Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Rachel.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m a full-time natural hair and lifestyle content creator/influencer. Let’s rewind a bit to how I got here. My sophomore year of college, 2016, was when I initially got the idea to start a Youtube channel. I was finally getting the hang of my natural hair after having relaxed or straightened hair for most of my life. I was constantly getting questions about my hair, at work, in between classes and just about everywhere; but I didn’t always have the time to answer these questions in detail the way I wanted to. I decided I needed to figure out how I could help out as many aspiring naturals as efficiently and as effectively as possible.
At the time, the only things I had going for myself were school and work, no extracurricular activities or hobbies. I also already had some filming/editing experience from grade school, so starting a Youtube channel just felt intuitive! Plus it was something I could look forward to outside of my day to day activities.
Before launching my channel, I figured it would be smart to actually start posting natural hair content on my Instagram since at the time, it was the only platform I was somewhat active on. The goal was to build a decent-sized natural hair audience, then funnel that traffic over to my channel once I decided to launch it. That being said, I finally uploaded my first Youtube video in November of 2018, although I didn’t start posting “consistently” until January 2019. I graduated from college in May 2019, which is also when I got booked for my FIRST paid campaign!
After graduating, I struggled to find a job for about a year so I used that time to focus on content creation. I can’t lie, I wasn’t seeing much growth and I also wasn’t feeling very motivated to create content… so I finally got a job. Things started off alright but after COVID, they took a turn for the worst. We were understaffed and I was just miserable!
All of a sudden, a bunch of really lucrative brand deals started rolling in! To the point where the only content I had the time to create was sponsored. I spent a long time building that trust with my audience so pushing out ads every time I posted didn’t feel right and could easily give off the wrong message. That’s when I realized it was time! I was here dedicating 40+ hours to this job when I could be dedicating this time to my brand. I was EXTREMELY unhappy with my job and my passion was making me so much more money. To put things into perspective, at the time, one brand deal was worth more than 1 of my weekly paychecks, so it was a no brainer! July 2021, I quit my 9-5 job to become a full-time influencer/content creator and haven’t looked back since! I’ve now grown to about 39k on Youtube, 27K on Instagram, 18K on Tiktok and 1K on Pinterest. I’ve also had the opportunity to partner with some really amazing brands, EDEN BodyWorks, Pinterest, Curlsmith, Tangle Teezer, to name a few.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Something I’ve struggled with in the past and still struggle with to this day is consistency. Back in college, it was really difficult trying to juggle going to school full-time, working a full-time job while still being able to push out content on multiple platforms consistently. As you can imagine, juggling what basically felt like three full-time jobs wasn’t easy!
Then to add insult to injury, when you’re inconsistent, the algorithm is less likely to push your content. Let’s say you become overwhelmed and take a much needed break, when it’s time to finally start posting again, your engagement is significantly lower which can be extremely discouraging. It almost feels like you’re being punished for taking care of yourself. Now you have to put in 3 times the work to build your engagement back to where it was, which eventually leads to burn out which then puts you back at square 1… in need of a break. The cycle continues! When this happens, it’s hard not to doubt yourself, so you start thinking “maybe my work isn’t good enough” or “maybe this just isn’t for me”.
Surprisingly, since influencing full-time, I haven’t experienced burn out as often, instead, I struggle with other things. I’m a one man band, no team, manager, or assistant, so it can be difficult trying to juggle everything that comes with being a content creator/influencer. On the outside, it may just look like we just snap a few pictures/videos and post them, but what most people don’t see is the hours of editing, reviewing contracts, brainstorming, negotiating your worth with brands, and so much more, it truly is A LOT. Additionally, as an entrepreneur you don’t have a set schedule weekly or a time where you clock out, so it can be even more challenging trying to find that work-life balance.
Despite all of this though, I’m extremely grateful and feel blessed to be where I am today. I love what I do!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I share product reviews, tutorials, and tips and tricks for natural hair. I would say I’m most known for my wash & gos, a specific wash and styling technique, and wash day videos. I’m passionate about creating aesthetically pleasing, easy to follow, relatable hair content with the hopes that it’ll inspire others to fall in love and nurture their tresses, specifically those with kinkier + coilier textures.
Hearing how much I’ve helped other women and even some men, love and care for their natural hair is truly what keeps me going. In the beginning of my natural hair journey, I desperately needed guidance on how to manage my hair. I was a freshman in college in a new city, 4 hours from home when I started transitioning from heat damaged to natural hair. After having a stylist maintain my hair just about all of my life, you can only imagine how challenging that was for me. It’s no secret, ya girl was strugglin’! So being that person I once wish I had, for thousands of people, is one of my biggest accomplishments.
Although my platforms initially started off as a place to inspire other women to care for their natural hair, it’s evolved into a space for so many other things. I share beauty products I’m loving, a lot of my day to day life, travel and so much more!
What sets me apart from others is my authenticity and relatability. I take pride in being honest and I know how to turn down a brand deal when it doesn’t align with me/my brand. Additionally, I try to make the relationship with my supporters very personal by interacting with them as much as I can. Once a week, I even try to dedicate about 30 minutes-1 hour of my time responding to DMs and comments I may have missed earlier in the week. I’ve never been keen on the celebrity/fan dynamic some influencers have with their supporters. Instead, I want to be seen as their “sis” or one of their girls, someone they can relate to.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love that if I wake up tomorrow and decide I want to hit the beach I can just hop in my car, take a 45 minute drive and I’m there!
What I like the least about Miami is the cost of living. Something about rent starting at $2000 just doesn’t sit right with me! Don’t get me started on the cost of these houses, especially after COVID, it’s ridiculous.
Contact Info:
- Email: caramelcoils1@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/stephrachel_
- Youtube: youtube.com/caramelcoils
- Other: pinterest.com/stephrachel_
Image Credits
@CTEPhotography
