The Fit Foodie’s Meal Prep Plan is now available as a digital download and paperback book. Click here.

Meet these 3 incredible women who turned Instagram into their careers

Hands up if you want to turn your Instagram into a full-time career? There's quite a few of us am I right? There's something seriously enticing about living a freelance and creative life. I mean everyone wants to be their own boss right?

And whilst we get to see a lot of our fave influencers lives on the 'gram, often we don't see all of the hard work going on behind the scenes. And usually there is a lot of that! So we asked these 3 incredible women (who are killing it at the Insta game) to share with us their Instagram and career journeys. Trust me you will want to keep scrolling on this one.

 

Meet these 3 incredible women who turned Instagram into their careers

 

Rebecca Gawthorne

 

How did you get started on social media?

I graduated with a Bachelor of Nutrition & Dietetics at the University of Wollongong (UOW) and started working as “The Flying Dietitian” 3days a fortnight, travelling to rural towns to work with Indigenous communities. On the days I wasn’t flying, I worked on building up a private practice Dietetic business in Sydney. My private Dietetic Practice grew quite quickly and I ended up having to stop my flying work to focus all my time on my clients.

As I was seeing a lot of clients, I needed a platform where I could upload recipes and health tips to. I was also receiving lots of questions from family and friends about healthy living, so I decided to start my Instagram so I could publish everything in one location that could be accessed by everyone. My Instagram @nourish_naturally, started with just a handful of followers; mostly clients, friends and family, But this quickly grew and now I have almost 150K followers, which I’m very honoured to be able to help.

 

When did you realise that you could turn this into a career?

When you post genuinely helpful content, people want to share that with their loved ones, so they can spread the word to live healthier and better. I think comes from being valuable to people. As a result, brands started to get in touch with me to do collaborations which takes a lot of time. The more my Instagram grew, the more time I dedicated to it. It ended up starting to take time away from my private practice business. I then realised I needed to start charging for my time, expertise and skills when creating recipes and health content for brands, if I wanted to continue working on my Instagram. My Instagram continued to grow, as did the work opportunities I received online and now its basically my full time career.

 

What is one part of being an influencer that people wouldn’t expect to be in the job description?

It’s a lot of work! People often see a pretty picture with helpful nutrition advice, however there is a lot of time, effort and thought that goes into every single piece of content I post on Instagram and my blog.

 

What is your favourite thing about your work?

Being able to help so many people. It might sound cheesy but I genuinely love helping make a positive health impact on people’s lives; that’s why I became a Dietitian in the first place! And being able to help so many people through the online work just blows my mind.

 

What would be your number 1 tip for someone wanting to build a career of social media?

Do it! Dive in the deep end, work hard & commit yourself.

 

Meet these 3 incredible women who turned Instagram into their careers

 

Amy Maree Comber

 

How did you get started on social media?

Over 5 years ago now, I started sharing my passion for beauty on Instagram. With my obsession for makeup, I obviously grew a huge collection so I would do makeup looks and share my tips trying out different products.

 

When did you realise that you could turn this into a career?

About 2 years ago when I was juggling a 9-6 job in finance, makeup artistry on the weekends and creating content whilst going to events in between. I knew what I wanted to persue, it was just about taking that leap! Thank goodness I did 😊

 

What is one part of being an influencer that people wouldn’t expect to be in the job description?

Lonnnggggg hours! Behind every post, there is hours of thinking of concepts, setting up, shooting, editing, writing and the list goes on.

 

What is your favourite thing about your work?

Everyday is different! New content, new ideas! It’s a forever evolving industry and I love that I get to be a creative in this space.

 

What would be your number 1 tip for someone wanting to build a career of social media?

Have a niche and be consistent with it. It’s all good and well that you want to post your outfits, makeup looks and the brunch you had on the weekend but make sure you keep relating it back to the same message. Be an expert in your field not a jack of all trades who’s a master of none!

 

Meet these 3 incredible women who turned Instagram into their careers

 

Emma Kate

 

How did you get started on social media?

I was living in France (2011) when I first downloaded the Instagram app. At that point in time (and for an embarrassing duration) I had no idea that it was a social sharing app - I literally thought it was just a photo editing tool. A friend finally asked me why I had so many duplicate photos posted on my feed – it turns out that as I was editing my photos and trying out the various filters, with no idea they were visible to anyone else! Needless to say, I had a lot to learn!

When I was living overseas, in France, and later in London, I was travelling relentlessly and became obsessed with capturing the tiny beautiful moments. Strangely enough, it was when I moved back home to Australia, that Instagram really took off for me. I thought my days of Instagram were over, but as it turned out, moving home was absolutely pivotal in building my audience to what it has become.

 

When did you realise that you could turn this into a career?

When I returned back to Australia, I used social media to capture and share the everyday process as I went about launching my own stationery and lifestyle brand. After months of sharing, connecting with my followers and putting energy and love into Instagram I had grown my audience to be a highly engaged, very supportive community - who became my first customers.

Soon after, some writing, content making and travel opportunities started to come my way. Some incredible experiences have resulted because of being considered a digital influencer - I have had the chance to travel (in Australia, and internationally), experience hot air balloon flights, hotels, dining and other extravagant experiences that have completely elevated the travel that I would be otherwise accustomed to as a young, self-funded traveller.

Social media isn't my career (and honestly, I don't ever want it to be) - it's one platform in the greater marketing mix. But leveraging social media to build a brand, and a sustainable business - that's my focus.

 

What is one part of being an influencer that people wouldn’t expect to be in the job description?

The hours. So much of my work is just me, myself and I – tucked away in my studio, or at my kitchen table, doing the work, always late into the night. So much of that isn't pretty - or really shared. I think anyone chasing a dream knows how much love, time, devotion and sacrifice it requires.

 

What is your favourite thing about your work?

When someone that I don’t know emails me, and says that I made their day. Or, that I inspire them. Or, that my words hit home and resonated deeply. Or, that because of me, they booked a flight somewhere. Those surprise emails, and the connection - these are my favourite things. The kindness of people always blows me away.

 

What would be your number 1 tip for someone wanting to build a career of social media?

I adore social media because it fosters community. And with a community, comes responsibility. So my first advice to offer is, if you are building a community, then show up for them. Your tens, or hundreds, or thousands of followers are all (hopefully) humans (unless you're in the business of paying for bots). So be a nice human, and engage back. Reply to the comments that your followers have gone out of their way to leave you. Comment on other posts, and invest your energy back into the app.

 

Do you want to hear more about all things Instagram? Let us know what in the comments below.

 

[convertkit form=5183433]

 

Sasha Leong

With a passion for photography, writing and all things health, Sasha from Live Without Labels is all about living life free from labels that society gives us. She is currently in her first year of a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutritional and Dietetic Medicine and works alongside Sally from The Fit Foodie Blog.

No Comments Yet

Join the Conversation

Your email address will not be published.