1. Origin Story
On the very first episode of the Beck and Call Podcast, Merritt introduces herself and shares what to expect from this podcast and forthcoming episodes! She shares a brief history of her life up until now, including where she went to school, various jobs she’s had since graduating in 2009, starting and pursuing a fashion blog full time, and what’s led her to launch this podcast. Merritt also chats about more recent updates, including what changed for her due to the pandemic, as well as more fun topics like the TV shows she’s been watching and those photos of Meghan and Harry for Time’s 100 Most Influential People cover.
Call the Beck and Call hotline at 214-620-0473 to leave a voicemail and ask Merritt anything! She’ll be answering a few listener questions on air every week. All topics welcome!!
Follow Merritt on Instagram @merrittbeck and visit her blog at www.thestylescribe.com for more content!
EPISODE AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
Hey guys, welcome to the beck and call podcast. I am your host, Merritt Beck. And for those of you who don't know me already, I am a Texas girl. I am 34 years old single, and I'm also a fashion and lifestyle blogger. I have been blogging since 2011. And throughout the last 10 years I have dabbled in multiple social media channels. In addition to my blog, I have dabbled in Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, I even started Tik Tok. This year, however, I just posted three videos and they're all of my dogs. So don't count on a lot of content for me on that platform. But one medium that I have not gotten into from a creator perspective is podcasts. And I love podcasts. I listened to them every single day, whether it's on walks with my dog, whether I'm cooking dinner, if I'm getting ready for a night out, and because I work from home, I'm often listening to podcasts throughout the day, I forced my assistant Liza to listen to whatever I'm listening to at any given time. Like I said before, I love podcasts. And I've kind of always wanted to start one. Ever since I discovered them several years ago, I think the first podcast I ever listened to was my favorite murder, just, Hey, what's up murder, he knows I'm one of you. As I mentioned before, I love podcasts. And I've wanted to start one for a while. But not until this recent vacation I took I was gone for three weeks did I have enough time to really brainstorm and come up with a clear plan and outline what I wanted it to do. And for those of you who know me, you know that I'm type a an Enneagram. Three, I am very much a planner. And so I'm really, really grateful that I have that time to kind of explore this opportunity. I wanted to quickly go through what you can expect from this podcast and how I'm going to lay out each episode what you can expect to hear each week. And I'm really wanting you to think of this as a friendly weekly morning show, but also kind of a check in. So at the beginning of each podcast, I'm going to have an intro segment where I talk about kind of life updates, whether that's work stuff, family stuff, travel relationships, whatever, it'll be a personal update for me. The next segment is going to be the latest where I discuss recent discoveries, pop culture, news bites, current obsessions, and more. And then we're going to get into the meat of the episode. And I will focus on one topic each week in this main section. So for example, this week since it's my very first episode, I thought an origin story was an order. And I will talk about where I grew up where I went to school, and sort of my life up until now along with a brief history of my career up until this point. And then finally, I'm going to have a beck and call section. So obviously, that's the name of this podcast. But if you follow me on my blog, or on Instagram, or subscribe to my newsletter, you'll know that beck and call is also the name of a q&a I do in my newsletter every Sunday. And it's where I answer reader questions on a wide range of topics. And I thought it would be such a fun way to tie in what I do on my blog and Instagram and newsletter here on the podcast. But instead of reading your questions, I am going to provide you with a phone number so you can call and leave a voicemail, which then I will play for everybody and answer live. And so I'll probably answer two to three questions each week depending on how lengthy the responses from me are going to be. But I thought that would be so fun. And I can't wait to hear your questions. All right now that podcast intro is out of the way that I jumped into a little life update. As I mentioned before, I just got back from a three week trip to California. And ahead of that trip. I knew I wanted to fully take a break and like disengage from social media, even though you know I was still going to post stuff. I just didn't want to be responding to DMS the whole time and so I turned off my story replies. I scheduled all of my posts and newsletters in advance so I didn't have to look at my computer at all. It was amazing and adjust when I needed to just kind of let my mind wander and I ended up brainstorming this podcast the last week I was there must have gotten bored of all the lounging by the pool I was doing but it was a great vacation and now that I'm back and jumping back into work It's full steam ahead. And now that this podcast is here, I'm gonna have more work on my hands, but I'm so excited about it. As far as a nonwork update, I am packing up my dog Reese's. And we are driving down to Austin this Friday because it's my mom's birthday this weekend. So we're going to be going up to dinner to celebrate Friday night. And then I think we are going to grill out and swim on Saturday. So that should be a fun, relaxing weekend. I haven't been back to Austin since I went to a wedding in June. So it'll be nice to hang out and see everybody.
