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Top Of The Feed
Influencer marketing isn’t about following a straight line. I didn’t recognize it at first, but I now see this is the formula:
Agency Experience – The Accelerator: Dive in and get category + brand experience fast. Build a wide network (that you’ll likely cross paths with again years later) and develop a high tolerance for performing under pressure.
Talent Experience – The Connector: See the industry from the influencer’s side. Learn what truly motivates them and spot the gaps between brand and creator needs.
Brand Experience – The Visibility: Take everything you’ve learned into the slowest-moving system. Navigate corporate politics, understand decision-making, and leverage that brand name to open new doors.
If you can experience all three, you’ll not only understand influencer marketing from every angle, but you’ll have the foundation to succeed no matter where you look to take your career.
Spotlight
Black Influencer To Follow: Skylar Marshai
A multifaceted force, Skylar seamlessly blends perspective as an influencer and creative director. From fashion, travel & lifestyle, she’s built a reputation for pairing elevated storytelling with a versatility that translates across platforms and partnerships.
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Food For Thought
Experience doesn’t always mean perspective.
You can spend years in one lane of influencer marketing and still miss the bigger picture. Depth in one role builds expertise, but it doesn’t always create the perspective that sets you apart.
Perspective comes from diversification. Each stop adds a different lens, and together they create a balanced view that makes your work sharper, your decisions more informed, and your POV even more valuable.
So ask yourself: are you stacking years in the same lane, or are you diversifying your playbook to stand out?
Worth The Click
In the spirit of seeing the industry from every angle, here are a few reads that cut across different corners of influencer marketing and show just how interconnected the key players really are:
An interesting piece on the evolution of online influence that made me think about press incentives that brands may want to start offering talent within campaigns.
What I thought may be a trend now looks like a shift: brand employees increasingly mirror influencer behavior online. It raises the question—could this lead to deeper corporate empathy and understanding of the content lift influencers take on?
With the creator economy expanding and investment on the rise, the agency landscape is feeling more competitive. This piece looks at how brands and creators are choosing partners and what helps agencies stand out.
Behind The Feed
When I think about career advice in this industry, I take pride in the fact that my path hasn’t been perfectly repeatable. Neither are the paths of many people I admire. There’s a formula/pattern I’m picking up on for the outcome, but the exact steps to get there rarely look the same. More often, it’s a mix of opportunity, timing, and gut instincts.
When I first moved to New York after school, most of my early roles were in the startup world. I was working with talent, but by no means saw a path (or even knew of one) to “influencer marketing”. It was only through the overlap with traditional talent and by chance exposure to agencies that the pieces began to fit together.
Those early relationships ended up resurfacing through the years, opening doors to even greater opportunities, including my time brand-side and even now in entrepreneurship.
I feel incredibly fortunate to bring all of those learnings together in the work I do today. And yes, the professional goal is to drive impact on campaigns—but it is also a real privilege to spark conversations that might help others reframe their own personal career journeys.
Before You Log Off
Don’t just master a role. Master the industry.
