Niomi Smart: A Second Take

Stylist: Kyle Gavin Makeup & Hair: Louise Hall using Maria Nila Hair Care + Urban Decay Cosmetics Special Thanks for Chelsea Physic Garden

WORDS + IMAGES BY KYLE GAVIN

We're catching up with YouTube superstar Niomi Smart. After chatting with Niomi once already, we realized had a few more questions for her about being a content creator and attracting brands to your platform. Who better to sit down with than Niomi, who's reached a combined social reach of 11 million?

WHAT MAKES YOU PERSONALLY FOLLOW SOMEONE AND ENGAGES YOU CONTENT WISE?

I like following people that have a real balance between what they do in their work life and in their personal life – for example, seeing a model in their professional photographs, but also seeing their everyday lives with family and friends; I like to see them having fun and keeping it real. I do love the Instagram feeds with professional photography but when it’s an individual, I like having a glimpse into their every day, real life to get a sense of who they are.

HOW DOES SOMEONE WHO’S STARTING IN THE INDUS- TRY BEGIN RELATIONSHIPS WITH BRANDS AND ATTRACT BRANDS TO THEIR CONTENT?

I think if you’re starting in the industry it’s important to build authentic, genuine relationships with brands that you like. And the best way to do that is to start featuring those brands organically in your content, talking or writing about them honestly – you aren’t going to begin a relationship if you haven’t spoken about them before. Brands tend to track online mentions and activity so they will likely notice. You could reach out to them yourself, showing them what you have been working on and that you enjoy their products, particularly if you’re noticing high engagement from your audience. You might go on to meet those brands and discuss new launches. Eventually then as you grow, they will bear you in mind when choosing who they want to partner with.

YOU’VE DIVERSIFIED YOURSELF WITH SO MANY PLATFORMS AND VENTURES. WAS THIS A CONSCIOUS DECISION OR NATURAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT PRESENTED THEMSELVES?

When I make a decision to expand my platforms or career in some way, whether it be a brand to partner with, a new venture such as SourcedBox or releasing Eat Smart, I only do it if I am truly passionate about it. For example, I’m a big fan of healthy food, particularly snacks, but when I noticed that the options available in most supermarkets weren’t actually healthy but were branded as such, I was keen to come up with a solution that would bring heathy options to people – and so the idea for SourcedBox began. That was a natural step for me, and I helped build that from the bottom up with my co-founders.

HOW SELECTIVE ARE YOU WITH THE BRANDS YOU WORK WITH AND WHY IS THAT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?

I’m very selective about the brands I work with because it is important for me that any brand partnership is authentic; I’ve built up a lot of trust amongst my audience and I don’t want to lose that by partnering with a brand that I don’t like or already use. Given that I feature a lot of brands I love in my content anyway, it wouldn’t be right or natural for me to suddenly partner with a brand that isn’t one of those. Any partnership has to be organic.

AS SUMMER APPROACHES, SOME OF OUR READERS WILL BE GRADUATING FROM THEIR STUDIES. IF YOU COULD GIVE TWO KEY PIECES OF ADVICE TO YOUNG TALENT GRADUATING, WHAT WOULD THOSE POINTS BE?

My first piece of advice would be to do a lot of work experience in different fields. Personally, that made me realise that my law degree wasn’t right for me–– I enjoyed studying it but practicing it was entirely different. Before you commit to one career path, take a couple of weeks to try working in an office or another industry you are interested in. It will be unpaid which isn’t ideal especially after graduation but it’s so worthwhile because you want to love your job in the long run! My second piece of advice would be, don’t be afraid to work on your own personal passion projects. Just because you have graduated that doesn’t mean you need to go into the corporate world straight away – give yourself time to work out what you love and try different things. Even if your passion project doesn’t end up as a career (you might not even want that) potential employers will see that as a good thing on your CV and that you are a more well-rounded person with interests and hobbies.

YOU’VE HAD SUCCESS WITH YOUR WHAT I EAT IN A DAY VIDEOS, YOUR SKILL IN THE KITCHEN AND YOU’RE ALSO A COOKBOOK AUTHOR. HOW DID YOU FIND YOUR DIET AFFECTED YOUR WORK AND WHY HAS YOUR DIET BECOME SUCH AN IMPORTANT TOPIC FOR YOU?

