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Is being a social influencer really the best job in the world?

It’s fair to say that most of us look at the lives of social media influencers with a certain amount of envy. They seem to have it all – the lifestyle, the personality, the talent and (we assume) the money.

But what’s life as an influencer ACTUALLY like and is it really as good as it seems?

We spoke to Adrienne LDN, a social media influencer, fitness blogger (AdrienneLDN) and personal trainer with over 20,000 followers on her Instagram alone.

We caught up with Adrienne while she was filming a new video with Philips Sonicare AirFloss Pro (which you can watch at the top of the article) to chat about what a day in the life of an influencer is really like…

Yahoo: Hi Adrienne, nice to meet you. Did you always want to become an influencer?

I’d say it was more a happy coincidence. When I became a personal trainer I was meeting a lot of mums at playgroup and baby swimming classes because I’d just had a baby myself. They started asking me about advice around fitness, nutrition and getting back in shape. A year later, I started my blog to share my ideas and my passion and I set up social media accounts to support it.

Y: How did you build your audience?

I found that engaging with people in a two-way conversation really helped. If someone asks me a question or sends me a direct message, I’d always reply to them. For me, the point of having a community online is to connect with people. The best thing to do, in terms of increasing your audience, is to actually engage with them, value them and reply to them.

Y: What would you say is the key to your success?

Having passion and being honest is the key to my success. If you have something that you are genuinely passionate about and you can talk about all day, every day then that sincerity comes across. That’s probably the reason why my stuff has done so well because I genuinely want to encourage other women to be more active, healthier and happier.

Y: How do you decide which brands to partner with?

It’s so easy for me. I work with brands that I already know about or even already use! Whether I shop with them, use their products or go to their events, I’m so flattered that they want to work with me because I already love their products in the first place.

Y: Why was the Philips partnership a good fit, for example?

Oral health is something that we all do, but it’s not really talked about that much, especially for young people or in mainstream media. Since becoming a mum, oral health and my awareness of it has become more important. I think that Oral health is just as important as your nutrition and fitness.

Y: What does an average day look like for you, step-by-step?

Everyday is so different so it’s tricky to describe just one day!

Most mornings I get up before 6am and, depending on the day, I will either hold a personal training session with clients that I see first thing in the morning or go out for a run myself if I haven’t got a session booked. Even though I haven’t had breakfast yet I make sure to brush my teeth before I head out – I can’t be meeting clients without doing that!

I get back at about 7.30am and will get my son ready for school and have breakfast. I might have a wholemeal wrap with avocado, pumpkin seeds, rocket or I might have fruit and granola. Then I take my son to school at around 8.30am.

When I get back from the school run I will power up my laptop and get to work. I’ll check my emails, do a little bit of admin, maybe update my blog, do some social media posts and see what’s going on in the world.

For lunch I’ll eat something veggie or carbohydrates to keep me going.

Then I’ll hop on the train and come into London and have a meeting with PR companies, media companies or brands that want to work with me. I might also meet up with another blogger to shoot some content.

I will head home and pick up my son on the way (unless my husband has already picked him up). We’d have dinner together – again something veggie. Last night we had veggie enchiladas with beans. Then it’s time to get my son ready for bed and do some spellings or reading before he nods off.

Once he’s asleep around 7.30pm I’ll often get back on my computer. I might edit a video for YouTube or research something that I’m doing until about 9pm before getting a relatively early night.

I drink Rooibos tea (a super-healthy South African tea), clean my teeth and chat with my husband, read, pray and go to bed.

Y: Wow! How do you fit it all in?

I love what I do! I never feel like it’s work. I’m never thinking ‘oh I’ve got to go to this meeting’ or anything like that. I love being fit and being active. I’m not getting up to do a job that I hate, so that helps a lot.

Also, getting up early. You get so much more done before 9am. I’d massively encourage people to do that. Stop staying up late. It’s not productive. When people tell me they were up until midnight working I’m pretty sure it’s not that productive.

Go to bed at 10pm and get up at 6am and get on with your work in the morning. Nobody is interrupting you and no emails are coming in to distract you – it’s great!

Y: If you could give 3 pieces of advice to anyone wanting to become an influencer, what would you tell them?

1. Ask yourself ‘why’ and then figure out ‘how’. Most people only want to know how to do it, but don’t know why they want to do it. What is it that you’re passionate about and want to share with the world? What is that you’re an expert in?

2. Just start and see how it goes. Don’t have a regimented plan and think you have to do this and that. Don’t wait for it to be perfect. Sometimes you could think that you don’t have the perfect camera or something like that. Use what you have now to share your message.

3. Be yourself and don’t imitate anyone else. No one else is you. You’re unique and your perspective is unique and that’s what people want to know about so just always share your version of you and don’t try to be someone else.

Y: Is this the perfect job?

I think this is the perfect job for me. I am very grateful for all the opportunities that I get to do. I’m grateful that I have a job that keeps me active because that’s essentially what I love to do. So it’s perfect for me.

Y: Thanks so much for talking to us, Adrienne!

Philips Sonicare AirFloss Pro is the quick and easy way to remove up to 99.9% of plaque. Only taking 60 seconds to floss your entire mouth you will be sure to add it to your daily routine for healthier gums in just 2 weeks! Find out more at http://www.philips.co.uk/airflosspro

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