Supplemental Post #2 - Madison Lorenz

It seems that a common theme/topic that continues to come up in my life is the varying views on what factors determine who is considered a "celebrity" or not. This past weekend I attended a 12-hour event called Create & Cultivate. It was a conference targeting women entrepreneurs. It was a day full of panels and interviews. The final three keynote speakers were Lauren Conrad, Chrissy Teigen, and Kim Kardashian - all women who I'd personally consider celebrities and I'm sure many others would agree with me. The panels consisted of women who specialized in specific categories - like Podcasting 101, Never Not Posting, and Branding Queens. It was interesting to see what social media influencers/bloggers were considered "celebrities" to the attendees. For example, a fashion and lifestyle blogger who goes by Gal Meets Glam was on one of the panels. She has 1.1 million followers and even has her own dress line coming out next month. On the same panel was an actress/influencer named Arielle Vandenberg. She has 1.1 million followers as well and consistently posts funny videos and Instagram stories. The woman behind Gal Meets Glam was most likely looked at like a celebrity to many of the attendees. Clearly, she has a large following, which means that she's reached a certain level of "celebrity." However, I didn't know who she was before the conference, therefore I didn't view her as one. On the other hand, I do view Arielle as somewhat of a celebrity, not only because of her following, but because of the amount of time that I spend following her. I watch her Instagram stories every day and scroll through her Instagram. I'm often inspired by her style and her hairdo, which then made me 'fangirl' a little bit when I saw her. Although I consider her a celebrity to a certain extent, I also don't view her as the same level of Chrissy Teigen or Kim Kardashian.
When listening to Chrissy and Kim, it was interesting to hear them talk about their businesses and also their every day lives to a room full of women. It felt more intimate than a talk show and like they were there to guide us and show us a side of them that we normally don't see. There was an obvious hype around the fact that they were there speaking to us and that we were even in the same room as them, but I felt like we were able to view them as people just like us - maybe just a little more popular.