Niomi Smart #17 I’m not an influencer! But please buy these vitamins and mop

[Coldfeet]

THIS!!!


This is brilliant, I really hope she watches this!

The level of breadshaming we're able to relate to based on the stories shared in this thread is insane. I, like probably anyone, would feel a touch guilty if I eat 5kg of chocolate in 1 sitting a few days in a row. But bread? If I have some bread with butter for breakfast instead of a sugary cereal or leftover pizza, I feel like a health guru!

WARNING WARNING
This week's granary!

 

[earlgrey]

no explanation why there was no video. guess she didnt even notice she forgot to post one

And she had the audacity to post herself chilling in the bathtub, not even pretending to be busy

 

[Callan]

Eating a salad- hang on, she doesn't like salad!!Liar liar, pants on fire!!

She ordered a salad with a side of broccoli.. wow

 

[Nina2312]

no explanation why there was no video. guess she didnt even notice she forgot to post one

yeah too busy choosing the next bikini to bless the world with another instagram post with a capture that has nothing to do with the pic

 

[Ramster93]

How Fredster really felt about NoNums:

I bet you she secretly despised him - looking at that beer and that pizza and that relatively fatter body/face compared to Joe. Imagining her thoughts disgusts me

 

[Moreactionplease]

How Fredster really felt about NoNums:

View attachment 426051

I bet you she secretly despised him - looking at that beer and that pizza and that relatively fatter body/face compared to Joe. Imagining her thoughts disgusts me

She‘s scared of gluten and he brought that pizza. I bet the feeling was mutual.

Maybeee he’s the one who called her an influencer..Joe wouldn’t have the balls to do it, he couldn’t say he’s been hungry for 4 years

 

[Miss Sparkles]

She‘s scared of gluten and he brought that pizza. I bet the feeling was mutual.

Maybeee he’s the one who called her an influencer..Joe wouldn’t have the balls to do it, he couldn’t say he’s been hungry for 4 years

Yes, I think perhaps. The influencer video came when she was still in their flat so it might have been a throwaway comment that made her angry.

 

[Shutterbug99]

I've never actually watched the 'not an influencer' video, but just from seeing the clips @Nina2312 posted I can tell Nims is PISSED OFF! Somebody definitely said something disparaging about her chosen career. My money's on Freddie (and Joe laughed along!)

Since Joe called off the engagement, she's upped her ads by around 150%, and now nobody can ever think she's anything but an influencer. I guess this is the 'right path' she was talking about.

 

[Claudi88]

She‘s scared of gluten and he brought that pizza. I bet the feeling was mutual.

Maybeee he’s the one who called her an influencer..Joe wouldn’t have the balls to do it, he couldn’t say he’s been hungry for 4 years

Wow this made me think of a theory! Freddy insulted Niomi by calling her an Influencer so Niomi freaked out and told Joe that its either her or Freddy and obviously Joe chose his brother <3

 

[HotTea]

OMG yes. Her exact words were "cold water isn't that good for your body at all." WTF? Even water isn't good for you now.

Ah this cracked me up

 

[SupersonicGeisha]

check out the comment on her latest ig post

 

[insectoverlords]

While I agree somebody close to her probably referred to her as an influencer which triggered that video I doubt it was someone who said it to her face because it would be needlessly passive to respond to a direct remark like that and generally not very socially savvy to respond to an insult by posting an entire video showing that they'd hit a nerve. I imagine someone said it to Joe and he told her or something which made her make the video as an FYI assuming that person isn't very social media savvy and might believe that there's an actual distinction between what she does and what influencers do.

 

[Coldfeet]

While I agree somebody close to her probably referred to her as an influencer which triggered that video I doubt it was someone who said it to her face because it would be needlessly passive to respond to a direct remark like that and generally not very socially savvy to respond to an insult by posting an entire video showing that they'd hit a nerve. I imagine someone said it to Joe and he told her or something which made her make the video as an FYI assuming that person isn't very social media savvy and might believe that there's an actual distinction between what she does and what influencers do.

More like a 'dislocation' between what she says and what she actually does.

 

[SupersonicGeisha]

Curious to know your thoughts, you can be candid - do we think a well-known personality launching their own brand means they’re now an entrepreneur?

I personally find it offensive and in poor taste. As the child of 2 entrepreneurs and someone who aspires to have a venture of my own one day, I know being an entrepreneur means taking risk. What comes with it is a great deal of uncertainty, sleepless nights, I could go on and on and on and on. Do you guys really think Niomi or even celebrities launching their own brands is really entrepreneurship?

 

[judgejohndeed]

Curious to know your thoughts, you can be candid - do we think a well-known personality launching their own brand means they’re now an entrepreneur?

I personally find it offensive and in poor taste. As the child of 2 entrepreneurs and someone who aspires to have a venture of my own one day, I know being an entrepreneur means taking risk. What comes with it is a great deal of uncertainty, sleepless nights, I could go on and on and on and on. Do you guys really think Niomi or even celebrities launching their own brands is really entrepreneurship?

