Welcome to another week of Branded By! This week we’re focusing on one of the most creative and talented people I follow on social media. 

INTRODUCING…

TESSA BARTON

AKA TEZZA

A little bit about Tezza:

Tezza is a unique and brilliant photographer, creative director, and entrepreneur. She recently moved to Los Angeles with her husband, but prior to that they lived in New York City for many years. Her husband is also a photographer, and they work together full time. Tezza has 1.3 million followers on Instagram and she is the founder of the Tezza App and the Tezza Shop. In addition to working for herself, she also works with many big brands such as Tresemme, and has even done a shoe line collaboration with ALDO Shoes. She has also done work for New York Fashion Week. 

Tezza is an extremely talented and creative photographer. To take her photography to the next level, she created her own presets to edit her pictures with. People really liked the way her photos looked and were constantly asking how to edit like her, so Tezza started selling her presets. They became super popular so she created the Tezza App, where people can pay for a subscription and have access to all of her presets and other photo and video editing tools. I personally have the Tezza App and it is so awesome! It is super easy to use and any of her presets can quickly transform your content. Using presets is a super easy way to take your content to a whole new level because it can give all your photos the same uniform look and add a little something extra to them. On her personal Instagram, Tezza is constantly talking about her app, informing her audience about new presets, providing tutorials about app features, and talking about things going on behind the scenes of the app. Her husband, Cole, is the coder of the app, so they both have a huge role in developing this app. 

In addition to having an app, Tezza also has her own shop (www.shoptezza.com) where she sells a variety of things. In this shop she sells sunglasses, collage kits, and more. She has four different sunglass types, each of which are offered in a few different colors. Each type of sunglasses is named after someone super important to Tezza. She also sells a few different versions of a collage kit that people decorate their walls with. She started out just selling Tezza Collage Kit, but because it did so well, she now sells a Coastal Kit, City Kit, and Dream Kit. Each kit consists of 150 different pictures that have been taken and curated by Tezza and Cole. The Dream Kit is their first half kit which has 75 images. 

On Tezza’s website, she also promotes Sophie’s Place, which “is a dedicated space for music therapy in children’s hospitals across the country” and is in memory of her sister, Sophie.  (Sophie’s Place page, www.shoptezza.com).

Tezza uses social media to help set herself apart. The content she posts on Instagram is very creative and unique. She is very into fashion so her outfits are always super cool and the poses that she does are very different from what many people do. She has created a personalized hashtag #benditliketezza, that she uses on all of her pictures where she is doing some sort of cool bend. She encourages her followers to use the hashtag to show off their poses, and she even did a contest to boost the use of the hashtag. She takes advantage of the features Instagram offers, and posts Reels, IGTVs, and stories. She shows that she cares about her followers by answering questions that they have about her products and other things. She has even started sharing photography and videography tips. She interacts with her followers through question boxes on her stories. She posts a lot about her app and shop, whether its promotion or tips and information. 

The @bytezza Instagram account is for the collage kits. The content posted there is a combination of user generated content and images from the collage kit. This account utilizes stories and highlights to post about the kits and provide information about how to put up your kit. The @tezza.co Instagram account is for Tezza’s eyewear. This account is also a mixture of user generated content, pictures of the products, and aesthetic pictures that fit the brand. The @tezzaapp Instagram page is for the Tezza app and also posts a combination of Tezza’s photos, user generated content, and brand related pictures. They use highlights give tutorials, post their followers work, and share tips. Every photo posted by Tezza, whether it is on her personal Instagram page, or her brand’s pages, is extremely aesthetically pleasing and creative. 

Every time I see her content, I am amazed by her talent and ability to be so creative. Tezza has inspired me to get back into photography and explore my creative side. 

Be sure to follow Tezza on Instagram (@tezza) and if you want to take your content a step further than the basic level, download the Tezza App. 

Talk soon 🙂

Hey friends, welcome back!! This week I want to tell y’all about twin brothers who created a strong personal brand, and have now created a business and brand that might be considered completely unexpected for them. 

