Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Briana Barnett . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Briana , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was a little girl, I was always extremely creative and had a big imagination. Because of this, my mom enrolled me in different classes/programs to allow me to tap into my creative side. I took an array of classes from dance to art to singing/piano to acting to sewing. Anything that I wanted to try creatively, my mom found a program for me.

While I was exposed to a lot of different creative outlets, my favorite was always fashion and architecture/ interior design. During my sewing lessons, I made my own pillow cases, dresses, shirts and purses. I was even featured in my neighborhood’s local newspaper about my gifted sewing talents. I truly loved everything about fashion from sewing to shopping to styling different outfits. One of my favorite hobbies as a pre-teen/teen was to go bargain shopping with my mom and aunts. Growing up, I aspired to either be a fashion designer or architect/ interior designer. I knew that even if I didn’t become those things, that I would somehow tap into my creative side professionally. Even though my career path changed and ultimately led me to become a Registered Nurse/ Nurse Practitioner, I still find time to tap into my creative side by creating content for IG (@__beingbreezy)

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

My name is Briana also known as Breezy, which was a nickname given to me by my family based off of Covergirl’s tagline “Easy Breezy, beautiful covergirl.”. I am rooted in Christ and fueled by my faith and love of fashion. I started my creative journey back in 2016 as a Youtuber who primarily focused on beauty, fashion lookbook and travel vlogs. I put a halt to my Youtube channel back in 2018 to focus on my new position as a registered nurse. I also started a fashion IG page with my best friend, Paige back in 2017 where we posted our outfits.

After taking a creative hiatus and being encouraged by family and friends, I decided to turn my personal instagram page to a faith, fashion & lifestyle page in August 2020. I knew I was holding myself back creatively by not tapping into my God-given talents and sharing them with the world so I decided to give it another shot. This time as a faith, fashion and lifestyle content creator. The goal of my page, Being-Breezy, is to share with others my journey to becoming and being all God has called me to be while inspiring others to do the same. My instagram page primarily focuses on faith, fashion and lifestyle.

I realize that there are a lot of other content creators with the same niche but what sets me apart is the depth of my content. Not only do I post fashionable fits and cute photos but I also share faith filled messages in my captions. I throughly enjoy writing so my captions are like letters to myself that I share with others. Just as these letters have been beneficial to my growth in my faith, I pray that they are also inspirational to all readers.

I am most proud of several things. One being the community that I’ve built from scratch. Being able to interact with other creators and even meeting up with some of them has been such a neat experience. It’s extremely helpful to have people in your corner that understand the struggles that can come with content creation. Also, seeing how everyone supports my content by engaging in my posts is amazing to watch. Everyone that supports me is truly near and dear to my heart. Secondly, I am proud of the fact that I’ve only been creating content for 2 years and have already worked with major brands like David’s Bridal and On the Rocks Cocktails. * teenage me would be screaming*

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Being able to do what I love and share that with the world. For so long, only my family and friends knew I was creative but now I’ve opened it up to the world to see. Creating content really excites me. I love brainstorming content ideas and creating content that has a deeper meaning behind it. Another rewarding aspect is being paid by major brands to do what I love. Creativity comes natural to me so what I post on Instagram isn’t staged, it’s authentic. Knowing that brands see my authentic content and want to actually work with me, is beyond rewarding.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Yes! There are several resources I wish I knew about earlier in my journey so let me put ya’ll on.

Camera Quality-While I only use DSLR cameras now, when I first started I primarily used my iPhone. Some resources to note if you only have an iphone:
wipe off your camera to ensure a clear photo
open camera, tap on the phone screen until a yellow square box appears with a vertical line. this is a tool you can use to adjust the brightness.
use your back camera > front camera for quality video content.

Photo/Video Editing- I wish I would’ve known how to better edit my photos/videos when I first started. I used to just play with lightening and contrast to edit my photos and that’s it. I didn’t even know what presets were. Shoutout to my friend @tracychattah for putting me on to Lightroom presets. I also use Tezza to edit my pictures. I also wish I would’ve known about InShot a lot sooner for editing videos. All of these apps (Lightroom, Tezza and Inshot), have free versions but currently I use the paid versions.

Photography- I thought that in order to have high quality content that you had to hire a professional photographer, but due to costs it can be very expensive. Other ways to get high quality content without breaking the bank would be to have a friend, family member or fellow creative to take your photos. I have had photoshoots with photographers before and absolutely love it but my dad, who isn’t a photographer by trade, takes a majority of my photos/videos.

Planning my Feed- When I first started, I always wondered how influencers amazing feeds where every picture went well together. Now I know that many influencers plan out their feed using apps before posting on IG to ensure that they have a cohesive feed. I personally use the free version of Preview when creating my feed.

Photoshoot Planning- I really used to think that influencers/content creators posted photos in real life time. At the start of my journey, I would legit have a photoshoot the same day and then rush home to post the photos on IG. Now, I have a photoshoot every month where I shoot 3-5 looks using different poses. This way, I can always have enough content to post and don’t have to shoot everytime I want to post on IG.

Practicing Poses- I am no model but after doing this for the past 2 years, I finally know how to pose. What really helped me pose and learn how to switch up poses was by finding inspiration on IG or Pinterest. I would then put on the outfit I was going to wear for my photoshoot and pose in the mirror using the inspired pose. This allowed me to become comfortable posing.

Other resources- Follow other content creators that share great tips to help you navigate through content creation, brand deals etc. Some of my favorites are @themattiejames @itsjessicalindsay @hayet.rida @theinfluencerleague. Also, joining local creative groups can also be beneficial. I absolutely love @cincy.cocoabloggers!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @__beingbreezy

Image Credits
Barnett Photography