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

Akeisha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.

The craziest thing that’s happened to me thus far on my content creation journey, is when our Instagram page went “viral” worldwide because of one simple photo I posted of my daughter Greyson and I.

So here’s the backstory… It was January of 2020, the 27th to be exact, and I posted a photo of my daughter and I for a brand we were working with. I didn’t think anything of it, as to me, it was just a cute photo of her and I that I posted just like I would any other photo for a campaign.

But that’s when it started. I began getting comments that said things like “Meghan, is that you?”; or “you can’t tell me that’s not Meghan Markle”. Again, I didn’t think anything of it at first. But hundreds of comments became thousands of comments, all saying how much they thought I looked like Meghan.

I of course was very flattered to be compared to such a beautiful lady, but again, still didn’t think anything of it. That’s when I got it. An email from the DailyMail later that evening asking if I’d be willing to film with them the next morning! And the rest is history, as they say!

From there I was interviewed by dozens of news and media outlets and in more publications than I can count (or probably even know about)! From Good Morning America to the Oprah Magazine! All from one simple photo I posted for a brand we were working with.

This experience was amazing and overwhelming all at the same time. For me, as a small-town Missouri mama that was used to being behind the scenes and behind the camera, being at the forefront of so many articles and news outlets, was A LOT… to say the least! But it also put our page in front of so many brands we then had the opportunity to partner with and really grew our audience.

So it was definitely a crazy season of life and work back then. But I feel so incredibly blessed to of had this platform and those opportunities!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

What’s so amazing about what I do as a Content Creator and Influencer, is that when I first started our page years ago, Content Creation wasn’t even on my mind or even in my vocabulary.

Here’s a bit of the backstory… I started my Instagram page as just a basic personal IG page as most do. And as most do, I just shared photos of what was going on in my life. Which for me, when I first started the page, was shortly before I had our first child, my son Tristan. And I shared life as usual in photo form in those little squares for about two and a half years before having our second child, my daughter Greyson, who our page is now named after… more on that later.

I also did some modeling/acting back then, so while at a local casting one of the casting directors, who was familiar with my family, told me I should really start taking and posting more photos of Greyson on our page because she had such a “marketable look”. I was so new to this and naive back then so I didn’t really get why he was suggesting this, but I figured, what the heck, I already post photos of the kiddos, I can start posting her more often. And sure enough, he was right. Photos of her started to go “viral” and my page went from a few hundred of my family and close friends, to tens of thousands of followers. I also began to grow a love and passion for photography. Which was huge for me! I’d been a SAHM that felt like I didn’t really have a purpose or passion beyond being a wife and mother. So discovering this passion has been life-altering.

From there, brands started noticing our page and asking if they could send us products in exchange for photos of her posted on our page (hence the reason I then changed our page handle from my name to her name @Greyson_Land). I thought to myself, free stuff for a few photos, heck yes! Again, I was so naive and new to things back then. But I stuck with it. I took some photography courses. Got myself a new camera. And really worked on my craft.

As my photos got better and brands noticed the audience I’d grown and how engaged they were, the brands started asking me what my rate was for photos (those were the days everything was still mainly photo based). I didn’t even know how much to charge! Again, I had never set out to make this a career, so I still didn’t know what I was doing business wise. It was (and still is) a lot of trial, error, and research to figure out how to properly monetize our Instagram page. Which, if I hadn’t made that clear yet, is the only platform we currently or have ever used to share our content and partner with brands.

As Greyson has gotten older, the page has transitioned from being more focused on her and little girls fashion, back to sharing our family life as a whole. My main focus on our page is to share the raw, the real, and the relatable that comes with family life and parenthood. I share everything from funny relatable reels about parenthood/marriage, to faith based content like our testimony of how God saved our marriage when we were days from divorce less than 2 years in, to functional and fashionable finds for the whole family; and everything in between that encompasses a Family & Lifestyle Creator.

I’m most proud of just how far I’ve come on this journey into Content Creation. From being a SAHM just posting photos of her kids, to single-handedly managing a page with hundreds of thousands of followers, and creating content for hundreds of brands from small mom and pop shops to huge worldwide companies. All while keeping it real and authentic with our audience, so much so that many of them now feel like family, even though we’ve never met.

And I think for the brands that we work with, that’s one of our biggest value-adds. The fact that they see how engaged not only our audience is, but that I also am so open and vulnerable with them. And the fact I take the time to engage back to create a community; not just a “client”.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

There are so many resources that I use often (usually daily) that I wish I’d known about sooner in my creative journey. The biggest being Lightroom. Which is a photo editing software. It truly helped to elevate my photos once I discovered it and figured out how to use it! And more recently InShot. When things started trending more towards video, I wish I’d have discovered InShot before I did. It has taken my video editing to another level and made it so so much easier! Also, I wish I’d known more about the platforms like Aspire that help to pair Creators with Brands to partner with on various campaigns.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think the main goal that drives me daily in my creative journey, is making sure to remain authentically me. To create content that reaches to a persons soul where they feel seen, and like they’re connecting with a friend.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greyson_land
• Other: https://zez.am/greyson_land

Image Credits
@_melissaloren_/Harper & Colette Photography