Meet Mikayla Keep– 23 year old small business owner, social media influencer, wife, and fashion-forward role model. Mikayla’s story is unique and inspiring, and her journey is just getting started. After graduating from High School in 2015, Mikayla felt led to pursue an internship with the children’s ministry at Elevation Church, rather than attend college. At the time, Mikayla, who was dating her now husband- former Marine- Gaige Keep, wasn’t sure exactly which direction she wanted to take her professional life, but she knew the few things that were very important to her: her faith, her family & friends, and her love for style and fashion. She was determined to find a way to implement those key things into her working life.
Mikayla finished out her internship year, got married, and moved to Jacksonville, NC where she supported her husband while he finished out his active duty as a Marine Sergeant. During that season, she was able to invest time and energy into building her vision of a dream job and dream life. She knew that fashion (specifically, fashion on a budget) was important to her and something she loved to share about.
Three years later, Shop for Keeps– her independent clothing business- launched. Mikayla spent countless hours building the brand and product line so that it accurately reflected the business she dreamed of running. Before Shop for Keeps launched, Mikayla had spent a year working in the corporate setting. She discovered during that time that the idea of working for someone else was not something she wanted to stay tied to. She desired to become her own boss, determine her own hours, and let work, work for her, while also doing something she was passionate about.
Shop for Keeps was the vehicle that drove that dream to become a reality.
Another avenue that Mikayla ventured down during the building of Shop for Keeps, was growing as a social media influencer. Thanks to her husband’s very successful marketing business, Mikayla has grown a following on all social media platforms that allows her to use her space to voice those things that have always been most important to her- her faith, her family and her love of fashion. She uses not only the Shop for Keeps platform, but also her personal social media platform to help people, specifically women, feel empowered and confident in their own skin and their own style.
Mikayla’s heart is for people. She wants everyone to feel special and unique and uses her influence to encourage that in her followers. Shop for Keepshas been a way for her to build herself as a businesswoman and provide a product for people that she is proud to have her name attached to. She spends countless amounts of time deciding on the pieces she includes in her collections and strives to make everyone feel beautiful in their own skin.
Mikayla says that since launching this business and becoming more confident and comfortable on her social media platforms, she has “found what makes [her] happy and has never felt more [herself].” She says, “this is the most authentically ‘me’ I’ve ever felt.”
One piece of advice she would give to others looking to break into the industry: “Stay consistent and don’t get discouraged if things don’t move at the pace you think they will. Also, always encourage others the way you want to be encouraged! Network! Connections are everything.” To those who look up to her everyday and see her as their social influence she says, “Don’t think that everything you see on social media is 100% reality, and don’t feel like there is any one type of way you should be to ‘fit in.’ You are fearfully and wonderfully made just as you are, be confident in that- you’re beautiful!”
For more interesting contents follow Mikayle at @mikayla across social media platforms.