Niké Ojekunle calls herself one of many “OG influencers,” and since becoming a member of TikTok, the Nigeria-born, Los Angeles-based blogger’s “prepare with me” movies and skincare suggestions have helped her amass over half one million followers. As her follower depend grew, she additionally negotiated increasingly more sponsorship offers for herself, utilizing her enterprise savvy and entrepreneurial mindset to ink offers with trend and sweetness manufacturers. 

“I’ve at all times been self-managed,” Ojekunle says. “I’m good at it myself. It simply doesn’t make sense for me to have a supervisor.”

However when a bunch known as the Carter Company reached out, the supply was one. They understood that Ojekunle most popular to work alone, and so they have been superb with that. As an alternative, they needed to assist her land occasional one-off campaigns with big-name purchasers. Ojekunle’s mother had simply been recognized with stage 4 breast most cancers, and Ojekunle was flying backwards and forwards from Tampa to Los Angeles to be together with her dad and mom. She needed another person to take the wheel for a bit, and the expertise company’s web site listed Netflix, Amazon and the NFL as “strategic companions.” She stated “sure.”

In November 2022, Ojekunle was one of many first influencers to talk out about her expertise with the Carter Company, which by that time owed her 1000’s of {dollars} for numerous branding offers. She wouldn’t be the final—dozens of influencers, a lot of them ladies of coloration, ultimately got here ahead. A number of of them shared their expertise in an article in The New York Occasions titled, “New Fame, Age-Previous Exploitation.”

Turning a detrimental expertise into a chance to assist others

The expertise left Ojekunle considerably shaken, however she needed to channel it into one thing that felt productive. “The worst factor you would ever name me is a sufferer,” she says. “I simply don’t ever need to be seen like that in my life. And so when all that stuff occurred, I stated to myself, ‘I’ll use this to alter the trade, to make it possible for everybody who comes after me—all of the Black ladies who come after me, won’t ever get scammed once more.’”

She determined she’d begin mentoring different younger influencers who approached her with questions on model offers or the superb print of their contracts. It’s not an accident that the Carter Company and different organizations prefer it primarily scammed ladies of coloration. Ojekunle explains that they’d hunt down creators who may not have the expertise or trade perception that extra privileged creators did. Influencer advertising and marketing has one of many worst racial pay gaps of any trade. She thought she might assist shut that hole.

Finally, although, even that work, rewarding because it was, began to really feel draining. “That entire [Carter Agency] factor—I’m nonetheless somewhat traumatized from it,” she says. “And the final 12 months, I’ve form of stepped away from influencing utterly as a result of… it retains taking place, you understand?” The scams haven’t stopped, and it’s been exhausting to observe different younger creators fall for a similar tips, to simply accept low charges, to say sure to any crumb of promoting cash that got here their manner as a result of they felt like they couldn’t say no.”

That’s when the gears began turning. Possibly she couldn’t cease scammers from being scammy. With the launch of TikTok Store, possibly the issue would maintain itself, as manufacturers more and more strategy creators instantly, moderately than going by means of companies. 

Niké Ojekunle: The journey from homelessness to monetary literacy

However Ojekunle realized she had began from the underside, too, with no following to talk of and no fancy offers with expertise companies. She was homeless as soon as, and he or she purchased a home in Los Angeles final 12 months. What units her aside—what received her to the place she is in the present day, and what helped her understand that the Carter Company was making the most of her and different creators—is that she has monetary literacy. 

“I spotted loads of influencers don’t,” she says. She references a current podcast episode by which fashionable content material creator Emma Chamberlain stated she by no means checks her checking account. Followers thought the confession was irresponsible and out of contact. Ojekunle says we’d all be shocked at how frequent Chamberlain’s scenario is, no matter how a lot cash an influencer has coming in from model offers. 

“Loads of influencers don’t go to varsity,” she explains. “So think about, you’ve all that fame, plus you didn’t go to high school, you don’t have any formal training, you don’t have any monetary literacy in any respect. You simply don’t perceive cash… That’s once I was like, ‘Oh, I might add this to my mentorship. I might educate influencers how to save cash and make investments and never spend frivolously whenever you  have that small window the place you make good cash.’”

Utilizing one piece of the puzzle to create the large image

Serving to influencers keep away from getting scammed—that was one piece of the puzzle. What Ojekunle is doing now together with her Specs and Blazers model is the entire puzzle: monetary literacy, saving cash and making that cash give you the results you want, all whereas creating an consciousness of what to look out for from shady firms which may not have your greatest pursuits in thoughts.

Ojekunle provides that there’s an actual keeping-up-with-the-Joneses kind of factor taking place amongst influencers who need to seem like they’ve all of it—the most recent merchandise, the first-class flights—however in actuality live on maxed-out bank cards and overdrafted accounts. She remembers a current dialog with one influencer, somebody with a a lot larger following than she has, who requested how she might have probably afforded to purchase a home in Los Angeles. 

Her response was easy: She saves her cash. She’s frugal. In her expertise, many influencers aren’t. It’s not that she judges them although. There’s a sure picture influencers need to painting in the event that they need to proceed being influencers, and the impulse to spend is one she understands nicely. 

“Parasocial relationships are robust; you need to seem like your favourite influencer, and your favourite influencer needs to seem like her favourite influencer, and he or she needs to seem like her favourite celeb,” Ojekunle quips. And never everybody has been so enamored with the frugality mindset she’s pushing now. “Loads of them are receptive, however there are some who push again and are like… I simply wanna purchase that new bag,” she laughs. “I understand, it’s a microcosm of American tradition. It’s loads of strain on them. After which there’s an added layer to it: being Gen Z, being an influencer, being Black.”

Ojekunle evokes her followers to avoid wasting as a substitute of spend

Nonetheless, she feels hopeful that this could possibly be the beginning of one thing new. The overwhelming majority of her followers have been excited to listen to her speaking candidly about cash—about saving and investing it, that’s, not simply spending it. 

“After the very first video that I did the place I stated, ‘I’m pivoting my platform towards monetary literacy,’ my DMs have been full of ladies saying, ‘We’ve been ready for any influencer, and I imply any influencer, to cease pushing merchandise on our web page and inform us to avoid wasting our cash as a substitute,’” Ojekunle says. “Monetary literacy for influencers is what I’m so keen about. I really feel like if I can simply convert 15, 20 influencers to be the largest influencer in their very own life, to advocate for themselves, then I’ve finished my half within the trade.”

Photograph by Christina Mumper.

Cassel is a Minneapolis-based author and editor, a co-owner of Racket MN, and a VHS collector.