What’s your backstory?
I never expected to become an influencer. I moved to London in 2013, and graduated with a degree in Theoretical Physics from UCL a few years later. I had created a couple of Facebook videos in my final year, and they’d done incredibly well – but I never thought it would lead to a career as an influencer! When I graduated, I decided to take a risk, and put my neck on the line by becoming an influencer full time. I gave myself a 1-year time frame; if I could earn a salary equal to a graduate job – then I could stick with being an influencer.
I made a Facebook page for myself and started making comedy sketches. That was the best decision of my life. Within 8 months I had amassed 1 million likes on my Facebook page. Today, 1 and a half years later, I’ve organically grown my online following to around 3 million followers. I’ve always wanted to be an actress, and finally – with a helping hand from my following and some fantastic training – my acting career has really taken off. I’ve always wanted to be an actress, but I never thought it would happen so quickly.
This year, I was cast in my first lead role in The Seven (a horror feature film), having the opportunity to work alongside some incredible actors (including former Superman – Dean Cain). Becoming an influencer has completely changed my life. It’s opened me up to new opportunities that I never would have thought possible.
I know this is not an easy job. What drives you?
Seeing others’ success drives me to be more successful. Seeing what is possible. Everyone has their own goals and aspirations, but for me – seeing someone else achieve those things makes me push harder to achieve the same successes.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? What lesson did you learn from them?
I am a big believer in positivity and karma. That is one of my greatest qualities that I inherited from my parents. They always taught me to look at the positives in any situation, find the best qualities in people and always appreciate what I have in the here and now. When I have a bad day, I accept it’s a bad day – and I move on. Because that’s all it is – a bad day. Not a bad week, or a bad month. But a single 24-hour span where I’m not feeling great. Tomorrow is a new day.
I think my positivity has really helped me in various aspects of my working life. In the acting industry, the days are long and sometimes you can go a week without getting more than a couple of hours sleep each night. But I understand that my hard work is going to pay off, and that I’m part of an amazing project – and my positivity keeps me going through those 16-hour shoots.