Aspiring Influencers Share Stories Of Having To Get “Real” Jobs As Dreams Collide With Reality And Rent Payments

Aspiring influencers striving for life in the spotlight are sharing stories of being forced back into traditional jobs, shedding light on the less glamorous side of social media fame.

Rising influencers like Chloe Barbour and Zay Jeffrar are sharing their challenging journeys.

After spending time and money trying to gain traction online, they realized they needed a stable income to cover living expenses and maintain regular jobs.

Chloe Barbour works 80 hours per week at a regular job to maintain a lifestyle that appears lavish on social media

Chloe Barbour found influencer work far more demanding —- and financially unpredictable -— than anticipated.

Her Instagram feed shows off a lavish lifestyle full of luxurious vacations and vehicles.

But in reality, she works 80 hours per week as a direct support professional at Optimae Life Services in Ames, Iowa, for $16 an hour.

“I’ve reached burnout a few times, and have had to take months off at a time to focus on my mental health,” she told Daily Mail.

She continued: “Yes, I get to go do all these fun modeling things, but they don’t realize that I can’t pay my utility bill the next week because I want to go to this opportunity.

“Or I can’t go out with my friends to dinner, because my money is going all to something that’s not paying me out.”

Sometimes, last minute cancellations and sketchy situations will set her back even further.

She says she bailed on a recent New York shoot after discovering the organizer was telling wealthy older men that they could have sexual encounters with the models.

“Had the photographer of the shoot not sounded the whistle to the models, we would have never known,” she says.

Zay Jeffrar juggles, school, work, and a modeling career

Jeffrar, 19, is a full-time student and health aid in addition to his modeling/influencer career.

“I live three different lives, it’s exhausting, but I refuse to let my dream die,” he told the Daily Mail.

He added: “I’ll travel to a casting call, wait for hours, only for my name not to get called. It’s a huge risk for me because, during that time, I could be making money.”

“The last audition I went to that I didn’t get, I had to miss work. Sometimes, I’ll come back from a casting for an unpaid gig and I’ll be late to class – a class that I’m paying for.

“Bigger names get paid. I’m not a big name yet. I’ll get featured on the company’s Instagram for the collaboration or I’ll receive some products, but that’s the most I’ve been ‘paid.’”

Influencer success stories like Alix Earle are rare exceptions to the typical experience

While big-name creators showcase lives filled with travel, luxury, and countless brand deals, smaller creators struggle to reach sustainable levels of income.

Lakeasha Jackson is another micro-influencer who endured setbacks after cancellations.

She faced homelessness after other models dropped out of an event at New York Fashion Week.

“This nightmare has not and will not halt my dreams and aspirations,” she told The Mail.

Meanwhile, top influencers like ALix Earle can get paid over $70,000 per sponsored post.

But success stories like Earle are few and far between.

Van Phan is using her experiences to help other aspiring influencers.

Model and influencer Van Phan co-founded Luxe Modeling Agency with the mission of providing ethical treatment of models.

Van now pursues her influencer career full-time despite numerous setbacks.

“When things work out, it’s an adrenaline rush you get that nothing can compare,” she told The Mail.

“It makes all your hard work and rejection worth it, and I’ve carried myself through all the negativities to make it.”

Audience reactions to these stories reveal a mixed response

Commenters are sympathetic to the challenges but also critical of the perception that influencing is easy or sustainable.

H/T Bored Panda