Health and fitness are a real passion of mine and an important aspect of my life, which naturally leads me to create content around it and it to be a key focus for me in my career. Having a healthy diet is important to me, and should be something that everyone is conscious of. I only eat plant-based food which won’t be right for everyone but it’s something I enjoy talking about, it’s part of who I am. I’m by no means a professional though so when I created my cookbook Eat Smart, I wanted to share the recipes that I genuinely cook and show that eating this way can be easy and accessible. I just love food and feeling good!

PERSONAL BRAND IS A TERM THROWN AROUND A LOT WHEN THE SUBJECT OF CONVERSATION REVOLVES AROUND CONTENT CREATORS AND THEY ARE CELE- BRATED FOR THEIR RELATABILITY AND IN TERMS OF YOUR SOCIAL CHANNELS, HOW DO YOU STRIKE THE BALANCE BETWEEN SHARING TOO MUCH AND NOT ENOUGH AND HAVE YOU EVER FELT YOU’VE OVER SHARED OR WISH YOU COULD’VE TAKEN SOMETHING BACK AND WHY?

It’s a very difficult balance to strike. As a content creator, you do share a lot of your life on social media, but there are some things that we choose to hold back too. – that that is comes down to personal preference. For me, my holidays with family, friends or partner are personal to me so I will share some nice photos and keep my audience updated on where I am, activities I’m doing or the food I’m eating, but there are huge chunks of the holiday which I will choose to leave out because I want to keep those moments to the people I am sharing them with. I think it’s important to keep a side to you that’s totally private.

WE HAVE A DIVERSE SET OF READERS, SOME MAY BE FUTURE MODEL AGENTS, SOME MAY BE FUTURE CONTENT CREATORS, OTHERS MAKEUP ARTISTS OR SET DESIGNERS. CAN YOU GIVE 3 TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE SOCIAL WORK FOR YOU?

1. Show your personality and show things that are unique to you whether that be cooking or a love for different hairstyles. Don’t feel you have to jump on a current trend or copy someone else. One of the reasons you will get a following is if you are offering something a little different.

2. Don’t worry about it being too perfect as people want to see the real you.

3. Follow lots of people on social media who inspire you and engage with them.

HAVING TO CREATE ALL THE TIME, DO YOU EVER GET CREATIVE FATIGUE AND HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THIS?

Given that most content creators work predominantly on their own and have been doing so for a long time, we can quite often get creative fatigue. The pressure to always create new, fresh content can get quite overwhelming and that’s when I will take time out for myself. I recently made a video on that very topic on my YouTube channel. I talked about how one day I can come up loads of ideas and the next day, none because that motivation just isn’t there. So, for me it’s about taking time out on my own to refresh that creativity with new surroundings.

WHAT IS THE PROCESS THAT YOU GO THROUGH WHEN WORKING WITH A BRAND ON A SPONSORED PROJECT?

My main aim with any branded project is to keep it as authentic as possible. If a brand reaches out to me to discuss a partnership that I like the sound of, we usually set up a coffee meeting or go to my favourite brunch spot, The Detox Kitchen, to discuss it in more detail. It is a very collaborative approach. We discuss a number of ideas for how I can integrate the product or their campaign messaging into a piece of content that I would like to create and that I know my audience will enjoy, then we work together throughout the creative process so that at the end of it we hopefully have an amazing video or image that fits in with my usual content, meets the brand’s objectives and will engage my audience.

DID YOU EVER FEEL PRESSURE TO HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF FOLLOWERS AND WHY SHOULD PEOPLE AVOID SEEKING OUT INORGANIC WAYS TO BUILD THEIR AUDIENCE?

For me, it’s more about engagement than followers. I would rather have more comments and likes than followers because I want a community of people that genuinely enjoy my content, engage with it and feel inspired by it. You should never feel pressure to reach a certain number of followers, it’s about building a loyal audience. If you get a comment from someone you don’t know, make the effort to reply and say thank you, I think that’s so important.

WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN GOALS GOING FORWARD?

I would love to release another book which will take a lot of hard work and getting my head down to come up with the ideas and write. I also want to go a step further with my YouTube channel, by being more creative with video formats. I still want to keep my content relatable but I just want to explore different ideas and ways of communicating through video. I also have quite a few trips planned this year which I’m really excited about because I love travelling; it’s when I feel most inspired. I’m looking forward to continuing to explore various parts of the world and creating content while I’m there.