When people say they’re an entrepreneur I think they’ve done something innovative in some way...Niomi has just slapped her name on some ugly skincare, there’s nothing entrepreneurial about that I agree. The packaging is hideous, I still cannot believe she chose those patterns and colours which makes me wonder if even the packaging options were in some way pre-selected.

 

[Ramster93]

Curious to know your thoughts, you can be candid - do we think a well-known personality launching their own brand means they’re now an entrepreneur?

I personally find it offensive and in poor taste. As the child of 2 entrepreneurs and someone who aspires to have a venture of my own one day, I know being an entrepreneur means taking risk. What comes with it is a great deal of uncertainty, sleepless nights, I could go on and on and on and on. Do you guys really think Niomi or even celebrities launching their own brands is really entrepreneurship?

Great question!

I think there needs to be a distinction between people like you, who takes an actual risk by not already having a million followers (unless you do) VS. people like her, who have loyal gremlins who will purchase anything that cash cow promotes.

If your business becomes successful, it is something worth celebrating as it took hard work. With her situation, it’s not ‘as worth’ celebrating because there are some people would have bought literal tit from her simply because it’s her. Therefore, I wouldn’t really see her as an entrepreneur. SHE’S the thing she’s selling, not the actual item.

 

[Coldfeet]

Curious to know your thoughts, you can be candid - do we think a well-known personality launching their own brand means they’re now an entrepreneur?

I personally find it offensive and in poor taste. As the child of 2 entrepreneurs and someone who aspires to have a venture of my own one day, I know being an entrepreneur means taking risk. What comes with it is a great deal of uncertainty, sleepless nights, I could go on and on and on and on. Do you guys really think Niomi or even celebrities launching their own brands is really entrepreneurship?

Without knowing the TRUE back story of how her skincare was developed/created I remain very sceptical.of her entrepreneurship.

I would absolutely love to see her sit in front of the Dragon's Den team and really, start to finish, give up the process/ business model/ testing/ research etc etc She once said she'd been 'working away behind the scenes for 2 yrs'. I just don't believe her.She has given no real information to anyone, just vague comments. She has no gravitas.

 

[palmer]

Below is the transcript of the 'Not an Influencer' video with some highlights in bold (apologies for the lack of punctuation, I just copy-pasted it). There's so much I could comment on but I don't have the time nor the energy right now, however I think it basically speaks for itself. Reading this back now, I just keep picturing the mop advert in my head and it makes the whole thing even more comical than it was back then. To me, it sounds like she was having a "business talk" with maybe her Gleam managers or something along those lines, and they compared her to two other 'talents' (Tanya/Zoe? Victoria/Sammi? Lily/Anna? Who knows). Definitely was said to her directly but I personally don't think it was in a personal context, I think it was in a 'business' context. Sounds like whoever said that to her was comparing her social media performance to that of these two other women and she just got massively triggered. The fact that she said her whole 20s have been building up to the moment of her FailSkin launch knowing what we know now, i.e. that she's barely been promoting her brand at all and in fact she was posting sponsored ads for another skincare brand literally the week of her launch, it's just quite ridiculous! The funny thing is she really sounds like she believes what she's saying in the moment that she says it, but it's like everything goes out the window the next minute. She's like a goldfish with a 3 second memory span. She has zero self-awareness and genuinely fails to see the way in which her actions do not in any way match her words.

Spoiler

i'm just gonna do this video sat on the ground like this because i feel most comfortable here and i always feel like i speak most like naturally like myself when i'm just feeling really comfortable. i've basically just found some plants in my house and this is where i'm gonna film because plants in the background always seems to work. this video is completely spontaneous i literally haven't planned anything i was just in the shower thinking a lot about the world of like influencing and i just thought i really want to film this and just like speak really openly about like what's going on in my head and like what i'm thinking right now and so yeah i haven't planned what i'm going to say so i'm really sorry if this is a bit of a rambling video um

it's just like i started youtube years ago i actually don't know when i started but i think it's it must be at least eight years maybe more like i literally don't know i need to look back on like my first ever video as cringe-worthy as that is to find out but it's been quite a journey like this industry i suppose since when i started to where we've got now like it's actually mad how far it has gone when i started i think i started on instagram first just kind of like for fun and then youtube. it was purely just fun and games like i was in this amazing group that were all doing it at the same time like zoe tanya alfie jim marcus like everyone and we had so much fun and when we all first started all those years ago i don't think any of us imagined how far the industry would come to where it is now we definitely had conversations about it like you know i wonder where it will go and where will we be in five ten years like this could be completely a dead end like i especially i didn't think it would be my career like 100% i thought you know this is just fun i'd graduated from university i actually studied law and i realized i didn't want to do law and this was kind of it just fell into place and i said okay cool i just kind of went with it i was like okay we'll see where this goes might be fun for the time being and it was it was so much fun

