After all, it is meet your friendly anonymous blogger day!
So here’s the deal, guys — we have been incredibly, incredibly honored to have such a great dialog with you since we started this blog in May 2008. We’ve gone from having 400 readers that first month, to about 35,000 unique readers each month. With growth comes new opportunities, and so we have some big news — starting soon, we’ll be partnering with InStyle magazine and AK Anne Klein for a series of fashion events at Macy stores around the country, where we’ll advise on trends as well as how to adapt different AK Anne Klein pieces for different situations. We’re so excited!
However, it has occurred to us that it’s rather difficult to host a fashion event anonymously. So… if you’ve ever wondered who it is behind this blog, read more, after the jump…
(Pictured: Mask II, originally uploaded to Flickr by Audringje)
Hi. I’m Kat Griffin, your resident blogger. I’m a 33-year-old lawyer and writer based in New York.
Some other questions you may be wondering:
Who the heck are you? David Lat was kind enough to interview me on Above The Law today, so I’ll let him do most of the background stuff. Briefly: I’ve been a lawyer for about seven years now, mostly as a litigator; in July of last year I started as a staff lawyer at a non-profit. I went to Georgetown Law (’03) and got my undergraduate degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism (’99). I live in Brooklyn with my husband, where we enjoy our experiments with the crock pot. (We’ve also updated our “About” page, and I’ve also posted some video clips (below) — just your general intro stuff, as well as some common questions.)
How are you qualified to give us all this advice? I have a board certification from the Fashion Blogging Academy, and have a black belt in the Dark Arts of Networking . . . just kidding. How is anyone on the Internet qualified to give you advice? For what it’s worth, I’ve been a lifelong fan of fashion and style, was a fashion journalist for about half a second, and have been there — trying to adapt my personal style to a conservative office environment. Around the time that I was a fifth-year litigator at my firm I realized, NO ONE is giving out this advice, and everyone is struggling to learn the same fairly basic lessons (if they even realize that said lessons needed to be learned in the first place). So I started the blog. Am I always 100% right? Nope — that’s where the good folks who comment here come in. And I love it when you guys tell me that I’m completely 100% wrong, because that’s when I learn the most. (Although, hey, I do prefer to be right.)
How are things going to be changing? Not that much, at least for the moment. Posting will continue as normal, although the byline may change from “C” (which I’ve used because “Corporette” seemed so long) to “Kat.” Perhaps we can schedule some meet-ups in different cities — I’d love to meet the readers as much as possible.
What’s the deal with AK Anne Klein? We’re really excited about this! Invitations for the first event are going in the mail today. Here’s the schedule for the events (we’ll have more details in the future). We hope you can join us!
- April 1 – 6 pm – Dadeland in Miami, FL
- April 10 – 2 pm – Cherry Hill Mall, NJ
- April 21 – 6 pm – Oxmoor, Louisville, KY
- May 8 – 1 pm – Southdale, Edina, MN
Are you going to stop with the “we” now? Undecided, honestly. I started using “we” in the “my friends and I” sense, not in the “royal” sense — and that’s still true.
Oh yes — and the video posts…
Anyway, that’s the 411 on me — if possible, we’d love to learn more about you. Would you please consider taking this survey?
{ 99 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my goodness, this is huge!! I know that I’m not the only one who has wonderered who you really were. Thanks for a wonderful site, it has been EXTREMELY helpful to me as a young associate in BigLaw. Best of luck with your new endeavor!
Wahoo! I love it! Thanks for revealing yourself, Kat! This blog has definitely made a difference in my world.
Wow – I always suspected you, like me, were 33 years old and a ’99 college grad! So nice to finally meet the face behind Corporette! Keep up the great work on this excellent blog!
So great to meet the woman behind Corporette. Keep up the great posts!
Diane
It’s great to put a name/face to the blog – thanks for the great advice, deals, etc. I just want you to know that this goes way beyond the world of law – I’m a lobbyist at the state level and find your blog completely relevant to my field, so thanks for that!
Great to put a name face with this blog. I enjoy your info and it helps me give my clients good advice from someone who has been there and is doing that.
Congratulations on the new opportunities. Love the blog!
Nice to “meet” you! I’ve been a reader so long I feel like I “know” you but it’s nice to put a face/name to the blog!
