Amara
Earthshine

Businesses often spend a lot of money on marketing teams to make their brand appealing to
consumers and true to them. Most times, this is done by monetizing well-known celebrities and
their likenesses. Basically, our "wants" have always been carefully and strategically curated. This
rigid stereotypical marketing system had a major flaw as only one ethnic group was always
represented, alienating almost all others. The stale, and obsolete machinery of earlier marketing
strategies tremendously contributed to the proliferation of the internet when it became widely
available in the 1990s, as it gave us the autonomy to choose the places, people, and websites that
best reflected who we were. In 2004, Facebook was created. As a result of this new
communication channel, the foundation for the profession we now know as "Social Media
Influencers" (SMI) started to take shape. Twitter debuted in its wake in 2006. These applications
will serve as a test bed for the SMI-developing sector, where personality and likeability are the
two most crucial needs. Instagram wouldn't launch on social media until 2010, which is another
six years later. The then-new platform can be attributed to the success and rise of SMI culture.

 

Precisely what is a social media influencer (SMI)? Well, SMI is best defined as anyone with a
significant following who is knowledgeable in their field, whether it be beauty, fashion, trade,
sports, etc. These individuals have the ability to persuade the buying public, or in this case, their
followers, to part with their money. Using SMI criteria, skin care and beauty influencer Amara
Earthshine seems to have a relatively small following, a simple scan through her Instagram page,
appropriately dubbed amara.earthshine, however, reveals that it is rife with international
corporate partnerships. Thanks to her longtime business collaborator, Christan Nixon, the quality
of his work on her account can easily be used for any worldwide, regional, or local campaign.
Not only does Amara have well-polished content but she holds a degree in Environmental

Natural Resource Management and Botany. So how and why did she choose to abandon her
corporate job of five years? “I left my last job because I was overwhelmed and at odds with
the negative aspects of corporate culture that I had experienced. I felt like I was
overextending myself and the impacts on my health, wellbeing and interpersonal
relationships did not appear to be worth it; especially since I was in a job that I had little
passion for. I was giving it all my time and energy but experiencing no fulfillment” she
explains.

 

Feeling unfilled with her last job, was the lure of social media and its creative world of
possibilities something she fell into as escapism? And just how does one who seemingly has the
dream, i.e., a permanent Monday-Friday job, a degree, and overall stability, make such a
decision? “I stumbled into this space looking for advice on how to treat a skin concern I had
at the time that was infiltrating every aspect of my life. I found advice, support and
community and decided to use the online space to journal the experience I had in case I
could help someone else” she continues " Before I started working in SM, I didn’t fully
understand its scope at all. I think my earliest interactions were with natural hair
YouTubers and then eventually skincare content creators on Instagram. I basically
encountered influencers by chance whenever I was looking for information, advice, or
tutorials on the internet. It was a while before I even realized that people could get paid for
creating content. I really thought we were all just sharing our interests with people online
to build community. So many of the ‘influencers’ I first followed were so genuine and open
that it truly seemed like just a group of friends. They were far from the ‘super influencers’
of the day—those I viewed as internet celebrities—people who became famous online
without or before having fame offline.”

 

Post-pandemic discourse surrounding the niche field, declaring the SMI industry no longer
profitable, a far cry from a Forbes 2017 article that positioned the profession to be a $15 billion
industry by 2022. So, has the once lucrative sector also fallen into the same trap as its
predecessor? " It is quite profitable but there are so many factors to consider to be
successful. I think once you get to a certain point, you have a high chance of success. Forsome, that’s obtaining a certain number of followers. For others, it’s having your work
reach the right audience. It requires a great deal of consistent effort and honestly some luck
to make sure that you’re in a position to capitalize whenever your ‘moment’ does come”
Amara proclaims, Continuing, she states, "As we’re moving out of an era where remote
everything was the primary form, I’m not sure that social media will ever end, and as long
as the platforms exist, they will be used for commerce. Things may evolve, but I don’t know
about it ending." With so many people still flocking to social media apps hoping to find success
on whatever the recent most popular trend is, is it now an oversaturated market? “I wouldn’t say
so. I think no matter how many creators or influencers there are, everybody can find their
niche and build a community. For instance, when I started creating, although there was an
abundance of beauty creators, I couldn’t find any beauty creators that I related to
completely. Even now, there aren’t that many creators addressing beauty in a Caribbean
context. The challenges I face managing my skin concerns are different from those faced by
fellow creators in other parts of the world. Maybe some niches are oversaturated but not
all”.