and then as the years went on mainly i noticed brands wanted to start working with us and that was like okay cool all right like my favorite brands i'm already working with suddenly want to pay me to basically do what i was doing anyway it was like is this for real um and that all got really really exciting and more brands got involved and then suddenly like the industry just seemed to be booming and more and more people were doing what we were doing like content creating and it was amazing like so much creativity in one place from all over the world on youtube and on instagram it was a really cool place to be

but then kind of forward to where we are now i i'm questioning more and more like what is an influencer and am i an influencer and i really don't like using that word like am i influencing i i don't i don't think i can say that about myself i don't even like it when other people say about me like when's like for example when i go to an event or a party or just meet new people and then i ask what's your job i can't imagine in a million years me
being like i'm an influencer like and i just don't think anyone can say that and i really don't think of myself as that probably because of when i started and how i started and why i did it like it was not for these reasons

and completely honestly like speaking from the bottom of my heart if i were to be where i am now i'm a 28 year old woman and if i were to think about starting this career now i would like i just wouldn't i would not want to put myself out there on instagram and on youtube as it is now as the industry has progressed to where it is now like i don't think i would start because i'm actually a really introverted person i think you guys actually know that already like i'm never the loudest person in a group and even in my videos like now i'm not like like i'm quite a reserved private person i don't know if i can say that i'm a private person anymore because i've basically grown up on youtube like the last like say i started when i was 20 i've shared the whole of my 20s with you guys um a really hard breakup moving on on my own like kind of finding my independence like any 20 year old woman does that's all online like i have shared a massive chapter of my life with you guys so for me to sit here and say i'm a private person i don't know if that's necessarily true but i think this like naturally in me i i feel like i'm a private person and i am reserved and i am introverted so for me to be doing this job is bizarre i don't quite know how i'm in this position but at the same time it's helped me so so much um so i have absolutely no regrets with where i am

this is where i'm rambling i told you this would happen i've literally forgotten where i started with this topic right now um yeah completely rambling but no regrets i'm so glad i am where i am and i'm definitely in a better position right now than had i continued with law or anything because one thing i definitely know about myself is that i am not the kind of person or i'm not the kind of character to be in a corporate job that's for sure like i definitely need to have like an a creative outlet of some kind um so in a way i feel so lucky like it is luck where i am now like when i started like i said if i were to consider doing this job now 100 wouldn't do it but back then when it was all fun and games like okay yeah let's just see how this goes i fell into this role and i fell into that industry and i just so happened to start when the industry was so new and when i say industry i mean like the world of youtube and instagram and social media as a whole and how it has become a career because it wasn't that when i started so for me to have started then and you know oh kind of gradually just sailing along and going with the flow and now i'm here it's amazing and i am so lucky to have been part of that group in the first place um so yeah no regrets i just

it's this whole question of influencing i think that i struggle with i think like sometimes i have major freakouts and i'm like why am i doing this because the way i see influencing now and social media content creation for me sometimes i see it as just selling stuff like when i'm scrolling through instagram or youtube i feel like a lot of content is aimed at just like asking followers to buy stuff and like look at how amazing this product is that that person has definitely never used before and you know they've just been given a fee like that's where i struggle with it because it's not my intention and it never has been and to be honest it never will be

and i think i'm having these, i'm questioning myself a lot recently because i've just naturally been having these kind of conversations with various people like um someone the other day basically compared me to two other talent um who are very much part of that like selling using affiliate links left right and center and like that's their that's their career that's their business that's their strategy absolutely fine for them it works for them they've got a really engaged dedicated audience that go to them to buy so that's perfect for them that's not the category that i see myself in at all that's not my purpose we're very different like business strategies like even though yes we're technically in the same industry i still see us as having very different careers because my purpose i suppose is more to like spread awareness and like speak about things that i care about i and try to make change i'm not in this job to sell if that makes sense

and another conversation i had with a friend recently literally yesterday um was saying how the things that i turned down many people would literally kill for in terms of like other digital content creators other influences and it kind of made me think i was like really wow my first thought was oh [ __ ] am i turning down too much i guess i was like am i being stupid am i being a really bad business woman but then actually when i think about it i'm like no i've just i like to think that i've stayed really true to myself and like i said my channel is not about selling stuff to you it's about speaking in a positive way and spreading awareness and trying to make change whether that's about the environment and trying to be a little bit more eco-friendly and a little bit more aware of our actions it's not really about me necessarily it's about all of us collectively making change and i'm just there to hopefully give it a little bit of insight um also about like veganism i like to think that i have shared my plant-based recipes and my plant-based journey in a way that inspires rather than preachers um

you might be thinking the complete opposite by the way because this is completely my interpretation of like what i do and where what i hope i'm doing and you are the ones that watch me so maybe you have a completely different interpretation of what i do feel free to comment below i am more than happy to accept um your constructive criticism definitely had some really nasty comments throughout my career that have like hurt me deeply but probably mostly when they're kind of true like i've definitely slipped up in the past i've made mistakes um and i've learned from them and you guys are always the first ones to call me out on it so thank you for that um

