Theresa Forster, a social media influencer and model from Germany, is living out her dream, but she is the first to acknowledge that challenges must be overcome in order to succeed.

Accepting that certain people are too judgmental of those in her profession was one of the obstacles she claimed she had to learn to overcome: “People should stop criticizing every single thing we do and learn to let us live life the way we want,” she said. “We are simply human beings with feelings.” According to Forster, it is often difficult to be constantly examined by the public and to not feel like a target all the time. “Having to constantly defend ourselves is very exhausting.”, she said.

She noticed that she had learnt to move past her regrets regarding her career: “I should have started earlier. I always followed the advice of those around me when I first started out, and they made fun of me. Even my parents did.”, she affirmed. “They just didn’t take me seriously, so it took me a lot of time to get things moving. But from the day I started, I became successful very fast.” Attempting to change people’s perceptions about those in her industry, has been another issue for her. Some people behave this way because they think her work field is easy.
“It is not all about snapping pictures, receiving gifts, and looking pretty. If you want to succeed in this profession, there is much more to do.”, she remarked.

“Generally, clients pay us based on the number of views and reach we generate, so we need to get those figures every day. That is difficult and can put a lot of pressure on you.”, she said that in addition to the daily competition influencers face, it is a constant challenge to add value to the lives of her followers. Otherwise, she warned: “People would get tired of you and soon forget about you. This work therefore comes with a lot of psychological pressure.” Like everyone else, influencers experience periods of excitement and interest in daily life that eventually fade. In other words, great stuff doesn’t necessarily come along every day but however, Forster points out that it is her job to sometimes create something out of nothing.

“It is completely normal to move through life phases and their ups and downs. Sometimes you need some time to rest, and you just feel like lying in bed or sometimes you just don’t feel well, but there cannot be any days off if Instagram is your primary source of income and you take it seriously. You push yourself in order to move forward.”

In her opinion these are the reasons many influencers turn to fake drama and telling lies to produce engaging content. However, she discovered more truthful and creative ways to get her content out there: “For some in this industry, fake publicity is better than no publicity. But not for me. If you want to remain successful in this game, you have to think in the long term. And that doesn ́t mean to cause drama every day but creating content which adds true value to people’s lives” she said.