Also — did anyone else notice that Allison Sweeney wore a dress featured on Corporette on last night’s Biggest Loser?
it was this Trina Turks dress:
http://corporette.com/2009/10/13/tuesdays-tps-report-trina-turks-statuesque-ponte-knit-dress/
happy for you, and a girl’s gotta make a living… but I am a bit troubled by the timing of today’s recommendation as AK … and not widely available and quickly sold out at that. I understand the need for the sponsorship and relationship, but really hope this site doesn’t turn into an AK ad.
Everything that is paid for by any advertiser or sponsor will be labeled as such — today was not one of those posts, beyond any/all affiliate links — I honestly just do like the dress! Thanks for reading.
It is awesome to see and get to know the face and person behind this blog. I stumbled upon you what seems like ages ago (more likely a year and half or so), and you’re one of the few blogs I keep coming back to day after day. You’re even bookmarked in my “professional blogroll” list.
Keep up the good work and congratulations on an amazing opportunity and expansion of your resume outside of the law.
Nice to meet you! So glad to hear Corporette is getting more recognition and more opportunities. I’m behind you 100%. One plea: hire a graphic designer to redesign the awful unprofessional, unfashionable blog masthead.
The website is perfect just as it is!
PV, yes, me too, I think the website is great the way it is. Uncluttered.
I like it too, but if someone comes out of the woodwork and offers design help, I’d love an iphone friendly format!
Wow, the big reveal! Congrats on the new opportunities. I love the blog and am so glad I discovered it last year. It has definitely inspired me to take my wardrobe to the next level. Thanks for writing it!
This is great news! I am a 36-year-old partner in a law firm and found this site a couple of months ago. I’m now a daily reader and really enjoy it. Congrats on the opportunities coming your way!
Congratulations on getting the recognition you deserve! Blogging takes tremendous effort. I love checking in each day to see what you’ve recommended, and the discussion strings lead to great new ideas and other recommendations. I love the community you’ve started for us!
A fellow media lawyer here who has been reading this blog for about two years, has met you through the MLRC, and honestly had no idea! Congratulations on the success of the blog!
Hi, Kat! What a treat to see your face and hear your voice. Looking forward to more great things from corporette.com.
Kat, congrats and glad (but not surprised) to hear you’re a GU law alumna and a New Yorker! If you do a meet and greet in DC perhaps the Georgetown Alumni Club could invite our members to attend.
Love the blog and love now knowing who is behind the scenes! I am not a a lawyer but translate your advice to a public affairs role in an academic medical center. 95% of your topics apply to me! Keep up the good work!
I am thrilled to meet you, and so happy for you! I am a 40-year-old general counsel in the midwest and take your advice into account nearly every day!
I work in Big Law, but not as a lawyer, and read your blog every day. I love your advice because I feel like it pertains to all working women. My sister lives in Edina, MN – I’m so jealous she’ll get to see the AK show. I hope you come to DC!
Love your blog. Its one of my first morning go-tos (as a reward after doing my work go-tos). I hope you make tons of money doing it and get to quit being a lawyer (if that’s what you want). Although the fact that you actually work does make your advice all the better.
On the survey, it wouldn’t let me check its great for each of the categories, (on the question about how satisfied are you with your job) when I checked the same category for the next section below, it erased my previous chedk.
Same here.
I provided feedback to Kat about this within my survey response – It looks to me like she used the “Rating Scale” question format and needs to either uncheck the box in her survey design (that says “force ranking”) or change the question format to “Matrix of choices – Only one answer per row.”
(Ideally, she should add an option to Q6 “did not receive a bonus” rather than just say “How much, if any…. ” Right now she can’t be sure that no response really means no bonus. It could also mean the respondent just skipped the question.)
And yes, Kat – these are changes you can make even though the survey is open. If few enough people have responded already, you could disregard their data. But right now, what you are getting for Q8 likely does not reflect what people truly feel.
The lesson here is: Do not use Survey Monkey without having several people test it (or testing it yourself with a variety of response possibilities). It’s never obvious how it will work.
I’m a program evaluator and love having all of Kat’s advice to keep me looking nifty while I’m busy making surveys and not being a lawyer.
Thanks for the tips — I just tried to make all the changes. (This is my first time running a Survey Monkey questionnaire, can you tell?)
Congratulations! I love this blog and check it every morning! Keep up the great work.