but it hurts at the same time when it comes to brands because you're probably thinking how can she sit there and say she's not here to sell because i do do brand collaborations i do work and collaborate with you know various brands like behind the scenes the amount of stuff that i do turn down is sickening because i mean i'm not guys i'm not gonna sit here and i'm not gonna sell you a teeth whitening light thing that you buy for a hundred dollars and i'm not i'm just that's not who i am i'm not going to pose with like this thing in my mouth but i don't do that like if you look back at the brands i work with they're completely aligned with my ethos and i like to i hope so anyway if you think differently of course let me know but like every single brand i agree to collaborate with it truly is a collaboration it's a brand that i have naturally been speaking about anyway brands i'm using and we start a relationship we start talking and it often takes years

for example the l'occitane lipstick that i have just launched i've designed and created a lipstick with loccitane called sweet rose this sounds like a plug this is literally i'm literally sitting here saying i don't try and sell stuff but like i'm trying to use examples to hopefully explain my thoughts right now like what's going on that relationship with loccitane has taken years and not that this was ever like my end goal and like this is what you know i this is why i've started a relationship with them no like i've genuinely loved the brand for a long time i've kind of mentioned it in a few videos over the years just like oh i really like this product this is really cool like very very natural and authentic like it's it's completely me speaking from the heart about things that i genuinely like in my day-to-day life and i built up a relationship with the girls there really really gorgeous team i just adore them and over the years it's led to work and eventually i've become part of their global ambassador team where i'm representing the uk in this particular campaign where i had the opportunity to design my own lipstick which is just out of this world and unbelievable

and that kind of proves to me like why i am so selective because if i were to be accepting every single brand deal under the sun and taking you know okay yeah that fee sounds great i'll take that here there and everywhere it wouldn't lead to anything purposeful like it wouldn't lead to anything that made me feel like yeah this is why i do this job like in a way i'd be a better influencer by you know constantly influencing you to buy different brands and different products but it's just not me it's not what my channel's about and it's not the direction that i want to go in at all and maybe that means that i'm going to fall behind slightly because the new wave of influence that well there's been a million new waves of influences during like my
career who do sell better than me and you know they brands probably do want to go directly to them for like a quick instagram post but and
i'm like literally nothing against them those people are incredible business women and men and that's how they've made their career and hats off to them for just going out there and doing it like amazing it's just not what my career is built on i

maybe i'm too emotional about it maybe i'm too spiritual about it i was thinking about this in the shower and honestly i think it's because i care too
much about you who follow me but also the brands because if i were to accept a brand collaboration that you know i've never used their products and you've never heard me talk about it or you know you have no idea what this brand is like where's this come from it's completely random you're not going to buy into it like you see completely through that you're going to be like you're cool [ __ ] right and then the brand isn't going to get anything from it either because of course all they want is sales or brand awareness or whatever so then the only person that's gained from it kind of is me financially but then not really because i'll lose the audience that i have worked so hard to build like a positive community online so it just doesn't add up and actually like before when i was saying the talent that um who's like kind of business strategy is to kind of use affiliate links and all of that it works completely for them because like i said they've built up an audience that go to them for that like they want to see that from their content they literally have followed that person for shopping inspo whether it's beauty or fashion or whatever it is like that's why they follow them amazing that's their world the world that i think i've created is so polar opposite that if i were to start selling in that way i just wouldn't have an audience so you guys don't gain anything from it i don't gain anything from it the brand doesn't gain anything from it so i'm just like what is the point like what is the purpose

so i guess yeah i've just been asking myself all these questions about this world of influencing where is my place in that um am i falling behind have the new wave of influences like taken over in a way which is completely natural you see it with music you see it with film tv like there's always going to be the new refreshing talent um which it's natural right it's to be expected but then it is a bit like okay well where's my place in this is it okay that i'm still seeing this whole world of social media as an outlet for me to speak about purpose and change and it's not necessarily like people don't come to my channel to get info of where to buy the latest dress on the high street like that's just not me so i guess like it probably coincides with lockdown but i've just had a lot of time to think and reflect on my career and reminisce about the old times of youtube and instagram and i guess just consider like where is my place and i guess i can't shy away from the fact that actually this of course this is my career it is still my career it is still my livelihood but it's that constant balance of making sure that i'm staying true to my audience and true to myself and true to the brands that i really respect what they're doing because they align with my ethos and i just love what they're putting out into the world so that's wher i stand with it it's complicated it's confusing i have days where i'm literally just like what am i doing why am i doing this um and then i have other days where i'm literally just like i love what i do i love what i've created i love how my audience inspire me every single day and i'm proud i'm really proud of what we've all created together i mean

