Sudden impact: The five Melbourne influencers you should be following
Top tier influencers are ‘brand machines’ and can make anywhere between $1m-$2m a year, even more, says a leading agent. We met with five influencers on the rise to learn their secrets to success.
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The top American fashion influencer in 2024 was Kim Kardashian.
To some that won’t come as a surprise, to others it may be a difficult concept to grasp.
Wherever you sit, the undisputable fact is that the social media/influencer/content creator world is here to stay.
In Australia, it’s an industry that has and is exploding.
Just ask Pru Corrigan, CEO and founder of leading talent management agency, One Daydream, who says influencers are having more impact over what we do and choose, and making more money than ever.
“Think about the word influence – most strive to be influential, we are all influenced at times in our lives and as a brand you want to own influence,’’ Corrigan says.
“When you think of an influencer you need to think of a brand. A brand has a profile, a demographic it wants to attract and it sells something. An influencer is just someone who creates communities of people who trust and support them throughout the journey of their life which they share on social media. It’s often real and raw content and those influencers who understand their brand will ensure the brands they work with are fully aligned with their target market.”
Corrigan started her influencer division in 2018 and now has 20 staff, offices all around Australia and over 100 influencers on the books.
When signing someone to represent, Corrigan says she and her team look for six main things: style of content, an engaged audience, 60 per cent and above female audience, 80 per cent Australian audience, work ethic and a desire to grow their brand.
“It has been so exciting watching these new ‘it’ girls rise at One Daydream,’’ she says.
“In the ‘old days’, the ‘it’ girls were generally found through modelling or being known as a WAG (wives and girlfriends of high-profile sportsmen and women). Many can find their fame and fortune now through the rise of influencer marketing. We have seen many move into this space already, but what makes it really exciting is that we can find new faces simply by watching their lives and watching their ability to engage with their community on their social media platforms.
“Top tier influencers are brand machines and can make anywhere between $1m-$2m a year. It’s a lot of money for a 20-something – no different to AFL footballers. Some of the mega influencers can make plenty more than that depending if they have their own brand or long-term ambassador roles. They work hard and are extremely smart when it comes to marketing.”
VWeekend met with five of our top influencers who you should be following.
IZZY ARMITAGE
Izzy Armitage was working full time in a call centre when a random TikTok went viral.
“I was pretending to vomit in the toilet and I came up all glam and I got a bunch of followers from that,’’ she says.
“Initially I felt really stressed and I didn’t know if I wanted it to become serious, I was enjoying the fun. I met with (One Daydream) and it eased my nerves and I’m eternally grateful I did.”
Armitage embarked on a content creator career and says her authenticity was key. “You can take a million photos and videos in your gorgeous make-up and hair, but the videos that always did better for me was when I was talking,’’ she says.
“It’s the ones where you’re make-up free going about your day. I enjoy being an open book and not filtering my life. I almost vlog every day now and it’s just easy. I don’t want people to think I’m fake. This industry can beat you down if you let it. It lifts you up too. I focus on the positives because there are so many more.”
Armitage, 24, hopes to keep building her following so she can call herself an influencer in the true sense. Before she had this job she dated AFL star Bailey Smith.
“I’ve found something I’m good at and can enjoy,’’ she says. “I want to be in this world, I want to be bigger and travelling and I want to become more successful.
“I’ve not been in a relationship since I started this job so my followers have never seen me in love which would be funny.”
STELLA KILM
She’s only 19 but Stella Klim has been exposed to a public life from a young age.
Her mum Lindy is a model and her dad Michael is a swimming legend – it was only natural she’d court attention too.
“I feel like I learnt very early how to hold myself by copying and watching (mum),’’ Klim says.
“Now I can separate myself and I don’t want to be seen as just with her. I can also do things on my own. I’ve never seen myself doing anything else.”
Klim has now moved back to Melbourne from Bali with her mum and siblings which will benefit her career as a model, influencer and content creator.
She is the most recent signing to the One Daydream team after joining three months ago.
“I feel (the move) is definitely what I needed to do. I was holding myself back and I’ve realised now it’s the right thing,’’ she says.
“It’s still good that I have that balance where I’m able to fly back and forth, not even just Bali, but anywhere. I don’t like being locked down and I think that’s what was scaring me.
“I was a baby when I started, I took some time off because I went through a little ugly phase – cut my hair really short and gained a little bit of weight – but I got to 14 and I was good.