INTRODUCING… 

THE DOLAN TWINS

A little bit about the Dolan Twins: 

Ethan and Grayson Dolan are twenty-year-old twins who gained fame and popularity in their early teen years. They first gained popularity on Vine, but their main platform is now YouTube, where they have over eleven million subscribers. They are originally from New Jersey, but they moved to Los Angeles by themselves when they were only fifteen to fully emerse themselves in the YouTube world. Since then, they have launched a podcast and their own fragrance brand. 

A major part of their personal brand is centered around them being twins. They showcase life as twins like how close they are to each other, their arguments, their similarities and differences, and all kinds of other things. People are very interested to know what it would be like to be twins, and Ethan and Grayson do a good job of showing people that. They also share a lot about tattoos, traveling, and their vegan lifestyle. 

Even though they are branded together, they are obviously two different people, so they try to post more individual things on their personal Instagrams. However, they still share tons of twin content. 

Ethan shares a lot about his girlfriend, long boarding, and cooking vegan food.

Grayson shares a lot about working out, building, and being outside.

In the past, their YouTube channel was full of fun videos where they did challenges, pranks, and  showcased their crazy adventures as twins. They used to post videos every Tuesday. However, they have recently done a little bit of rebranding on their YouTube channel and have begun posting vlogs every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They want to show their audience more of who they really are and what they do every day instead of putting on an act of being crazy boys. They are sharing more about the things they love to do, like working out, long boarding, hanging with friends, cooking vegan food, and other everyday things. 

The twins have always been very vocal about their mental health and strive to help people by sharing their experiences and being vulnerable with their audience. They have been through quite a lot in their life and want to shed light on how they’ve gotten through it. Their father passed away from cancer in 2018, and in January of this year, they released a documentary about him. They also started a foundation for him called Love from Sean to raise money and awareness for cancer and the people going through it. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to lose a parent, so I think it is awesome that they are sharing their pain and grieving experiences with their audience to relate to and help people going through similar experiences.

They started a podcast called “Deeper with the Dolan Twins” as a way to get closer to their audience and grow a deeper connection with them. Having this podcast allows them to speak more into their thoughts and feelings and go deeper than they do on their YouTube channel. On the podcast, they talk about things like mental health, life lessons they’ve learned, funny stories, behind the scenes as social media stars, and other things. A few weeks ago, they launched a second YouTube channel to bring their audience podcast video. 

In 2019, they launched a fragrance company called Wakeheart with an investor named Kevin Gould. When they first launched their business, it had no affiliation with the Dolan Twins because they didn’t want it to be like merch or have people view their business a certain way because of who created it. The company originally sold three fragrances, but after a little bit, they announced that they were the co-owners and have since released a Dolan Twins x Wakeheart fragrance collaboration that includes a signature scent for each of the boys. Last month, Wakeheart also released a crystal candle collection as well as a new fragrance. Their brand is all about promoting the making of memories and encouraging the “confidence to be free” (About page on http://www.wakeheart.com). The Wakeheart Instagram page posts very aesthetically pleasing photos of their products and things that encapsulate their brand image and inspiration. Their feed changes according to the new products they are promoting. All the pictures are neutral colors and have a golden sunshine look about them. They utilize the tap-to-shop feature in their photos. They use the highlights feature to talk more about their products. This brand is something that wouldn’t be expected for young twin guys to create but it honestly fits them very well. They love to travel and create memories and get inspired by the things around them. 

Sharing their lives online has allowed Ethan and Grayson to be very successful and also help many people.

If you are ever curious about life as twins in general or life as famous twins, check out their YouTube, Instagrams (@dolantwins, @ethandolan, @graysondolan), and podcast. Also, if you’re looking for a new scent, their brand Wakeheart ( http://www.wakeheart.com ) is a great place to find one. 

Have a great week and I’ll see y’all next Saturday!

Hello friends! This week’s post is focused on one of the funniest and most relatable influencers out there.

INTRODUCING…

EMMA CHAMBERLAIN

A little bit about Emma: 

Emma is nineteen years old and lives on her own in Los Angeles. She dropped out of high school her junior year, started a YouTube channel, and moved to LA to fully immerse herself into the world of YouTube. Since then she has amassed millions of followers and gained an immense amount of success. She is known for her funny and relatable content and unique editing style. She has worked with many brands including the huge fashion brand, Louis Vuitton, and has been to Paris Fashion Week multiple times. She also recently launched her own coffee brand Chamberlain Coffee. 