Now on to the latest, I wanted to talk about Meghan and Harry being named one of times 100 Most Influential People of 2021 Totally warranted I'm you know, not surprised they were were named part of that list. However, the photos were a little confusing to me. And maybe, you know, maybe there's a deeper meaning that I just am not getting but the one photo that kind of threw me off the most was the one where Megan is wearing a coat sweater pants. And it looks like summer in the background. It was very clearly taken near or at their house in Montecito, California which is like sunny and nice and warm year round, especially when they probably took those photos and it just it felt it reminded me of me as a blogger taking fall photos, Nordstrom Anniversary Sale content in the middle of July, it just felt really funny to me. I did love that they were both wearing green. I think it's a beautiful color and obviously shows unity when they're matching. And then the like cover photo is of Megan and a white button down shirt with matching white pants. And she is standing at the forefront. And Harry is directly behind her wearing all black which is very striking. But all of the photos you know, were interesting, I'll say I wouldn't say they were my favorite photos of the couple. I'm a little surprised. That's what they went with for this announcement. But you know more power to them. I would have liked to see kind of more variety in her outfit. She wore pants in all three looks. But that's just me. Maybe I'm I'm partial to dresses personally. And while we're on the topic of Harry and Megan, why haven't they posted more on their podcast, they published a teaser episode I want to say in December of last year when their Spotify deal was announced. And it was so good. And I was like so eager to hear more. And then crickets since then. I mean, I know she gave birth in the middle of this year. But I am a little surprised. We haven't heard anything else about it. Um, maybe I'm guessing they're just doing a lot of planning for it. Maybe more planning that I've done for this podcast, but I'll just say I really want to hear it. I feel like they will obviously get good guests. I think they have a lot to say and I'll be here to hear more from them. So hopefully we'll see some episodes come out. The last week I was on vacation in California, I was alone and so well my dog was there but generally alone. And so after dinner, I had plenty of time to watch TV by myself. And I finished the White Lotus, I started nine perfect strangers and click bait. And I really enjoyed them all the White Lotus literally cannot get the intro theme song out of my head. I could sing it to you, but I won't I will spare you. But that was really interesting and fascinating. It's it's a little slow. It's a slow build. And it's sort of a dark comedy, satire of, you know, rich hotel guests and how they interact with each other but also how they interact with the staff. And it's just really funny and the ending is really satisfying. I will say I think they wrapped it up really well. The writing is good. It's just it's just kind of a weird show, but it's on HBO max if you want to watch it. And then nine Perfect Strangers is the one with Nicole Kidman and she plays a Russian wellness guru who runs this wellness retreat again, all rich people coming to solve their problems. And it's taking a weird turn it's I'm wondering if it's gonna go sci fi I'm pretty sure it's based on a book by I think Lane Moriarty. I don't even know if I'm saying that right. But I need to watch this week's episode. I think it comes out tonight actually. So I'll watch that. I'm liking it so far, but I do think it's about to head in a weird direction so I'll report back if it ends badly. And then clickbait I was so drawn in by that show. I couldn't go to sleep one night because I kept watching it. I watched like four episodes back to back it kept me up late. And then the last episode was so disappointing. The girls got to eat said it best if you haven't listened to that podcast. It's one of my favorites. I listened to it every Monday but it's like the writing just I don't know what they they just gave up the last episode. It was still worth watching. I think because it was really entertaining. If you just want to be entertained, it's sort of fast paced, suspenseful each episode is from the perspective of a different person in the story and it It really is a good story, but they just messed up the end. That's all I have to say about it. And yeah, so those are the TV shows that I've watched. I need new recommendations. I think I'm gonna watch the only murders in the building on Hulu next. That looks cute with Selena Gomez Martin Short and Steve Martin. So I'll report back once I've finished watching that. As I mentioned earlier, I thought it would be a good idea to do my origin story as the main topic in my first episode, since there might be new people here or if you've been following me for a while, but don't know me very well at reintroduction. And so I'm just gonna jump right in. I was born in Austin, Texas. And for those of you who are familiar with the Austin area, I grew up in Tarrytown, which is very central. I grew up going to private school up until eighth grade and then kind of bounced around to a couple of different high schools. I sang throughout my entire childhood. So finding a school with a great music program was very important to me. And the first high school that I attended was McCallum, which was a public school in Austin. And they were supposed to have an incredible arts magnet program and ended up not being that great. And so I ended up transferring to another school right after the first semester of freshman year. And so then I tried Idlewild Arts Academy, which is in California. It's a boarding school, and it's specifically for the performance arts performing arts. And so I went in saying there, and I did that for a semester, but I think I got a little carried away and had too much freedom there. First time ever away from my parents outside of like summer camps. I came back to Austin this semester after so I started my sophomore year at Westlake High School, which is also in Austin. And it ended up being the perfect fit. For me, it was a big school, but full of very smart, competitive people. And so I definitely felt like I was in my element. I'm a competitive person in general, I feel like I need I need that to push myself forward. So I did really well there. I was in Allstate choir when I was in high school. And I actually went on to college as a vocal performance major, and I went to SMU in Dallas. I pursued that for about the first six months. And then I decided to change majors. And y'all only because my vocal teacher basically said, I wasn't allowed to rush and also be her student. And I was like, see, if you're not familiar with SMU Greek life is kind of vital. It's It rules the campus and I was not going to miss out on that opportunity. That was part of the reason why I went to SMU in the first place. So I changed majors to psychology, and never looked back. I loved it so much. It's if blogging or whatever I'm doing now implodes, I might go back to school for that, because I really, really loved it. I loved my teachers, I loved all of the subjects within psychology from social and organizational psychology to behavioral and like how drugs interact with your brain and all that stuff. I find it fascinating. So I would totally do that again. If, you know, that's where life takes me. But so that was college. And then I stayed in Dallas after I graduated, it was about a year after, you know, the economy imploded.