like yesterday walking past the loccitane store and my face is in the windows just like of course and i've had like a few moments like that throughout my career and at 28 i can't help but feel so proud and so happy of what we've achieved it's not me of course it's not just me it's like we've all done this together and i love it i genuinely love love what i do i'm so grateful it's just a funny old world what we're in now um i'd love to know what your thoughts are on this whole the influencing world like am i an influencer i don't feel like i am i don't know i'd love to know your thoughts because i feel like i've lost out in a way on part of the main world of what social media is because i've never kind of just had instagram and youtube to consume content so i think i kind of miss the point of it sometimes like i i see it from a very very different point of view because i've always had these platforms to create content not necessarily to consume don't get me wrong i'm completely obsessed with like certain youtubers and instagrammers and i do consume media every single day and i love it i love the platform um but i just feel like i i must view it from a very different way because since instagram started it i've kind of seen it as a way for me to create content to put it out there to the world if that makes sense i feel like i sound a bit i don't even know i actually feel like a lot of um content creators especially the ones that started a few years ago must feel in a similar way

i think it's completely natural to start questioning like what's going on and it's like it happens throughout the years this isn't the first time that i've kind of had these thoughts like what where's my place what's going on and is this still cool like am i am i still like in in this world um i've had those moments multiple times and i think especially when you are compared to other talent where i see them as just complete on a completely different path to me so for people to compare me to them just kind of makes me feel a bit sad makes me feel frustrated um makes me question everything and then i kind of pull myself together and i'm like don't be so ridiculous your jobs are completely different like you cannot be compared to anyone i think even generally whatever your career is it's never good to be compared to people in a way like of course natural comparison will cause a bit of encouragement for you to work harder so kind of a healthy dose of comparison i think can be okay but when someone is just outright saying you're not as good as them or you you know maybe that's not what they meant but like that's how it kind of feels so i kind of went through a few days last week of just feeling a bit disheartened i just think it's crazy like looking back if if someone were to show me eight nine ten years ago how far this youtube instagram world has come well not even just instagram and youtube just like social media as a whole how far that has come and if someone were to show me like where i am now i don't think i would believe it like it's just mad everything that i've been doing so far online has been building up to something like i don't think this is just my career i don't think this is just who i am i don't think forever i'm just going to be creating weekly youtube videos and posting on instagram every day and stories like i love it but i don't think that's my purpose i don't think that's why i have fallen into this space um

and i have created something and i have been working on it for over two years and it kind of feels like that's what everything has been leading up to and we've got the first campaign shoot tomorrow um where you guys are involved i've picked you guys to literally be the models and be the muses and be the inspiration for what i've created because i can't ignore that the way that i've always seen it is that it's not just me like my audience are part they are the community that i am in as well like we're all in this together and we have created this together so if i create a new business venture it's completely yours as well um which is why i've wanted to involve you from the very very start and yeah the business hasn't even launched it's launching in september end of september um but yeah the response has been amazing for people that have wanted to get involved and it makes me so happy and actually that was one of the first times where that when i when i asked my audience to get in touch if they wanted to be part of this new venture um and hear their stories and hear their journeys and the responses that i got and then the girls that we're working with this weekend that moment is just like that's why i've done it like that's why i'm here that's why i've been on this journey for the like throughout my whole 20s my whole 20s have been building up to this moment right now even though i didn't necessarily know it but yeah i knew there was something big and kind of feels like this is it i think that's it i don't even really know what this video has been about like i have well and truly rambled these are the thoughts that just go on inside my head sometimes and this is one of the first times i've literally just voiced them like actually vocally out loud um especially to you guys so yeah but i hope you found it interesting or insightful at least maybe you are feeling exactly the same let me know

 

[judgejohndeed]

I think there needs to be a distinction between people like you, who takes an actual risk by not already having a million followers (unless you do) VS. people like her, who have loyal gremlins who will purchase anything that cash cow promotes.

Not to mention the financial risk involved. There was none for Niomi. She has a wealthy family and clearly plenty of influencer money. Had the skincare tanked, she hasn’t taken out money against her house like people on Dragon’s Den regularly have done to fund their products

 

[SupersonicGeisha]

Below is the transcript of the 'Not an Influencer' video with some highlights in bold (apologies for the lack of punctuation, I just copy-pasted it). There's so much I could comment on but I don't have the time nor the energy right now, however I think it basically speaks for itself. Reading this back now, I just keep picturing the mop advert in my head and it makes the whole thing even more comical than it was back then. To me, it sounds like she was having a "business talk" with maybe her Gleam managers or something along those lines, and they compared her to two other 'talents' (Tanya/Zoe? Victoria/Sammi? Lily/Anna? Who knows). Definitely was said to her directly but I personally don't think it was in a personal context, I think it was in a 'business' context. Sounds like whoever said that to her was comparing her social media performance to that of these two other women and she just got massively triggered. The fact that she said her whole 20s have been building up to the moment of her FailSkin launch knowing what we know now, i.e. that she's barely been promoting her brand at all and in fact she was posting sponsored ads for another skincare brand literally the week of her launch, it's just quite ridiculous! The funny thing is she really sounds like she believes what she's saying in the moment that she says it, but it's like everything goes out the window the next minute. She's like a goldfish with a 3 second memory span. She has zero self-awareness and genuinely fails to see the way in which her actions do not in any way match her words.

