23 year old Nimilolu Graub made the bold decision to leave a career in mechanical engineering to pursue being a social media influencer. What did she learn?

1. Feast and famine
   Work and deals are inconsistent. Some months are packed, others are empty.
   
2. Brands don’t want to pay for content
   According to an in-depth article by Shopify, influencers with 50,000 to 100,000 followers (such as Graub who has 66,000 followers) may earn between $125 and $1,200 for each post. However, many brands only want to pay by giving the influencer free products or often ask for free work. Without an agency/talent manager, getting paid/respect can be difficult.
   
3. The job is controversial
   “Content creation is such a new field most people do not see it as an actual job to pursue. So quitting my full-time job to do something that people did not consider a job, I dealt with a lot of negativity, discouragement and disappointment from everyone. I had to stop considering what other people were saying”
   
4. Her engineering skills were beneficial in content creation
   “A lot of brands provide detailed guidelines for their videos so being able to utilize my quality control skills means I’m always able to meet their requirements. My contract negotiation skills have been helpful when it came time to signing deals with brands. Project management has also helped me manage my content and create videos consistently.”
   
5. Not always what she expected
   She has been successful and gotten work/collaborations – but admits “it is not enough to live my life like this”. She has toyed with returning back to part-time work.

Article:

• https://www.newsweek.com/woman-quits-mechanical-engineer-career-become-influencer-1895517