There weren't a ton of jobs available, but I managed to snag one. And I was a marketing and sales associate for an outsourcing company, which at the time, I had no idea what that was, but it's sort of commonplace. Now. I mean, everyone outsources something, whether it's a data center or a call center, or, you know, you outsource PR, you outsource all kinds of stuff. So now I know what it is. But at the time, I was sort of like, I'll take what I can get. So I was a marketing and sales associate for them. And it I learned a lot it was a lot of like cold calling. It was right at the beginning of when social media was really taking off. Obviously, when I was in college, Facebook was present, but Twitter was kind of the new thing when I was working at this company. So I launched their Twitter page, I crafted their marketing emails, that kind of thing. And I was there for almost a year before I actually moved to Houston and that was a very brief move. I was there for like a year and a half. I was dating somebody who lived there at the time and decided to you know, see if that was gonna go somewhere. And I almost immediately knew that it was the wrong choice. The second I moved, but you know, you gotta live you learn, you take risks and see what happens. You know, I'm actually happy I moved there because that's where I started my blog. So when I was living in Houston, I worked for integrate PR. It's a public relations company that focuses heavily on social media. And I was a social media account executive for them. And I love that job. But I was also when I decided to start my blog as a hobby. And so I did that on the weekends and at night kind of putting posts together. They were very, very amateur at the time, but I really loved doing it. And then a few months after I started my blog, I switched jobs and went to reliant energy. And I was on their social team and worked on Facebook campaigns, which was honestly so boring. And then right after that, I got an email from Amber and Baxter box who were beta testing rewardstyle, which is a an affiliate marketing platform for bloggers and lifestyle publishers. And they were wondering if I wanted to join their team. And so I moved back to Dallas, and I worked on their marketing team for two years. I started out as like the marketing director, I mean, the team was so small at the time, I think there were like five people working there when I started working there. And so I ran events, which first of all, I'm terrible at that. I just do not know how wedding planners and party planners do it. It's the literal bane of my existence. I hate party plating. But I did that for them. And then my job kind of transitioned as the company grew. And I when I left a two years later, I was one of the kind of brand managers so I would reach out to retailers get them on boarded on the rewardstyle platform, I would encourage them to increase their commission rates, pitch them for different collaborations and that kind of thing. And it was a really cool job. And honestly, I would have stayed longer. But it was really hard doing my blog as it was continuing to grow and the full time job because I was I had no social life at the time, I was working weekends and nights on the blog, and then working nine to five, nine to six, nine to seven at rewardstyle. So as I said before, I eventually after two years decided to leave rewardstyle and pursue blogging full time, which was kind of risky at the time because I wasn't making a ton of money I was making barely enough, barely enough to pay for you know what I needed to pay for. And so the first year was a bit of a struggle. But after that things started picking up my you know, hard work and dedication and time focus when I was able to dedicate 100% of my time to the blog, it just continued to grow and grow. And so I've now been working full time for myself. It'll be seven years this December I quit my job at rewardstyle December 2014. Since I left my full time job, I've obviously had a lot more time to dedicate to creating content. So in addition to my blog, which is the style scribd.com I also have Sussex style watch.com which is a fashion blog dedicated to recreating Meghan Markle style. I'm just fat I was, I mean, this was at the time when she was still senior member of the royal family. But I was fascinated by her being American being of mixed race. Being an actress, being a divorcee, and joining the royal family, I think she is so poised and she's beautiful and stylish, and really somebody who is a great role model for all women. And I just really wanted to talk about her. And so I started a blog and it was it did really well. But I will say because she hasn't been making that many appearances over the last couple of years thanks to pregnancies and them stepping away from their senior roles, I haven't been able to post as much so I'm hoping we'll see more of them as well. And then in addition to the blogs, I also have three different Instagram accounts that are updated regularly. The first is mine which is at Merritt Beck so that's where I share my outfits, I share blog content, I share personal stuff, it's kind of just you know me and then I've got at TSS edited which stands for the style scribe edited which is my blog, Instagram and it is a purely collage based account so it's all shopping content, no personal details or anything like that will be found there but really fun place to go if you're looking