Being a college student means waking up, going to class, participating in organizations, doing homework, and doing it all over again the next day. It is no secret that being a student can be fun and exhausting at the same time. But what if you were also pursuing a career as a social media influencer? Would you have time to do everything that you would like while staying up to date on the latest trends?
Social Media Influencers All Start Somewhere
What is so great about a career as a social media influencer is that it is very accessible; all you need is a compatible device and yourself. Having a packed day as a student allows for various types of content that you can create. That is why I have decided to speak to Jaeda Cohen to learn how she is able to balance her career as a social media influencer and as a college student at James Madison University.
From the Beginning
Jaeda Skye Cohen, 20, is an Independent Scholars major with minors in pre-PT, British Media/Communications, and Business at James Madison University. On Tik Tok and Instagram, @jaeda_skye is known for her coffee recommendations and different cafe visits around the world. She has always been a huge cafe lover and loves the aesthetic of coffee, chai, matcha, and any other photogenic drinks. Jaeda started going to lots of coffee shops and cafes all over the Baltimore and Washington DC area and eventually got lots of DMs and texts from friends and followers asking for recommendations of where to go to get coffee. In the areas she has traveled, she created a list with all of her favorite cafes, restaurants and coffee shops. When people reached out to her, Jaeda was able to send them her list of recommendations. Soon after, she realized this was a great business opportunity. Following that, she began reaching out to local coffee shops and cafes to ask if they would be interested in a collaboration. Jaeda proposed that she would come into their cafe/coffee shop and post content on social media about their shop in exchange for free drinks and/or food.
Making the Time
In our conversation, I asked Jaeda how she was able to manage being a full-time student and a part-time content creator. Doing both of those requires much attention and dedication, and I was both interested and inspired by her response. Time management has always been a strength of Jaeda’s and she uses her free time to get ahead of important tasks. Multitasking is a big part of her day as well. “A 10-minute wait in line to get Starbucks turns into a productive 10 minutes of emailing 5 brands, posting a TikTok, editing my next Instagram reel, planning what homework I am going to get done that day, etc.” Jaeda explains. Not only is multitasking key, but also prioritizing what is important to her. Jaeda added “On a Friday night you would most likely find me studying and catching up on homework which enables me to wake up the next morning and create content.“ At JMU, Jaeda is currently taking a marketing class, business management class and an economics class this semester which aid in her job as a social media influencer.
Amazing Opportunities
With being a popular social media influencer comes many opportunities to work with brands you would never think possible. Jaeda describes her favorite company that she has worked with so far has been a spa. She worked with a media agency as a freelance content creator. Visiting various spa locations, Jaeda got all kinds of treatments done in order to get content to send over to the media agency’s social media team to create posts out of the content she created. Other brands she has worked with include ones we know and love such as Chamberlain Coffee, Keurig, Green Mountain Coffee, Kroger, Mejuri, Nordstrom’s Restaurant, BeReal, Poppi and more.
When asked if this career is something she’s going to pursue full-time, Jaeda says “I’m not totally sure what my official plan is yet. I would love to continue my social media journey as long as possible since I love it so much. I think it would be great to do it full time or on the side in addition to another job/career.
Freelance contribution especially written for Find Your Influence by Olivia Sullivan.