Life & Work with Christina Lab

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Lab. 

Hi Christina, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My journey as a content creator dates back to the days before the social media boom! 

All of this started from documenting my daily outfits. My parents would graciously take my outfit photos, and I would upload them onto Chictopia and Lookbook, which were styling websites at the time. 

I then decided to start a blog because some of my favorite creators from those sites were creating their own blogs. 

At the time, I was studying fashion in college, and I thought it could be a great online portfolio for my work. 

I’ve always had a passion and interest for personal style, so I also used my blog as a way of finding my personal style! 

After a while of posting and sharing my pictures on my blog and on my Facebook page, I started getting collaboration and work offers. This was when I started to realize that “blogging” was going to a bigger and more well-known thing in the future. 

When I started, it was very new, and a lot of people didn’t understand what I was doing. I remember people thought that I was trying to get into modeling! That was so funny to me because that was never ever my goal. It was always about the art, the styling, and the sharing for me. 

I totally see why they thought that though because this was before the influencer and social media era! 

It has always been my passion, but it was a hobby through my college years just because I didn’t have as much time to devote to it. In college, I became a street-style photographer and a style advice columnist, and those experiences really helped me expand my blogging skills. 

Then about a year after graduating college, I started doing content creating as my main job! 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been a wonderful road, but definitely not always smooth! One of the reasons that content creation became my main job was because my health was declining. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis while I was in college. If you aren’t familiar, Ulcerative Colitis is an inflammatory autoimmune disease. It can be very aggressive, and symptoms can escalate pretty quickly. 

I was struggling very badly with the disease around the time that I graduated college. I remember it feeling nearly impossible for me to work full time outside of my home and I was working 3 jobs at the time! 

So, I eventually made the switch to making freelance work my main thing so that I could work remotely and make my own schedule. 

Aside from my chronic health battles, there has always been the struggle of confidence and staying true to myself. 

As a content creator, I have to be vulnerable and put myself out there. 

And I’m putting myself and my life online for the whole world to see and for some to judge. I have met both positivity and negativity. It has been an ongoing challenge learning how to trust my inner voice and cultivate confidence in my own style and creations. 

There’s also just so much that goes into running your own business! So much more than you can know until you’re actually doing it. It has definitely been a struggle learning new things and trying to wear so many hats for my business. 

I do think the hardest struggle has been perseverance in general. There have been times over the years where it’s just been really hard to keep going and keep evolving, but it has always been worth it! 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a content creator, and I make social media content for myself and for brands. I specialize in fashion-focused content and personal style. I’m also a lifestyle creator, so I share home, travel, and beauty content as well. 

I think I’m most known for my flowery feminine style and my soft and airy editing style. 

I’m the most proud of the online community that I’ve created! 

My largest communities are on Instagram and Pinterest and they are both such warm and kind groups. I’ve honestly made a lot of friends through my social media work, and I’m so grateful to learn there are many kindred spirits in the world! 

I’m also very proud of the times that I’ve been asked to attend New York City fashion week because that is something I dreamed about for so long. 

And experiencing the glitz and glamour of the fashion world as a girl from a small Ohio town was just magical! 

I think something that sets me apart is my love for personal style/ aesthetic instead of what is trending and popular at the time. I like to think that I encourage my audience to be themselves and dress for their own happiness. I also think my love for shabby-chic styling is unique. It’s a niche style that was more popular in days past, but I’m working to keep it alive and treasured! 

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’m generally not a risk taker! I’m an overthinker, especially when it comes to decision-making. It’s hard for me to take risks, but I have taken some risks for the sake of my business. I think you have to take risks when it comes to pursuing your dreams. It was a huge scary risk quitting my other two jobs and focusing solely on content creating! I knew that failing was most definitely a possibility, and by failing, I guess I mean staying stagnant as a creator. I was so scared that I would stop getting opportunities or that my pages would stop growing. I wasn’t sure what I would do next if that happened! But that didn’t happen and if had let fear hold me back, I would’ve missed out on all of the amazing opportunities I’ve experienced! 

I think being smart about risks in business is important, but I also think the best risks are driven by our dreams. It is worth the leap if there is even a glimmer of hope that it could make your dreams come true! 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bgbychristina.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/bgbychristina
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/bgbychristina
• Twitter: www.Twitter.com/bgbychristina
• Other: www.tiktok.com/bgbychristina www.Pinterest.com/bgbychristina

Image Credits
Frederick Lab
Mary Dawes