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

Nora, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My social media presence, Nora Zaneta, seeks to empower women to build their glam lives- achieving their dreams and living confidently, faithfully and glamorously. On my platform (Youtube/ Instagram/ Tik Tok/ Facebook etc), I discuss beauty for black women, plus size fashion, faith and my glam lifestyle. The overarching theme is about my journey into womanhood and how I am building my glam life, the life I desire to live. My main goal is to showcase how I transition from building my glam life to living my glam life.

I started blogging in 2014 after I graduated from Berea College. I hoped to provide representation for young, plus size women, who, like me, were building their lives, and transitioning from young adulthood into womanhood. The plus size community favors specific sizes, shapes and shades of women and those preferred women do not look like me. Plus size women are often conditioned to believe that life and love come when they lose weight. I coined the phrase #buildingmyglamlife because my mission is to show my audience that I am building the life I desire to live and embracing myself at my current size. I deserve love now. I am worthy now. I have purpose now. I am beautiful now. Don’t miss out on opportunities or limit yourself because of your size.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am a native and resident of Nashville, TN. On my social media platforms, I show my audience how I am building my glam life, the life I desire to live through the lenses of beauty, plus size fashion, faith and glamorous lifestyle. I post beauty tutorials and product reviews, plus size clothing try-ons and styling videos, and lifestyle vlogs. My grandmother and mother heavily influenced my love for beauty, fashion and the glamorous life. I started blogging after college because I was tired of not seeing models who look like me. As a teen, I’d read fashion magazines and visit the mall and feel like an outcast. I am petite plus, brown skin and not an hourglass shape. The fashion industry lacked representation. I got tired of watching movies where the fat girl was the punch line of every joke. I got tired of not seeing plus size women thriving in the corporate space or in love so I created a space to empower women who look like me. I needed them to see someone who resembles them living life, experiencing love, enjoying their career and existing confidently.

My platform is multi-faceted. While beauty, fashion and glam lifestyle are the focus, I talk about faith, confidence, love, mental health, navigating the corporate space and being an entrepreneur. Building my glam life takes hard work, work that isn’t always so glamorous. My content is authentic, vulnerable and motivational. My content isn’t simply a highlight reel of my accomplishments, its a documentation of everything that it took for me to become the woman I want to be. I want potential clients/ followers/ and fans to know that authenticity and faith are the foundations of my brand. I am authentic about the products I like and don’t like. I weave my life experiences and life lessons into my brand to motivate and educate my audience. My brand will change how you view yourself and empower you to be a better you.

Knowing that I am changing how plus size women view themselves and their lives is what I am most proud of.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Authenticity, relatability, and value are what help you draw an audience on social media. Your audience needs to know you, they need to relate to you ( have similar interests) and your content needs to provide some sort of value, either entertainment or a solution to a problem that they have. In 2014, I created my blog, originally titled Lipstick,Thighs and Plus Size Life on Blogspot. Prior to starting my blog, I was posting my plus size outfit of the day photos on Instagram and using hashtags to grow my reach and engagement, I learned about search engine optimization and the importance of using hashtags to help my ideal audience find my blog. Research was essential to my social media growth. I reviewed my favorite plus size bloggers and content creator and saw what hashtags they used, what content they posted that interest me and how the marketed their content. That information helped me curtail how I marketed my content.I made sure to post links to my blog posts on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and mentioned that I had a new blog post in a post on Instagram. This helped me grow my audience.

Each social media platform is different. Tik Tok values more personality whereas Instagram values aesthetic video content. Does your audience enjoy long form content or short form content? Using your insights on each platform, what content is performing well? What isn’t performing well? What time is your audience on and what days are more of your audience online? What hashtags are trending? Find the answers to these questions for each platform you use to post content.

Just start! I kept waiting until I had the nicest camera, and most aesthetic apartment to post content. A phone and a well lit area is all you need. Don’t let perfection stop you from creating.

Things you need: a tripod, a phone, nice lighting ( ring light or soft box light), content ideas, computer/ editing software/app.

Tip: It’s easier if your username is the same across all of your platforms. My username is NoraZaneta on every social media platform I use. That way people who want to find me elsewhere can easily search me.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Recently, I rebranded my business. I was formerly Lipstick, Thighs, and Plus Size Life and rebranded to NoraZaneta. When I started my brand, I loved talking about beauty, plus size style and being plus size. There was heavy emphasis on the things and less on myself. As I grew, my vision for my brand developed. I decided to focus my brand more on me, my interests and how I am building my glam lifestyle. While beauty, fashion and lifestyle are still the focus, I am the foundation. I incorporate more of my personal experiences, feelings, growing pains and achievements.

A simple name change influenced how my audience receives what I post. I still empower women to be confident and recognize their worth. but it’s no longer physically or aesthetically focused. The rebrand allowed me to be more present and personal with my content, which, in turn, helped me grow my audience and build relationships with brands. The name change helped me pivot by helping me change what story I tell and how I tell it.

Changing your perspective and how you present your brand/business can be helpful if you are switching directions, or seeking to attract different audience and clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://norazaneta.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/norazaneta/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoraZaneta/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nora-harris-88b008125/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoraZaneta
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NoraZaneta
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@norazaneta?