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

Curlene, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

It all started back in 2013, when one of my old friends who now runs Llovet Media could not attend a show at fashion week and gave her ticket to myself and a plus one. I was already intrigued by high fashion and luxury couture , so having the opportunity to be at this event was a big game changer in terms of my motivation to start making content online. A couple of weeks later, I started my own domain using the WordPress website, and this is where I would invest my time becoming a content creator where I would write about the best fashion, share with others fashion I was wearing and products i was using. After about a year and half, I them branched into creating a YouTube channel, where I was vlogging my experience at things such as fashion week as I begin to get my foot in the door and get invited to runway shows and events.

With all these projects starting to take place, I started to branch into teaching myself video editing at the time on the program LumaFusion and learning different things about lighting, sound, and SEO to try and reach my targeted audience when I would post content on various social media sites. I also started learning what type of equipment I needed to invest in to have more of a professional setup in the space that I was utilizing for recording content daily.

Til this day I am still a work in progress, but I have learned so much and come much more further than I have ever imagined. Of course with life taking a toll as it does, I put my passions to the side for a little but now I’ve been getting back into doing what i remember and love when i first started my journey to becoming a mdicroinfluencer. I hope to inspire others to start somewhere even a small step if it’s something your truly passionate about, and with time and consistency they will see their hard work pay off.

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?

I have always considered myself to be a freelancer as I started my blog on my own. With contacts, time, and research I slowly got my foot in the door to be in the position to be acknowledged as a micro influencer by fashion & lifestyle PR agencies as I stared to create more content and reach certain audiences. I now continue to run two instagram pages, curlenestyleblog which is the original blog I created and I also have embraced my love for going to different cities and trying new foods which I showcase on my food page cureats_

My work mainly consists of reviewing fashion looks, giving tips as well as places to find affordable but stylish fashion, giving advice to the everyday working girl who is balancing life and content creation, as well as speaking to food lovers who want to share places they’ve been in the most popular cities to promote good food and encourage to get out and engage with others.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

A lot of us see what people post on social media and take that at face value. We may see and image or video and think the persons life is all put together and perfect. What I want people to know is being a content creator is not easy. Life will get in your way, working to provide a life for yourself while trying to balance what you love doing will get in your way, your mental health will get in the way amongst a list of other things. There will be moments in your life where you feel amazing and your creative juices are flowing and you put out content constantly. There are other times when you will feel stifled and wonder what you should do next.

At the end of the day, it all takes time even if you have a gap in time where you stop there will be a day when you can sit and reflect on where you are in life and how you want to make the job that you do a permanent one. It’s not a overnight project I know this myself. There’s still parts of content creation and being a creative that I have a long way to go and work on, but I know this is for me and it’s a passion not something I am forced to do and if you think like this then your journey as a creator will be worthwhile when you look back.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

What helped me build my reputation within the industry was being able to open up and interact with others I had met within the field, events and internships I was at. I always had a burst of energy when I would be around these people as I saw that they were actively living the life I wanted and doing the work I wanted to do in the future. I always partnered and asked them questions as a way to figure out what things I could learn to further my growth and knowledge of being a content creator and this is what brought me from a spectator to an actual player in the industry that is fashion and lifestyle. Making meaningful connections is so important in this industry as people are always bouncing ideas off of each other, and you never know what sharing your work and goals with someone else can do for your future.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.instagram.com/cureats_/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curlenestyleblog/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/curlene-chambers-3baa5790
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UClR_BaAApKefHMSttRJZq3g

Image Credits
All images are original and taken on my personal devices