We were lucky to catch up with Ris MoNae recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I have been able to make full time income from being a social media influencer. It was not always like this. When I began I was creating, editing and posting every single day in hopes of growing a following and eventually getting recognized by brands. I would use products that I already had at home and use the sunlight as a way to make my videos look like they were quality. Even under the circumstances, I gained 10k followers in 3 months. Companies start reaching out to me and I was only charging $15 for a picture post and $20 for a video post. I should have been charging way more than that. I definitely think if I knew how much companies were actually paying other influencers, i definitely would have upped my price. I would probably have so much more money right now. Consistency and not comparing myself to others were the key to getting to where I am today.

Ris, 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?

When I began influencing, I started off doing natural hair videos. I started this because I always got complimented on my hair and asked about my hair routines. I decided to go ahead and just show people instead of telling different people a hundred different times. As I mentioned I began to grow so quickly and working with brands shortly after beginning. Things were really picking up and I realized that this is something I can teach others how to do. So many people would reach out to me asking how could they grow their social media just like me. I then decided to create an ebook that told others exactly what I did. I made $1,000 the first week. I knew then this could really be something big. I decided to really push that ebook and help more and more people. I even start doing 1on1 sessions. I now have multiple ebooks that make me $4,000+ monthly and offer other services like content creator bootcamps and classes. I literally can help anyone grow their platforms and make a business out of it.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

The great thing about all the endeavors that I pursue, it takes little to no money to get started. For example I was broke as a joke when I created my ebook. I only had the knowledge and the experiences. I found free resources to help me create the ebook. Even with beginning my influencer journey, I didn’t buy anything. I used the phone I already had and used products that I already had at home. I also would use the sunlight in my window to make my videos clear. I couldn’t even record at night because the lighting in my house was so terrible. I literally created something out of nothing with these business ventures. I did eventually get better quality things after saving up money from collabs.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I honestly just want to see people win and show them that there is a way to be rich and successful without doing it the typical way. It’s not really anyone where I come from doing what I do. If they are doing it they aren’t giving the game to those who come from where they are from. My overall mission is to help as many people especially people of color learn about social media, see how powerful it is and create a lifestyle from it.

Contact Info:

• Website: Rismonae.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/rismonae
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charisma.monae/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWgQc08eVp-MNuTlW2IGSyQ