But is Amara’s partnership preference a matter of choice? “I’ve worked mostly (90%) with
international clients - my first paid collaboration was with an international brand (Korean
founded, US based) and I think because my online community is so varied, brands from all
over the world tend to approach me. So far, my best experiences have been with
international clients, and I think several things contribute to that. For starters, many of my
international clients are larger companies. They have dedicated marketing teams and have
experience working with digital creators so they’re able to communicate exactly what they
want, and they understand what can be guaranteed on SM and what cannot. They also are
familiar with how the services I offer are valued and tend to have assigned budgets for
these services. So, getting from interest to agreement to successful collaboration is mostly
seamless with my international clients. I think locally we’re still growing in terms of our
understanding and appreciation of creative work as well as non-traditional forms of marketing, so the experience is quite different when I’m approached by potential clients
here” She clarifies on the situation.

Since social Influencers “offices” is primarily centered online, there is some ambiguity about its
viability since technological advancements could eventually lead to its extinction. Recent, AI-
generated images of the Pope wearing a swaggered-out white puffer coat and the 45th president
of the United States purportedly getting imprisoned went viral online. The internet was split by
these photographs, due to their lifelike nature, however remarks from the respective teams would
later disprove their veracity. Is AI the new upcoming instrument to depose influencers? “While I
don’t believe AI technology can adequately reflect all of the nuance of using a live model,
I’m definitely concerned that it might add some competition. Of course, clients will always
look for ways to get the best return for their marketing dollars so it’s inevitable that they
will explore ways that the technology can be used if it proves more cost effective. I’m
curious to see what role it can play in the future, but I have concerns as well” she comments.
But what about sustainability? “It can be. The challenge as far as I’ve seen is with how
information is shared throughout the industry. There is still no standardization when it
comes to things like rates and resources aren’t easy to come by. As a result, many newer
creators are figuring things out as we go along. Of course, companies are aware of this and
can take advantage. Creators / influencers are essentially small businesses so we also face
many challenges that any small business would face like competition and lack of access to
capital. Keeping a diverse portfolio where a variety of services are offered is the best way to
be sustainable but even that adds further challenges”.

 

Since the brutal killing of George Floyd in the early stages of the COVID-19 virus and the
emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement on social media, this heinous crime has
undoubtedly influenced the way brands maneuvered moving forward, but is activism supported
in the beauty industry? Pausing briefly, she began; “His murder was so horrifying, and soonafter, brands began to hire a lot more influencers with dark skin. Tokenism has always
been a problem in the community, or rather, in most occupations, which is why "diversity
hire," is a coined phrase, but to address the question; Yes and no. I think people can forget
that the faces they see online everyday belong to ordinary people. When you have a
platform, people expect you to use it in a certain way - but the downside is that you can’t
please everybody. People say they want you to speak up about various issues, but
sometimes it’s taken in bad faith, not seen as genuine etc. On the other hand, some people
prefer it when creators keep the space ‘light’ by not talking about certain topics” Where
does one's morals begin and finish seeing that she needs to walk a tightrope with this while
navigating a market full of fierce competitors? “I avoid brands whose values don’t align with
my own. If a brand is known for bullying or undervaluing creators or any type of
problematic behavior for example. Otherwise, I’m fairly open. I mostly create within the
beauty niche on my platform, but I will work with brands outside of this niche from time to
time” she states unequivocally.

 

With our interview winding down on a somewhat sombre note, with us reflecting on the many
lives lost during the pandemic, I inquired why did the 32-year-old college graduate chose the
specific field she did to study? “My interest in the natural environment was always there so
the decision to get into that field of study just made sense to me. When I was growing up
there was always greenery around, my family had a little kitchen garden at one point, and
I’ve always been taken with trees and clouds. Then I fell in love with Geography in
secondary school and it followed from there. Funny story my family and I have recently
restarted our home garden” she boasts. But what does the future hold for this beauty
influencing enigma? “Honestly I am looking at organizations I can work with to do some
charity, giving back is important with I have been looking at this group FeminiTT, they do
a lot of Gender Justice work in the Caribbean through education and conversation as well
as giving hygiene products to women and young girls who may not be able to afford it”.
And with that, this article comes to an end. We're not sure if she herself realizes that by doing her
own work and simply enjoying her life, she serves as an advocate and role model for other black
women. Prioritizing her own mental health and leaving an establishment that wasn't ideal for her.completing studies in a field she has always been passionate about and, after a procedure left her
with skin problems, setting out on a quest to learn so she could assist other women who may be
facing the same struggles. Amara Earthshine is more than your average influencer.

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