We recently connected with Nicole Simeone and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

Yes today I earn a full time living from my creative work, but it definitely wasn’t like that from day one.

I started creating content when I had absolutely no guarantees it would ever become a real career. In the beginning I was doing everything myself learning branding, studying audience psychology, building relationships with brands, and saying yes to opportunities even when they didn’t pay. The money at first was inconsistent, and I reinvested every euro back into equipment, travel, improving the quality and strategy of my content.

The turning point was when brands stopped treating me as “influencer reach” and started approaching me for long term creative direction, campaign strategy, and premium positioning. That’s when I realized I wasn’t just posting content I was shaping luxury brand perception and driving revenue. From there I began signing direct partnerships, working internationally, aligning with high-end companies, and negotiating as a business not as someone waiting to be chosen.

The biggest milestones were:
• transitioning from one-off paid posts to long-term brand retainers
• being trusted not just as talent, but as a strategic partner
• monetizing internationally (U.S. and Europe)
• understanding my value and raising my standards
• building a recognisable luxury brand identity that brands want to be associated with

Could I have sped it up? Yes if I understood my value sooner. I think many creatives stay “content creators” too long instead of becoming CEOs of their talent. The moment I made that mental shift I went from unpredictable income to a fully stable, full time international career.

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’m Nicole Simeone. A few years ago I was living in Madrid studying dentistry, but my real passion was always fashion and visual storytelling. I started posting every single day not because I just wanted to be famous, but because I wanted to learn how to make things look and feel the way I imagined. Posting consistently became my education: lighting, composition, pacing, mood, and how to tell a luxury story in 15–60 seconds.

At first it was hard and the income was inconsistent. I said yes to small jobs, learned to negotiate, and reinvested everything back into better production :better camera work, better styling, better direction. Slowly the work shifted: brands stopped seeing me as “just an influencer” and started hiring me to lead campaigns. I moved from one-off posts to long-term ambassadorships and retained partnerships with international brands across Europe and the U.S. Today I work as a creative director and on-camera talent ,I plan campaign concepts, direct shoots, and deliver assets that perform across platforms.

What I do for clients is simple and measurable: I translate luxury product and experience into credible, desire-driving content. Luxury brands can look perfect in a catalogue but feel flat online. I give them texture, personality, and a narrative that makes audiences act : book a stay, buy a product, download an app. I don’t chase trends; I craft consistent visual identities that protect brand equity and increase conversion. That’s why brands keep me on long term. I’m not a one-time boost, I’m a creative partner.

I’m most proud of turning a daily habit into a sustainable, full-time international career without industry nepotism or shortcuts. I built a signature aesthetic and the business systems to support it: selective partnerships, clear deliverables, and campaign metrics. I’ve taken creative risks, learned tough lessons about pricing and boundaries, and now I only take work that’s aligned with the standards I’ve set for my brand.

What I want potential clients, followers, and collaborators to know: I value quality over quantity, clarity over noise, and long-term value over single posts. If you want pretty content that fades tomorrow, I’m not your person. If you want elevated storytelling that builds desire, trust, and measurable outcomes for premium audiences that’s my work, and that’s what I deliver

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience through consistency, identity, and intention — not by going viral overnight. When I started, I was living in Madrid studying dentistry, but I had this strong desire to build something of my own in the fashion and luxury space. I committed to posting every single day — not random content, but content with a clear aesthetic direction, emotional tone, and long-term positioning. I didn’t chase trends; I built a recognizable visual signature. That became my advantage.

At first, it was slow — no shortcuts, no management, no paid boosts. But consistency creates trust, and trust converts into loyalty. People began following me not just because of how things looked, but because the brand experience felt intentional — elegant, feminine, aspirational, but realistic and self-owned. That’s when international brands started approaching me — not just for promotion, but for campaign leadership.

What made the growth sustainable was that I wasn’t posting to fill space — I was studying performance. I analyzed why certain visuals triggered emotion, why luxury sells online, and what makes people actually act — not just scroll. Over time, I built an audience that doesn’t just watch — they book trips, buy products, download apps, and invest. That’s why brands retain me long-term: my influence is measurable.

My biggest advice:
Don’t try to please everyone or follow every trend. Master your identity. Build something that is recognizable, consistent, and emotionally specific. Most people create noise — the ones who win build trust and desire. If your content doesn’t feel like a brand, it won’t last.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience has been at the core of my career from day one. When I first started posting content, I had zero connections, no agency, and no guarantee that this would ever turn into a sustainable career. At first, brand deals were small, inconsistent, and often one-off — I worked tirelessly, sometimes posting multiple times a day, investing my own money in equipment, styling, and travel, without knowing if it would pay off.

The turning point came when I realized that consistency alone wasn’t enough — I had to treat my creative work as a business. I learned to negotiate contracts, assert my value, and be selective with collaborations, even when it meant turning down opportunities. There were moments of self-doubt, late nights questioning if I could make a full-time career from this, and times when international campaigns almost slipped through my hands.

But I didn’t stop. I studied campaigns that worked, refined my aesthetic, experimented strategically, and treated every failure as a lesson. Slowly, my resilience translated into results: I moved from small projects to long-term international ambassadorships, creative direction roles, and campaigns retained across Europe and the U.S.

The story of my resilience isn’t about a single dramatic moment — it’s about sustained discipline, strategic risk-taking, and refusing to compromise on quality. Today, I can say I built a global, full-time career entirely from my creative vision, and every challenge I faced along the way shaped the professional I am now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nicolesimeone.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolesimeonex/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@nicolesimeonex

Image Credits

photographer: Francesco Norcia