Her personal brand is centered around being 100% authentic and real. As opposed to being like most influencers and trying to appear to live the perfect life, Chamberlain is all about being realistic. People love this about her because it gives them something to relate to instead of making them feel less than and compare themselves to others. She doesn’t strive to put on show for her audience by looking or acting her best, instead she is completely herself. She often films herself crying, burping, and things like that. She is very open about her mental health and all the things going on in her life. Being unapologetically herself has led her to gain almost ten million subscribers on YouTube and almost eleven million followers on Instagram.

Her editing style on YouTube includes zooming in, adding text and sound effects, and other special effects. Before Emma, this editing style had never been done before, but now many people are following in her footsteps and using the same editing style. The videos she posts are unique and very on brand for Emma. 

Following her success on YouTube, Emma has gained a lot of followers on Instagram. Emma posts on Instagram almost everyday. She is very into fashion and she shares a lot of outfit pictures with her followers on Instagram. In addition, she started an IGTV series called “Styled by Emma” where she styles people who are often too busy focusing on their job to focus on their style. Some of those people include a toxicologist, a NASA engineer, and a mail carrier. She also posts pictures promoting her partnerships with Louis Vitton, Bliss, and other products. As of lately, Emma is trying to up her Instagram game and posts more pictures of her looking polished. However, she always posts a carousel of photos so there will always be a few pictures within a post of her being her natural and funny self. In a lot of her posts she is throwing up her middle fingers to the camera. She also posts a lot about coffee, but more specifically her coffee brand. 

At the end of 2019, she launched her own coffee brand called Chamberlain Coffee ( http://www.chamberlaincoffee.com ). She has been a lover of coffee her entire life and views it as more than just a drink that gets you going, but also as a way to make connections. Chamberlain Coffee is committed to bringing their customers coffee that is responsibly made, sustainably sourced, and sustainably packaged. They recently rebranded and they now offer five different blends of coffee that cater to all types of coffee drinkers. Since rebranding, the Chamberlain Coffee Instagram account has shifted to posting more colorful photos and ones that reflect the new coffee blends. The pictures also have the same rounded edges and have the tap to shop feature with links to purchase the blends in the pictures.  

Emma has gained huge success while also staying true to herself, which is very difficult for a lot of people to do. She has set herself apart from the rest of the industry by being her authentic self at all times. Emma always keeps me laughing, but she also gives me someone to relate to since she is so open about her mental health. Seeing someone the same age as me be successful is very inspiring. 

Be sure to follow Emma on Instagram (@emmachamberlain) and subscribe to her YouTube channel for lots of funny and relatable content!

Hello everyone! This week’s post is all about someone who is fun spirited and legendary.

INTRODUCING…

INDY BLUE

A little bit about Indy:

Her birth name is India Blue Severe but she goes by Indy Blue. She is 23 years old and she lives in Utah with her boyfriend, Jack, and their baby boy, Seven. Instead of going to college, Indy began traveling the world and documenting her experiences through photography and videography. She would find cheap ways to travel and her and her friends would just get out and explore. She is known for her crazy adventures, authenticity, writing skills, impeccable music taste, and her spunky and fun personality. In 2016, one of her travel videos went viral and her career took off from there. Her videos are so amazingly done and let me tell you, they will make you feel things. She has a successful YouTube channel, 338K followers on Instagram, a blog, and her own fashion brand. 

The content she posts is extremely fun, creative, and shows her drive for wanderlust. Her life is one big adventure that she brings her followers along for. While most of her content is exciting, she doesn’t stray away from being vulnerable and authentic with her followers. When she was pregnant with her baby boy Seven, she had a lot of complications and she honestly shared everything on Instagram, from her hospital experiences, to near death experiences, and to diagnoses. Since she had Seven, she now posts an abundance of insanely cute photos and videos of him. While she has had to take on a new role as a mom, she is still staying true to her authentic and fun self by posting captivating videos and sharing her new adventures. 

