Welcome to the land of glam and goals. Yes, we’re talking influencers! Travel, lifestyle and beauty, we’ve covered it all.And when it comes down to how it came to be? Well, read it for yourself from these industry favourites.
Influencing is the new nine to five. Think of securing your bag, and then think luxurious living – all in one, every day. Influencers are really made of sugar, spice and everything within the soft life. A how-to guide from some of the most influential Namibian women living their social media goals, and we definitely love to see it.
For many of the influencers, it’s been a whole journey in the industry. We’re talking years of experience with marketing, social media and travel.
When asked how their journey began, the Twinfluencers – Lisette and Liselle So-Oabes (@_twinfluencers on Instagram) – say the journey began as a means of earning extra income while studying.
“Long story short, we joined a marketing company, which really became the foundation of our influencing journey, we became influencers and brand ambassadors which taught us consistency and purpose.”
For some influencers, like Angy Uumati (@angy-pangy on Instagram), it came as a surprise as she was merely on social media to entertain herself and others. However, it has become more intentional for her and now here she is. Angy has a social media following of 21,5k on Instagram.
We asked these influencers what they thought of the recently coined term “soft life” and many influencers believe that there is indeed a distinction between the soft life and influencing.
Roxy Amupolo (@roxy_polo on Instagram) describes influencing as a self-skilled job which is an art of storytelling, persuasion, as well as networking and communication.
“The job of an influencer is to create platforms to grow businesses, create awareness. As for the soft-life part, it’s a controversial topic. As much as people hate it, a lot of the time, people don’t even know what it is. But, according to the urban dictionary, the soft life is when someone chooses to live stress-free and vibrate to their higher self. The joy of the soft life is the fact that it’s limitless.”
Roxy is an entrepreneur and has a social media following of 6 900 on Instagram.
Being in the industry, influencing and social media marketing is not only a job for some but it has become their main means of income. For some, like Pukuu Rijatua, there weren’t many people that saw the vision she was chasing at the time she began.
“I definitely understand how a lot of people see what I’m doing as a lot. I’m actually glad to have the opportunity to monetise my lifestyle and be alongside the greats of the industry,” she says. Pukuu has a social media following of 18 300 on Instagram and is a television presenter as well as a media student.
Regarding the industry and the positive shift it has had over the years, the Twinfluencers describe it as a journey of having to build credibility as a brand and then having to put themselves out there.
“The community we have formed around us is so amazing! The verbal praise is such a great feeling. It feels good to know that there’s that one comment, that one shout-out, it means so much.
“However, influencers also noted that as a nation, we lack the engagement and commitment to our own influencers and fail to give praise where it’s due.
“And as much as I hate to say it, as Namibian influencers, there’s so much lacking there by the engagements. Just that little extra from our fans means so much, but we lack that.”
When asked what they struggled with most in this industry, Roxy Polo explains that brands often become problematic in terms of payment and sticking to contract terms.
“Brands that don’t pay really tend to become a problem. On a similar note, it’s also quite a problem when brands try and stifle influencers to look and act a certain way. The fact that they do this only makes their message get lost in translation. You were drawn to that influencer as they were; don’t change them now that they’re endorsing your product.”
Pukuu mentions that the social media world can be quite harsh towards digital creators, especially in terms of content creation.
“Negativity takes such a toll on people. I feel people shouldn’t see influencers as people who are unfazed by these things. It’s important to show love and appreciation where it’s due and remember that we’re as human as everyone else is.”
In the final session of the discussion, we asked the influencers if they thought there is a market for younger influencers. Many agree, noting that there also needs to be a shift in the mentalities of Namibians in terms of considering it as a full-time job.
Roxy says the industry will definitely allow it. There are already so many social media platforms allowing youth to monetise their work.
“Yes, there’s so much space and room in this country in this industry for everyone to make this a career.”
Pukuu notes that she undoubtedly sees the industry opening up for the youth. “However, young people also need that push to view influence as a job and understand the power of its job market. You need to be able to wake up and choose this with everything in you.”
The fact that we have such amazing women and men taking up space in an industry that many are yet to acknowledge as legitimate surely proves there is diversity and opportunities for everyone in Namibia.
For more of this interview, including more information about influencing and more on the influencers, watch the full video on YouTube.