Wow, so happy you finally “came out” (so to speak)! I have been reading this site for a couple of months and have even purchased some of the items you’ve recommended. Even though I’m just a 1L, you’ve already helped me immensely in crafting a good, professional style.
Great blog, so happy for your opportunities!
How cool! Your site is great. I’ve always wondered if there were actually 25 different C’s behind Corporette; how in the world to you find the time to keep up the regular posts with all that you must have going on!
I’m so excited to finally “know” who you are because honestly it feels like I’ve known you for a while. Your blog has been absolutely wonderful and I recommend it to as many of my law school friends as will listen. Congrats on the opportunity.
Congratulations! I’ve been hooked on the blog since I found it … I read it several times a day. I also have utilized this amazing network of women for advise on more than one occasion, and you (the collective you, as well as you personally, Kat) have not steered me wrong yet! Good luck with everything, keep up the good work.
Wow! What a wonderful opportunity. Congrats! And thanks so much for all of the great fashion advice! I live near Edina and hope I get to check out the show.
Great to finally meet you. Thanks for being an integral part of my day and my wardrobe!
Congratulations! I’m loving your blog… And am hoping to see you/AK/etc. in Cherry Hill :-)
It’s so nice to meet you, Kat. I’m a young attorney trying to adapt to a corporate environment as well and found your blog by searching for “rules” about wearing black and navy together. Your articles are very insightful and, at the very least, always give me something to think about. I think it’s wonderful that young professional women finally have a realistic resource to consult on the fashion “issues” we all face. Thanks for all the great info! Congratulations and best wishes for your continued success.
So exciting to finally “meet” you! I can’t tell you how much I love your blog and your advice. I read every day. Congrats on your new opportunities!
Congratulations! I love the videos.
Yes! Love the videos! Can there be more? Maybe doing readermail pieces as videos? Just a thought to mix things up! :)
Congratulations K! I am so happy to meet you. This is one of my favorite blogs and I read it every day. I’m a Senior Associate at a NYC law firm who loves fashion and looking fashionable (while still paying off law school loans/debt)! Love your recommendations (especially yesterday’s dress!!). Good luck and I hope to come to the AK show in NYC.
Congratulations and thank you so much for running this website. I feel that the world of the overachieving chick can be kind of lonely sometimes. It is not always easy to find other women to talk to about this issues in a non-competitive forum. And this is information we do need. I, for example, was raised by a stay at home mom that did not inform me that I should only wear lined pants in the workplace. Information like that is really nice to hear anonymously and preemptively ;-)
Thank you!!
Yeah, Brooklyn! Congratulations, Kat, and THANK YOU.
Congratulations! It is fun to see you also. You are adorable!
Nice to “meet” you!! I’m a 2L and absolutely love this blog…I send all my friends here!
Congrats! And nice to finally “meet” the woman behind one of the best corporette fashion sites arounds!
Can’t wait for the Louisville event! See you there!
Congratulations! As usual, all the other posters have said it better than I ever could, but keep up the great amazing work. Looking forward to seeing where the future takes Corporette!!!
Nice to finally meet you, Kat! Congrats on the new events going up.
Well, hello! So nice to see you! You are fabulous. Thanks so much for the great blog, you have a ton of fans (myself included!). Congrats on the AK gig, you deserve it.
Just wanted to chime in with my congratulations. I LOVE your site! I check it daily, and recommend it to friends constantly. You’re doing a great service for all working women! Looking forward to seeing more of you!
Great to put a face to the name! I’m a 32-year-old lawyer and just love your blog. Keep up the great work.
So nice to meet you!
Your fan,
k
Congratulations Kat! So nice to see you. And I love the lipstick BTW:).
I can say I knew you when! So thrilled about the new partnerships!
I knew this blog must be getting insanely popular–almost everything I want to buy is sold out!
This is the only blog I vist every day, I love it. Thanks for all the advice.
Yay! I love to see a woman-owned small business succeed like this.
What a pleasant surprise! Nice to meet you, Kat. Like everyone else, I’ve been hooked on this blog since discovering it. I’m a 3L and live in Brooklyn too. So happy for all the opportunities coming your way!
Congrats on the big reveal! Really love your blog, been reading for over a year and half. Hoya Saxa :-)
(One quick note – I have repeatedly gotten the “you’re posting too fast, slow down” error yesterday and today, it might be something to look into.)