Spoiler

i'm just gonna do this video sat on the ground like this because i feel most comfortable here and i always feel like i speak most like naturally like myself when i'm just feeling really comfortable. i've basically just found some plants in my house and this is where i'm gonna film because plants in the background always seems to work. this video is completely spontaneous i literally haven't planned anything i was just in the shower thinking a lot about the world of like influencing and i just thought i really want to film this and just like speak really openly about like what's going on in my head and like what i'm thinking right now and so yeah i haven't planned what i'm going to say so i'm really sorry if this is a bit of a rambling video um

it's just like i started youtube years ago i actually don't know when i started but i think it's it must be at least eight years maybe more like i literally don't know i need to look back on like my first ever video as cringe-worthy as that is to find out but it's been quite a journey like this industry i suppose since when i started to where we've got now like it's actually mad how far it has gone when i started i think i started on instagram first just kind of like for fun and then youtube. it was purely just fun and games like i was in this amazing group that were all doing it at the same time like zoe tanya alfie jim marcus like everyone and we had so much fun and when we all first started all those years ago i don't think any of us imagined how far the industry would come to where it is now we definitely had conversations about it like you know i wonder where it will go and where will we be in five ten years like this could be completely a dead end like i especially i didn't think it would be my career like 100% i thought you know this is just fun i'd graduated from university i actually studied law and i realized i didn't want to do law and this was kind of it just fell into place and i said okay cool i just kind of went with it i was like okay we'll see where this goes might be fun for the time being and it was it was so much fun

and then as the years went on mainly i noticed brands wanted to start working with us and that was like okay cool all right like my favorite brands i'm already working with suddenly want to pay me to basically do what i was doing anyway it was like is this for real um and that all got really really exciting and more brands got involved and then suddenly like the industry just seemed to be booming and more and more people were doing what we were doing like content creating and it was amazing like so much creativity in one place from all over the world on youtube and on instagram it was a really cool place to be

but then kind of forward to where we are now i i'm questioning more and more like what is an influencer and am i an influencer and i really don't like using that word like am i influencing i i don't i don't think i can say that about myself i don't even like it when other people say about me like when's like for example when i go to an event or a party or just meet new people and then i ask what's your job i can't imagine in a million years me
being like i'm an influencer like and i just don't think anyone can say that and i really don't think of myself as that probably because of when i started and how i started and why i did it like it was not for these reasons

and completely honestly like speaking from the bottom of my heart if i were to be where i am now i'm a 28 year old woman and if i were to think about starting this career now i would like i just wouldn't i would not want to put myself out there on instagram and on youtube as it is now as the industry has progressed to where it is now like i don't think i would start because i'm actually a really introverted person i think you guys actually know that already like i'm never the loudest person in a group and even in my videos like now i'm not like like i'm quite a reserved private person i don't know if i can say that i'm a private person anymore because i've basically grown up on youtube like the last like say i started when i was 20 i've shared the whole of my 20s with you guys um a really hard breakup moving on on my own like kind of finding my independence like any 20 year old woman does that's all online like i have shared a massive chapter of my life with you guys so for me to sit here and say i'm a private person i don't know if that's necessarily true but i think this like naturally in me i i feel like i'm a private person and i am reserved and i am introverted so for me to be doing this job is bizarre i don't quite know how i'm in this position but at the same time it's helped me so so much um so i have absolutely no regrets with where i am

this is where i'm rambling i told you this would happen i've literally forgotten where i started with this topic right now um yeah completely rambling but no regrets i'm so glad i am where i am and i'm definitely in a better position right now than had i continued with law or anything because one thing i definitely know about myself is that i am not the kind of person or i'm not the kind of character to be in a corporate job that's for sure like i definitely need to have like an a creative outlet of some kind um so in a way i feel so lucky like it is luck where i am now like when i started like i said if i were to consider doing this job now 100 wouldn't do it but back then when it was all fun and games like okay yeah let's just see how this goes i fell into this role and i fell into that industry and i just so happened to start when the industry was so new and when i say industry i mean like the world of youtube and instagram and social media as a whole and how it has become a career because it wasn't that when i started so for me to have started then and you know oh kind of gradually just sailing along and going with the flow and now i'm here it's amazing and i am so lucky to have been part of that group in the first place um so yeah no regrets i just

it's this whole question of influencing i think that i struggle with i think like sometimes i have major freakouts and i'm like why am i doing this because the way i see influencing now and social media content creation for me sometimes i see it as just selling stuff like when i'm scrolling through instagram or youtube i feel like a lot of content is aimed at just like asking followers to buy stuff and like look at how amazing this product is that that person has definitely never used before and you know they've just been given a fee like that's where i struggle with it because it's not my intention and it never has been and to be honest it never will be

and i think i'm having these, i'm questioning myself a lot recently because i've just naturally been having these kind of conversations with various people like um someone the other day basically compared me to two other talent um who are very much part of that like selling using affiliate links left right and center and like that's their that's their career that's their business that's their strategy absolutely fine for them it works for them they've got a really engaged dedicated audience that go to them to buy so that's perfect for them that's not the category that i see myself in at all that's not my purpose we're very different like business strategies like even though yes we're technically in the same industry i still see us as having very different careers because my purpose i suppose is more to like spread awareness and like speak about things that i care about i and try to make change i'm not in this job to sell if that makes sense

