Rachel Brown is a major social media force, lifestyle blogger, and influencer in the Queen City. Perhaps better known as her Instagram moniker, Queen City Chic, the native Charlottean started her brand from scratch in college with little more than a few creative visions and a passion for the city.
“I was trying to show my creative side when applying to PR and marketing jobs,” she explains. “The blog and social media accounts seemed like the perfect resume builder and I’ve always loved designing pages, captions, and taking photos”
As she thought about what type of online presence she wanted to cultivate, Rachel honed in on a few focus areas: food, fun events, and fashion. Like most successful business models, she found it best to focus in on a few things she could do really, really well.
“I wanted to show others how much I love this place – clearly, since I never left. I’ve been to LA, New York City, and Miami many times and I wanted to bring out the trendy side of Charlotte to people who live here and want to experience new things, or to people moving here who know nothing about the city.”
Today, she has a close following of over 28 thousand people on her page. They tune it to see what’s happening in the city, where the latest hotspots are, and what Queen City Chic herself is wearing.
Rachel launched her online business successfully because she had a strategy: stick to what she knew and loved when it came to food, fashion, and events, and focus on producing a real brand online. It turned out to be even more than she could have imagined.
“I think it [her page] caught on because my passion shows and it’s very real,” she says. “The more local people I met, whether it was business owners, artists, people who just moved here in a coffee shop, my passion to share everything about this place grew.”
On a daily basis, you can usually find Rachel running around town meeting with various area business owners. She shoots often with Charlotte photographers to capture the latest fashion she’s showcasing and to show off the Charlotte spots she frequents. By night, she says, she’ll attend restaurant tastings, influencer events, or preview the newest business openings.
As she explains it, her life now is to connect with creative minds all day, usually entrepreneurs, and to strategize to see how she can help Charlotte businesses grow alongside the QC Chic brand. This is the way of the future: as more businesses recognize the power and reach of online influencers, the partnerships between the two flourish.
As for what’s next, Rachel is about to launch an official website with her fashion, event, and food advice. Follow along @queencitychic
