I was fired because of my Instagram side hustle but I made £100k doing it full time… here’s how you can too
A WOMAN has revealed how she now makes £100,000 by teaching people how to become influencers.
Emily Valentine, 34, was made redundant from as a talent manager after her influencer role "conflicted" with her day-to-day job.
Emily, of Waltham Forest, North East London, started sharing her everyday life online, and soon gathered an important following.
She has used a knowledge of marketing and advertising to secure successful brand collaborations with Dior, Estee Lauder, Channel 4 and Love Honey - earning her more than £100,000 in just two years.
The influencer now uses her experience to teach others how to become influencers through her customised coaching programme.
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Emily told : "I love being able to create content off the back of a passion that I have and monetise it.
"Not only working with amazing brands but also helping my audience, whether that is discovering new skincare solutions or showing them how to style their outfit or generally advising them and empowering women in their every day lives - it is an amazing career to have.
"I have been in the influencing industry for around nine years, seven years full time.
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"My coaching only started in the last year but I have wanted to do it for a while and share my experience as a woman in the industry.
"The industry is led by women but, it became apparent early on that I was charging a lot more than my peers and I wondered why that was.";
This new career is a far cry from her first £17,000 a year job in marketing after leaving university in 2012.
She said: "I had a really bad time working at the agency and handed in my notice after 10 months.
"I then moved to the city, later got a job as a talent manager and subsequently got fired."
About the lay-off, Emily said: "It was devastating at the time, I was 26 years old, I was living in London and I didn't know how I was going to feed myself.
"I was asking myself 'how am I going to make this work?'.
"I did want to go back into the industry again but I clearly didn't work well with the authoritative nine-to-five jobs."
As she was building her social media following, Emily said she started pitching to brands for up to 12 hours a day. She received an overwhelming response.
After having worked in the sector for six years, Emily decided she wanted to help other young women like her and set up what she described as a "creator clinic".
During the one-on-ones, Emily would assist and support women who were struggling with certain aspects of the influencer life - namely being seen, securing collaboration with brands, and invoice and payment.
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She added: "I want to help monetise this amazing industry and then that lead to a bigger idea to launch a course where people can sign up to a coaching programme and I teach them how to become an influencer."
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Emily said her next step is to launch an eight-week influencer course which includes six modules that will teach people how to pitch to brands, negotiate their prices and grow their own personal brand.
