her two sons to school and afterschool activities.
“Honestly, my family will tell you I don’t like being in front of a camera,” Rizzo says. “But lo and behold, you never know what’s going to happen.”
Rizzo once planned to be a children’s clothing designer. After she received her degree in apparel and design from LSU in 1999, she designed childrenswear for a North Carolina company, then worked in retail management and spent a few years as a stay-at-home mom. She switched gears after her friends encouraged her to share photos of her outfits online for inspiration. She launched her blog in 2014.
Since then, it has taken off—and even led her to work with brands like Poshmark, Google and Polo Ralph Lauren.
What’s your schedule like as a blogger? It’s a constant juggling act of multitasking. I’m always trying to keep up with emails and collaborations with brands, deadlines, scouting out new locations and shooting content. Sometimes my photographer and I are hanging out in a coffee shop taking photos or at my house cooking something. It’s all over the place, which is what I love about it.
How do you stay on top of everything?
I’m an old-school girl—I like things handwritten. I have a little binder with my content calendar, and it comes with me everywhere.
How do you make money?
Affiliate marketing, collaborations with brands and being at events. Our main job is to give the average person exposure to brands they might not know about yet—as long it‘s in line with my own brand.
Where are your followers based? All over the U.S., but according to Instagram statistics the most are currently in New York, Baton Rouge and Houston.
What are the most challenging parts about this lifestyle? Email correspondence. You have to constantly be on top of it. Some collaborations come by pretty quickly and need a response as soon as possible. If you’re out shooting content and trying to answer emails at the same time, I find that a little difficult some days.
What’s it like working as a blogger from Baton Rouge? While larger cities may have more opportunity for networking and connecting with other businesses and fellow bloggers, I love the smaller close-knit community here. It gives me a chance to really connect and develop great long-term relationships with local businesses in the area, one-on-one.
KEY TERM
Affiliate marketing: Bloggers use networks like RewardStyle or platforms offered by companies like Nordstrom and Amazon to earn money through referral links. Think of it like a modern version of commission. The money the influencer makes is based on how many visitors and/or sales he or she brings a business.
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This article was originally published in the April 2019 issue of 225 Magazine.
