New York-based influencer Ana Wolfermann’s life is all about sponsored trips, PR packages, good food and other lavish perks. But the 23-year-old is ready to give it all up for a regular 9 to 5 job. In an interview with Fortune magazine, the actor and influencer spoke about why she wants to switch from full-time content creation to a corporate job.
Wolfermann, 23, said that she started posting on TikTok during her freshman year of college. Recently, however, she has realised that her life has become all about what she will post on social media. It has made her more self-centred, more anxious.
“When I was in college, a lot of the people I looked up to and ultimately wanted to follow in their footsteps career-wise are full-time influencers. So I was extremely eager to graduate into full-time influencing and continuing to grow,” she explained.
“But within six months, I started to have very real thoughts of ‘I don't think that I want to do this full time.’ I don't think that I want my entire life to be about ‘how can I market my life?’”
Wolfermann told Fortune that she wants to continue posting on social media, but does not want to make a full-time job of it.
“When you are the brand, and you are the product, it can be very unsettling,” she said. Wolfermann further elaborated on the curse of social media, saying her whole life revolved around what she could share with her one million TikTok followers.
“With myself being my full focus, I would wake up every single day and think: What can I say today? What can I share today? What can I post today? My entire day became focused on what I was doing and what I had to say… it just led me down a very narcissistic and anxious route,” she explained.
People though I was delusional
When Wolfermann announced that she wanted to step down from full-time content creation, her family and friends did not understand.
“Everybody thought I was possibly delusional and I just didn't get it. They were like, ‘why would you want to work for somebody else? Why would you want to not have control over your own time? Why would you want to take time away from what you could be building?’” she told Fortune.
But she herself sees many upsides to a corporate job – the first one being co-workers.
“To see people every day and have relationships with them day-to-day is my number one priority, even though I know that's probably the least important one. To me, it's a pretty big deal. Number two: I'm extremely excited to work for somebody else,” said Wolfermann. “I'm very excited to learn new skills—I'm just really excited.”
But what about the money?
Wolfermann knows her new job – when she lands it – will not pay as much as her content creation gig. She’s still excited for it.
“Part of the reason why so many people idolize social media, and want to make their full-time job, is because it pays very well and it comes with a lot of incredible opportunities,” she said. “I’ll probably end up with a job I'm very passionate about and excited to show up to work for every single day. But I don't think it'll pay me more than my yearly influencer salary.”
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