08 Social Media Influencer
What is it Like Being a Social Media Influencer
On this episode of the Unboxing Careers Podcast, we unbox the career of a social media influencer.
Guest: Cassidy Montalvo, better know as @JustClassicallyCassidy, is a social media influencer. Cassidy joins this episode to discuss her career as an influencer and provides an in-depth look at the challenges and rewards the career brings. Learn what being an influencer is really like and tips for making content go from good to great.
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How to Become a Social Media Influencer
Becoming a social media influencer is one of the most talked-about modern careers. It looks flexible, creative, and fun. But behind every 30-second video is strategy, discipline, and emotional resilience. In this episode of the Unboxing Careers podcast, we hear from Cassidy Montalvo, better known as @JustClassicallyCassidy, who shares what it actually takes to build a full-time career as an influencer.
What Does a Social Media Influencer Do Every Day?
At first glance, influencing can look like filming quick outfit videos and posting casually throughout the day. In reality, the visible content is only a fraction of the workload. A single 30-second hair tutorial may take an hour or more once you factor in setup, filming, editing, captions, and posting. Beyond that, there are brand meetings, content planning, responding to comments and DMs, and reviewing what followers are asking for next. Cassidy often wakes up at 5 a.m. to film before her children wake up, then moves into meetings and additional content creation throughout the day.
The job blends creativity with constant communication. There is no clean end time because engagement continues after the post goes live. You are not just creating videos, you are maintaining relationships.
A typical day may include:
Brainstorming and researching content ideas
Filming and editing multiple pieces of content
Managing brand deliverables and deadlines
Writing captions and accessible story summaries
Responding to followers and building engagement
This career suits someone energized by multitasking, creativity, and interaction. It may feel draining for someone who prefers predictable schedules and clear separation between work and personal life.
How to Find Success in a Crowded Niche
Many people hesitate to pursue influencing because it feels overcrowded. Beauty, fashion, and lifestyle are especially competitive. Cassidy entered one of the most saturated niches and did not expect rapid growth. What changed her trajectory was not a sudden strategic pivot, but consistency. A hair tutorial she posted weeks earlier suddenly gained traction after being shared and picked up by the algorithm. That unpredictability is part of the job.
Growth in this field requires patience. Momentum builds slowly, often invisibly, until one piece of content connects more broadly. Sustainable growth depends on:
Choosing a niche you genuinely enjoy
Posting consistently, even without immediate results
Resisting constant trend-chasing
Building depth instead of chasing virality
This field rewards people who can tolerate delayed gratification. If you need instant feedback to stay motivated, this path may feel frustrating.
Challenges of Work-Life Balance as an Influencer
Influencing offers flexibility, but flexibility comes with a cost. When her platform began to grow, Cassidy was balancing long hotel management shifts with content creation late into the night. That period was exhausting and nearly unsustainable. Eventually, she and her husband made a calculated decision to commit fully to influencing.
Even now, the job does not shut off easily. She uses an app to block access to social media during certain hours to protect personal time. The balance looks like:
Freedom to attend family events
Flexible daytime scheduling
Constant mental awareness of audience expectations
Difficulty fully disconnecting
If you value autonomy and dislike rigid office hours, this flexibility can feel empowering. If you rely on structured boundaries to recharge, the always-on nature may feel overwhelming.
Dealing With Influencer Fatigue and Online Criticism
Public visibility brings public opinion. No matter what you post, someone will disagree. Even changing her hair color led to strong reactions from followers who felt invested in her choices. This illustrates the emotional complexity of parasocial relationships. Followers may feel deeply connected, even when the creator does not know them personally.
Constant exposure to feedback can create fatigue. Cassidy stopped checking analytics regularly because watching follower gains and losses affected her mindset. The emotional demands include:
Handling criticism without internalizing it
Accepting fluctuating metrics
Maintaining identity outside of social media
Setting internal boundaries around feedback
This career fits someone emotionally steady and comfortable with public scrutiny. Highly sensitive individuals may find the constant evaluation draining.
The Reality of Privacy and Public Visibility
Influencing reduces privacy. While many interactions are positive, visibility changes how you move through the world. Cassidy has experienced followers showing up at her home unexpectedly. Even kind interactions can feel unsettling when strangers know intimate details about your life.
Public visibility means:
Personal choices are publicly discussed
Family members may be indirectly exposed
Boundaries must be actively enforced
This field works best for people who are comfortable sharing parts of their life while clearly protecting others.