Congrats on the new partnerships and I look forward to seeing more great things in the future. I love Anne Klein and own a ton of it, so I’m excited about the partnership. Great work, C – keep it up!
Congrats indeed – I have recently discovered the blog and become completely addicted. The only downside is that I am in London and I thus need to wait until well after lunch before your first post of the day!
Still, your blog has international relevance and I love it! I’m sure I am not the only one reading across the pond, either…
Yay, another UK reader!
My friend discovered this blog a couple of months ago and we’ve really enjoyed reading your posts. As someone who is in the process of building up a work wardrobe I’m always super interested to see what you have to say. I just wish there was a British version (so that we could be linked to nice finds on the UK high street or to clothing produced by designers more common to the UK.
>>>>>>>>>>and another UK reader here
Congratulations on the partnership with AK! As it happens, I will be in NJ on April 10 (visiting family!) so I am going to try to make it to your presentation.
Congrats! I’ve been reading your blog for about 18 months now. I’m not an attorney but work as the VP of Finance in a hospital. As one of the few people in a hospital who don’t wear scrubs on a daily basis and the only woman in administration I find your fashion advice a breath of fresh air. Your blog has helped me to navigate some tricky waters (weddings, dinners, etc) when I feel like there is nobody else to ask. And who can resist a great shopping tip. Thanks and keep up the good work!
I hope that a partnership with AK doesn’t mean that you will stop posting on other brands. I am a size 20 and AK doesn’t go that high.
Congratulations on your partnership with InStyle and Anne Klein. Please come visit us in DC! We are in dire need of your fashion advice here!!!! LOL. But seriously…DC is not known for its fashion sense and could use a boost! :-) Hopefully, you will consider bringing your expertise to our area.
I immensely enjoy reading Corporette and totally understand your struggle to bring your personal style to a conservative law office. In fact, reading your blog inspired me to start a career fashion blog. There really is not enough authority out there on incorporating style into the career wardrobe, but I consider your blog to be a top authority! After starting my own blog, I am even more amazed and impressed than I was before at your ability to juggle both Big Law and consistent blogging.
Again, congrats and best wishes!
Oh, how nice to finally “meet” you! I’ve been reading since nearly the inception of the blog and am happy to see you getting some benefit out of this great community you built! Now, about those shoes… ;) j/k!!
It’s nice to finally associate a face to the blog! Anyhow, I work at a law school that is business casual but I still love reading your blog. Would love to see more stylish business casual outfits, something akin to your regular Suit of the Week feature.
Nice to finally “meet” you!
I hope the disgusting nature of the comments on your Above the Law interview convinces you that this site, which celebrates women and their achievements, should have no further relationship with that site, which does the opposite.
Hear, hear. The comments to the following the interview were revolting. Can’t say I’ll be visiting THAT site anymore.
Really all you can do is laugh. Obviously some big male insecurities getting expressed there. It’s funny and sad that the only way they can deal with their own (apparently significant) inadequacies is by attacking someone who is achieving success in her own way.
Thank you Kate, I came back to this post to mention the same thing, but you beat me to it. Kat, we are all extremely happy for you and your success, but please stop any association with Above the Law. The commenters are moronic juveniles who are a shame to the practice of law and who have nothing better to do than make sexist, racist, and homophobic comments about everyone. David Lat and others running the site should moderate comments because 99.9% of them are garbage. I honestly think that you’re undermining the credibility of your wonderful site by doing an interview with ATL.
Yeah I also stopped going there a long time ago. The people who frequent that site are revolting.
FWIW, I just removed my bookmark for ATL. They have finally offended me one to many times. Can’t believe it took this long.
Great to “meet” you finally, Kat! I love InStyle & Anne Klein (though very upset they closed their store in my country:(
Kat, Congrats on the deals and unveiling! I am 33 and a lawyer also. If you visit the Seattle area let’s meet up, I will host. I have found Corporette to be immensely helpful- please keep it up. Thanks and yay you!
Congratulations on your new projects, Kat! You seem so happy-go-lucky and positive! It’s infectious! No wonder you’re successful! :) I’m proud of what you’ve done. I am impressed that you’ve created a forum for encouraging and uplifting “overachieving chicks.” Not an easy feat to have A-type personalities come together and not bicker (well, at least sometimes)! Keep up the great work. To this day, I still think you’re the best one out there (and maybe the only one) to discuss pushing the fashion envelope for young, female professionals in *realistic* terms, especially for someone like me who works in a formal attire environment where “business casual” does not exist. Thank you.
