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“All of your goals are achievable if you’re dedicated to earning that success” Words of Wisdom with Amber Doig-Thorne
What’s your backstory?
I never expected to become an influencer. I moved to London in 2013, and graduated with a degree in Theoretical Physics from UCL a few years later. I had created a couple of Facebook videos in my final year, and they’d done incredibly well – but I never thought it would lead to a career as an influencer! When I graduated, I decided to take a risk, and put my neck on the line by becoming an influencer full time. I gave myself a 1-year time frame; if I could earn a salary equal to a graduate job – then I could stick with being an influencer.
I made a Facebook page for myself and started making comedy sketches. That was the best decision of my life. Within 8 months I had amassed 1 million likes on my Facebook page. Today, 1 and a half years later, I’ve organically grown my online following to around 3 million followers. I’ve always wanted to be an actress, and finally – with a helping hand from my following and some fantastic training – my acting career has really taken off.
I’ve always wanted to be an actress, but I never thought it would happen so quickly. This year, I was cast in my first lead role in The Seven (a horror feature film), having the opportunity to work alongside some incredible actors (including former Superman – Dean Cain). Becoming an influencer has completely changed my life. It’s opened me up to new opportunities that I never would have thought possible.
Can you tell me the story of your prior successes, challenges, and major responsibilities?
At university, I took on a lot of responsibility. I was Social Secretary of the UCL Physics Society throughout my entire degree, tutoring and guiding younger students – helping them throughout their own degree. Earlier in my life – when I was at school, I had little to no free time. My parents are self employed and I grew up seeing how hard they worked to provide for me, so as soon as I was old enough to get a part time job in a clothing store – I worked a couple of evenings a week, and all weekend.
I’d work full time in the holidays, often working more hours than the manager. I was determined to earn enough so that I would have substantial savings to keep me going throughout my university degree – without needing to borrow any money from my parents. That was when I realized that I had the drive and determination to be self employed – and I hoped that one day, if I worked hard enough and found myself in the right place at the right time – then I’d find my calling. And I finally did, as an influencer and actress.
Can you tell me about a time when you almost gave up, how you felt about that, and what you did instead of giving up?
There was a time about a year after I started creating content online where my housing situation was really starting to take a toll on me. It was a combination of a bad landlord illegally using the house as an office for 8+ people every day, horrendously rude and unprofessional housemates – and because of this – no longer having the ability to create content in my own home.
When it got too much, and I was no longer able to focus on creating my content, I made the decision to leave London, and move back in with my parents in York for a month. It was a temporary solution – but it got me back on track. The next month I moved back to London, found a flat to live in by myself and most importantly, I had the motivation back to start making more content.
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