“I started off as a bikini model so it’s been steps. Dad loves it too, he’s actually very supportive and I didn’t think he would be. He wants to see all the photos and wants to know what I’m doing. His whole platform is similar, looking at him and mum I’ve learnt a lot, I’m very lucky. We’re pretty open about everything.”
HANNAH DAL SASSO
Hannah Dal Sasso was studying primary school teaching when covid hit and her career took a life-changing detour. “I was doing that for two years and then I found teaching really hard to do online,’’ she says.
“So I took a little break and I was going to go back after covid and then posted my first TikTok and it went well and I just rolled with it.”
From there she’s become a fashion influencer and content creator. She also started a dress hire business which is out of her spare room at home.
“I love all the events, I love meeting everyone and I’m a very social person,’’ Dal Sasso says.
“I love that you meet someone out and a girl comes up and says: ‘I bought that dress because you wore that.’ Every girl does that, looking at others for inspo, so to have someone do that to me is really special.”
Dal Sasso’s recent TikTok about having small boobs hit 35 million views so she knows the power of her reach.
The 23-year-old also had a fairly public romance with Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis, but has always been cautious about sharing her private life.
“Everybody wants what they don’t have and everyone is going to have bad days when they wake up and don’t feel great about themselves,’’ she says.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’m generally quite reserved.
“When I grew up I always wanted to do modelling and there was something about it I didn’t love, but I loved the glam and getting dressed up.
“All my girlfriends are all frickin’ stunning and amazing. It can be competitive but everyone has always been really supportive. If you have a hint of jealousy it can be a good thing because she’s doing well. It’s like a proud mummy moment to see someone do well, like look at her go.”
SAGE MELLET (SIVAN)
Sage Mellet (Sivan) is forging her own identity out of the shadows of her successful brothers.
Mellet’s siblings are singer Troye and fellow content creator Tyde.
“I was definitely first noticed as Troye and Tyde’s sister online, and to be honest because I didn’t do this as a full-time thing for a while, I was happy being that,’’ she says. “Now that I’m starting to build my online presence and show my personality, it’s fun being able to show people things I’m interested in and I love outside of being their sister which I’m very proud of. We’re all best friends. When Troye is here from LA we live together.” Mellet also works in marketing for a skincare brand in Melbourne.
“I grew up in Perth but the very long story short is I started my online existence when I was in high school because my brothers were online,’’ she says.
“They were in the YouTube era when it was first starting. I was in the background of their videos and I gained a following. It’s only been recently this year I started focusing on it. I set boundaries to make sure there’s some privacy. Who my brothers are online is so much who they are in real life so naturally I feel confident being myself online too.”
Mellet is a little older than most at 27, but it gives her a more mature edge. “I want to keep building, because I’m still at that early stage of this,’’ she says. “I love working in marketing and being able to have the two (jobs) is really great. I want to get inspired one day to do my own thing, whether that be in beauty or fashion.”
SAM GUGGENHEIMER
Sam Guggenheimer still pinches herself when she thinks of her social media career.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself,’’ she says.
“You’re diving into the fear of the unknown but the opportunities and life I’ve been able to live the past two to three years were something I only could have ever dreamed of.
“I was studying paramedicine nursing my first year out of school and I took a year off just to get my life in order and then this just fell into my lap.”
Guggenheimer believes her following grew from showing real life.
“It’s really easy to romanticise things online but showing all the stages of growing up and being confused and being relatable to young girls – being raw and showing the highs and lows of life,’’ she says.
“Having girls that truly know you and know all about you is really good.”
She did have a public relationship with Western Bulldogs footballer Caleb Poulter which was at times hard to navigate.
“It’s one of the best parts and one of the hardest parts is having your personal life online when people think they’re entitled to know certain things about you without you sharing them when you’re ready,’’ she says.
“People use it in a negative way but it’s also how you get known as well.
“I think that was a very big learning stage in my social media career because I do share so much. And then when I was not wanting to share something and I was trying to process that – I was only 21 years old – and so was he. We were trying to figure that out and then other people jumped to that before we were ready to speak.”
Guggenheimer is taking her job abroad and spending some time in the UK from next month. “I just want to experience different parts of the world through social media while I’m young and able to,’’ she says. “I’ve booked a one way flight and we’ll see how it goes.”
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