- Vanessa Chen has a degree in Computer Science but chose to pursue content creation.
- She started posting her outfits as a pandemic hobby, growing her followers to over 4 million.
- Today, she’s making six-figure earnings and collaborating with some of her favorite brands. Engineering is her preliminary plan.
This essay is based on a conversation with Vanessa Chen, a 22-year-old content creator from Boston. Her income is confirmed in her Insider documents. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Before the pandemic, I was a computer science undergraduate and was going to be a software engineer. Now I am a full-time content creator with over 4 million followers of hers. Youtube, Instagramand tick tock People earning in the mid-six figures.
My pandemic hobby turned into a full-time job thanks to the right timing. Like many people, I started posting videos of my outfits just for fun during lockdown. I currently have the largest number of followers on TikTok, but my social media journey started on Instagram. We had just rolled out the reels and there weren’t many people using this feature yet.
From the beginning, I was obsessed with video content. His Instagram stats exploded when he started posting videos, and the same happened when he repurposed the content for his TikTok and YouTube shorts. Before Reels, he had about 1,500 followers on Instagram. Within six months of posting daily, he reached 100,000 followers.
There is no job guarantee in social media, so I want to make the most of this content creation career. My backup plan is a computer science degree.
Balancing content creation and university life was not easy
I declined an internship offer for the summer of 2021 to focus on social media. I was nervous at first, but seeing so many people struggling to juggle a full-time job and content creation, I knew now was the right time to try.
Luckily, I made more money that summer than I did during my internship, and by the time I graduated, I had gained enough followers to become a full-time content creator. .
I structure my content creation jobs like 9 to 5
A lot of people find influencer work glamorous, but my working hours look like a 9 to 5 job. When I was a student, I had a part-time assistant and could only work during school breaks, but now it’s a one-man show. We are looking to hire a full-time assistant in the near future.
On a typical day, I wake up and immediately start shooting. I know a lot of people batch content, but I shoot and edit on the same day. It’s exhausting to keep up with trends all the time, so I try to shoot what I’m most passionate about. When I’m stuck in a rut, I look to old videos for inspiration. Always redo trends, transitions and sounds in new ways. This will give you a hopefully never-ending backlog of ideas.
After that, I usually check my email, hit the gym, come home and eat.
As a content creator, you might think I’m always up to date on social media, but for the sake of my mental health, I try to avoid technology in my spare time.
When I’m working, especially when I’m running out of inspiration, I check social media to see what others are posting. But we always take great care to add our own creative twist and flair to our inspired content.
I hired a management company and leveled up
Before I became a manager, I didn’t make much money. I was new to the industry and no one talked about money so I didn’t know how much to charge. It didn’t help that I was a bad negotiator.
But I heard that influencers can make a lot of money, so two years ago I decided to hire a talent management company. My current management company contacted me when I only had 10,000 followers. At that point I wasn’t sure if it was necessary so I said no. A few months later I was contacted again and realized I needed help negotiating and doing business with the brand.
Since the management company handles the contract on your behalf, you can concentrate on creating content that you are good at.
my income comes from several places
About 80% of my income comes from sponsorship deals, the rest from affiliate codes and advertising revenue. I am very lucky to work with so many brands that I have loved since I was a kid, such as Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, Lululemon, Reebok, Marshalls, Nike. Last year, Amazon asked me to work on their clothing line, and it was an exciting opportunity.
My growth was exponential at first, but it started to plateau. No more chasing numbers. i know what i am doing.
Some creators believe that higher numbers mean higher income, but in my experience, brands often prioritize quality content and high engagement over followers alone. I would much rather have 100,000 followers who are genuinely connected to my content than 100,000 followers who barely know who they are or don’t use my content regularly.
Hopefully, if I play my cards right and start investing my money in the right places, I’ll be semi-retired, or at least not needing to work every day, by the time I settle down and want kids. I haven’t invested yet, but Jason and I are discussing investing our savings in areas such as stocks and real estate soon.