for daily outfit inspiration sale finds that kind of stuff. And then finally I've got access style watch which is you know, a compliment to wear supplement rather to Sussex style watch. And like I said before, haven't been able to post about them as much since they aren't as much on the scene at the moment, but I'm hoping we'll see more and I'll be able to post more. Some of you might know this, but before the pandemic I had considered moving to Chicago I've been in Dallas since 2005. Pretty much except for that one little stopover in Houston. I also did a little five and a half month visit. I don't know what else to call it to London in 20 15 But otherwise, I've been in Dallas and I've got several friends in Chicago. It is such a cool city, I fell in love with it when I visited in 2019, I think it was August 2019. And I was like all gung ho about moving up there. And then literally a month later COVID was like it had taken over the world. So those plans were tabled. And ultimately, I decided, you know, it's just not going to happen. I, you know, I went up and I looked at apartments, I'd narrowed it down. And I even put my house here on the market, and then had to take it off. And, you know, was alone during COVID. And eventually, I, like I said, gave up on the idea and decided to buy a new house. So I'm sitting here in my new house in Dallas. And I'm actually really grateful that I stayed because So several of my friends have had kids, and they're so close, they're right down the street. And the pandemic taught me what I'm grateful for. One of those things is being within driving distance of my family. I just can't imagine what how I would have even survived the pandemic, if I'd been in a lonely apartment building in Chicago, with only like five friends that were further away, not having access to a car wasn't planning to have one up. They're not having outdoor space to use. I mean, just so many things that I've you know, taken for granted. Dallas is such a great city to live in. There's so many wonderful things about it. And it just you reminded me of those things. I'm glad I stayed. I will definitely be visiting Chicago again at some point, but I am not moving for the time being. Okay, guys, it's time for the beck and call segment I mentioned earlier where you can call in leave a voicemail with a question and I will answer it live on air. The phone number to call is 214-620-0473. And just a reminder that if you want to be anonymous, that's totally fine. Either don't say your name or make up a name. And any topic is welcome. And I can't wait to hear from you. But let's jump into the first voicemail.
Hi, Merritt. Thank you for doing this podcast. I'm curious to know how you pick SMU. And if you would do if you were to do it all over again, whether you'd pick SMU or if you would go to a different university. Thank you.
So I actually was all signed up at Arizona State University. Like I think I already had my dorm. I think my mom had already joined some kind of PTA or like parent association, get remember what it was. But there was definitely money already, like placed at Arizona State University. And then I visited my sister at SMU and I was like, Ooh, just getting pipeline. If you've never been to Dallas or visited SMU campus, it truly is a beautiful school it is well laid out. It's small. And for me, honestly, I don't know what I would have done if I'd gone to a big school like ASU because there's somebody with like, crazy ADHD. I can't focus in loud spaces or when there are other people around I like have a very hard time paying attention to what I need to focus on. Like, for example, a professor talking. And so as a muse classes were much smaller, most of my classes only had like 20 to 30 people in them much like a high school classroom would. And so that was really great. A lot of the teachers I knew very well, like it just was a better environment for me than a really massive school. SMU also has a huge Greek system, which I may have mentioned earlier. And that seems so fun. When I visited my sister, she was like going out and having the best time. So I really loved that community. And the idea of that, and it was it was so fun. So many of my sorority sisters are still some of my best friends today. And while some of my college friends moved to different cities, I've made friends with other people that went to SMU or were in my sorority that stayed in Dallas that I didn't know as well in college. So just really, really great friends and business connections. Like for example, Amber vents box, who is the president of rewardstyle was a kappa my same year at SMU and we knew each other back then and hung out a lot. And so she knew to think of me when I was you know, blogging, and they were hiring back in the early days of rewardstyle. So I really I don't I don't know where I would be today without SMU because of those things. With that said it is kind of a bubble. There's not a lot of diversity. The Greek system kind of rules the campus. So I think if I'd gone to a different school, I would have had a very different experience. Even if I'd gone to UT. Yes, the Greek system is huge there. But it's such a huge campus. There are 1000s upon 1000s of students and different organizations. And I just just think the experience of a small school versus a big school and you know, different city situation might have changed everything. Alright, let's jump into the next voicemail.
