✨Spotlight Sunday✨ // Coffee in the cold with Shannan Riley

Picking 1pm on a Thursday to interview Shannan probably wasn't the best idea. We agreed to meet in the college canteen and, as expected, it's packed. So we ended up having to sit on the benches outside. It's cold. Very, very cold. But Shannan doesn't complain once, instead asking me do I bullet journal as I bring out the one of my many notebooks that have some questions for the interview. I tell her I do and we mutually agree that bullet journaling is hard - you want it to look artistic and beautifully presented, but then it has to be practical too. She also tells me about the time she had to enlist her boyfriend's helping in grabbing a notebook she had her eye on in Tiger. He's tall so he was able to reach over and grab it before this girl - who was eyeing the last one - could get her hands on it.

"If I want something, I have to have it." It's that attitude - the one with determination and drive - that led Shannan to setting up BeautyBoxx. If you're unfamilar, although unlikely seeing as the group boasts over 70,000 members, find out from Shannan herself what BeautyBoxx is by clicking here. (Psst - there's a link in the description box of the video if you want to join the group). And it's that attitude that has seen BeautyBoxx grow in the past year and a half. It's not just luck that has kept BeautyBoxx going since day one; it's Shannan and her team of admin. She has admitted to working 8 hours + A DAY on the group, reviewing posts and going through comment threads, constantly searching for anything that could be inappropriate or considered bullying; something Shannan has absolutely no tolerance for, stating, "As soon as we see something that is in any form of bullying, we delete it and you’re blocked. We don’t allow it on the page." 

Something that can be easily forgotten is that Shannan is only 20  - her birthday was last week actually - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! - but this girl oversees the BeautyBoxx page and she's a full time student in LIT. She admits it is a juggling act but she makes sure BeautyBoxx doesn't take over her life, even though she does let it slip into her daily life - while we sit in lectures, scrolling on FB Shannan is scrolling through the page, on constant watch that everything is going smoothly. She praises her admin and when she tells me about all the hard work they put into the page too, she talks about them like they're family. Which I guess they are, in a way.

The current BeautyBoxx cover photo - competitions are usually
ran to select a girl to showcase her beauty talents

One thing that I realised from chatting with Shannan is just how genuine and down to earth the girl is. I don't know what I expected when I contacted her for the interview but it wasn't the warm and welcoming response I got. Shannan talks to you like you've been friends for years and is so honest about her life. When she revealed she doesn't know what she wants to do after college, I shook my head in agreement. Like every girl, she can be hard on herself too. She beats herself up for the delay in the BeautyBall - talks about the ball were stalled last summer - but during that time she also had summer exams and the stress that came with the page. But she has said that she is still adamant about doing it. And has she other plans for BeautyBoxx? The dream is to take BeautyBoxx off FB and have it on it's own site and to have a BeautyBoxx app. And honestly, I have no doubt that she won't achieve all those things when she puts her mind to it. 

Find Shannan here 

Snapchat:  shannanriley

Instagram: shannanriley

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Until next time...

Aimee♥