During a post-college stint in luxury retail, working as a Fashion Merchandiser for Prada, Adriano Goldschmied, and Lacoste, Hashtag Lifestyle founder, Monica Dimperio, did what all Millennials do to figure out their next move – a solo trip to Europe.
New York City felt like it was the natural pivot but a lightbulb moment during the research for that fateful trek in the winter of 2006 would keep her in Chicago. While looking for places to eat and shop in Berlin Monica stumbled upon the burgeoning street style trend that captured the inspiring style of real people on the streets, Unfiltered and unstyled, Just pure fashion.
Soon after returning to the states Monica took a leap of faith (at a time when blogging was uncharted territory) and quit her job to start one of her own, The Midwasteland . That website, cited by the New York Times as one to watch, alongside big names like The Sartorialist, would eventually be known as one of the first American street style fashion blogs.
In the six years the blog’s growth was directly correlated to the embrace of Facebook and Twitter which she used to blast out posts, drive commentary, and connect with her community. This early-adoption mindset landed her a spot on Refinery29’s top tweeters to follow list and a Social Media Week panel on building an audience from scratch.