I'm having a bit of hard time trying to understand her mindset vs actions. (I don't think a person changes their thinking drastically unless something potencially severe happens, for better or for worse).
From reading her former blog, I understood she wanted to be like one of the popular JSBs badly. She studied them from head to toe, stalked them, went to the same places that belong to their usual itinerary, tried to befriend them, acted like them, got to share some experiences (either good and bad ones), but couldn't keep up for herself (therefore being a budget babe). She didn't have enough means (so you see a couple of rants for missing the events and parties and how much she wanted to just quit her regular job and live globetrotting). No reference or details about being invited by big figures (one point or another she mentions being invited by friends and again, no details) nor her time sugaring/escorting but we all know it happened at some point. Throughout this period of time (2012-2016) we can see a lot of complaints about men and relationship troubles, her so called growing desire for freedom/independence (including from men and at times praising her single life) resulting on her suddenly goal to become an entrepreneur (with small references to Marketing) and the necessity of money. One can see, in her posts, how much she loves what's called the jetset life but not the system involved, and here goes her dealings of "getting out" but not entirely. She needed a way to be able to fund herself such a lifestyle. She wanted control. So she gradually parted ways with being a blogger (not even launching her personal one at annabeyer.com) and vanished reappearing as a style/etiquette/elegance expert Youtuber around 2017/2018 (?), promoting niches such as luxury lifestyle, self-improvement and behaviour under the domain of affluence, how to enter high-society by bagging the rich... And launching an online finishing school (without any kind of license or certificates proving she's some kind of authority in the field) targeting women that wish to level-up (what exactly that means?). Meanwhile faking an image (as she used to fake being a JSB) and, at the same time, recycling her years of stalking JSBs and giving it the disguise of high society (clever, I must say) and legit knowledge that serves as the base for the online courses (and constant "free" cheatsheets, that serve as a tool to gather as many emails as she can and spam the target women with her "content") she starts selling. So far, she's succeeding.
There's so much more to all I've written so far, of course. We see how much of a scam her business is structured and how much of a cold person she became (I mean, selling courses during a pandemic to the price point of $1000 doesn't make anyone Godsent, plus she's not that different from the bitchy JSBs she used to complaint about). What bugs me to the core is how much of a money-oriented person she became. When you read her former blog you can sense a careless/carefree girl, who just wanted to have fun, using words of encouragement and somehow showing positivity. Even though there's some fakeness in there (not to mention how creepy she got with her stalkery), you just don't see malice nor the opportunity and choice to cause harm. What a hell happened between the time she desired to become independent (2013) until she came up with the idea of launching the so called School of Affluence? What was the turning point that led her to the point of using cold tactics (using people is just the tip of the iceberg) and of amplifying the use of fake personas? What led her to change her mindset so drastically and become a distasteful walking lie, to the point of sickness? The system? The now or never gibberish? The "I deserve more so duck everybody else"?
Somebody help!
Such a great summary. Thank you for taking the time to write all this out. I know it can be exhausting.
I agree with all the reasons you list as her potential “turning points”/ change in mindset.
I think that Instagram played a huge part in what molded her mindset.. to the point where it eventually created the nasty, cold, masculine, manipulating creature that she’s become today.
IG almost seems like a torture device for her (mentally). The constant drip of picture perfect models with the most perfect lifestyles is somehow unbearable to her. She cannot just coexist with them. She has to BE THEM or be better than them.
Why? I think it comes down to when she was in London.. when she was constantly living as an outsider. She worked “so hard” at leveling up and still.. it was getting her very little “instagramable” worthy results.
I think it got to a point where she couldn’t stand SEEING other girls get the guy, the money, the luxury, the trips.. Yet meanwhile for Anna.. for some reason, she never got HER TURN.
Taking maters into her own hands, I think she decided.. enough is enough.. forget waiting for a billionaire.. I’m going to use every money making technique available to me to give myself the life that I DESERVE.
I’m almost certain that shorty after deciding this, she took random courses (free & paid) on how to start your online business, how to market, how to sell, etc. etc. She started implementing what she learned and I think it started giving her some results.
After realizing that people have vulnerabilities/ insecurities/ are always looking for inspiration & motivation.. She decided to EXPLOIT these pain points (as they call them) and STRIKE will the iron was hot.
With zero interest in personal integrity, she continues to recycle the same old content which in her niche means constantly reminding women of what they don’t have, of what THEY DESERVE, of how CLOSE THEY ARE to their dreams if they only apply these steps (x, y, z). She is SO FAMILIAR with these insecurities because she lived them (and still does in a way).. so she knows EXACTLY how to relate to them.. which INSTANTLY creates a bond.. they trust her.. and in sales .. if you can get them to trust you, then you can get them to buy from you.
It’s her dream scenario. She lives her “private” low-key/ average/ plain Jane life.. while pretending to be an authority in the field of etiquette & affluence. ALL while her brain washed audience (and it’s not all their fault) buys the story and QUESTIONS none of the inconsistencies.