UTAH COUNTY — Utah native Rachel Parcell is queen of the screen — a new breed of reality star using social media platforms to share family moments, recipes, outfits of the day, makeup tutorials, paid collaborations and her own clothing line to a massive worldwide audience.
With 1.1 million Instagram followers, Parcell is what's known as a "mega influencer" — fans watching and wanting what she has and does, and brands paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for her to market their product.
"I started in 2010 pre-Instagram, right when Pinterest was like everywhere," Parcell told FOX 13's Kelly Chapman. "I had started a Blogspot which was popular - it was basically an online journal."
Her first ever post was her engagement photos with her now husband Drew. At the time she was working as a receptionist and would post in between answering phone calls.
"The pictures I was sharing like where I got my engagement dress or the lipstick I was wearing in the photos or the earrings," Parcell explained. "These women wanted to know you know what share of lipstick is that? Where did you get your dress? So I started sharing."
Parcell said she started her platform on Instagram in 2011. She believes her self-promotion was key to her rise to fame.
"When I first started I remember my sister calling me and she was like 'what are you doing?'" Parcell said. "You're taking pictures of yourself and now everyone does but 10 years ago that was a little taboo like no one was really taking selfies or taking outfit of the day pictures but I didn't really care what anyone else thought I just did it."
Eventually, Parcell dropped out of college to pursue her brand and in 2016 her own label was born.
"I started my clothing line out of my kitchen, literally out of my kitchen," she said.
In 2017, Forbes magazine features Rachel and her booming business, saying she drove nearly a million dollars to the Nordstrom website just over the holiday season while bringing in close to a million dollars herself.
Today, Rachel Parcell's name is her brand, she still gets paid for collaborations, product pitches and her label has expanded from women's wear to children's dresses and a home line sold at major department store retailers across the country.
In addition, she employs over a dozen people and has an official headquarters and showroom in Draper Utah.
"My husband has to remind me sometimes like, it's not just a number at the top of your Instagram, that 1.1 million is like those are real people," Parcell said.
So what's next for Parcell? She says she's diving into the world of literature.
"I am looking for a publisher because I am writing a romance novel," she said. "Oh my gosh, oh weird, crazy - but yeah that's next."
