The age of Influence

In the hurly-burly world of social media, how do some rise above the noise? Hard work and dedication (and a paying job on the side) can lead to a career as an influencer.

A strand of heady incense adds a Bohemian element to Jasmine Melnik’s suburban Richmond home.

Long, dark hair frames her diamond-cut features, bare feet beneath an almost floor length turquoise skirt and delicate hoop earrings hint at a distant gypsy soul — Ukrainian, she says.

A tattoo of the solar system is inscribed neatly on her inner forearm.

“I’m really interested in space; I love the planets and stars.

“There’s a quote I love: Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity. That’s what I try to do.”

Hunter Kawana stands a bronzed 1.8 metres tall. She is a goddess in a bikini, a pouting princess and in conversation with her, she is fresh-faced with a dimpled grin.

She is having all the fun she can because she knows how fast it can change. In her 22 years, life has already walloped her with some hard curved balls.

These two young Nelson women are burgeoning stars of the social media platform, Instagram — a hotbed of gorgeous people all trying to sell us or tell us something.

They are not chisel-cut models paid millions by haute couture labels to tempt only the wealthy and privileged — they are among the league of girls (and boys) next door who like genies, are popping out from our computer or smartphone screens, to grant us our wishes for smooth skin, alluring looks and happy lives.

But before you think it is as simple as whipping out your smartphone and the dollars start rolling in, these young women spend many hours each week carefully curating their own brand.

Jasmine, 23 and recently married (she was barefoot that day too) works part time in administration while building her Instagram career.

It is an extension of her former role in radio promotions, and her hobby of filming and posting videos of holidays and road trips.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do when I left school. Everyone else seemed to know, so I did a year in retail and then fell into a job for MediaWorks doing radio promotions, and I loved it.

“It taught me a lot about myself and my strengths and weaknesses.”

As if by some premonitory force, Jasmine’s family left Christchurch after the large Darfield earthquake in late 2010, and before the fatal quake of February 2011.

“I grew up in Christchurch but after the first earthquake I was struggling. I wasn’t eating or sleeping and didn’t want to go to school. My brother was already here in Nelson, so the family decided to move here.

“We got out just in time.”

Jasmine says while a career in modelling never really appealed, she had wanted to become an influencer, but before last year she did not have the time needed to develop a profile.

“It was during (Covid-19) lockdown I began to put more effort in and researched what was involved.

“I was added randomly to a group chat of like-minded girls based in the UK. It was great, they were all supporting each other and that’s what made it take off.”

After lockdown she told her stepdad, who is also her employer that she wanted to focus on building her Instagram career and was able to reduce her hours to part time.

As of late March she had 4,988 Followers.

Jasmine says what she likes most about it, is having a voice.

“I’ve always been an over-sharer but it’s pretty cool that people are actually listening.

“It’s empowering and I love that I’ve connected with people all over the world.”

Jasmine and Hunter each say you need a point of difference to stand out in the increasingly crowded Instagram.

“There are a lot of beautiful people on it, and you have to give some value to your followers,” Jasmine says.

She was advised to create a niche within a category — something people could learn from.

“I needed to figure out what I could give. It was a bit overwhelming coming out of lockdown, and I stumbled upon guided meditation, so I tried it out and felt amazing.

“I’ve been on this journey of mindfulness and meditation and my Instagram has organically become about this.”

Social media marketing expert Bea Pole-Bokor says influencer marketing is big and growing all the time.

The Hungarian-born former Paris-based diplomat, who immigrated to Nelson with her husband and a young child in 2015, has spent the past few years re-inventing herself.

The award-winning social media trainer says it is a powerful tool for business and personal growth. She says it works by brands leveraging off influencers to attract new ones.

“It’s kind of a cooperation, word-of-mouth marketing really.”

Bea says a lot of influencers are still about beauty and fashion or flash, good-looking things, when influencers can be used for much more.

“Think of social media as a re-production of real life, just taken online.

“Think of a business partnership in real life — if you have cooperative partners who can help you spread the word, and they expand your reach and get new audiences in, it’s the same thing happening here.”

Bea says personal branding is important because people buy from people they trust.

“People sense if it’s not genuine.”

Jasmine says it works best if you — the influencer, believe in the product you are endorsing.

“People can tell — it has to be genuine. If I push a product more than another because I like it more, I get a better response.

“I won’t promote anything I don’t love.”

Hunter Kawana, who has almost 9,000 followers on Instagram, says generating a following is broader than beauty — it is about personality and values.

The Nelson real estate agent grew up in New Plymouth and went to a Catholic school, but her Ngāi Tahu roots stretch deep into the South Island.

She says it was partly the reason her family moved to Nelson in 2019.

She began building her profile while at school and then boosted it by studying make up artistry in Auckland.

She had wanted to become a model but was put off by the view it was always for “super skinny girls”.

“That look is less acceptable now and Instagram has done that.

“It gives me a place to be confident in myself, regardless of what anyone else thinks.”

Hunter says it is a platform that gives women control over how they look, which is empowering. She says about 60 per cent of her followers are women in the 18 to late 20s age group, and the feedback is largely supportive.

“People have a view that social media is a negative place, but it’s helped me with a lot of things — it’s got me to where I am and helped me grow.”

Hunter says that includes climbing out of a difficult situation as a teen, and lately a serious threat to her close-knit family through the illness of her beloved dad.

In turn, she has used her profile to help others dealing with troubles afflicting her generation, and to some degree her culture because she understands the impact of racially charged slurs.

“I was getting a few vibes when I started out and people were taking the piss thinking I was pretending to be ‘famous’, even though I was just doing what I loved.

“Now I have almost a family on Instagram that supports me.”

Jasmine says she has learned how to handle the small amount of not-so-nice feedback which has decreased as her profile has grown.

“A long time ago I accepted that not everyone is going to like you. The people on my page are a community of like-minded people — it’s not a place for negativity.”

Bea Pole-Bokor says success relies upon standing for who you are and being real with yourself.

“Because if you know who you are then you can show it to the world and attract the right people.”

Attracting the wrong people is unavoidable, but there are things you can do to protect yourself. Bea says the mistake some people make is not knowing how to differentiate between private and personal.

“You can put yourself out there and show your personal self because it’s about you, but you don’t have to disclose private information.”

She says it is also important not to include any family unless they give their permission.

“Some influencers’ profiles are connected to their family or their children. Some feel they have to because it attracts attention, but I would strongly question that.

“As parents we have to be responsible, but our kids don’t have a choice to say, ‘yes or no, I want to be there’.”

Jasmine says she also has the support of her husband, Sam, who takes many of her photographs and features in some of them. They use an iPhone 11 most of the time, or Jasmine uses a tripod and the self-timer if she is on her own.

Sponsored shoots require a more technical approach.

Jasmine says the attention she and Sam are beginning to attract has sparked a conversation between them about how public they might want their lives to be.

She is beginning to earn a part-time income from being an influencer, but her main goal is to be someone who inspires others.

Hunter says two years ago she was not making a dime, but she too is now earning the equivalent of a part-time wage, endorsing global and nationwide brands and the clothing and hair products of local retailers and salons.

“I would love this to be my fulltime role, and to build my platform enough to be a bigger influence and then start my own business, either a clothing line or active-wear brand.”

She imagines that in five years’ time she will be in a bigger city, running her own business with a focus on shining a light on those of her generation — the 20-somethings who will grow up in a post-Covid world with different opportunities, priorities and challenges.

Hunter says alongside this, having a happy long-term relationship and then owning a home rank high on her list of ambitions.

Written for Nelson Magazine by Tracy Neal.