The lifespan of an influencer is 15 years?

What happens after that?

You know when you’ve never heard of a type of car, but the moment that someone mentions it to you — you see it on every street? That happened to me last week, but not for a car, for my career.

It felt like I kept having the same conversation over and over again. With friends, with colleagues, and even with rare acquaintances - everyone was feeling the same way. Are we coming to the end of this?

When someone asks me how long I’ve been doing my job - I tell them that I started creating content online when we were still uploading pictures of our meals on Instagram with the Valencia filter. If you don’t get that reference, you’re too young and this writing isn’t for you — kidding.

I’m hitting 14 years of being a creator, 5 of this being my full time job in July. This job has offered me more flexibility and freedom than I could have ever dreamed. When I started my blog in 2010, creating wasn’t a career - it was a hobby. Brick by brick, I grew my website, my social audiences, and my newsletter. And has it gotten easier over time? Not really.

They say that it takes 10,000 hours to truly become an expert at something. I put in my 10,000 hours learning how to photograph, edit, create hooks, tell brand stories, push out content at alarming quick rates, and connect on a level that is sincere without selling.

Along the way, I also learned how to make my hobby a lifestyle. I made a 180 and learned how manage my time, not be addicted to my phone, to film content without taking away from the integrity of the moment, and overall how to continue to live my life online and still have semblance of privacy and balance.

But what happens next?

I see the divide most evidently in those that have been creating for over 10 years and the largest contrast when they get close to their ‘decade and a half’ mark. While “new” creators are sharing and maybe even oversharing the intricacies of their lives, the seasoned influencers are stepping back. They value time management, breaks, and privacy over all else.

The seasoned professionals that I know are drawing harder and harder lines on what’s for their jobs and what’s for their personal lives - and I think that’s a good thing. Engagements aren’t announced until the brink of the wedding, pregnancy announcements when you can’t hide it any longer, and they are even going on social media free vacations (I traveled to Thailand in 2018 and left my phone at home, on purpose.)

We’re often told to “niche down” and “stay in our lane” to grow. It’s sound advice— but you and I? We are multifaceted people. We enjoy sharing a great blush find and also a great book. The algorithm gods don’t take kindly to that.

And while the industry does keep us constantly on our feet chasing new algorithms, strategies, and formats — how many years can we be promoting a blush?

The burnout is *so real* in fact, the Times did a piece on “life after influencing” and what people are doing when they decide to step away from their jobs online.

For many, they turn to entrepreneurship. Instead of spending their lives selling someone else’s things, they take their learnings and work on creating something of their own.

I’m taking notes from my predecessors, and while I’m making no immediate moves, my 2024 roadmap includes spending time and energy on this newsletter (because long form writing brings me joy) and Lulla - my new hair accessory line and first venture into a product based business. If you’d like to support me, you can sign up to learn more here.