Meet Marta Carriedo one of the biggest Spanish fashion bloggers and influencers on the scene. We met up in LA, few days after Coachella, and chatted about her ever growing fanbase, her blog and Marta TV!
Interview and Photography by Lauren Engel
You were born Madrid? Your family still lives there?
Yes, I was born in Madrid, Spain. Yes, all my family is there but I do have some cousins who are in London, UK.
Are you from a creative background?
My father is an economist like me. My mom is a nurse and my sister works in a pharmaceutical company.
How would you describe yourself when you were young?
When I was younger I was like a demon. laughs. I was a very sociable girl, very talkative. My friends used to tell me that I would walk around the streets greeting everyone. But, I was a little demon, I didnât want to listen to my teachers, didnât want to eat vegetables and I just wanted to eat meat every day! So, my mother had to feed me meat and fries every day, as that was the only thing I wanted to eat.
“Do what you want to do, follow your dreams, work hard and respect the others at the same time, that is very important.”
Did your parents make you want to study a subject that was academic rather than taking a creative course?
I did want to study something creative but I mean when you are 18 you donât really know which course to take and what to do with your life. So, I think it is a really good idea that you take your time to decide what you want to do in your life and choose the right course. I think I chose economics because all my friends decided to study business degrees. I do feel I am more creative, but I do not regret it, as economics has played an important part in my life, it has helped my business. The number crunching comes from my fatherâs side but the creative side comes from my mother. Even though sheâs a nurse, she used to paint and loves fashion like me, she used to help my sister and me with our homework and with our arts.
Do you think youâve changed a lot since you were younger?
Yes, before I was expecting too much from the people, I used always expect the best of my work, my family, friends and the people I know. I think I am much happier now as I donât set such high standards for myself anymore.
After you graduated, did you go straight into accounting in PWC?
Yes, I was doing an internship in my last year of university and I worked there until I was a senior manager. And I loved it, it has been great learning curve for me and for my business.
Did you do any blogging back then already?
I did buy a blog domain and was thinking of different names and settled for âITgirl.esâ and was working on it during the weekends; I started it because I wanted to develop my creativity. It was just a hobby.
Did you have any bloggers that you looked up to then?
No, I only knew Olivia Palmero, I didnât know anyone else, but I loved her style though and followed her.
You got your start from Grazia as they featured you a lot, didnât they? How did this come about?
Yes, I was doing a fashion speech and the director of Grazia came up to me and asked if Iâd like to post my blog in the magazine. This was a great opportunity to gain more followers and get you out there and I also started working for Hello! Spain. I wouldnât say though itâs always a great idea to work with magazines, I mean in the beginning yes, as you learn from them, gain knowledge and develop contacts but f.e. I didn´t like how they changed my domain to like â.hello!â etc.
“Whatever comes to me I am sure thatâll make me happy.”
How do you think the Madrid fashion scene has changed over the four years?
I donât think it has changed a lot; it still isnât the fashion capital of Spain, thatâs Barcelona. Madrid is more classic, itâs more far east and Barcelona is more alternative, rock grunge like London.
Were your parents always supportive of you blogging?
At the very beginning, they were like âWhat is this? What are you going to do with it?â. Even I didnât know anything about it in the beginning. But, they have always been supportive as they know that I am a hard worker. My father told me â I know you wonât be sitting at home doing nothing, so Iâll support you in whatever youâre doingâ. Itâs very important to have the support of your family; I quit work where I was earning a decent salary, I started off without any contacts and it was hard.
What made you want to change career then?
It just clicked in my head one day; it was a lot of hard work and longs hours at my job. I wanted to do something that made me happy and something I enjoyed doing so thatâs why I quit to start something new and Iâm glad it went well. I always had a vision to establish my own company which luckily worked out. I created the company so that I wouldnât have to work freelance only and so that people have the opportunity to work in my company.
What made you want to start your own store?
I wanted to work more with my creative side and wanted clothes that were simple and basic. Whereas the previous collection was a trial, I am currently working on a new collection. We are working really hard on it and I am excited.
“Itâs very important to have the support of your family; I quit work where I was earning a decent salary, I started off without any contacts and it was hard.”
You are also busy on YouTube…
Yes, and I also work at a channel here in Spain. For YouTube videos, I usually follow the requests of my followers and create videos that they want to see. For instance they love travel vlogs.
Why did you decide to set up an interview section on your website?
I think itâs because I wanted to learn more about them and the world, and my followers love it too.
Do you think you will be making videos in English?
Iâm not too sure, as most of my followers are from Spain, Europe and South America, all the Spanish speaking countries. Also, when I do interviews in English and they canât translate it to their preferred language people might get frustrated about that. I think if I did, I would create a new channel for it for my English followers.
Where do you see yourself in 5 to 20 years?
Thatâs a really hard question, as I really donât know. My objective in life is to be happy and make the people around me happy. I donât even know where I see myself next year. For example I currently work with agencies here in the United States, so who knows what happens. Whatever comes to me I am sure thatâll make me happy.
What do you want to be remembered for?
My favourite quote is to never give up, I have it tattooed and I want to be remembered for never giving up. Do what you want to do, follow your dreams, work hard and respect the others at the same time, that is very important.