Mistakes to Avoid When Starting as an Influencer
Shortcuts are one of the biggest traps in this industry. It can be tempting to inflate numbers quickly through giveaways or purchased followers, but that approach often creates a disengaged audience. Brands value engagement and trust more than surface-level follower counts.
Another mistake is obsessing over analytics. Constantly checking numbers can shift focus away from creativity and toward comparison. Cassidy intentionally stepped back from daily analytics tracking because it affected her mental health.
Trying to please everyone is also unsustainable. Public careers require clarity of identity. Adjusting your personality or content to satisfy every opinion often leads to burnout.
Common early mistakes include:
Buying followers or overusing giveaways
Building around gimmicks instead of value
Chasing every trend without a clear niche
Obsessing over metrics instead of quality
Attempting to please everyone
Long-term success comes from consistency, authenticity, and patience.
Common Misconceptions About Being an Influencer
A frequent misconception is that influencers “just try on clothes all day.” The visible content hides the business operations underneath. Influencers manage contracts, deadlines, negotiations, editing workflows, and community relationships. The job may not resemble a traditional office role, but it requires strategic thinking and time management.
Misconceptions overlook:
The planning and preparation behind each post
The emotional weight of public feedback
The business skills required for partnerships
The discipline needed for consistent output
This career rewards entrepreneurial thinkers who enjoy ownership and accountability.
Being Authentic, Building Relationships, and Creating Community
One of the biggest misconceptions is that influencing is competitive and isolating. Cassidy initially believed creators were in constant competition. Instead, she found supportive friendships within the industry. Authenticity plays a central role in building a community. Rather than reshooting every imperfect moment, she keeps mistakes in her videos because perfection feels artificial.
Strong communities are built through:
Responding to comments and DMs
Listening to follower requests
Creating content that solves problems
Sharing personal experiences with solutions
Vulnerability can be powerful when paired with growth. For younger creators, especially, sharing challenges alongside solutions can create meaningful support networks.
How to Take Your Content from Good to Great
Good content informs. Great content creates engagement. Cassidy explains that once you have an active audience, the power shifts to how well you connect with them. Engagement becomes the differentiator.
Ways to elevate content:
Encourage conversations in comments
Create videos that people save or share
Make followers feel comfortable engaging first
Prioritize depth over surface-level trends
Brands value engagement over sheer follower count. A smaller, highly engaged audience is often more attractive to partnerships than a large but inactive one.
Closing Thoughts
Influencing is not just about going viral. It is about building trust, staying consistent, and serving a community over time. If you are willing to commit to the process and protect your mental health along the way, this modern career path can offer both creativity and flexibility. Whether you are 16 or 36, it starts with pressing record and showing up consistently.
Influencer Career Snapshot
If you are considering becoming a social media influencer, here is a distilled view of what this career truly requires and rewards.
This career may be a strong fit if you:
Enjoy creating consistently, even when growth feels slow
Are comfortable sharing parts of your life publicly
Can handle criticism without internalizing it
Like engaging directly with people every day
Thrive in flexible but unstructured work environments
Think entrepreneurially and enjoy owning your outcomes
This career may feel challenging if you:
Prefer privacy and minimal public visibility
Need firm boundaries between work and personal time
Struggle with fluctuating feedback or online criticism
Want predictable income and structured advancement paths
Feel drained by constant interaction and responsiveness
Core realities to understand:
Growth is unpredictable and often slow before momentum builds
Engagement matters more than follower count
Mental resilience is as important as creativity
Shortcuts like buying followers damage long-term credibility
Authenticity and relationship-building drive sustainable success
Influencing is not simply content creation. It is relationship management, brand building, and emotional labor combined. Understanding those layers is essential before pursuing it seriously.
FAQs About Becoming a Social Media Influencer
How many hours a day does a social media influencer work?
Influencers often work the equivalent of a full-time job when you include planning, filming, editing, responding to followers, and managing brand partnerships.
Is influencing emotionally difficult?
Yes. Public criticism, fluctuating follower counts, and constant engagement pressure can be mentally taxing.
Do brands care more about followers or engagement?
Engagement is often more valuable than total follower count. An active, trusting audience is more attractive to brands.
Is the influencer market too crowded to enter?
While competitive, success depends on consistency and authentic connection rather than niche scarcity.
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