Senior Ashley Fountain manages an online fashion and lifestyle blog called “My Well-Dressed Life.” She is also the president of her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. She will graduate in the spring with a major in communications paired with a writing minor.

When did you first realize your passion for fashion?

I think in high school. I live in a more rural area, so a lot of people where I live weren’t that interested in fashion, and it wasn’t a very big thing. We didn’t even have a lot of malls or stores around. So, once Instagram and things got more popular, I started following accounts that were brands or just influencers and people like that. I thought, “fashion is cool,” and there’s a whole other way to express yourself outside of how you talk, write or present yourself.

Why did you decide to start a blog?

I always really liked fashion and writing, so I thought that it was a really good way to combine both of them. I feel like writing is a hard passion to pursue, because when you’re interested in writing and trying to keep a journal, there’s nothing that’s really holding you to writing and keeping to it. I feel like I wanted to do something with my writing that other people would be able to see — or maybe even not a lot of people — but just somebody who the post would resonate with, so I thought that the blog would be a good balance. It wasn’t something super time consuming, and I could make it whatever I wanted, so that’s why I chose that.

Where do you find inspiration for your posts?

I find a lot from other people who are bloggers or influencers or brands that I really like. And, I go on Pinterest all the time — I’m really addicted to it. That’s how I built up a lot of my following for my blog, pinning my posts and images on there. But, even just looking at different things that aren’t just fashion or directly related to blogging or things like that, like places I go, and sometimes I’ll be inspired by the places I go while I’m on vacation and different life experiences.

What type of advice do you share through your blog?

I try to write about my own personal experiences and then try to frame them as advice in a way. I struggle because I don’t think that I really have a lot of qualifications to give people advice about a lot of things. But I find that by writing about my experience, it helps people, because they can relate to it, and it helps them feel better because they know they’re not the only one going through the thing. So, that’s kind of what I aim to do. Sometimes if it’s things that I have experienced multiple times, like if it’s getting ready to go to college or something like that, then I feel like I can write advice about that, like what you need for your dorm room or other things that people can relate to. A lot of it is college-related or adult-life stuff.

Which part of blogging do you enjoy the most?

I really like the writing aspect of it, but I also like connecting with other people. Before I came to Wake Forest, actually, I met one girl who also had a blog. That was a really good connection for me, because I didn’t know anyone else going into Wake Forest, and that made me feel really comfortable that I could have that connection. But also just other people that I’ve met, like I’ve met people in Theta who also have blogs, and it’s cool to see those connections, as well. Also, obviously, it’s fun to comment on each other’s posts and get excited about the other things that people are going through or things that they experience. It’s like building a little community or a little group of friends outside of your typical campus or friends from home.