Meet Chandler Nehrt, the Internet-famous Boilermaker behind @CandidlyChan

Arguably Insta-famous with close to 10,000 followers, self-admittedly the worst decision maker in the world, a southern tomboy at heart and a senior at Purdue, Chandler Nehrt met up with me after an afternoon photoshoot to discuss the truly awesome opportunities that her self-made blogging endeavors now offer her as well as the other random things that come with the territory.

So what exactly do you do?

So I’m a student here, and I’m a “style blogger.” It started out for me as sort of a creative platform — or that’s what it was supposed to be — and then it kind of turned into a job. So now I’m working for all these bigger corporations, Charlotte Russe, American Eagle, and other small boutiques. Basically they send me things to wear, and I take pictures of them and post them and…

Wow. That sounds really cool.

Yeah, it is really cool. It’s really fun. And I’ve also started getting paid so… yeah that’s definitely a perk.

When did this all take off?

I started freshman year, and I’m going to be honest it was crap. Freshman year, the website was crap, I didn’t know anything about what I was doing. I would say it really took off the beginning of last year.

Did you start with your own website?

Yes, yeah, I started with WordPress, like a WordPress dot com type thing, which was a mistake to begin with. There’s just no customization. It was just a bad decision. But, again, I just didn’t know what I was doing. Now I run my own site, so it’s a lot better.

Have you always been interested in fashion and style?

I think as soon as I graduated high school, I kind of took to that as, um, something more of a hobby. When I was in high school all I did was play sports. All day, every day. I ran cross country and track, and I was a cheerleader and played volleyball. That was all year round. So then I got to college and I didn’t really have anything to do. And I’ve always loved to write, and I’ve been into photography my whole life.

So you’re still a student — a senior here now. What does your life look like on a day-to-day basis?

It’s a lot. It’s a lot of time. It’s time consuming. And again, I didn’t know it would get this big, I didn’t know it would be my job, you know? Right now, it’s been pretty cool, since I only have class two days a week, and Monday, Wednesday, Friday is totally dedicated to blogging stuff. I went shooting this morning, actually.

You’re in marketing and management. Are you still pursuing school? I know you plan on graduating but…

Right. Well, if this gets big enough to where I can make it lucrative enough to live on it, then absolutely I’m so down to do that. But right now I’ve applied to a lot of marketing positions within the companies I’m working for, which is nice because right now my main contract within all these places is like the “Marketing Director,” or the “Marketing Team,” so it’s nice because I feel like I have a foot in the door for those places. Fingers crossed, hopefully that works out.

Here’s a different kind of question, do you have any friends that maybe envy what you do?

Yes. Oh yes. This is actually one of my favorite topics of conversation. It was a struggle when it first got started. The fashion industry is really controversial to begin with because a lot of people think it’s superficial, not necessary, whatever. And when I first started I had a lot of bad comments from my close friends. And I’m sure they didn’t think it would affect me too much, but I take all those things into consideration. And when I first got started it was all ridicule and… I don’t know.

People want to criticize what you’re doing, and it’s going to be that way forever. But now that I’ve been doing it for so long, they either respect it or for a lot of those people, I just don’t associate with them anymore. And everyone that’s in my life now is so supportive. I have some good friends who don’t know too much about blogging and they’ll want to take the pictures for me, and they’re just so cool and supportive. It’s awesome.

So what do you like to do when you’re not doing school stuff or working on your blog?

That’s a good question. I’m from southern Indiana, in probably the smallest farming capital of the state. I grew up farming, playing at the farm my family owned, riding four-wheelers. I was kind of like the tomboy kid, which doesn’t seem like you’d be able to guess it now. But, I love to go home when I have some free time. It’s like a completely different world. The people there are so awesome, and it’s just so different from the busyness here.

What if you got famous? Is that something you think about? Without a doubt, you’ve got an awesome following so far.

Thank you, yeah, actually I think about this all the time just because there are bloggers that are “famous.” One of my favorite bloggers, she was the top compensating blogger of 2014, and that year she made almost $1.4 million.

Holy shit.

Yeah, it’s like ‘What the hell?’ You know, I mean they are “famous” and I think that would be really cool, especially because I think being famous in the social media blogging industry is so different than real fame. You know? Because people will recognize you, but you’ll still have your privacy and your own life. It wouldn’t be so bad.

Would you say you’re part of the “Power to the Local Dreamer” movement?

Yeah, I would. I love seeing people doing entrepreneurial things, and pursuing pathways they think they can succeed at. I think it’s so awesome, especially people our age, you know? Just because, we’re all going to have to do something. You don’t want to get up every day and hate what you do. So do what you love. Whatever the hell you want to do, go do it.

What’s one thing about you that you don’t like?

I’m the world’s worst decision maker. I am not kidding — because I feel like I can find a pro and a con to anything. So, then I just never make a decision. It drives my friends crazy. I don’t plan. I just — I hate making decisions. I’m terrible with that.

OK so just one more question, and it’s fairly simple. What do you want to be remembered for?

That’s deep. Gosh, that’s a hard question. I’ve really never thought about it. I guess on a small scale level, I would say — gosh that’s hard. You know, I would say just being personable. Staying down to earth. I would say that because I have met so many people that are really hard to get to know. I love people who are an open book, someone who you can get to know in a few minutes and really connect with. And I hope people can remember me that way.

Going off that real quick, do you feel like the ability to be personable is there when you’re communicating with these bigger corporations?

You know, everyone that I’ve worked with so far from larger companies has been really supportive of smaller bloggers like myself. I think that’s so cool, that these huge corporations are so willing to get connected on that level. Yeah, everyone that I’ve worked with has been great and really helpful. It’s been a great experience so far. I have no complaints.