You may have heard of her from her role on MTV’s Catfish, or have seen her through her collaboration with NLYON Magazine, Urszula Makowska is an influencer with a cause. Makowska recently hosted and organized an event called #BloggersGiveBack just in time for the holidays!
We sat down and got the skimm on the event and asked Makowska what inspired her to launch the event. She told us exclusively that, after noticing the changing of the times, and the fashion industry changing at a snail’s pace, that “we needed to push a change quicker than the industry itself. As bloggers and influencers, we have the power to influence through the use of social media. We always took, took, and took whether it was through sponsored content or free products in exchange. BUT what about giving back? What about showing love to those in need, those who have supported us and what about saying thank you? We hear all these terrible stories of gun violence or those living in inhuman situations, but with social media, we can change this by spreading positivity, awareness and actually take action to help.”
During the process of planning the event, Urszula learned a lot! “Surprisingly I never knew you had to have insurance for a catering company for events. That was something interesting I learned. [I also] realized how important networking is. We were able to put everything together because of our networking skills and networks. We had to make decisions and take risks. The sleepless nights and hard work all paid off!”, Urszula informed us with a smile upon her face. It was very clear that the event was a smashing success. After witness it ourselves, we loved the panelists and their input on self-love and body positivity, which is something the fashion world is only now embracing.
“It is incredible to see an idea from just words come to actual life. I am happy that we worked hard and made it happen. I cannot even mention how happy it makes me that we even had support from big television personalities like Nev Schulman of MTV’s show Catfish, his lovely wife internet-turned-tv star Laura Perlongo, Chrissy Monroe from VH1’s show Love & Hip Hop, and the winner of America’s Next Top Model Khrystyana Kaz. It means a lot to have such support from top influencers. We all came together, gave back and rose awareness. That one person somewhere will have a warm home!”
Body positivity is something every person struggles with, myself included. Hearing Urszula’s words gave me some encouragement for the future. And also for the shift in the conversation that Influencers are leading the way on. “I used to be very insecure. Don’t get me wrong, I still have insecurities, but with every day that passes, I am learning to love myself and to see my true beauty.
“I realized I am a good person who cares about things that matter and will always help out. I try to find positivity within myself and see the good in myself. This makes me a confident person knowing that I can see my positive qualities. It makes me not care what others think of me because I am me and as long as I am happy with myself that is the most important thing.”
Don’t let Urszula Makowska’s petite frame fool you, behind it lies a tremendous heart and a loud voice calling for change. “[They] also use my social media to promote body types, inspire and empower women. I am always partnering with other women, spreading awareness such as projects like #BloggersGiveBack, and I even speak about working in women’s plus size.” which she does through her work with a woman’s plus size fashion brand called Roaman’s for a company called Full Beauty Brands.
“I think every industry needs changes… this ideal definition of beauty portrayed by the industry is one of the biggest challenges to the point that many believe in that this is what ‘beauty’ has to be in reality and that this is the concept of perfection. …True beauty is being comfortable in your own skin and loving yourself. That is perfection and beauty to me and I think this is what the fashion industry should focus on promoting .” Urszula remarked when asked about what changes she would like to see in the fashion industry. And the encouraging thing is that there are more designers, like Christian Siriano, who are pushing for more diversity within the industry.
“Beauty comes in all ages, all sizes, all forms, and in all shapes. What you don’t like in yourself is what we love in you. You are beautiful just the way you are and you need to learn to love yourself because you are amazing! Be confident and find the positivity in you,” Urszula Makowska is the type of influencer the industry needs. She is vibrant, passionate and ready to tackle the issues of the fashion industry. We look forward to seeing how events like #BloggersGiveBack will grow and effect the industry over the next few years. We would love to see more events like this.
Currently, the #BloggersGiveBack brand is “in the middle of launching our site as an organization that takes social responsibility in influencer/ blogger marketing and gives back to those in need, and spreads positivity through the use of our voices, influence on social media platforms by hosting events for bloggers/ influencers, industry leaders, brands, and non-profit organizations we partner with. We are already planning our second event that is set to launch early next year.”
Stay tuned on updates for how to get involved with #BloggersGiveBack by following Urszula Makowska on Instagram, Twitter, IMDb, and her blog, www.urszulala.com. You can also follow #BloggersGiveBack on their Instagram account, instagram.com/bloggersgiveback.nyc .
We will be releasing more interviews from the #BloggersGiveBack event this month as well as posting an article on the keyplayer’s New Years Resolutions for 2019 on New Year’s Eve. Subscribe to our blog for more articles like this, and thank you to Urszula Makowska for taking the time to talk with LadyCat!