Monograms, cocktail rings, and snail mail—these are a few of her favorite things! Mackenzie Horan is a 2011 Bucknell graduate who’s not just making her way through life as a post-grad in the “real world”, but is leaving her mark. She resides in New York City with her adorable cockapoo, Rory, where she blogs about pretty much everything and anything and owns a successful online boutique.
The blog
Mackenzie started her blog, “Design Darling”, in 2009, while she in the midst of the busy, exciting life that comes with being a Bucknellian! She blogs about style, beauty, and home interiors, as well as features her fashionable friends, interviews inspiring people, and shares insight into her life as a fun-loving Bucknellian-turned-business owner and blogging sensation. A unique internet trend that can be attributed to Mackenzie is the “101 things in 1001 days” list. She classifies her goals as personal, professional, family and friends, travel, New York City, and just for fun to chart out the things she hopes to accomplish in the next 2.75 years. She’s on her second list and encourages people to tweet her the link to their own lists for her to feature on her blog…how inspiring!
The boutique
The “Design Darling” online boutique, which opened in 2012, sells everything from office necessities and home decor to iPhone cases, jewelry, and pet supplies. Mackenzie sources the products from independent designers, trade shows, Etsy shops, blog sponsors, talented friends, and many other places. She says that she so admires people who have that sort of creative vision and love that her boutique is an opportunity to expose their work to a larger audience. The products are high-quality, colorful, and unique…every girl loves a good monogram! Prices range from low to higher, but never fear—you can definitely shop at Design Darling as a college girl on a budget! There are tons of amazing products and perfect gift ideas (check out Mackenzie’s Valentine’s Day ideas here: http://www.designdarling.com/collections/valentine-s-day-gifts on this adorable, online, boutique.
The girl behind it all
- Major:French language & literature
- Graduation:2011
- Occupation/position:Blogger & online boutique owner at Design Darling
- What is one word of advice on adjustment for soon to be graduates?Savor every second of your remaining time on campus! Don’t spend your last semester stressing about a job search — everything will fall into place the way it’s supposed to.
- How do you keep in touch with your friends and Bucknell past while continuing to move forward?Thankfully, my brother Grayson is a sophomore at Bucknell so I get to live vicariously!
- What do you miss the most about Bucknell? My girlfriends! We’re all spread out across the country so this year I took trips to Atlanta and Denver to catch up with a few of them. It’s always great when you can pick up right where you left off!
- What are some of the most valuable things you learned at Bucknell, in and out of the classroom, that prepared you for the real world?Management 101 was great preparation for running my own small business after college, even though I took it my freshman year before I had any inkling of starting my blog. I think Bucknell also teaches social skills that are imperative in any post-graduate field.
- One word on managing your own budget?Save as much as you can for as long as you can! I lived at home for a year before I moved to New York and having a little money saved up made the transition much less stressful.
-
Advice for managing a social life and a career?Surround yourself with people who make you better, both at work and in your free time. With what I do, there are a lot of blurred lines between my personal and professional lives so this is pretty important!
-
What’s it like to own your own business?Challenging, invigorating, and rewarding.
-
Go to quote getting you through the real world:The secret to getting ahead is getting started.
-
Most influential professor at Bucknell:Eric Santanen
-
Favorite class at Bucknell:MGMT 101, MGMT 240, Writing About Film
-
Favorite Freez flavor:Coffee, always!
-
Favorite study spot:Seventh Street Café. I miss it so much!
-
Best/proudest memory at Bucknell: Being an OA, sophomore year in the mods, putting on rush with AXO, and everything about senior year living downtown!
-
As a collegiate, how did you find time to devote to blogging and where did you draw your inspiration from? I would hole up in Seventh Street Café and schedule a bunch of posts in one sitting! It’s so important to be consistent, especially with a new blog. I’ve posted at least 4-5 times a week (and sometimes as many as 15) for more than four years now! I really believe that if you love it, you’ll make time. It’s as simple as that!
Keep up with Mackenzie!
Blog: http://www.mackenziehoran.com
Boutique: http://www.designdarling.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Design-Darling/141320862594285
Instagram: http://instagram.com/mackenziehoran
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mackenziehoran/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mackenziehoran