A few years ago Indy and her friend, Bronson Christensen, launched the brand Indy the Label and then last year they changed the name to Lonely Ghost ( http://www.lonelyghost.co ). They sell things from t-shirts, to sweatshirts, to sweatpants, to key chains, to phone cases, to masks, and many other things. The brand is all about embracing the lonely feeling we all have and giving you a place to be lonely but with other people. You can tell Indy is passionate about and loves her brand because she constantly reps it and creates products that hold meaning to her and her followers. Lonely Ghost is known for the phrase: “I love you, say it back” , but they also use other phrases such as “text me when you get home”.

Indy has used social media to grow her personal brand as well as her fashion brand. All of the pictures she posts and the photoshoots she does for Lonely Ghost are aesthetically pleasing, creative, and cool. Her followers look forward to seeing all the pictures and videos Indy creates and shares. People are drawn to her and her content because of the feeling of connection she brings and the wanderlust she inspires.

On the Lonely Ghost Instagram page, all the pictures have the same little pastel rainbow stripe at the bottom to give them a cohesive look. The pictures are all trendy and fit the brand. Whenever they launch a new product they release a super cool video shot by Indy, which everyone loves. They do a great job of utilizing the story and highlight features of Instagram. On their story they repost people wearing their brand and save it to a highlight called “GHOST GANG”. They also post wallpapers that are unique to their brand for their followers to screenshot and use. In addition, on Friday’s they get on their story and post a series of photos similar to a mood board and call it “FRIDAY FEELS”. In some of the captions they ask questions or encourage people to comment something which stimulates their engagement. Their popular phrases are commonly used and are sometimes simplified into acronyms like “ilysib” and “tmwygh”. The use of these phrases markets for the brand and gives them further visibility and recognition. The brand and these phrases give people something to connect with, which is Indy’s main goal. 

Indy started out doing what she loved, which was traveling and creating videos and that has now given her a full time successful job. Like the other people I have written about, Indy exemplifies what it means to follow your dreams and do the things you love. 

I hope you found someone new to follow and learned a little bit more about a brand, it’s creator, and the impact social media has had on them. Follow Indy on Instagram (@indyblue) for a feeling of excitement and wanderlust. 

Talk soon :)) 

Hello friends! Welcome back to the blog! For my third blog post, I am going to introduce you to someone who is living a Hawaiian dream.

INTRODUCING…

MADDIE CASTELLANO

A little bit about Maddie Castellano: 

She lives in Hawaii with her husband, Cole, and their baby boy, Knox. She is also currently pregnant with another baby boy. She went to college at BYU Hawaii and she finished her senior year pregnant, working as a waitress, and trying to grow her business on Instagram. She now has over 161 thousand followers on Instagram. She also has a YouTube channel and a website where she sells presets, ebooks, and more. She has always dreamt of being an entrepreneur and a mom and now she is living that dream!

Maddie’s is super aesthetically pleasing and can be a place where you can escape reality. Because she lives in Hawaii, all of her pictures are so beautiful and calming. A lot of her pictures are taken on the beach or in the ocean. Sometimes on her stories she’ll just post pictures and videos of the ocean to give her audience a place to feel calm and relaxed for a few seconds. She created her own presets and uses them on her photos so they all have the same warm and polished look. Her pictures can give you a moment to escape reality and feel like you’re hanging out on the beach.

Health and nutrition are a huge part of Maddie’s life. Her and her family eat clean and healthy and Maddie is always sharing her recipes with her followers. On her website, www.maddiecastellano.com, she has recipes for every meal of the day and even some smoothie recipes. All of the recipes look super yummy while also being good for you. One thing she shares a lot about is her favorite green smoothie. People are always asking about it so she often reminds her followers what ingredients she puts in the smoothie. Her baby boy also loves the smoothie and she gives her followers tips for feeding babies and making sure they are getting the best nutrition. She also shares health and nutrition tips on her Instagram as well.

Maddie has an insanely cute family. She posts pictures of her son, Knox, and her husband, Cole. They all love the ocean and spend most of their days in the water so there’s tons of cute family beach photos on her feed. Knox loves playing in the sand and Maddie always snaps the cutest photos of him. Does it get much better than a cute baby on the beach? (The correct answer is no.) It is also fun to follow along with their lives and keep up with their travels and things going on.

