Today we’d like to introduce you to Jewel Perkins.
Hi Jewel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been the social media girl. I was that girl in high school who would live tweet award shows and end up in Twitter jail for sending too many tweets at a given time. I’d post product reviews from samples I’d get through Influenster, and I would share my #OOTD through poorly edited Picnik collages! What can I say, I love to share my thoughts and especially my looks! I’ve always carried my love for sharing stories and social media with me in my personal and professional life. I’ve run social media for university admissions, dabbled in offering freelance services, poured into my brand, Just Jewel, and somehow I always get volunteered to work with social media in my professional positions.
Back in 2018, I decided to give my passion some direction by branding my social media pages to truly be a reflection of who I am, what I love and where I’m going. And just like that, Just Jewel was born. Less than six months later I got my first paid collaboration.
Fast forward to today, I cannot believe the opportunities I have had, the people I have met, and what I have learned about myself. I have ongoing partnerships with Express and Little Words Project, I’ve worked with various brands big and small like Neutrogena and Live! at the Battery, and had my work recognized by Express and was chosen to be flown out for a photo shoot this past April! It’s crazy to see how far I’ve come while maintaining a niche audience!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Any content creator will tell you that it is not the glitz and glam we often make it look like on our feeds. Creativity and motivation ebbs and flows. One month, I will be full of ideas, pumping out content, collaborating with brands, and engaging with other creatives. Another, I’ll be in a creative slump with absolutely no motivation or energy to do all the things I need to do to really take my brand to the next level. The next, the motivation is there but the ideas are lacking or vice versa. But I think the best thing I’ve done for myself and my brand is allowing for these ebbs and flows to run their course. It’s allowed me to flourish and not burn out.
I think my biggest challenge and also one of my proudest accomplishments as a content creator was moving to Atlanta. While I knew this would eventually take my brand to a completely different level considering the abundance of opportunity in the area and the growing popularity of influencer marketing. I didn’t have any credibility here, other creators to work with, and no photographer; I had to basically start over in a new place, but it has been so fun and so rewarding making connections, even new friends, in a new city!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
One of the beauties of branding myself as Just Jewel is my content and my niche gets to evolve with me as go through life. Right now, I enjoy posting midsize and affordable fashion. Everything from wardrobe tips and tricks to workwear inspiration. My favorite thing to share aside from that is the trials and tribulations of living out your twenties. It’s been a fun thing for me to share since graduating college a few years back, and I just recently made it more of a central focus of content on my page as I am really starting to hit those “adulting” milestones as a twenty-something.
I think I’m most proud of myself for not being afraid to be fiercely and authentically me online. I want to share the things we don’t always talk about and help people feel seen. I love when people say things like “thank you for putting this feeling into words”. Sharing my life online all started as, and still is, something fun for me to do because I love to do it, but it’s such a great feeling to be able to touch lives just by sharing my own!
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I’m not a huge risk-taker but sometimes you just have to take the leap and see what happens. While I always dreamed of living my adult life out in Atlanta, it was a big step to leave the comfort of having friends I can call on to hang out with just miles away, having my family close by and leaving behind all the things I knew and loved about my hometown in Kansas City. That’s probably one of the biggest leaps I’ve taken and it’s empowered me to continue to do just go after things and deal with the dust that settles later.
As a twenty-something experiencing all things adulthood, I feel like nearly every decision has a risk associated with it. It’s all about how you look at it! That’s one of the reason’s I started sharing more about what it’s like to be a twenty-something, post-grad truly doing things on my own. I believe this is the time in our lives where we can allow ourselves to be a little more risky with our decisions more than any other time in our lives. When most of our decisions only affect ourselves, and I love to encourage people just to do the damn thing by sharing my own stories!
Contact Info:
Image Credits:
Siri Shot It