and another conversation i had with a friend recently literally yesterday um was saying how the things that i turned down many people would literally kill for in terms of like other digital content creators other influences and it kind of made me think i was like really wow my first thought was oh [ __ ] am i turning down too much i guess i was like am i being stupid am i being a really bad business woman but then actually when i think about it i'm like no i've just i like to think that i've stayed really true to myself and like i said my channel is not about selling stuff to you it's about speaking in a positive way and spreading awareness and trying to make change whether that's about the environment and trying to be a little bit more eco-friendly and a little bit more aware of our actions it's not really about me necessarily it's about all of us collectively making change and i'm just there to hopefully give it a little bit of insight um also about like veganism i like to think that i have shared my plant-based recipes and my plant-based journey in a way that inspires rather than preachers um

you might be thinking the complete opposite by the way because this is completely my interpretation of like what i do and where what i hope i'm doing and you are the ones that watch me so maybe you have a completely different interpretation of what i do feel free to comment below i am more than happy to accept um your constructive criticism definitely had some really nasty comments throughout my career that have like hurt me deeply but probably mostly when they're kind of true like i've definitely slipped up in the past i've made mistakes um and i've learned from them and you guys are always the first ones to call me out on it so thank you for that um

but it hurts at the same time when it comes to brands because you're probably thinking how can she sit there and say she's not here to sell because i do do brand collaborations i do work and collaborate with you know various brands like behind the scenes the amount of stuff that i do turn down is sickening because i mean i'm not guys i'm not gonna sit here and i'm not gonna sell you a teeth whitening light thing that you buy for a hundred dollars and i'm not i'm just that's not who i am i'm not going to pose with like this thing in my mouth but i don't do that like if you look back at the brands i work with they're completely aligned with my ethos and i like to i hope so anyway if you think differently of course let me know but like every single brand i agree to collaborate with it truly is a collaboration it's a brand that i have naturally been speaking about anyway brands i'm using and we start a relationship we start talking and it often takes years

for example the l'occitane lipstick that i have just launched i've designed and created a lipstick with loccitane called sweet rose this sounds like a plug this is literally i'm literally sitting here saying i don't try and sell stuff but like i'm trying to use examples to hopefully explain my thoughts right now like what's going on that relationship with loccitane has taken years and not that this was ever like my end goal and like this is what you know i this is why i've started a relationship with them no like i've genuinely loved the brand for a long time i've kind of mentioned it in a few videos over the years just like oh i really like this product this is really cool like very very natural and authentic like it's it's completely me speaking from the heart about things that i genuinely like in my day-to-day life and i built up a relationship with the girls there really really gorgeous team i just adore them and over the years it's led to work and eventually i've become part of their global ambassador team where i'm representing the uk in this particular campaign where i had the opportunity to design my own lipstick which is just out of this world and unbelievable

and that kind of proves to me like why i am so selective because if i were to be accepting every single brand deal under the sun and taking you know okay yeah that fee sounds great i'll take that here there and everywhere it wouldn't lead to anything purposeful like it wouldn't lead to anything that made me feel like yeah this is why i do this job like in a way i'd be a better influencer by you know constantly influencing you to buy different brands and different products but it's just not me it's not what my channel's about and it's not the direction that i want to go in at all and maybe that means that i'm going to fall behind slightly because the new wave of influence that well there's been a million new waves of influences during like my
career who do sell better than me and you know they brands probably do want to go directly to them for like a quick instagram post but and
i'm like literally nothing against them those people are incredible business women and men and that's how they've made their career and hats off to them for just going out there and doing it like amazing it's just not what my career is built on i

maybe i'm too emotional about it maybe i'm too spiritual about it i was thinking about this in the shower and honestly i think it's because i care too
much about you who follow me but also the brands because if i were to accept a brand collaboration that you know i've never used their products and you've never heard me talk about it or you know you have no idea what this brand is like where's this come from it's completely random you're not going to buy into it like you see completely through that you're going to be like you're cool [ __ ] right and then the brand isn't going to get anything from it either because of course all they want is sales or brand awareness or whatever so then the only person that's gained from it kind of is me financially but then not really because i'll lose the audience that i have worked so hard to build like a positive community online so it just doesn't add up and actually like before when i was saying the talent that um who's like kind of business strategy is to kind of use affiliate links and all of that it works completely for them because like i said they've built up an audience that go to them for that like they want to see that from their content they literally have followed that person for shopping inspo whether it's beauty or fashion or whatever it is like that's why they follow them amazing that's their world the world that i think i've created is so polar opposite that if i were to start selling in that way i just wouldn't have an audience so you guys don't gain anything from it i don't gain anything from it the brand doesn't gain anything from it so i'm just like what is the point like what is the purpose

