Meet the third year blogger and entrepreneur who’s more successful than you

Third year Leeds Student Em Sheldon has a lifestyle blog with over 2.9 million page views, has interviewed George Clooney and Bradley Cooper on the red carpet and has her own business. 

Em started her blog, originally called “adayinthelifeofems” but now rebranded as ‘Emtalks’ in March 2012.

Em says: “When I started, my blog was a kind of diary of what I did everyday, it was just a hobby, but then more and more people started reading it and I won the Cosmopolitan Best Newcomer Award, I then started to write about beauty and fashion too.

“Now I have decided to combine everything I love into a lifestyle blog, I want it to be like a little bible for everything lifestyle related, the best places to eat, the best places to buy, the best things to wear.”

Third year broadcast journalism student Em has been featured on ASOS, Capital FM, BBC Radio, reported at the BAFTAs and was chosen as a Samsung Global Blogger at the 2012 Olympics.

She also studied abroad this semester at one of the best universities in the world, McGill.

She says: “I decided to go abroad for a while and study some different, more challenging subjects whilst running my businesses out there.”

Having such a popular blog means that Em is often sent free beauty products to review. Jammy.

But the third-year maintains she’s unswayed by all the freebies. “I’m always 100% honest about my reviews, If a product isn’t good, I either just won’t write about it, or I’ll say ‘look, these are actually not that great’ because I don’t want people to waste their money.”

Her hard work does not come without its perks – while you’re saving up for your post-graduation gap yah, she was sent on a free trip to Vietnam, sponsored by Malaysian airlines and a trip to Paris sponsored by O2.

But having to juggle a degree with a popular blog can be challenging.

Em explained: “It’s ridiculously hard, because my blog is a full time job and I get hundreds, sometimes thousands of emails every day, so to answer all of those whilst also having to do an essay can be quite stressful.

“I wouldn’t change it for the world though.

“My degree does sometimes take a backseat, and although I’m still on track for a first at the moment, I know that I could always do a little bit better but there are just not enough hours in the day.”

Along with having a blog read by over 100,000 people per month, Em recently opened her own fashion accessories business.

She says: “Beauty blogging has become an over-saturated market in recent years so I wanted to differentiate myself a bit and that’s why I created lvndr.co.uk my online fashion accessories store.”

The business has won funding from Leeds University, including the Sir Peter Thompson award for enterprise.

“Everything seems to be growing rapidly” explains Em.

“I’ve recently started a YouTube channel, so I’m going to be working hard on that, along with launching a new and exciting business in January with my good friend Scarlett Dixon”.