Combining her love of blogging, style, and daily inspirations, Kasey Ma @thestylewright has amassed a loyal following of 108K –and that’s just on Instagram. Who’s the girl behind the blog and how did she go from retail to writing? We sat down with our good friend and lifestyle influencer, Kasey Ma @thestylewright, to talk all things social.

1.) How did you decide to make the jump into being a full-time influencer?

I’ve been on Instagram since it started and I’ve always had a knack for building my following. I had three fashion retail jobs, and although the last one paid pretty well, it was taking my blog away from me. I was working 60+ hours for somebody else and was like ‘where’s my blog at?’. It felt like the growth was stunting and I was like, it’s time to focus on myself, my blog, and my life. I’m using my past experiences to bloom into something more special today.

2.) When did you realize your influence?

I don’t know if there was a starstruck moment, but I remember the time when I first got a blog post comment and thinking oh my god, people are reading!

3.) What’s something your followers would be surprised to learn about you?

My bio says I’m in fashion, beauty, and music. A lot of people don’t know that I’m a musician as well. I’ve been a classical pianist since I was five years old. I competed and performed in public concert halls like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center almost every year. I stopped before college because the competition was fierce. And, I’m a singer as well! I’m practicing getting over the fear of showcasing my music to the world like I can with my writing and pictures and videos. I  take four-hour lessons every single week.

4.) What’s something you never leave home without?

I feel like this is obvious as an influencer, but it’s my phone. It has my life on it. It has my job on it and it has Google Maps!

5.) How have you made connections and built your following, IRL?

I feel like it’s by being myself. I think a certain personality builds connections naturally. Being talkative, sociable, and saying yes to a lot of opportunities is important, but you also need to learn to say no. You never know where it may lead you.

6.) What’s your dream brand to work with?

All of these big influencers are partnering with Mercedes Benz to get free rides all the time and I would love to do that! The second one would be Chanel because that’s such a classic luxury brand and handbags are my favorite fashion accessory. In general, as long as a brand has a great story or mission behind them and if I believe in them, and it’s a long-term partnership, that’s the dream.

Listen to the full interview on SocialLIVE here and follow us on Instagram to keep up with the latest influencer campaigns.