We were lucky to catch up with Mahfam Braithwaite recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mahfam, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

Yes, I manage my own social media. I show up on my social media in the morning or afternoon to say “hi” to my followers. I think it is very important to be yourself on social media as a lifestyle blogger and a photographer. I share real-life experiences, sadness, and happiness and I think showing the real version of me helped in gathering more followers. I wanted to be on social media and be the person that people look up to. I want everyone to know that they are special, and they can style their clothes and be pretty. I also have the same feeling towards my photography business. I want every client to feel comfortable in front of the camera and feel good about themselves when they see their photos.
If you are a business owner, I highly recommend you to be consistent with your posts and show up on your social media. People want to see who is behind the business. Occasionally, post an “about me” to re-introduce yourself to your new and old followers.
Show your appreciation to your followers and be yourself.

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 back background and context?

Hi, my name is Mahfam Braithwaite and I am a Lifestyle blogger. I am happily married to the love of my life and have two furry pets and a parrot. I am also thrilled to be expecting my first baby, a girl. I started photography and that led me to blogging/influencing and social media marketing. I always loved fashion, travel, and beauty. I love styling different pieces and making cute outfits. I hope one day I can have my own fashion line. I simply shared my love for different things I purchased and started getting noticed.
A lot of my followers love shopping for what I purchase and share. Lately, everyone’s asking for baby registry inspiration and nursery inspiration. I am so excited to share those with them.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started showing up on my Instagram stories more often. I shared my life and things I learned including hairstyles, beauty, fashion, travel, and happy and sad moments. People typically want to present themselves in a positive way. People are always showcasing their achievements, adventures, and happy moments to shape the way others perceive them. I am far from perfect and decided to show my life on social media. I wanted people to see there are busy days, sad days, and crazy days, but happy times as well. I believe followers started trusting me and following my journey. Also, taking bright and clear pictures and videos helped me to build my audience. Pictures that are blurry, dark, and poor quality do not get anyone’s attention.
You do not need a professional photographer or professional camera to take photos. You need good lighting, a clear camera lens (phone lens), and a few tips and tricks on how to edit them on your phone or computer before posting a complete raw photo.
Captions are also important. You always want to have relevant captions and hashtags with your posts.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I was a lead dental assistant and a photographer. I started blogging and sharing things I love on my photography Instagram page. Brands started reaching out to me and sending me gifts. I worked for free for a long time until my followers started trusting me and brands started paying me for advertising their products. I decided to separate my influencing Instagram and photography accounts when I started getting more collaborations and more offers.
Today, I am working on building my website and making it easier for my followers to find what they need.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mahfamphotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mahfambraithwaite/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MahfamBraithwaiteblogger/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mahfambraithwaite
• Other: Mahfam Photography IG: https://www.instagram.com/mahfamphotography/

Image Credits
These photos were edited by me (Mahfam Photography)