Merritt, this is single in Dallas. And I was just curious, I know you don't talk about your dating life. But I was just curious if you had any recommendations to meet single guys, because I haven't since COVID, pretty much. And so it's been a two year stint and would love your advice. Thanks.
Okay. I'm glad you mentioned this, actually, because I don't talk about my dating life on Instagram, or really on my blog, I think I've answered a couple of questions in my newsletter. But I am more open to doing it on here. I feel like this is sort of a fun new medium. And so I feel like that's kind of a different value add right. So hopefully some of you tuning in will find this interesting. I have been single for quite a while as well, I had a couple of serious boyfriends in college and after college. And then there have been like a handful of guys here and there that I've dated for a few months. But mostly been single since you know 2012. And a lot of that had to do with one you know, I work a lot I when I was working at rewardstyle. I mentioned I had no social life because I was working a full time job. And then nights and weekends, I'd be working on the blog, didn't have time for anything else. So never met anyone those years. And before COVID, I was traveling so much. And I know those aren't really great excuses. But I just I mean, I've been having fun, I haven't really thought about it. It wasn't really until COVID That I was like, huh, might have been nice to have somebody to hang out with during this time. So dating really has never been at the forefront of my mind. I'm very independent, totally fine, being single, I have so much fun going out with my friends single or married, whatever, single or married it can't talk. But I truly never noticed it until the last kind of year and a half. And so I'm right there with ya. Most of my single friends and even some of my married friends have met guys on the dating apps. And I had Bumble hinge and the league on my phone for a long time. I actually a couple of guys I dated in 2017, I met on the league, and they were fine. But I will say the people I've been most excited about have been people I've met in person, there's just something about natural chemistry that you can't fake with, like a first of all, just like a blind date. But, you know, you can't get a sense of anyone's personality on a dating app. It's all just like smoke and mirrors. And so I really didn't like that. And I'd sit there doing scrolling, just swiping on people. And then the I wouldn't you know, matches were few and far between because I was being probably too selective. And then, you know, on the dates that I did go on, I just wasn't enjoying them and wasn't, you know, finding what I was looking for. So right before my trip to California, I deleted all three apps from my phone, I have not redownload re downloaded them since. And I feel free Honestly, I feel like I'm not a slave to my phone anymore in that sense. Because, you know, I'm I'm I am busy just like all of you are. And it's hard to remember to go through and swipe. And so I feel like I was just like wasting time like I'd spend a couple of even hours you can get like I said, Doom scroll. You can just spend hours swiping and then you'll forget to check it and then like two weeks have gone by and it's like well, what did that do for me just like wasted two weeks or two hours. And so anyway, I got rid of the apps, I've decided that is just not what I'm going to do. So my plan my goal is to just like be out and be available. So like this weekend, I went to er this past weekend I went to SMU tailgate, so that was really fun. Lots of guys there. And then earlier this week I also took my dog Reese's, two months cantina, lots of people by themselves with their dogs. So great opportunity to go. If you have a dog, take them there in Dallas. And that was really fun for me and my dog and you know, kind of people watching so that's good. You can always join organizations. You can volunteer. I've met people in workout classes, like look at Orange theory, there was a cute guy and somehow we'd always be kind of near each other on the treadmills. And I would make a comment like, Oh, that was so hard or something just to like kind of gauge and see what his response would be. You just got to kind of be open. So, especially now if we're all working from home, maybe take a break from working from home and work at a coffee shop, like one day a week, and maybe try different coffee shops around town. Just gotta be putting yourself in situations where you're going to meet people that you don't already know. Because when I go out with my friends on the weekends, we go to the same places all the time. And we're seeing the same people all the time. So it's sort of up to you and up to me to you know, put yourself in new situations. I am certainly not a dating expert. And I'm not sure how how in depth I'm going to be in sharing my dating experiences and any relationships just because I'm not sure I want to be with a person who wants to be promoted like that. But I am happy to share kind of what what I've experienced kind of vaguely as we go along. So if you have any other questions on this topic, obviously feel free to call in and share. Alright guys, that about wraps up this first episode of the beck and call podcast. Please let me know your feedback. I want to hear what you guys think and definitely call in to leave a voicemail and ask me anything. The number is 214-620-0473 Thank you again for listening and I will chat with you next week. Bye!
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