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About Paula of Sp1cy.mami
Paula began creating fashion, lifestyle, and fitness content on Instagram during the first lockdown. Like many of us, she had a lot of free time and decided to take this opportunity to create content and start modeling.
Paula shares, “I always find myself to be that person. I want to do something different than a nine-to-five job, although I’m working a nine-to-five job right now. The idea is to be a content creator full-time. My ultimate goal, really.”
During the lockdown, she started emailing different brands about collaborating with them. As her following grew, she began working with companies like Shein and L’Oreal.
“I love fashion and beauty and everything. I’m a proper girly girl. So, I always wanted to share makeup, wanted to share clothes, and how I style things on social media, so I guess that’s how it all started for me.
Paula created her social media name, sp1cy.mami, to keep her personal information private. The idea for the sp1cy.mami moniker was inspired by Cardi B’s music.
“I love being an influencer, but I also know that can impact [your work] if you post things in lingerie… I don’t really want people from my job finding me or my social media… That’s how my username came about because I did have an issue once a couple of years ago before I went to university. I got suspended from work, and I came up with the idea of creating or changing my name fully and having like an artist’s name, just a nickname.”
Creating Engaging Content as a Curvy Influencer
Paula shares that lingerie and bikini posts perform better than pictures of her wearing a dress or regular clothing.
“It’s sad because not everyone wants to share that [lingerie or bikini pictures]. Not everyone feels comfortable sharing their bodies, but that is the content that gets the most engagement.”
Regarding creating brand content, Paula shares that it can be more challenging for a curvy influencer to land brand deals and collaborations.
“Speaking to other curvy influencers, I do believe that it can be more difficult, especially with some brands which don’t cater to bigger sizes. I’m a size 14/16, but I see companies that go up to size 12, and then it’s awkward because you can’t really reach out to them, or if they reach out to you, then you have to say no because you’re not going to squeeze yourself into a piece of clothing.”
A post shared by FASHION | LIFESTYLE | FITNESS (@sp1cy.mami)
She adds that some brands are also reluctant to work with curvy influencers because they’re concerned about their clothes looking good on the influencer.
In addition to her online social media work, Paula also models and notes that boutiques and designers often prefer smaller girls.
“They sometimes prefer to have girls that are of smaller sizes, which is absolutely fine. I don’t have a problem with that, but it does make you feel worse than someone else because brands [say] we’re looking for someone that’s up to a size 12.”
After joining Sintillate Talent, Paula shares that being part of a group of influencers of various sizes has been helpful because everyone is so supportive of each other.
“It’s nice to have a little community and feel like you’re not on your own.”
Paula’s Advice to Curvy Influencers
Paula recommends that other curvy influencers continue to focus on what they’re doing, find their niche, and ignore the haters online.
“Obviously, there will be people that will say things … [On] social media, people say horrible stuff – let’s be real. The same things are also said about people that are very slim. People will always find something that’s “wrong” with you, and you just have to stay true to yourself.”
She recommends posting what you want to post regardless of mean comments that people leave.
In terms of brand collaborations, Paula shares, “If you find a brand and you don’t think it’s suitable for you, don’t feel offended. If they reject you, don’t feel offended because honestly, there will be other brands that are waiting to have content from you and that have your sizes.”
She adds that it’s essential to accept that some brands don’t want curvy models and recommends moving on and looking for brands that embrace you as you are.
Working with a Talent Agency
Paula has worked with many fashion and beauty brands, notably L’Oreal, Shein, and boohoo. She shares that working with well-known brands that appear on TV was an incredible experience for her.
Signing with Sintillate Talent has also broadened the types of brands she’s worked with.
She shares, “Working with Sintillate has given me the opportunity to work with smaller businesses, but also create some really good relationships. Sometimes when you work with bigger brands, it can also feel like you’re not being appreciated enough at times.”
However, working with smaller businesses allows her to make a huge difference, and she usually receives more direct feedback from the company, which she appreciates.
Another aspect Paula likes about working with Sintillate Talent is the lack of competition between herself and other influencers.
“Everyone wants to be doing the same thing and getting the same deals, but within our group, we have no competition, and we support each other rather than tear each other down.”
She also enjoys being able to ask other influencers for advice and recommendations.
Her talent manager also focuses on the health and well-being of the influencers he represents.
“He worries about the mental health and even the physical health of women, which is nice to bring up. We do awareness campaigns, which is really nice. I think his agency has definitely opened up a lot more doors for me as well in terms of going to events, networking, and meeting new people.”
The Future
In the future, Paula would love to see more brands become involved with curvy influencers and not make them feel as if they’re different.
“Having more curvy influencers be more involved in projects and having those companies who don’t cater to bigger sizes now cater to bigger sizes because, obviously, not everyone can be a size 12. People have conditions that stop them from being a certain size.”
At the moment, Paula is continuing to work a full-time job while building her content creation career. She is also excited to be working on a couple of L’Oreal deals.
“The main focus at the moment is to get loads of content. Also to get on TikTok and be more productive on TikTok because TikTok is really in… That’s getting a lot of people deals on there, so for me, I need to grow on TikTok. That’s kind of my priority.”
Amy DeYoung is a freelance blog post writer covering influencer marketing and business topics. As the daughter of two business owners, she’s been fascinated by all things business from a young age, which led her to graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree in business. When she’s not typing away, she spends her time reading nonfiction books and mystery novels, baking scrumptious desserts, and playing with her dog.
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