Earlier this year, Maddie launched her ecourse called InstaGuide to help people learn how to grow their Instagram. She gives tips and insights on things she has done and things that have helped her go from waiting tables to having a six figure business in a little over a year. She gives tips from 3 different standpoints: influencer, product based, and service based. I personally bought this ecourse and am in the process of completing it. It is a really great tool to have and learn from if you are interested in stepping up your Instagram game.

Be sure to follow Maddie on Instagram (@maddiecastellano) for a look into Hawaii living!

Talk to y’all next week! 🙂

Hello! Welcome to my second blog post! Today I want to tell you a little bit about someone who constantly inspires me through her business and herself.

INTRODUCING…

LILLY ANN

A little bit about Lilly:

Lilly Ann is an illustrator, letterer, entrepreneur, podcast co host, and YouTuber. She is originally from North Carolina but she currently lives in Texas with her husband Devin, who helps her run her business. Lilly has always loved messing around with fonts and in high school people started asking her to write things for them. From there she started doing more lettering for people outside of school and realized she could have a lot of success doing that. She took that as an opportunity to follow her dreams and launch her online business All Things Lilly Ann (http://www.allthingslillyann.com) .  She sells a variety of things from stickers, to prints, to crewnecks, to shirts, to pins, to notepads and more. Everything that she creates is centered around happiness and positivity. Lilly is a lover of coffee, Monday’s, self care, positivity, and bright colors and we see all those things exemplified through her art and her Instagram. 

She hand letters everything she creates and is so creative when it comes to the look of everything. On her Instagram she tries to post at least one lettered post a day. In addition to her lettering posts on her Instagram she shares things about herself, her husband, fashion, workouts, her coffee addiction, the books she is reading, and all the other things she loves, hence the name All Things Lilly Ann. 

Lilly’s social media presence is amazing. She does a really great job connecting with her audience. She often asks her followers what words they need to hear and then she turns that into her lettered posts. She also responds to a lot of the comments on her posts. She is constantly encouraging everyone to be positive and make the most of every day. She is also very real about things in her life. She lets her audience in on the things that go on behind the scenes as a small business owner, like meetings, shipping problems, and even dealing with people trying to copy her designs for profit. She also recently started a YouTube channel where she shares similar things like workdays in her life, productivity hacks, and much more. 

Lilly is so passionate about what she creates and her personal brand is so consistent with her business’ brand. It is so cool to see someone absolutely love every part of what they do and have success doing what they’re passionate about. When I say that she’s a literal ray of sunshine, I really mean it. You can’t look at her stuff and not smile. Sometimes she gets on her stories just to chat and it feels like you’re having a conversation with a friend. She just has the sweetest and bubbliest personality. Her content is all so bright, fun, and happy and it matches her personality perfectly. 

While social media has impacted Lilly’s business, it has also impacted her life. Through social media, Lilly met influencer Haley Pham and they quickly became long distance best friends and started a podcast called Call Me Candid. When they met Lilly lived in North Carolina and Haley lived in Texas. However, Lilly and her husband decided to move to Texas after they got married. Every Monday Haley and Lilly post an episode of Call Me Candid where they talk about business, advice, and other things. 

I have personally bought several stickers from Lilly’s shop and I love them so much. She is having a new launch on Monday and I cannot wait to get my hands on some more of her products. I have followed her on Instagram for several years and she encourages and inspires me everyday. I look forward to getting on Instagram and seeing what she has lettered that day and be inspired both creatively and just in general. She has such a positive outlook on life and it’s so contagious.

Be sure to follow her on Instagram (@allthingslillyann) for some daily motivation!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a great week so far. 

The goal of Branded By. is to introduce you to the person or people behind a brand and explore how they have used social media to further their brand. Each blog post will be dedicated to a different person and their brand.

For the first blog post I want to tell y’all about one of the very first influencers I ever followed, and honestly, she is one of my favorites. Let’s jump right into it!