Congratulations!!
Really nice to ‘meet’ you, Kat! Thanks for the great blog – it’s been incredibly helpful to me as a young lawyer.
Congratulations! SVP of Marketing, not an att’y, but love your blog and read it every day.
Keep up the great work.
Hi Kat – Thanks for revealing yourself and congratulations on the partnership. I have followed your blog for awhile, and though I am not a lawyer, I find your fashion tips useful as a young professor who is trying to not look like a student!
I have always wondered how you keep up a professional life and a daily blog (of such high quality).
Sincere congratulations on the recognition. It is baffling to me, however, why any woman who wants to be taken seriously (and who wants women generally to be taken seriously in a professional context) would agree to be featured on Above the Law. Any entry on that blog regarding a woman is met with tens, if not hundreds, of anonymous misogynistic comments calling the woman a pig, a dog, a cow, a bitch, or worse, and indicating whether she is suitable material to have sex with. To support the operators of that blog, who don’t have the basic decency to have standards barring messages with no content other than hostile (and sometimes violent) comments about women, is to me inconceivable. Why even associate yourself with (not to mention subject yourself to) that?
Keep on keepin’ on, sister! I’m a brand-spanking new attorney and totally stumped. I’m at a small firm but still don’t really feel like I can approach the female partner for clarifications. You come through all the way!
Hey!!! Fellow NU undergrad (and grad) here!
Good for you Kat! Congratulations, so exciting to see all your hard work pay off for you and for all of our reading enjoyment.
Love your blog. Been recommending it to so many friends. It has helped me navigate so many important questions for women in law school: interviewing lunches (what to wear), thank you notes, what to buy for my first big summer job, etc. Awesome! See you at Cherry Hill Mall!
Hi Kat! Nice to finally see who you are!
As a 3L about to join regional medium-law, I really really appreciate the advice.
You’re fantastic! It’s great to see the face behind all those fantastic posts. Keep up the great work!
I’m probably one of your youngest readers — a college student (in Chicago!) — but even though I don’t work in a professional office, I love your advice! The more practice I get in in professional style, the better, no?
I’d just like to second Michelle’s comment about your new partnership with Anne Klein — that’s awesome, but please keep featuring other designers!
I love that you blog in addition to your “real” job, and I would hate to see this become more important than your law work. The world needs as many smart, stylish (but appropriate) working women as it can get!
Congratulations Kat, and nice to meet you. I join the contingent hoping you’ll continue covering all the designers. I’m not a lawyer, but your blog has helped make my transition to the corporate arena (senior consultant at a fairly conservative company) after 29 years in the military (no problems knowing what to wear everyday) smoother. Hope you make it to the DC area.
Thanks for this great blog, Kat. Although I live in Australia and sadly don’t have the opportunity the buy the items you post, I find them a source of inspiration and really enjoy the comments from other readers.
Thanks again!
Congratulations on the revelation!
I have been such a fan since discovering this blog – fashion magazines have always felt fairly irrelevant to my wardrobe and style issues, and you really go very far in addressing them. I really appreciate the straight-up, self-aware advice, the great mix of opinions and perspectives that comes out in the threads, and especially the tips for the petite & curvy among us.
So, me: I’m based in London, a NYC native (expat for 10 years plus….) and a lawyer.
Thanks again Kat
Hi Kat! Thanks so much for a wonderful blog. I’ve been reading/lurking for at least an academic year now, and I was just recommending the site to two of my 3L friends this very week. Keep up the good work.
And please, PUHLEEZE don’t do anymore ATL interviews. I don’t event want that racist, sexist crowd sniffing its way over here…
So cool about the Anne Klein gigs! Congrats!
Your blog has been a great inspiration for me – I wish I could send the posts to my rookie corporate self, who suffered untold hours of stress and low confidence due in large part to wardrobe. Thanks for all you do!
Kat! Congratulations on all these wonderful things. You run (and created a great blog). Glad to see behind the mask. Great law school by the way.
Hoya Saxa,
Siouxsie
I work in real estate in far away India. Been a regular reader for a few years now. Great blog and great advice . Keep it up !
{ 1 trackback }