UGA Student and Influencer: An Interview With Taylor Bond

Image Courtesy: @**taylorrbondd** **on Instagram**

I have been following Taylor Bond on Instagram since my first year of college. Her feed is bright, colorful, inspirational, and aesthetically pleasing. Recently, Taylor reached more than 30k followers on Instagram who look up to her as an inspiration. The most shocking thing is, she is only a second year student studying fashion merchandising at the University of Georgia. Taylor balances a social media presence, school, and an internship while being a young college student. I had the chance to speak with Taylor about her lifestyle and gain a bit more insight on what it means to be an influencer.Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU WANTED TO BECOME AN INFLUENCER?

I’ve always liked styling and photography, so I thought it would be fun to kind of combine the two. I guess my end goal isn’t influencing, I just think it’s kind of a good way to build a resume that shows how I style and do photography. I always just wanted to do it like that so it will help me for jobs after college. But I actually started trying to influence last summer.

WHO IS SOMEBODY WHO HAS ACTED AS INFLUENCER TO YOU?

So, I used to be really interested in the Brandy Melville models and their Youtubes, but that was more modeling. In terms of influencing, I went on a trip with Aurell Swim last summer with Ashlee Bock, McCall Mitchell, and Chloe Carmichael; those three were the first influencers I had met. So they really helped me. I saw how good they were at it and how much they enjoyed it, so that’s kinda why I wanted to start doing it.

Image Courtesy: @taylorrbondd on Instagram

WHAT IS YOUR BRAND/ WHAT DO YOU THINK DISTINGUISHES YOU FROM OTHERS?

Most girls try to keep a consistent feed and plan their presets, but I don’t really try to do all that. I focus more on the individual pictures. I like sharing saveable content; content that other girls want to recreate. I focus on the individual photos and have fun with that more than stress about planning the feed.

HOW DID YOU GROW YOUR BRAND?

I think mixing a lot of social media platforms helps a lot. I started doing Pinterest, VSCO, and TikTok in addition to Instagram. So then I get followers from all those different places, and that helps you grow a lot faster than if you’re just trying to grow your platform with one social media channel.

WHAT DOES INFLUENCING MEAN TO YOU?

I just like wearing whatever I want and showing other people you don’t have to follow other trends: it's just more what you want to wear. I know I mix a lot of patterns and wear a lot of colors and it’s just because I like doing it and not so much copying what other people do. It’s like showing girls different ways you can style clothes and wearing it however you want to.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART OF INFLUENCING?

I think it’s pretty hard to stay inspired to shoot content and make new content. If I’m on a trip, I’m around other influencers and new places that are so pretty, but when I’m home in Athens, I feel like I’ve already used all the places, and I have to try and balance school and find time to backshot content which is hard.

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST RESPONSIBILITY AS A PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA?

I think keeping a positive energy. I know a lot of influencers have a voice about certain opinions and all that, but I like to keep my page where it’s only about style and pictures, because I think it creates a free space and a positive space where you don’t really have to worry about anything else. I’m not going to try and push any products or opinions or anything that I don’t believe in. I really only try to promote my style. Some influencers I follow, they’ll go on tangents on their Instagram stories about stuff, and it’s like if I don’t agree with what they’re saying, do I really want to still follow you? So I try to stay open and positive and that’s the only opinion I share.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF INFLUENCING?

I really like getting to find brands that I didn’t know about like small brands, and then promoting brands that other people might not know about. But it’s also really cool when there’s a brand that when I was younger I thought was so cool and it was my dream brand to work with, and then I end up working with them. It gives you so many connections for other things as well.

WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART ABOUT BALANCING SCHOOL AND SOCIAL MEDIA?

So right now I’m only taking three classes because I dropped one for my internship. So, that leaves me with one free day on Wednesdays with no classes or an internship, so that’s when I try and get all of my content done. If the weather’s bad on that one day I shoot, I have to wait almost a whole other week, or try and shoot on the weekend to shoot content again and that’ll put me behind with brands and the deadlines that they send me.

IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU HAVE LEARNED IN SCHOOL THAT YOU FEEL HAS HELPED YOU WITH YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE?

Since I’m only a sophomore, I’ve taken some fashion classes, but not too many. I guess I see it relate more. Things I’ve already learned through social media help me more in my classes rather than the other way around. I’ve faced problems or new things on social media or through my internship that I would’ve learned in classes, but I got to them sooner than I did in my classes. My brand management class or retailing, there’s stuff in my internship that I take to my classes. I guess if I waited a little longer I would’ve learned it in my classes and it really would’ve helped.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE MOST EXCITING THING YOU’VE EXPERIENCED SINCE YOU STARTED INFLUENCING?

My internship came from influencing because one of my friends left this summer. I got invited to Hawaii with them and I also went to Puerto Rico with them. I applied to the internship so I got that with them. I get to work with some of my best friends and be an influencer, and have an internship at the same time. I get to travel just to take pictures and the fact I’m actually friends with everyone is so cool.

WHAT ARE SOME TIPS YOU’D GIVE TO AN INSPIRING INFLUENCE?

I think when you start out, posting clothes you already own or already like helps a lot rather then trying to grasp any brand deal you can get because when you post stuff you already own and already like, people are going to know that you are posting genuine content and trust your opinion more than someone who is obviously just posting whatever they can get sent to them. For the longest time, I didn’t ever do brand deals other than a few gifted ones that I was so excited about, because I really liked the company, but I mostly started posting clothes I already had and styling them how I wanted or like thrifting clothes and then styling them. It’s more about how you style things than the actual pieces. You have to have a genuine opinion that people can trust.