so i guess yeah i've just been asking myself all these questions about this world of influencing where is my place in that um am i falling behind have the new wave of influences like taken over in a way which is completely natural you see it with music you see it with film tv like there's always going to be the new refreshing talent um which it's natural right it's to be expected but then it is a bit like okay well where's my place in this is it okay that i'm still seeing this whole world of social media as an outlet for me to speak about purpose and change and it's not necessarily like people don't come to my channel to get info of where to buy the latest dress on the high street like that's just not me so i guess like it probably coincides with lockdown but i've just had a lot of time to think and reflect on my career and reminisce about the old times of youtube and instagram and i guess just consider like where is my place and i guess i can't shy away from the fact that actually this of course this is my career it is still my career it is still my livelihood but it's that constant balance of making sure that i'm staying true to my audience and true to myself and true to the brands that i really respect what they're doing because they align with my ethos and i just love what they're putting out into the world so that's wher i stand with it it's complicated it's confusing i have days where i'm literally just like what am i doing why am i doing this um and then i have other days where i'm literally just like i love what i do i love what i've created i love how my audience inspire me every single day and i'm proud i'm really proud of what we've all created together i mean

like yesterday walking past the loccitane store and my face is in the windows just like of course and i've had like a few moments like that throughout my career and at 28 i can't help but feel so proud and so happy of what we've achieved it's not me of course it's not just me it's like we've all done this together and i love it i genuinely love love what i do i'm so grateful it's just a funny old world what we're in now um i'd love to know what your thoughts are on this whole the influencing world like am i an influencer i don't feel like i am i don't know i'd love to know your thoughts because i feel like i've lost out in a way on part of the main world of what social media is because i've never kind of just had instagram and youtube to consume content so i think i kind of miss the point of it sometimes like i i see it from a very very different point of view because i've always had these platforms to create content not necessarily to consume don't get me wrong i'm completely obsessed with like certain youtubers and instagrammers and i do consume media every single day and i love it i love the platform um but i just feel like i i must view it from a very different way because since instagram started it i've kind of seen it as a way for me to create content to put it out there to the world if that makes sense i feel like i sound a bit i don't even know i actually feel like a lot of um content creators especially the ones that started a few years ago must feel in a similar way

i think it's completely natural to start questioning like what's going on and it's like it happens throughout the years this isn't the first time that i've kind of had these thoughts like what where's my place what's going on and is this still cool like am i am i still like in in this world um i've had those moments multiple times and i think especially when you are compared to other talent where i see them as just complete on a completely different path to me so for people to compare me to them just kind of makes me feel a bit sad makes me feel frustrated um makes me question everything and then i kind of pull myself together and i'm like don't be so ridiculous your jobs are completely different like you cannot be compared to anyone i think even generally whatever your career is it's never good to be compared to people in a way like of course natural comparison will cause a bit of encouragement for you to work harder so kind of a healthy dose of comparison i think can be okay but when someone is just outright saying you're not as good as them or you you know maybe that's not what they meant but like that's how it kind of feels so i kind of went through a few days last week of just feeling a bit disheartened i just think it's crazy like looking back if if someone were to show me eight nine ten years ago how far this youtube instagram world has come well not even just instagram and youtube just like social media as a whole how far that has come and if someone were to show me like where i am now i don't think i would believe it like it's just mad everything that i've been doing so far online has been building up to something like i don't think this is just my career i don't think this is just who i am i don't think forever i'm just going to be creating weekly youtube videos and posting on instagram every day and stories like i love it but i don't think that's my purpose i don't think that's why i have fallen into this space um

and i have created something and i have been working on it for over two years and it kind of feels like that's what everything has been leading up to and we've got the first campaign shoot tomorrow um where you guys are involved i've picked you guys to literally be the models and be the muses and be the inspiration for what i've created because i can't ignore that the way that i've always seen it is that it's not just me like my audience are part they are the community that i am in as well like we're all in this together and we have created this together so if i create a new business venture it's completely yours as well um which is why i've wanted to involve you from the very very start and yeah the business hasn't even launched it's launching in september end of september um but yeah the response has been amazing for people that have wanted to get involved and it makes me so happy and actually that was one of the first times where that when i when i asked my audience to get in touch if they wanted to be part of this new venture um and hear their stories and hear their journeys and the responses that i got and then the girls that we're working with this weekend that moment is just like that's why i've done it like that's why i'm here that's why i've been on this journey for the like throughout my whole 20s my whole 20s have been building up to this moment right now even though i didn't necessarily know it but yeah i knew there was something big and kind of feels like this is it i think that's it i don't even really know what this video has been about like i have well and truly rambled these are the thoughts that just go on inside my head sometimes and this is one of the first times i've literally just voiced them like actually vocally out loud um especially to you guys so yeah but i hope you found it interesting or insightful at least maybe you are feeling exactly the same let me know

Soooo frustrating! I was going through her IG comments and even from the few ones that are not deleted, the general frustration about this topic is very apparent. Those Niomi Warriors are so hard to stand though It would speak volumes of one’s character if they faced the criticism and concern head-on instead of sticking their heads into the sand like an ostrich!