At Creators’ Talk, we speak to real-life creators about their unique experiences in creating and monetizing their content. We also talk about their challenges and how they are overcoming them. We hope that these stories will inspire you to build your niche and monetise your content over time.
Today, we’re featuring Temitope a beauty creator helping African women manage and grow their natural hair through relatable content. In her story, she shares the struggles of having a relatively small following in the beauty industry.
Hi Temitope. Were you always into beauty and the creative side as a child?
So growing up, I used to want to be a soldier. I don’t have the height to even start with but yeah I wanted to be a soldier.
What?
Haha, to be fair, then I didn’t have natural hair. I wasn’t even taking care of the one I had. When I’m going out, I just use a rubber band to pack it and I’m out.
As time went on, I realized that wait o, this hair is not growing again. So I had to do something about it.
Then in my 200 level, I was in a car with my family and I asked my mum if can I do natural hair. And she was like yeah, as long as you can take care of it but know that it’s not easy.
Did it end up being easy?
When I first started, honestly, it was hard. I had this fear because it looked so difficult to maintain. You can’t comb it, you can’t brush it. But I was determined that I’m going to take care of it. So there was nothing, I did not use. Like when rice water was trending, I used rice water.
But I love hair. I love making for others and myself. In fact, I don’t go to saloons, I just make simple natural hairstyles. It just became a part of me, something so passionate that I forgot about my soldier dreams.
After I was done with school, one day in the kitchen, I was preparing dinner and my mum was with me. And I told her oh mummy what if I have a naturalista page on Instagram and she was like ehn hen, shey you like hair? I don’t think it’ll be a bad idea.
So I told the rest of my family members in the group chat. And my brother was like yeah, I’m going to even support you with a ring light.
Ahn ahn first investor.
Ah, that’s how it became serious o. I thought I was going to use my phone. But now that there’s a ring light attached to it, I have to be serious with it. That money cannot waste.
So I started it.
At first, I was so scared, because what if I get tired? I’ll have to think of what hairstyles to do, the right products, if the products are bad or how I’ll edit them. Do you get?
But I was determined. I told my friends and they helped repost a lot.
Do you still feel that way?
Even last week, I had this thought – what if creating this page was a mistake? It’s not easy. Sometimes it’s why didn’t I use my personal page to do this.
Because now I’m starting from scratch. I only have 77 followers. It’s hard not to compare. I’ll go to beauty pages and see 1k, 2k followers. This babe just started two months ago. What’s going on?
But I have to tell myself that it’s a journey for me. I’m growing my hair and documenting it. It’s nice so people can see that growth. Sometimes because I have to upload a video, I’ll have to take care of my hair.
I was supposed to upload a picture on the page and I was so lazy to edit it. I kept on postponing it, but today I uploaded it.
The peace of mind I had, honestly it’s not easy but I have to keep pushing because it’s not only for myself, it’s for other people to also learn.
What would you say is another big challenge asides from consistency, especially as a small creator?
- I’d say determination. At some point, I was like, abeg I no dey do this thing again. But then I spoke to my friend. And she was like you know it’s not going to be easy.
- It’s also good to have people who can support you and encourage you in what you’re doing. Your friends, your family – so I’m not just styling my hair. Sometimes my sister encourages me by asking me to do something with her hair. It’s helpful because there’s someone asking me to do this.
- Consistency is also key, because you can’t come today and upload one. Then the next time you’re uploading is the next two months. Because if I’m following such a person on IG, to be honest, I’d have unfollowed or forgotten about them.
- Finally, for people who are just starting like me – peace of mind o.
If you don’t give yourself peace of mind, you’ll keep thinking about how this other girl is doing her own this way. So you can’t sleep well. And I’m saying this from experience. There’s this girl I follow. She’s my age and she’s also a small creator. She just started and then I’ll be comparing how she did her video editing, the transitions, and all.
But now I have peace. We all have our methods and it’s to find people who align with your brand.
Do you have specific advice for people who are into hair content? If you have someone that says they want to start what you’re doing?
I’d say pray about it and be sure that this is exactly what you need to be doing.
Then make sure that when choosing a name for your page, don’t choose something that’s too common. Not that when I search on Instagram, I’m seeing 50 more people before I see your own. Because here’s the thing, I’d have probably followed the first two or liked their own. Before I find your own.
Then consistency. So once there’s a drive, something to motivate you, you’d be able to find content ideas and produce content easily.
Finally, just know you’ll get there. You can’t create a content page and expect that when you wake up you’ll have 5000 followers. You need to work for it and build your page. If you want to run ads or work with collaborators that’s fine. Just ensure that you do it diligently.
Do you have any finance tips? Because you have to buy products and God knows they are expensive. So how do you do this as a small creator?
For a beginner like me, it’s the little money that has been provided by God. So I’m currently interning for a company, so I save and spend. I’d say ask your parents for the money o, if you can.
To be honest the first set of products I bought, my sister sponsored me. It was a birthday gift. And it was timely so I used some of the money to buy hair products for my content.
But I made sure I searched for good products for my hair because I can’t waste my money.
A mistake people make when they start with natural hair is that they want to get all the products available. I feel like you should start from somewhere. If it’s shampoo and conditioner you can afford, start from there.
When I started, I didn’t have oil o. And oil is very important lol but I got what my money could afford. As little as these things may be, they are very expensive.
If you have brands that are willing to sponsor fine. But save for it and buy the most important products first. If your siblings can sponsor you too, please take it.
Being a creator is already enough work, let’s do the heavy lifting. Get cash tips from fans and sell your digital products with Creathor today.
