Once upon a time, people scoffed at the idea of fitness influencers. ‘How dare those darn Gen Zs sit on their computers making videos all day, go and get a proper job.’
But even the most staunch pessimists are now starting to accept the power of social media and its evolution as a legitimate career path.
The trouble is, there’s no set blueprint for online success. You don’t go and complete a degree and instantly land 200,000 followers.
So, how do you start, and how do you navigate the challenges of trying to grow your channel whilst holding down a full-time job?
Everyone’s favourite girl boss Grace Beverley has once again been offering her pearls of wisdom in a bid to answer those questions.
The online sensation, who started her journey posting videos under the alias GraceFitUK, has since gone on to scale several successful brands such as Shreddy and Tala.
Not wishing to gatekeep the secrets to her meteoric rise, Grace frequently holds Q&A sessions on her hit podcast, Working Hard, Hardly Working.
In a recent episode, she spoke about her own experience of growing her online presence while holding down a demanding job.
“One of the tough things about social media is that you expect to be like everyone you follow who is full-time on there,” she said.
“If you like the gym and you follow fitness influencers you expect to be as fit as that person; lifting as much as that person; going to the gym as much as that person.
“That’s their full-time job. First things first you need to get comfortable with the fact that as long as you have a full-time job you’re not going to be doing social media as if it is your full-time job.
“I think you need to set boundaries for yourself in order to create that space and more of that work-life balance.
“For example, when I started out in social media I was working five days a week, longer than 9-5, and then on the weekends I’d literally spend 10 hours a day making recipes to be able to post on social media the next week.”
She added: “There weren’t many ‘influencers’ at the time, but I remember being so exhausted but also thinking, ‘This is the only way I can grow’, so I completely understand where you’re coming from with this.
“You’re never going to be as good as an influencer who is paid to be full-time while you’re full-time on something else.”
If you want to hear what else Grace had to say on the subject head to her channel.
Next, check out our post: Tala vs Gymshark: A Guide For Womens Activewear