INTRODUCING…

AMBER FILLERUP CLARK

A little bit about Amber:

Amber Fillerup Clark is a hair guru, a blogger, an influencer, an entrepreneur, a mom, and so much more. She lives in Arizona with her husband, David, her three kids, Atticus, Rosie, and Frankie, and their dog, Chauncey. She has loved hair since she was little and has always used it as a way to express herself and her creativity. She bought her first set of hair extensions when she was fifteen (15) and that furthered her love for styling hair because it took away some of the limitations you face when trying to style shorter and thinner hair. To showcase her hairstyles and daily outfits, she started a blog called Barefoot Blonde. Since then the blog has grown tremendously and she now shares things about lifestyle, beauty, travel, and fashion. In addition to running a blog, Clark runs her two (2) businesses, BFB Hair ( http://www.bfbhair.com ) and dae hair ( http://www.daehair.com ). 

BFB Hair is a hair extension company whose mission is to “challenge conventional standards of beauty by providing women with confidence through innovative products for different hair lengths and needs” (About page on bfbhair.com). BFB Hair offers three (3) different types of extensions : BFB Classic, which provides added length and thickness. BFB Fill-ins add volume to shoulder length hair. BFB Up adds length and volume to help you achieve all your updo looks, such as a high pony, top knot, and braids. BFB Hair offers twenty three (23) different color shades and to help you find your perfect color match they offer a free at home try on kit that contains three (3) to five (5) sample wefts. They offer tutorials and scheduled video chats and appointments to help their customers pick the right shade and offer styling help. 

dae hair is Clark’s most recent business venture, which launched earlier this year. With fresh orange blossom scents, sunset colors, and desert botanical ingredients, the line is inspired by Clark’s home of Arizona. dae hair is designed to be a simple and effective part of your every”dae” life, from dawn, afternoon, to evening. They offer 4 different products, shampoo, conditioner, deep conditioning treatment, and their new prickly pear hair oil. You can purchase these products through their website but Sephora recently picked up their line and now carries it in stores and online. dae hair is also making a positive impact on the world with their water initiative. “For every unit sold, dae will donate the equivalent of one shower or 65.1 liters of water on the customers behalf to charity: water. This will all go to fund water projects in areas of need throughout the world” (Water initiative page on daehair.com).  I personally bought the shampoo and conditioner and I absolutely love it. It smells heavenly and leaves my hair feeling so soft and nourished, not to mention that everything about it is so aesthetically pleasing. It may sound cheesy but dae hair has not only transformed my hair but also given my shower a cute new look. 

With 1.3 million followers on Instagram, Amber Fillerup Clark is also an influencer. On her Instagram she shares things from her everyday life, to her family, food, things to do with kids, her home, as well as business related things and behind the scenes. She does partnerships with brands to promote them and give her audience discount codes while sharing her favorite products. 

She has used social media to set herself and her brand apart in so many ways. Across her personal account and both of her business accounts she uses aesthetically pleasing colors and images. She utilizes the highlights function of Instagram and depending on the account, she highlights things that her specific audience would like. For example, on the BFB Hair page she has highlighted tutorials, color matching, ordering information, reviews, and so much more. She has created customized hashtags like #daetexture, #barefootblondehair, #barefootblondehaireverywhere, and others to engage with her audience and have easily accessible content. Her businesses and her personal brand have all gained popularity with the help of social media, through interacting with her audiences and producing content that her audience wants. Through social media she also shows her care for her community. She promotes the water initiative of dae hair and she also donates money to many other charities and organizations. She raises awareness for social causes and promotes positivity.

She is one of my favorite people to follow on Instagram and all of her content is amazing. Her photos are always so beautiful and warm, which reflects exactly how Amber is. Her style is so cute and obviously her hair looks phenomenal every day. She travels quite a bit and she takes the coolest photos of the places she visits, her family, and herself. I love how on her personal page she is very real and she also shares a lot of behind the scenes business things. I have nothing but great things to say about her and I could probably go on and on but I’ll end with this: I love getting a glimpse into other people’s lives and being inspired by amazing people like Amber. 

Follow Amber on Instagram (@amberfillerupclark)!

I hope you learned something new today and maybe discovered someone new to follow on social media. Thanks for reading! Talk soon :))