STYLISA talks to Red Rover Style

Firstly, tell us about yourselves and what you do within Red Rover Style?

We are Rachael and Elena, two sisters of three. Rachael is older by just two years. We’ve grown up with similar experiences, but we are very different when it comes to our talents and passions. But our one common thread is people and charity work. We were overjoyed at the opportunity to co-found RedRoverStyle.com, a fashion / lifestyle online magazine connecting the world through every day lifestyle needs, while making a bridge to charity work.


Elena is the Marketing Director and Charity Coordinator, and Rachael is the Web Designer, in addition to the Style and Creative Director.  We also show up at events and represent the brand while engaging with young individuals who are using their lifestyle to help a charity. We are dedicated to our team of columnists by keeping them updated on upcoming events they too can be a part of.

How did Red Rover Style begin?
Our journey with Red Rover Style began with the launch of Red Rover Services, an Online PR and Webinar Event Planning Company specializing in helping small businesses boost their sales by building them an online profile. 

We launched Red Rover Style because of our passion for faith, fashion, true beauty, arts, culture, music, and literature. We wanted to share tips and experiences to help men and women all over the world. So, we turned our girly dream into RedRoverStyle.com.

We decided to celebrate this dream with some of our most beautiful friends, who are not only stylish and glamorous on the outside, but their hearts are genuine and golden. Our friends are now the featured Red Rover Style Columnists. They are women of grace, style, and vision who inspire many and are committed to excellence.

Red Rover Style is purposed to give lifestyle tips while connecting individuals to charities they love. The most important part of a joyful lifestyle is to surround oneself with good people – people who will make your heart sing. 

We are excited for the 2010 launch of Red Rover Style, and we are very eager to see where it goes. We encourage everyone and anyone to join us, connect with us, and of course, stylize alongside us. 

 

What exactly does RRS seek to achieve?

Red Rover Style is a resource for those who desire to change the world. By showcasing individuals that have devoted their everyday lifestyles to charity with the purpose of achieving excellence, we desire to enable our readers to pursue similar lifestyles. Of course, we believe in having fun and enjoying life along the way with our Red Rover Style Columnists’ blogs.

We hope to become the go-to source for all lifestyle needs, while globally connecting individuals to charities they can support. We hope to improve the world by featuring true leaders, who are dedicated to creating good opportunity for others.

How did you go about pulling the whole website and contributors together?

First, we put some feelers out there with our closest friends. They shared their insight and from there, we put together our vision outlining the mission, purpose, the 5 Ws, and a tid-bit as to why we were committed to Red Rover Style.

As for the website, that was an ongoing project for about a month gathering material and outlining the layout for the site. We took 2 full days and built the site with the wonderful, Mr. Jon Lechliter. We then reached out to some website headshots like MakeoverMomma.com, CheapChicas.com, and jKelly.org. Our connections were made by saying how much we loved their sites, would they be willing to share their point of view on ours? Last, but not least, STYLISA – our looking glass into our favorite fashion, UK style.

 

What is an average day like in the RRS headquarters?

Brainstorming new ideas, gathering posts from our 20+ columnists, reaching out to charity event coordinators, answering numerous e-mails a day, social media marketing, taking a phone call with women who want to learn about how they can do what we do or enter the fashion industry, e-mailing our team about events, ideas, and more.  Engaging with different charities and planning for our first upcoming event happening on June 8 in NYC.  We have daily founder meetings that last from 10 minutes to 5 hours. Brainstorming company culture…and of course, updating the site for a few hours a day.

 

How has RRS been received in the 'social media community', in terms of feedback?

We see the growth in terms of facebook fans, twitter followers, and visits to the site. The most important factor is visitor loyalty to us, which is at about 50%. That is huge to us. We received e-mails with feedback, which is the hottest thing to us – why? Because that shows us people care. Caring is hott! It is there way of giving to us, and we truly appreciate it. We love to see comments on the columns, facebook, and our twitter. We’ve developed a top-10 circle, where our social media friends are retweeting our messages. That’s awesome!

What are your views and interpretation on style?

We’re all about the right look for the right body type. We struggle with wanting to be thinner because it looks good in the mags and being in NYC on the billboards, but we know what looks good on us and are dedicated to finding that style niche for our body type.  In terms of visual appeal, we like the pretty things in life with a flair or artistic color, print, layers, and of course – shape. We don’t have to flow with the trends, as we want to create the trends with our personal touch. Like a lot of other women, we love to pair an expensive piece with a budget conscious piece, but we have a habit of bragging about our prudent prices because we want our friends and random strangers be able to take part in the action.

 

What is the take on British style in the states?

Personally, we think British style is super hott. Elena spent a year in England, and she brought home a style that Rachael desired, and so  started her clothes from topshop, vintage stores, and even thrift stores we borrowed often. When topshop hit NYC, it was unstoppable. For us, it is preferred. British style is an identity, and we just want to have some parts of that identity in our wardrobe.

Finally, do you have any plans to develop the RRS Brand?

Absolutely. Right now, everything being developed has to stay in budget. In terms of growth, we have some ideas underway to establish consistency in what we feature week-to-week, like CheapChica Wednesdays, Social Media Tuesdays with Socialinsta, and UK Fashion bi-weekly. Beyond that, we’re looking for Red Rover Style talent. Young women / men who feature lifestyle and charity in their hometowns and report on it using pictures and video.  Lastly, we, the Red Rover Sisters, will have a continual video blog of what we’re doing to help build our girly dream into a beautiful reality.

Thanks to Rachael & Elena for taking the time to speak to STYLISA.