Our Story
“The Social Butterfly” brand is the vision and establishment of two remarkable young women: Marileidy Morel and Samantha Longo. Their combined passion for travel, video production, and writing led them to embark on an amazing journey together in the creation of a unique website and blog to capture and document their adventures. A virtual place, where anyone can learn about fashion, fitness, beauty and travel and read captivating interviews with inspiring people. Our goal for our brand upon its inception in 2013 was to provide our audience with uplifting advice through our experience, lifestyle articles videos. This is where The Social Butterfly was born!
A bit about our background:
Samantha and Marileidy met in the Fall of 2006, at Montclair State University in their first broadcasting class. They quickly became friends and in Spring 2008, joined the same sorority. It was then that they became even closer and their friendship grew stronger. They became the best of friends and experienced many milestones together, forming a sisterhood with each other which they never had before. Marileidy meant the world to Samantha! They traveled to many places together, and launched the “Social Butterfly” brand together in 2013, as a place to share their shared passion in travel, fashion, fitness and beauty. Marileidy was Samantha’s Maid of Honor at her wedding in 2014, and there was no one better than Marileidy to be named Godmother of Samantha’s daughter Giuliana in 2018.
Samantha and Marileidy were always making future plans about what they wanted to achieve in their careers, personal lives and with The Social Butterfly blog.
Then, Marileidy’s life was very tragically and unexpectedly taken on July 4th, 2020. She was out for a summer stroll walking her dog and was struck by a car. The driver fled the scene. Currently, the perpetrator has been charged with second degree manslaughter, and Marileidy’s family and friends are fighting to get her justice. Her dreams were taken away too soon. Samantha and so many of Marileidy’s friends and loved ones continue to grieve, and the realization that Samantha has lost her sister, best friend and business partner continues to set in.
It was in Marileidy’s honor and memory that Samantha decided to reinvent The Social Butterfly blog and re-establish it as “The Social Butterfly Foundation,” with the goal of honoring her sister and empowering the next generation of women who have a passion for life and success just like Marileidy did!
About Marileidy Morel:
Marileidy Morel’s journey to become the astounding woman that she was, was a long one which started 23 years ago, when Mari, a non-English speaking immigrant from the Dominican Republic, emigrated to the United States. Uncertain about what to expect, young “Mariposa” (her nickname, and translation for butterfly in Spanish) had only two things in mind: she was going to dominate this new language, and she was going to make an impact on the world.
As a little girl, Marileidy always wanted to travel the world and experience new places. During her senior year of college, she took out some of her savings to embark on a travel journey. Joined by three of her friends, she experienced her first and only Spring Break in Cancun, Mexico. After that experience, Marileidy traveled to numerous cities and kept adding travel itineraries to her bucket list.
Equally as strong as her passion for travel, Mari’s determination and ambition for achieving success, initially in her education, and then later in her career path was what drove her to excel the most. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcasting from Montclair State University in 2009 (as a member of Omega Phi Chi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.’s Mu Chapter), and then ten years later, she graduated with an MBA in Business from William Paterson University. She worked extremely hard to earn this degree while also working a full time job. Although her evenings and weekends mainly consisted of studying and completing assignments, she always made time for her loved ones. Her hard work and dedication lead also to her being inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma (International Business Honor Society.)
Out of all of her passions, Mari believed most of all in the empowerment of young women, and she wanted to use her own experience as a non English-speaking immigrant to help other women achieve their educational and career aspirations and dreams.
By launching this unique 501c3 organization through this foundation, Mari’s biggest passion is coming full circle and will be realized as her memory will live on through all of the young lives this foundation will touch.
