Realistically with Liz: Conversations with New Yorkers

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.

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!

Podcast Guest of The Week: Elizabeth Su

Elizabeth Su grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan. After graduating from Tufts University with a B.S. in Quantitative Economics and Community Health, she reached a six-figure salary at a hot Silicon Valley start-up. She struggled with an eating disorder and anxiety, so she said goodbye to her decade-long career in corporate to pursue her master’s degree at Columbia University in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Spirituality and Mind-Body practices and an advanced certification in Sexuality, Women and Gender. Since then, Elizabeth has dedicated her career to empowering women, teaching about emotional and spiritual wellness, and changing the rules of the game with her weekly newsletter, Monday Vibes.

My guest for today’s episode is Maggie Ridge, she formerly worked in Marketing at L’Oreal, managed at Voice Charter School, and is now running a small-organizing business out of New York called, In Your Corner.

Maggie lives in Brooklyn and has been a “New Yorker” since 1997. After living in many neighborhoods of the city, Maggie discovered that after all “home” truly is where the heart is. Later on, in life she found that her physical space did not support her passions in life, so she set upon her mission to practice and share the Marie Kondo Tidying method. Maggie started her KonMari based business “In Your Corner” in 2018, to help fellow New Yorkers clear space in their homes and apartments to make way for what they truly love. In this episode we discuss financial challenges, feeling lonely while striving to be independent, and the art of decluttering your life.

Samantha Escobar, is a Mexican-American from Dallas, Texas. She is currently a student at LIM College in New York, getting her degree in Fashion Marketing. In just 2 years that she’s been in New York, Samantha has interned for Krupp Group and worked for IMG during Fashion Week. She is currently a PR Intern for a Brooklyn-based jeweler, Bernard James.

Samantha runs a fashion blog, Samantha Stylee,  where you is sharing her fashion tips and her personal journey. She recently signed with 28Row, a college influencer agency, and has a campaign with H&M in the works. In this episode, we talk about dealing with anxiety, fashion college, marketing internships, and growing pains that come with living in New York City.

Bella Derner is a New Yorker committed to changing the world. She is extremely passionate about allowing people to have a safe space to create their life, so she left her commercial real estate job and started a personal development coaching practice. In her coaching practice, Bella firmly believes that her framework that focuses on psychology, spirituality, and science, is the perfect recipe for clients to experience major breakthroughs in their life! Bella is sharing her tips and the best tools on today’s episode, that have gotten her the career and personal success she dreamed of. To learn more about Bella and her coaching practice, check out her work linked below.

Today's guest is Shelby Dunn, an entrepreneur living in New York for the past 9 years. Shelby grew up near Dallas, Texas and from a young age loved to travel with her family. As a Scorpio, she was determined to move to New York, after being accepted to a number of schools in the city the countdown began. Shelby attended FIT, where she learned more about the business side of fashion, shortly after she created a lifestyle blog with her older sister called As Told By Ash and Shelbs... offering travel advice and guides to NYC. In 2018 the girls decided to launch The Sister Market an online gift market with a curated selection of merchandise inspired by and discovered during their travels. Shelby and I discuss her entrepreneurial spirit and how New York City became her home over the past couple of years.

Sana Akhand grew up in New Jersey, she believed that she was destined and determined to live in New York City. After college she got married and move to NYC as planned, she had everything she could possibly want. The hustle of working long hours put a crutch in her relationship and this is when Sana made the brave choice of quitting her job. She knew communication was key to keeping her marriage alive, so they decided to travel the world for a year. In this week’s episode, we catch up with Sana on her new business venture Jet Black Social Club, now that she is back in NYC.

Hanan comes from a traditional Muslim family in Northern New Jersey. Growing up her dream was to spread her wings and move to New York City. Nothing was going to get in her way, after getting into LIM her days at home we’re numbered, literally. We talk about Hanan’s unconventional college experience from complicated friendships, club promoters, to working retail. Hanan has been working in Public Relations for top agencies over the past 7 years. Listen to us chat about our everyday life living in Brooklyn, shopping local, and approaching our 30s.

Lauren Schneider was born and raised in Bayside, Queens. As a child she was always known as the artsy kid at school, taking after her artistic Aunt. She attended SVA to learn more about graphic design but really found her creative freedom working at Abracadabra, a costume shop in the city, instead of the classroom. Shortly after college, Lauren decided to start freelancing commissioned pieces from leather and denim jackets to shoes. Not only have her customizations been worn by celebrities but she has partnered with brands like Lively, Modern Picnic, Henry Charles, and Schutz. Lauren and I discuss the endless opportunities New York City has provided and how to take calculated risks.

Hi everyone, today's guest is Erin Elizabeth Downing. Erin originally from Virginia, had bounced around from D.C. to San Diego following her husband's path. By age 30, working as an Interior Designer, she was dealing with major life changes including a rocky marriage and a loss in the family. The universe aka New York was calling her to embark on her new journey. Erin turned off cruise control, packed her bags and moved to the city, to start her new career in Project Management. In Part 1, we discuss Erin's rude awakening with NYC and how she had to pivot her life completely. Listen to Erin and I talk about carrying the weight of the world (literally backpack, totes, and all) on our shoulders while living in New York.

To learn more about Erin Elizabeth, visit her website and follow her on Instagram.