We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caity Eng a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Caity, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

As a teen, there are limited opportunities for social media/content creation internships and work. I am extremely passionate about social media and content creation, and I am dedicated to applying for opportunities, no matter how small of a chance I have of getting it. A risk I took was becoming a teen social media manager and influencer/content creator. I first got into social media work by applying to be a social media team member at Aid2Day, a startup non-profit, when I was 14. I remember joining the zoom call interview, where I sat on the basement floor. I had no expectations and little experience, besides having a social media account with around 3k followers. I remember being very shocked that the interviewers loved me, as it was my first ever time applying for something. A few days later I got the email that asked me to be the Director! This felt amazing and I was so proud of myself. I have been volunteering here ever since and I love it! Following this, I set the goal of wanting to be a paid social media manager. I had little expectations and just wanted to see what would happen. I posted it to my story, and got around 1,000 views, and about 6 replies. Those 6 replies turned into one loyal client, who I have been working with for over a year now. It is crazy to me how I got my first client at age 15. While I was hoping for 5+ clients, I am thankful I did not work with that many people as I would not have enough time to balance dance, cheer, school, and extracurriculars such as volunteering. I continued to go on to completing various other internships and kick starting my influencer career. I am proud of how I am following my dreams at only 16, and I hope to inspire others my age, that anything can be possible.

Caity, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi! My name is Caity Eng and I am a 16 year old social media manager and influencer/content creator. A fun fact about me is that I am a Nordstrom Ambassador, and I love volunteering! I currently tutor Ukraine students through an organization called EngIN. I am also a gymnastics coach and have been cheering for 8 years.

I am so passionate about social media, and I have been a social media manager/ content creator for many brands. I am currently the Director of Social Media Marketing at Aid2Day, an official 501(c)3 non-profit supporting pediatric cancer, and I was also the Director of Global Ambassadors. I have received the Gold President’s Volunteer Service Award this year, I have completed an internship with Control Z Clothing, where I made reels for them, and an internship with TWICE, a wellness brand sold at Target where I created Tiktoks. I used to be the social media manager for Teen Boss Babes as well. I have been collaborating with brands since I started Instagram, but this year I really started focusing on collabs. I have worked on gifted collabs with Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare, Kinship, Ivory Ella, Super Goop and more. I have worked on paid collabs with Multitasky and Bubble Skincare. I have received PR from Youth to the People, Milk Makeup, Function of Beauty, Sol De Janeiro and more at the age of 16. I hope to work with more amazing brands like these.

I am also active in my community, I am in my schools Marine Bio Club, Key Club, Girls Learn International chapter, and I was on student council last year. I am one of two student reps on my town library’s Board of Trustees. I am Her Future and Girl Up International member.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my social media audience through networking and supporting others. The thing that helped my pages grow the most was simply supporting fellow creatives and liking and commenting on their posts. This simple action can lead into a strong relationship, and has led to many great DM conversations for me. I challenge you to like and comment on 10+ posts a day, and you will see the love shared back!

I advise those starting out to be authentic. People can tell when you are being fake, so even if you are not loving a brand collab product, turn what you’re saying into something that is honest and positive. You need to stop comparing yourselves to others. So many content creators wonder why a brand works with someone who has 1,000 followers while they have 50k. Things work out for certain reasons and I strongly believe that there is an equal balance of good and bad things that happen everyday.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to get what I want, done. I am a self motivated person and I am willing to go for what I want with little regrets. My overall goal is to show teens my age that if you work hard, you can start to achieve your goals at a young age. I do not see many teens sharing how they are going for what they want, and I want to be that for others. It does not matter how popular you are most of the time, it matters your drive and work ethic.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @caity.dancer

Image Credits
Ally Day Photography