Chinae Alexander wanted to be in fashion her entire life. So she was ecstatic when she got an internship at Nylon Magazine. But as much as she enjoyed it, she didn’t find the fashion industry fulfilling. She knew it wasn’t for her. So she answered a craigslist ad for a marketing coordinator position. She had zero qualifications for the job. But in the interview, she said “If you give me a shot for 3 months and I fail, I’ll find you someone to replace me.”

She stayed there for 8 years. 8 years in, her boss fired her and said “I can’t pay you what you’re worth, you need to be an entrepreneur.” It was the kick in the pants that she needed. She started an event-planning company and also applied to do social media for a fitness company. She created an Instagram account and had around 300 followers at that time of the interview. She didn’t get the job—but she enjoyed the small community she had built. So she kept posting on Instagram while she was building her event planning business. 

Without ever trying to build a following, she suddenly had 10,000 Instagram followers. How did she do it? What did her journey look like? What does the job of a real-life influencer actually look like? Listen to this episode of the Content Callout podcast to find out!

Outline of This Episode

• [1:08] How Chinae feels about the term “Influencer” 
• [4:08] Misconceptions about social entrepreneurs
• [8:06] How Chinae became an influencer
• [12:52] The problem with the side hustle mentality 
• [17:33] The mindset behind writing a book
• [21:48] How to set necessary boundaries
• [24:40] How to choose what brands to work with
• [33:08] When should brands engage with an influencer?
• [40:10] Where influencers will head in 2020
• [42:13] Where you can find Chinae online

Resources & People Mentioned

• Nylon Magazine
• Think!

Connect with Chinae Alexander

• Chinae’s website
• The Press Send Podcast
• Follow on Instagram
• Chinae’s YouTube channel
• Follow on Twitter
• Connect on LinkedIn

Connect With the Content Callout Team

• https://ContentCallout.com

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