G
rowing up as a young child
in the foster care system
made childhood a challenge
for Charell Star, a prolific fashion
blogger, journalist and advocate.
For 9 or 10 years, she bounced
around between foster care, which
are usually strangers, to kinder-
care, which are usually relatives
or people that your family knows.
Around age 11, she was reunit-
ed with her mother and was
awarded a scholarship to go to
a private boarding school in Ar-
izona where she learned new
skills like horseback riding. From
there, she went to college in
Boston and started her career
in public relations and writing.
Her blog, Not Just A Girl In A Dress,
started through writing about
things she cared about and was
passionate about. As she focused
on writing about what she loved,
she grew a healthy following
who loved to read her posts and
share them on Facebook and so-
cial media. From there, she began
to contribute to other outlets, like
Business News Weekly and tele-
vision new segments. She remains
passionate about telling stories
that can bring joy to people’s lives.
Charell is one of the new class of
micro-influencers who focuses
more on the value and engage-
ment her community provides to
the brands she collaborates with
rather than sheer numbers alone.
Charell states, “I’ve got about
5000 followers on Instagram. And,
yeah, it would be great to have a
million, but I appreciate my 5000.
When I’m lucky enough to work
with brands...they appreciate that
even though my following is small,
it does move the needle for them…
It’s not actually about having a
million followers, it’s about having
people who are actually engaged
with you, and that’s the real value.”
As part of her influence, Charell
focuses on helping to support
the foster system she grew up in
as a youth. One of the programs
she works with is aimed toward
helping kids who have aged-out
of foster care. Normally, when a
child reaches the age limit (either
18 or 21, depending on the state)
the child is no longer supported
by the system and they are left on
their own to support themselves.
City Living NY provides concrete
resources, tools, and support ser-
vices to empower youth who are
aging out of the foster system.
Another organization Charell vol-
unteers for is CASA-NYC, which
stands for Court Appointed
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