TapIn’s Marketing Executive talks about juggling her day job with her career as an influencer, and why she is passionate about working towards inclusion in the social media industry.
During my not-so-secret, but balanced double life as an make-up influencer and marketing executive, I have been on both sides of influencer marketing in the last year and a half.
I have learnt a lot about the marketing industry, especially influencer marketing, and this was my goal when I was hired for this role.
To be able to take what I have learned in my side hustle and incorporate that into the business - this is where my passion for my role comes into play.
Why are you passionate about your role?
The passion that I have for my career comes from the fact that I know exactly how these influencers feel.
I am one of them, someone who is trying to get my foot in the door in regards to influencing but also in marketing in general. Whether that is the deadlines, the briefs, the invoices, the idea that as a diverse influencer you can finally be making a living, by helping other diverse people get into the industry, whether that is recruitment or in my own personal case make up - I have been through it too so I understand what they are going through.
What was your career journey to marketing?
Make-up and music are my true loves.
I've been doing both since I was a little girl with massive support from my family and friends and I finally made the decision to pursue them as hard as I could.
From someone who did music for 10 years of her life, ending up in the marketing industry was not what I expected. 2020 was the year where I finally delved deep into my creative side and began my make-up page. It gave me an outlet where I could share these make-up looks and someone could enjoy them. It was a spur of the moment choice, and I didn’t realise that it would also launch my entire marketing career.
Through it, I realised that marketing was something that I also really resonated with and I wanted to work more closely in the influencing and social media industry - and this is why I finally applied to work for TapIn.
Is there an aspect of the work that TapIn does that resonates with you?
I know that for me as a dark-skin make-up artist, growing and being seen as a dark skin individual in any industry is hard.
Being seen as an individual in the workplace, especially marketing, is particularly important for people of colour.
So, the aspect of trying to help Black people get into the big brands is important. I know for me, especially in the oversaturated make-up community, it is a battle. So being able to connect creators from different backgrounds and niches to opportunities with our clients is something that I am really passionate about.
Making sure Black people are taken care of is something that is important, even outside of Black History Month, making sure that there are opportunities for Black people at all times is something I deem important.
Whether that is in their careers or in their personal lives, Black people have to fight 10x harder and the idea that TapIn is trying to help with this fight is my favourite part of my entire role.
As an individual who is part of a diaspora, I have always worked hard to be able to make my mum proud of the idea of moving from Africa to bring the whole family to better our lives and education. I feel privileged to be on this side of the globe, but I have also been reminded to never forget where I came from.
What have you learnt since joining TapIn?
One of the things that I have learnt since joining TapIn is that most of the time you just have to wing it, even when you are unsure. Life itself is about winging it, being a human in this world you often just have to wing it.
Even in the makeup world, make sure to add that wing to that eye look *cringing at myself lol*.
What has been one of your proudest moments since joining TapIn?
One of my proudest moments since being at TapIn has been being able to balance my time and work to a standard which I would deem as acceptable.
From November 2021, I have gone from working 6 hours a day and staying on top of my workload whilst healing from 2 ankle-fracture surgeries, to now being back to full time almost a year and half into my role. And honestly the end of 2021 to this year has been tough, but the fact that I made it work is what I am proud of. Being immobilised for a long period of time is something that can really take a toll on your mental health and I know different cultures in the Black community do not discuss this enough.
In my opinion this is down to the fear of not being taken seriously or having to actually be strong. I can honestly say that I am not 100% because recovery externally and internally takes a long time. But not letting it affect my work is something I can honestly say I am proud of and I hope I continue to not only make myself proud but also my co-workers.
And what has been your favourite project or piece of work at TapIn so far?
One of my favourite projects that I have done so far is our policing campaign.
It was one of my first big projects which I took the lead on choosing influencers for, and we are now at phase 2 and weirdly enough nothing has gone wrong.
I can’t forget helping our clients present our influencers with opportunities to speak on their socials, and really explore their careers and how they got there.
To learn more about the TapIn team, check in here every week to see who’s in the Copywriter’s Corner!